We already have an APO box in Germany, so we are going to be mailing all our candles, liquids, some clothes, and other odds and ends to our box and hopefully have them when we get there! It's really nice having a new address already. I've already ordered picture books and prints online and had them shipped to our APO!!
I try to be really organized with our military moves. It isn't required that you do this, but I am OCD and just like to have things in a head start for the packers. In the week leading up to the move, I organized all my folded clothes into trash bags and seal them tightly. I also do this with all bed linens, mattress pads/pillows, curtains, towels, etc. I do this just to have an extra layer of protection from possibly getting wet or damaged. I used our guest room as a general place to collect all those trash bags and other items and keep them out of the way. I also bought large tubs for all my speech therapy books, adult, and pediatric materials. I originally was going to store all my speech therapy stuff, but last minute decided to ship my pediatric materials because I may have a possible job opportunity. I take everything off the walls, put all decor items on one table, clean all appliances/grill/patio furniture thoroughly, and put all cooking utensils in a plastic bag tied tight. This all seems to help with organization and unpacking too. I also organized our pantry by putting dry materials that were open in large ziplocs to ensure that they didn't spill and cause a mess.
I also used our other bedroom as a "Do Not Pack" room where I put items that were going to storage. We decided to store: army gear, ryan's reloading stuff, speech therapy stuff, books, coffee pot, espresso machine, some other kitchen items, bags, a few furniture items, camp chairs, china, antique dishes, Ryan's gun safe, vacuum cleaner, weed eater, lawn care items, saw, sander, my hospital work clothes, etc. Ryan's job was to organize the garage and clean out the attic. One side of the garage was things to ship and the other was for storage. This made it easy to tell the movers to just stay on one side of the garage and nothing got confused.
I also named our bathroom and the guest bathroom "Do Not Pack" zones. I put everything I did not want to be packed in these locations. This included all our liquids, suitcases, computers, iPad, iPod, chargers, molly's crate, molly food/leash, etc, items to be shipped to Germany, towels, cleaning supplies, PCS Binder, books, work materials, toiletry items, wedding dress, some things to take to Indiana to my mom, left over wine, etc. I also had a little corner in the kitchen that I labeled a "Do Not Pack" zone with food, magic bullet, paper plates/forks/cups, napkins and things we would be using over the next 2 weeks while living in an empty house. The packers will pack whatever they see that is fair game, so its really important to separate anything you do not want to get sent in the HHG shipment. Sometimes, the girls would double check with me, but for the most part if they saw it, they packed it!!
They came mid day on a Friday and packed half of the house in about 4 hours. We had a slight dilemma on this day!!! We had Ryan's farewell ceremony and sidebar at 10:30 with a lunch to follow. Normally, Ryan would just go and I would have stayed with the movers, but it was requested that I be there to receive an award for my volunteer service with our Spouse Coffee Group. Everyone was busy or had their children, but our friend Pati pulled through and drove up to sit at our house and wait for the movers to show up. They showed up about 30 minutes before we got home, so I was SO glad she was there because they would have left and not come back (according to the lady I spoke with on the phone). This company uses women to pack, which I think is kinda awesome. Sometimes, I think women seem to handle things more carefully or understand the value of items.
Since our moving days were on a Friday and Monday, we got to have the weekend to still be in our new Tempurpedic mattress. Ryan and I are totally sold on the Tempurpedic, but that is a whole other story. They then came the following Monday to finish packing. They really did a great job packing and I didn't feel like I had to watch them super closely or anything. There was a brief moment where I couldn't find Molly anywhere and the packers were outside taking a break, and I thought maybe she could have packed Molly in a box? Surely they would know if a 12 pound dog were in a box, right? Somehow, she had escaped as usual and was sitting by our front gate with no need to worry, Mom. No, I am not in a box!! I probably looked crazy shaking all the boxes in the bedroom to be sure Molly didn't get packed away!
Tuesday was the big loading day. It took them from about 8:30-5:00 to load the crates on the truck. The guy doing all the loading was a rock star. I mean all day, in the hot sun, and the only one putting the items in the crate like a puzzle and loading 8 crates! They said they nail the crates shut after they are packed and once in the warehouse they caulk them as well to prevent liquid or rodents from getting into the crates. He said he had been doing this 33 years and all the movers were bragging about how they would ensure our stuff got there in one piece. The guys were so nice and we even gave one of the guys our fire pit. We weren't sure we could have it in Germany, so we just decided to give it away. Since our last move we have always bought the movers lunch. They always seem so appreciative and always say that so many people they move don't even bother. I provided cups with cold water, and I took their orders and we bought them Subway for lunch. It just blows my mind that people don't think to feed their movers, because its the least you can do for their hard work in handling all your precious belongings.
Doggy treats for Molly! She was extra good during the whole moving process!
The next day we booked our storage shipment. They were also lovely people. They showed up promptly at 9:30 with 6 people for our small storage shipment! It took them a little over an hour to to pack the last remaining areas of storage items and then they were on their way. We are now living in an empty house!!! I have the carpets scheduled to be cleaned on Monday and have started cleaning parts of the house to be ready for the renters!!
Ryan is out processing this week and I am finishing up one more week of work, followed by a quick trip to Austin to see some family before the big move. We will be in Indy July 1-6 and fly out July 7th from Indy. It is really surreal, but it is all happening!!
