things i learned from this move...

In the past 4 1/2 years of our marriage Andrew and I have moved 4 times and lived in 3 different cities. This has by far been the most complicated move, between 2 month old BD, moving 9 hours away, going to the beach right after and trying to find a place to store our washer and dryer... whew.  Combined that with the fact that I was trying to spend as much time with friends before I left NOLA (which I don't regret) we had a bit of a mess!!!

After this move, here are some moving tips I recommend!

1. Make sure you go ahead and pack the important stuff. 

 I unfortunately learned this from experience this time... I had all of BD's favorite toys out until the very end.  At that point I put them in a plastic bag that was supposed to get thrown in a car... well you can guess what happened, it got thrown away:(! I literally cried over this.

2.  Get moving saran wrap.  

I don't know why we have never gotten this stuff before, it is great to wrap all sorts of things.  We could take drawers and boxes or containers and secure them.

3.  Have a box of moving box. 

 I find as we pack I lose the packing tape and other supplies that we need.  We kept this box in a central location through all of packing to take supplies from and put them back.  We were also supposed to pull this box aside when we got there to have the things we would need like scissors and trash bags... unfortunately we forgot to pull it aside and it got put to the bottom of our stuff as we moved in.  We spent the whole move in looking for the "box with the trash bags"!!!   Some of the things we kept in this box were- *packing tape *masking tape *trash bags (regular and outdoor) *moving ceran wrap *scissors  *sharpies *ziplock bags

4.  Don't pay for boxes.

We told friends we were moving, and the boxes came pouring in!  We also called our local grocery store and requested banana and egg boxes.  We had so many boxes that at the end we gave our extras to other friends that were moving soon!

5.  Keep things in drawers.

We kept everything that was in a dresser in that drawer or dresser.  When we moved the furniture we just took the drawers out, but the dresser in the moving truck and put the drawers back in... then did the same thing when we arrived.  This saved both room and time on both ends!

6.  Pack a suitcase for a few days before the move and a few days after.

Pretend like you are going on a week or two long vacation.  Get all the stuff you need so you can pack everything else.

7.  Have a final items/when you first get there box.

We were not clear enough about this this time.  Our last shower curtain ended up in the trash because we did not label a box like this.  Fill this box with last things you need at your old home and the first things you will need at your new home (toilet paper, cleaning supplies, shower curtain, etc).

8. Label, label, label!

This was another thing I was not very good at this time and things ended up in the wrong places when we got there.  I have heard of a lot of a lot of people using colored sharpies to color code boxes by room.  I have this idea for next time to print out some name tag sized white sticker labels with each room printed on them.. Then all you have to do is stick them on a box.  You could even number them if you want to make sure you don't lose any boxes.  I think the sticker labels would stand out to friends moving things in and everything would end up at the right spot, also you would only haver to peel a sticker instead of writing on each box. 

9.  If you can, pull everything out to see how you can best arrange it in the moving truck.

We had a lot to fit in a little truck.  I was already calculating which stuff to leave behind.  When our friends arrived to help us move we just had them pull all the boxes out of the house.  This made it easier to get the big stuff in first and to see what all had to fit.  And somehow it all fit!!!

10.  Enlist help!  

The babies were very important helpers in the moving process! :)

We made a facebook group for some of our friends and invited them to help us move.  We provided pizza and waters after.  We would still be in NOLA if it weren't for these friends.  It was also a sweet time for good byes... I was crying A LOT! It was harder when we got there because we did not know anyone.  But luckily some students cam out and helped... it happened so quick... we could not have done it without them!

11. Save boxes and supplies.

This may not be true in every case, but we know we will be moving again in a year, so we are saving all of our moving supplies... save a little moula this way :)

12. Don't stress!!!

Andrew will be laughing as he reads this one... I was not so good at this... but I am working on it! :) Happy moving yall!!! :)