Scarlett Pannebaker

We survived the move!

I'm alive! We all survived the move and maintained whatever sanity we could claim before this monumental event. And 'exhausted' doesn't even come close to describing my current state but you better believe it's all worth it.

Thursday of last week was our last night in the duplex and although I thought I'd be sad and nostalgic, I was mostly just stressed beyond belief. Nate and I took a gigantic car load of boxes to the new house once he got off work, after I had spent the whole morning packing like a maniac with Truman's help. I'm pretty sure we took about 5 full car loads to the house before the movers arrived on Friday, which really helped us keep the cost down. But it still sucked. And then that night after Truman went to bed (for the last time in the only home he's ever known...sniff, sniff), Nate and I came back over to the new place and cleaned like crazy. I could not handle all of the random tools sitting out across every surface of the house and the dust in the stairway and the floors was horrendous. It felt SO good to get everything in tip top shape, ready to house all of our belongings the next day. And we didn't go to bed until about 11:30 that night which is unheard of in our family, but we were pretty amped up.

(this emphasizes car seat safety, obviously. One of the ridiculous car loads...)


Friday morning we all woke up and got to work right away. My friend Erin offered to watch Truman for us that day, since Lori was off and we knew T would not enjoy seeing the movers haul away all of our stuff. I took Truman along with some Starbucks over to Erin's at 8 and was totally shocked that he didn't.even.cry when I left! That little stinker is always proving me wrong, since I was convinced he'd be a mess with the changes of the move and me leaving him with someone other than Lori or family. He ended up having a total blast and was a little entertainer over there, falling in love with all of Henry's toys and behaving like a good boy. So proud.

(just a small load ready to go)


(helping me pack up random baby items...)


So anyway, I got back home and the movers had already started loading up their giant truck. Nate seemed a little stressed out when I got there because he was on box organization duty---pulling down our things from the attic and basement so that the movers could easily take them away. I mostly directed the guys on what to take and what to leave while attempting to gather up the totally random stuff that could never fit into a box. I really HATE that final load of stuff---the small kitchen appliances, vases, pots and pans---how do you even transport it all without using 486 boxes? It only took the two movers about an hour and a half to get everything loaded into their truck. And then we were off! I took Henry with me as he was freaking out as expected, and Nate followed us over with more stuff in my SUV. And then it only took about an hour for the guys to totally unload everything. So all together, they were with us for about 3 hours which is SO much better than the 8-9 hours I feared we'd have to pay. I'm not sure why I assumed it would take so long, really, other than the fact that we really do seem to have so much more stuff than we thought. And we have had two more loaded car trips back over here since we left the duplex, and I'm sure we still have more random stuff stored away that we'll just have to deal with later. But yes, the movers were amazing and as I ALWAYS say after a big move: that was money well-spent. They moved the heaviest boxes for us and then all of our big furniture and we handled the rest, but again---worth every penny.



After picking up Truman around noon, I was totally shocked (again) that he only slept for 10 minutes in the car on the way to our new house and then he was NOT having the rest of his typical 3 hour nap. We had his bed all set up for him in the new room and I think he was just too excited to play and look around because he keeps saying, 'new house?' over and over again before he sprints around in excitement. He somehow managed to stay awake and in a decent mood all day on Friday, too, so I guess I can't complain. But my big napper just wasn't having it on moving day. :)

We started organizing and unpacking Friday afternoon and by the evening we were pretty spent. I even tried to sneak in a nap in Truman's bed since it was the only one set up because I hit a freaking wall around 3 pm and thought I would die if I didn't rest my eyes. But of course, Truman was not going to allow THAT one and I pushed through. Tony and Lois came over for dinner and we just ordered a pizza that night to 'celebrate' our new place. Not going to lie, it was a little bittersweet to have them over to OUR place, knowing that our amazing time under the same roof is over. They are about 5 minutes away and we've seen them every day since the move but it's still sad to move on. We are so lucky to have them in our lives and I know we would not be living in this amazing house without their support and help---both physically with all of the renovations, and by watching Truman for us during the time we've owned the house, and of course just letting us live above them for the past 4 years made a HUGE difference in our finances and what we could afford for our first home. I'm such a lucky girl to have married into a wonderful family like this one. We owe them more than we could ever repay, so I hope they will accept our humble gifts of grand-babies and lots of visits and dinners together as repayment.

Anyway, we slept fine on Friday night but both Nate and I were up by 515 on Saturday with too much on our minds. We got a TON done that day and also on Sunday (after sleeping much better on Saturday night, thank goodness). I cannot believe I'm typing this, but almost every single box has been unpacked, broken down, and stored away. Everything is set up in this new house of ours except for a few minor things (like waiting for our brand new couch to arrive in 2 weeks !!) and it really does feel like home. We still have house projects to do, of course, like more painting and finishing the kitchen and bathrooms beyond just the 'functional' side of the renovations. But overall we are here and settled!

So let me break it down for you about the favorite parts of this house so far, okay?

Number one has to be our badass dishwasher. I cannot believe we went 4 years without one of these lovelies. And I will never go back to doing all of our stupid dishes by hand, three times per day. Love it.

Number two is our garbage disposal---we are still getting used to the idea of scraping off plates of food into the sink instead of throwing it away, but we are learning how to be modern slowly.

Number three might be the fact that we changed cable providers and therefore we have DVR now. Uh-oh. Going from a house hold that has virtually no 'must see shows' to watch to one that can record any and everything Mind blowing!

I also adore having a giant washer and dryer that are both so high-tech (ie way smarter than me), it's actually somewhat confusing to use their touch screens at times. Also high-tech and awesome? Our fridge that has an actual ICE MAKER in it. I've never been the best at refilling ice trays, as Nate will tell you, and so I know this new feature is one of his favorites. And let me just tell you that having a full basement and a full attic for storage is doing wonders for this pregnant lady's need to organize and store. I LOVE having tons of space and am probably a little psycho about keeping all of the baby/kid stuff together, the office stuff, the grown up clothes, etc all organized in one place. Love it. Not to mention we have our very own two car garage now, so long gone are the days when we have to share the driveway with Tony and Lois, arranging our cars in the driveway each night before work. Glorious, I tell you.

(spacious attic)


(organized baby items)


Pictures of the house updates to follow, since I know that is probably what you want to see anyway.  I want to wait until our new couch arrives, until we get our second TV for the sunroom/playroom (Nate's demand, not mine---I'm fine being a one-TV family, but whatever), until we get our awesome new rocker that we ordered for the baby's room, and until the kitchen is totally 100% finished. And I should really show you our two bathrooms and their updates. So yeah, a lot to show you once it's all done which should be pretty soon....I hope.

Overall, we are all doing great: Truman loves his new house and can't get enough of his very own playroom. Henry is still a nervous-nelly at times but he adores running up and down our stairs all day long, exploring along the way. And Nate and I just smile and give high-fives all day because we did it. We are in our first home. And it's even better than we expected.

(on Easter Sunday, settled enough to make it to church with our boy!)