Moving 101: Tips, Lessons Learned and Fun Stuff + Life lately

been busy lately trying to organize and pack up the house for the big move!! 
sophia is very eager to help with the whole moving process.....

here's some tips and fun stuff having to do with moving that i've come across and since that's all i'm thinking about right now...thought i would share. i know a lot of you through conversation are moving, soon to move or just moved..so do share any tips you have found as well! moving is a known pain in the "tooshy"...so lets share the wisdom ladies. :)

1.) Never Pay for boxes! Look on craigslist or visit your local liquor store! via craigslist.com we were able to find a great family right by where we work who just moved into the neighborhood 3 weeks earlier and had a ton of boxes taking over their garage. We just had to cut them down and they were ours for free! We now have plenty of boxes for the move and all it cost was some tape! just make sure they are in good condition before you take them and you are good to go!

2.) i have always wanted to send out a cute note/graphic announcing the move... these prints from tinyprints.com are great!!! i'll most likely put something together and shoot it out in an e-mail...but for those of you who don't have a good design program(or don't want the hassle) these are great and some of them are very affordable.

3. ) Colored Magic Markers. I love this tip from flylady!! 

"I use colored ones so that I can give each room a different color and that way, when we are unloading the truck, all I have to say is: "Yellow boxes go in the kitchen, green in the bedroom, purple in the living room, etc". Then you can post the color of boxes over the top of the doorway to that room. I have also used colored ribbon to tie around the garbage bags. Stickers and markers usually don't work, because they either fall off, or you can't see them. Clothes are usually in these bags, so raid your sewing stash for old ribbon or your Christmas stash for Christmas ribbon. It is cheap and easy to recognize. Decide ahead of time what your color codes are going to be and put those supplies in the room. Just don't label all the boxes "Misc" (or "Stuff" and "More Stuff")! You can also give the boxes a number and put the contents of that box on your notepad, so you can find where the item is without tearing open each and every box - and creating even more CHAOS!"


4.) Pack only what you want to move. we de-cluttered a lot when we had the house up on the market...but now that we are packing i'm wanting to de-clutter even more (give away/get rid of) stuff so we don't have to move it with us. it's very freeing. i have at least 7 bags of clothes to give away to my brother-in-law's inner city ministry...and then the "junk/stuff" that we didn't sell at our garage sale is being dropped off at goodwill or sold on craigslist.com


5.) Packing supplies...my mom gave me the great advice to pack up our dishes with towels..and when i run out of that and the leftover bubble wrap i saved from the last move.... there was this great tip from a flylady member: Newsprint (the paper that newspaper is printed on, but it is blank) isn't terribly expensive and is available at most places that sell packing stuff. It is MUCH better for your dishes and other items, because you don't have to worry about the ink rubbing off. I bought two boxes at $13 each, and have most of the second box left over. I have two sets of china and two "everyday" dishes, to give you an idea of how far it goes. 


6.) Pack an immediate use box. here's some tips found via apartmenttherapy.com
"Small, random but important items like cell phone chargers, a couple glasses, plates, forks, alarm clock and anything you’ll need within 24 hours of moving. Throw a small lamp in, too, as many old buildings are without overhead lighting and you might be left in the dark." I would also have a cleaning supplies/tools box set aside as well for the projects/cleaning you plan on doing asap.


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Life lately..

the other day i went out to lunch with my 3 sister-in-laws and a friend..and was just expecting some girl time but they showed up with gifts for the new baby!! it was so sweet of them and i was really surprised. i guess since this baby is due the same month sophia was born....i didn't expect to get anything from people for her! but i came home with the goodies and sophia was more then happy to help me open the presents. :)

she thought it was all for her....and she wanted to show it all off to daddy. i've never seen a child so excited about a thing of diapers and wipes.

the present that was actually for her was a cute baby gap headband and that was a hit! anything girly she loves. i need to get her some fake makeup so she will stop trying to use mine......not good.

i'm linking up to these parties for thursday! link up ladies!