Moved by Moving

Who’s sick of hearing about me, our new house, moving, and life in chaos? I completely understand if so and yet I write on. I must record the weekend that just was. Holding onto the moments of the move is a must!

Right now, I’m writing in my new kitchen looks out a huge window to my green backyard- it’s a wonderful new “office”. I am estactic that the plug in for my computer is near, not opposite, the wall outlet! Just one of very little things  I am absolutely excited about! Mostly, there are great big things for which I’m giddy, grateful, and saying, “This is such a gift” around our new house.

We closed Friday at 11am and started moving our goods from the generous garage space at Steve and Gayle Osborne’s house. Mike and Carol Graves met us in heavy lifting clothes

and moved all that stuff all the way into the new house.

Drew and I both kind of wandered around, delerious with joy and paralyzed by the packing up that needed to be done. We picked small tasks and started in. The house was in great shape, clean and ready to go- the garage and basement were a bit spider-webby so I vacuumed and wiped some surfaces we would soon pile stuff upon. We created a label system for assigning boxes and furtniture to rooms. All rectangle stickers went upstairs to color coded bedrooms, different colors of circled dots designted the dumping into family room, living room, and dininig room. There were oodles for the kitchen “price” stickers and plenty for basement “price-B” stickers. No sticker? Stick it in the garage please.

It was double sister doings at the new house Friday night with Laura and Christine and I lining cabinets and drawers until after 11pm. The boys, Zach, Drew and James, went to the “old house” and loaded both big couches and a ton of other stuff into the truck. We went to sleep at 5408 for one last time.

Saturday brought a bounty of help and the movement of our entire life from one house to the next. We were expecting some of the blessings, but surprised by others. There were slight mishaps and some discouragements but mostly, Drew and I worked alongside the crew who gave so generously of their time and gifts to help all day in so many ways!

Some moving moments to mark:

• Carol Graves came at 6:45am with coffee and bagels and help with loading all the stuff we didn’t want in the truck (clothes, toys, pictures in frames etc..). Carol’s help was constant and generous throughout the day!
• Geeg took the kids for a day away from the craziness- offering them familiar solace and care in the midst of a huge change.
• I met the fridge delivery men at 8:45 at the new house. They dropped off the new black frigde but said the water line was cut so they wouldn’t/couldn’t install the ice maker. Bummer!
• Literally, 15 minutes later, Jim and Jan Bruce knocked on the door with orange scones! Without knowing they were coming, I was completely surprised by their thoughtfulness. A quick scone delivery became a 3 hour manual labor commitment as Jim offered to install the fridge water line! He worked himself into soaked pants and sweat serving us- we are so grateful.
• The fridge was not coooling off…perhaps it just needed more time.
• The moving truck arrived with all the contents of our house in one load. The moving crew (Poppy, Zach, James, Shane- a Park Hill YL kid, Keith (a friend from the gym), and Tom Meyer) had met Drew at the old house around 9. They loaded and then unloaded, following my stickers upstairs and down and had it all done by 11:30. There were worker bees building beds, vacuuming spider webs (thank you Dustin Sollars), making up beds (Carol) and unpacking my kitchen (Laura and Christine). Drew and I were everywhere but in the same spot. It happened so fast I am sure I’ve grossly underestimated all the help I received.
  

  Our muscle movers.

• After pizza lunch picked up my Keith’s wife Sara, James and Drew holed up in the garage to install a garage door opener (first time for both of them!) and Laura and I headed upstairs to bedrooms. In the end, Laura and James gave 12 solid hours to the Osborne cause on Saturday…pregnant and busy themselves and yet they stayed all day . We love them and loved working with them…they must really love us too- it was a gift!
• Jan Bruce brought a microwave by late in the afternoon that she had in her basement. We didn’t know when she dropped it off it would be the key to eating anything that night. Turns out the fridge never did get cold so we ended up with a smograsboard of what we had to eat from the fridge and a few HyVee chinese entrees. Sunday morning, Drew discovered the fridge was stuck on “store mode” so now, it’s all fine! A scary start with a chill ending.
• I went back for one last walk through of our old house. I was struck suddenly with overwhelming emotion and sat on the floor of my empty bedroom and cried. Sad, grateful, amazed, and full of emotion. That house held our life well for almost 8 years, I brought all my babies home there, and Drew and I grew up in that space. I was leaving a lot but ready to go.
• Kristin Sollars, an amazing women who does so many things AND wields wicked drill skills!, came to help install window coverings so we could put kids to bed that night.

Saturday night was the first night in our new house as a family. Oakley went to bed sick and sad- bothered by an ear infection we’d discover at the urgent care clinic Sunday morning. Drew suggested doing something special with E and A who had patiently been told, “No I can’t right now” for most of the afternoon. Quick thinking (and the Holy Spirit surely) gave us the idea to walk around the house and do “Blessings and Wishes” in each room.

We started in Eli’s room and said something we were grateful for about that space or what we hoped would happen there through the years. Despite it’s spontaneity, it became precious quickly as Eli and Andi dove full into thanking God and sharing silly and serious hopes.

In Eli’s room, E said, “I can’t wait to fill up my shelves with all my books- like put Harry potter on there!”

In Andi’s room, I prayed, “She would Grow up looking in her own bathroom mirror knowing how beautiful she is in Christ every day.”

For Oakley, Drew prayed, “That Oaks would feel brave and beloved, and have space to play, laugh and grow.”

Eli prayed for Drew and me in our room: “I pray that Mommy and Daddy have lots of fun and are happy no matter what together here.”

Downstairs, in the living/dining room spaces, Andi prayed, “Dear God I hope we have lots of cheers’ here and have people to our house in these rooms”.  She absolutely articulated my dream for those rooms!

In the kitchen,  I said, “I hope we use this space to continue special traditions, and host great conversations around the table”. Drew prayed it will be a space for the kids to land after school and Eli and Andi both prayed for lots of feasts, snacks, and favorite foods.

In the family room, we were grateful we had a place to watch shows, wrestle with Daddy, play a lot and hang out together.

We ended in the basement where we marked their heights on the door frame next to the washer. I promised to pray for them, remembering how small they are, while I do the laundry. Andi has asked me twice as I’ve headed down for a load if I’m praying for her. I so wish we could have recorded it more specifically. Instead, we will count on our minds and Spirit to remind us of the dreams and prayers coming true throughout the house.

When we went to bed that night, Andi slept back on her bottom bunk under Eli instead of her new bedroom. Oaks slept alone for the first time ever, and Drew and I chose to keep our sides of the bed. We snaked around on the floor while shirtless because of these great windows in our room and bathroom!

And now for the unpacking and settling. Already I feel so good about how settled we are. There are beds and clothes and food for all. Boxes? Yes- tons. Joy? Yes- tons!