Over the last few weeks, we’ve been working on getting things packed up in advance of our big move to Austin. We’ve been trying to squeeze in as much time with friends and family as humanly possible, though, including one weekend where we were out of town for 3 days for my brother- and sister-in-law’s baby shower. Plus, we have a 14-month-old who consumes pretty much every spare second we have. As you might imagine, it’s been pretty slow going. So this weekend, Kellen’s mom came down to play with Isla and help us get things packed.
This is what my entire house looks like now.
And there’s still a lot to pack.
In my experience, when you get to that moment in packing where you think, “Great! We’ve packed absolutely everything we possibly can pack until our last day here,” it means you’re actually only about halfway through. Not only do you tend to overestimate the amount of stuff you need, but also, you typically forget a room or two. Moving pro-tip: never underestimate how much junk you can accumulate and just how much you can pack into one seemingly small space.
I have a feeling Saturday–my last full day in Portland–is going to be very busy. Fortunately, we’re going to have lots of friends and family around to help get everything packed and moved, so it should go fast. I’m going to try to get all of Isla’s bags and my own packed on Friday night, even though we don’t fly out until Sunday morning, so anything not in a suitcase can be tossed in a box.
It’s hard to believe we’re down to just a few days left in Portland. I’ve had a pretty nasty stomach bug the last few days. While everyone who’s heard about it has pretty much immediately attributed it to, “Are you pregnant?!” (no, no, I’m not), I think if it could be blamed on anything outside of some sort of stomach virus, it’s probably nerves about moving. It’s not like our last several moves, where we’ve basically apartment hopped within a 5-mile radius. And it’s not like my previous 2000+ mile moves where all of my stuff fit into 3 or 4 boxes.
This move feels very final. If we forget something, we can’t just come back for it. If something doesn’t fit in the moving truck, it’s not like we get to make multiple trips. This is it.
I’m pretty sure I won’t begin to process that we really will be back in Texas for good until we start unpacking boxes in our new place. Right now, it’s just too overwhelming.
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