We have been in the process of moving for several months now, and amongst the chaos of STUFF and feeling like I am drowning in it, I can finally find peace. I can see the light at the end of the very long tunnel, so to speak. I know that moving is good thing. I have lived in this house for the past 22 years of my life and this place I've called 'my house' still houses "things" from both of my parents, my grandmother, and even some of our other family members. Its like this house I live in has become a storage unit, as well as a home.
Many people don't seem to understand when I say how I have been going through things for the last 4 months. "But you're newlyweds, how much can you really have?" This is a question I've been asked several times, when I reply to someone saying how tired I look or commenting on moving in general. Sometimes it feels overwhelming. Ok, most of the time it feels overwhelming. I've already mentioned the feeling of "drowning". Not only do I have to sort out our own things, (and I've been selling a lot of those because we don't need half of what we have!) but I've also got to sort out my mothers things, things of my grandmother's that my mom has to go through, things belonging to my aunt, and then, of course, the typical accumulation of junk that just kind of appears though the years.
You see, my situation is a little different than that of a typical newlywed. My grandmother died when I was 15 (10 years ago) and since she lived in very desirable apartments in a retirement community, we had something like 4 days to get her moved out. Well, for any grieving person, this seems unreasonable, and her things all ended up in our garage. Fast forward two years, my parents divorce. More things got boxed and thrown into the garage. In 2010 my mother moved three states away and only took what would fit in the back seat of her car when she moved. (Which made sense at the time since she was going to live with her sister, starting out). More things left behind. The next 4 years I lived on my own, still in the same house, then in 2014 I married my my high school sweetheart and we were overly blessed with wedding gifts. See the pattern forming?
My biggest challenges so far have been:
" The junk closet"
We all have one, don't deny it! That space where we dont open for fear of what might fall out and hit us? Or that space where we quickly throw everything we can before a surprise guest comes into the house? For me, these 6 shelves of clutter have caused all kinds of anxiety just knowing how much was in here and WHAT TO DO with the contents of this catch-all closet. I've gone through this closet twice already, and have gotten three full trash bags of just "things". There are some things that are keep-able, and the rest still needs another go-round when I'm feeling extra ambitious.
"The garage"
Oh, the garage.
We have a two car garage, and zero cars parked in that garage. And storage shelves that my dad helped build in the early 90's. The picture don't do justice to what I STARTED with.
My favorite finds: A tub of "art" from my kindergarten-8th grade years, about...200 or so canning jars. Some in their original boxes from my grandmothers shed, and who doesn't love Christmas?! Apparently we ADORE IT, with our 6 TUBS of Christmas decor. Everything from tree skirts (we have 4 different ones, apparently) to ornaments to creepy and discolored stuffed animals! I also found a calendar from 1995- totally going to need that again one day...not!
All joking aside though, while this has been one of the most stressful times for me (and Micah, too) this is a good thing. There is NO WAY I would take this on without necessity. In other words, if I wasn't being forced to go through EVERYTHING in my house, I simply wouldn't. The "stuff" would continue to accumulate, and make it even more difficult to live a simpler life.
Through this process, I have thrown out over half of my clothes- I seem to wear the same 10 outfits regardless of whether I have an entire closet full of other clothes--
-- I have a sense of accomplishment. Just this past weekend we took a full carload to Mt. Vernon to drop at the goodwill. A carload means roughly 5 garbage bags, 2 boxes and 2 tubs full of things plus some extras that weren't in a container. We have done this three times in the past 5 months! I am just starting to notice a difference in the house, and how I view things. Since beginning this HUGE project about 6 months ago, I have bought myself one new shirt, and my husband has only bought himself a couple of things from amazon. The fact is: stuff only complicates things. We would WAAAAY rather spend our money to go to other countries and also explore our own country visiting states we havent been to together. My brain already knew that, but seeing how much money we still wasted has been a great lesson and a blessing. . .I had 8 swimsuits! 8!? We go to the beach...MAYBE once a year if we go to Florida in the summer.
Now that the cleaning is mostly done, we have began painting and making some small improvements to help the house sell when we put it on the market. The boys have replaced several fans, and we have began the task of painting our dark walls to make the house look lighter and brighter. I finally got my kitchen fan! ...though i only get to enjoy it for a few weeks. Though we move in 3 weeks, I'm incredibly grateful for this opportunity.
*While I'm talking about grateful, let me take a few paragraphs to brag on my husband. ***
I like to cook, but yet we were eating out 3 or 4 meals a week. That's not healthy, or cheap. I have started cooking meals at home during the week and my husband has embraced asparagus and broccoli like a champ! He can't cook to save his life, but this also gives me a sense of being needed. Even if my food is burnt, he still says how delicious it is, and it makes me feel accomplished and needed. Every girl needs that :) and he helps me out so much. He frequently grocery shops for me so I don't have to go to the store, the food is at home for me to cook when I get home from work.
And though I still can't teach him that dirty socks DO NOT belong under the coffee table in the living room, he really is the perfect match for me. I doubt my husband will ever read this ( reading is probably his least favorite thing ever..he would rather go run a marathon than read a book) but I love my husband! This next chapter will have its ups and downs, but I look forward to seeing where life takes us in the next year. 2015 has been, and will continue to be, a year of change. Going from 1600 sq ft of living space down to 700 sq ft, bring it on! :)
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