TopTen Prepping for Move

When the military tells us we are moving, there are some steps I take to prepare myself for such a move.  I have made plenty of mistakes and seen some crazy things on the other side, so I now have a checklist that I run through when Uncle Sam tells us to go.  I thought I would share ten of them with you guys :-)



10. De-clutter
This is when I force myself to tackle those corners that have collected various items and I deal with them. If I have baby things for someone, then they get shipped the very day I tackle that particular corner.  I also go through cabinets, matching storage lids with containers.  Anything that is mis-matched gets placed in the Freecycle pile.  Any kitchen appliance that I have not used in a year gets re-homed.

9. Filter Storage
I have bins of clothes for younger children.  I will take this time to go through those storage bins and make sure that what I am hanging onto is useful.  We are currently moving to a colder climate, do I really need all the little wind jackets I have accumulated?  Do I really need 3 pairs of sandals in the same size?

8. Organize the Piles
Now, I just stated that this is the perfect time to de-clutter, but I need corners to collect things heading to various places.  I have a space for the baby stuff that I am getting rid of, I have a corner for the little girl things that are going to nieces.  I also have a bin that will go to church or Freecycle.  (it's always nice to have the dog guard this pile ;-)  )

7. What stays and what goes?
When military movers come, there needs to be a clear symbol for things that don't get packed up.  In the past we have had shelves from the fridge, freezer, and even a microwave accessory that should have stayed with the previous rental house.

In our current rental house, there are some spare 'parts' that have been left but that have been of great use to us.  I have decided with this move that are stationery will have an X on them.  This is a nice visible marker that will mean "do not pack this item."

6. Rentals
Of course, the first thing we look into is the rental market.  What can we afford and how far is this from base.  Realtor.com usually has a good list for us to paroose.  Another great renal website is MilitaryByOwner.  We rented, purchased, and sold from this site in the past.

The rental market is not very big where we are going this time, so we have extended our search to home purchases that would either resell well or rent quickly.  But of course, we run into the occasional dream home, like this one ;-)






5. Planning the travelThis is vitally important with a move like this one.  We spent over a month trying to coordinate with the Alaska Marine ferry just to get our van on the thing.  We will end up driving the old Alcan Highway for a few days because of this insanity.  That also means planned stops since the 'settlements' along that stretch of road are 300miles apart... including gas stations ;-)  That requires planning, and with this size family you just have to laugh at such things  :-)
4. What is the area like?We have found that Home Fair offers some great information about the area surrounding any living space.
3. What are the homeschool laws?Since we homeschool, the legal issues have to be researched.  I find that HSLDA is the best place to determine a states homeschool regulations.  I tend to keep pretty tight records anyway, just because we do move around and you never know what each state expects from me.  
2. Where are the churches?This is not as important to some as it is to us.  We happen to be quite sad leaving our church here.  It became our home church!!  Thankfully there are several options where we are going, this has not always been the case.
1. PrayAgain, this may not fit all of you, but I need lots of prayer during relocation.  It is where I find my balance when things are totally wonky, it is where I find the patience needed to wait on Big Army's timing (so not my timing!!), it is where I find my peace when things are just not going my way, and where I find comfort in my disappointments.  Moving is very stressful and prayer is the greatest weapon I have to combat it.