Day two of moving was so much better than the first. I say that only because it didn't take nearly as long. We assisted a little bit with the packing, but by the afternoon, all of our things were in crates and making their way to Texas. The movers were so incredible and we were fortunate to (yet again) have an outstanding service with JPPSO. I only pray that our things arrive in one piece, just like they left us. Once the movers get every single last bit of our things, we immediately started the cleaning process. I asked my parents if they would come over and help with the hard stuff and they did (we are so grateful for them)! My stepdad ended up cleaning the entire house. We were facing a $400 fee from a cleaning company and additional $100 for the outside work. I couldn't believe it. My stepdad has his own cleaning company and although he isn't a "preferred" company for JBLM, we took that leap of faith. I am so glad we did. After what seemed like no time at all, we said goodbye to my parents for the night and woke up to waiting out the final walk through for the house. 

The JBLM rep showed up later than we expected, but she seemed to dig right into her checklist. I actually ended up packing both girls in the car and hunting down the mail lady to get our last bit of mail from our home. I was successful and Justin did the walkthrough by himself essentially. Things went well but we ended up having to pay $180.00 for brand new carpet in the downstairs living room (ouch)! I guess i should't be too mad about that because $180 is still less than the amount that we would have paid for someone to come out and clean our home. I can't believe how well we made out with housing. I definitely will not miss all the inflated charges that come along with being a resident of Washington State. 

After what seemed like forever, we went to housing to pay the fee - So Justin could receive an immediate clearance from JBLM housing. It wasn't nearly as stressful as either of us thought it would be and I even got a little emotion when we handed over the keys. The house I brought my second born home to, the house that we lived in for almost 1.5 years was no longer ours. So many memories in that house... my mom, dad, sister, family, all over for a football game. BBQ Sundays.. Meeting the new baby. So many wonderful memories that I will have to take along with me. That final walk through may not have included me, but I had my own little final walk through as we drove away from our home. 

♥- Leilani

The Movers Arrive

Today was nothing that I expected it to be, even still, it wasn't a bad day. I expected a fleet of movers to arrive at 8am this morning.. Instead, we greeted two movers at about 9am. We have only done JPPSO once before this one and nothing that happened last time seems to be happening this time. One mover packed the entire kitchen, solely by himself. The other started in Ava's room and worked his way to the man cave. I guess we had more stuff than they realized because it ended up taking them until almost 630pm just to pack up two crates into their moving truck. I even pitched into help pack some of our things. We estimated the weight at about 7000 lbs, so I'm not sure if the company saw it fit to only send two packers... but boy did I feel badly for them. It was so incredibly hot today. Even I was a bit annoyed with the good weather. Normally I wouldn't be, but it made it harder to move around with Olivia in our arms and chasing after Ava. 

The main mover (we'll call him Mr. D) Mr. D was extremely friendly. He asked all kinds of questions to get to know us better. He came across my photography business license in the kitchen and asked about a dozen questions about how that dream came to be. He asked about Justin's interest in sports, our kiddos, and how long we'd been together. It was nice of him to be so personable with us. The other mover (we'll call him Mr. R) Mr. R was friendly as well. He caught Ava's attention pretty regularly as he was packing up her room. Both were great with our 3 year old running around and asking questions. That was so appreciated. Her entire world and normality was literally being uprooted right in front of her. I am so proud of my first born and how great she handled everything despite the crazy. 

We ended up ordering pizza for the movers to thank them for all their help. I think they appreciated it, since they kept thanking us and telling us how thoughtful we were. I think giving back in even the smallest amounts makes a world of difference. Justin ended up giving away his first coffee pot in our marriage to Mr. R... I don't know why that bothered me so much, but I got so emotional about it. There were several times during their packing that they would mention that my husband said it was okay to get rid of this, or my husband said it was okay to get rid of that. I wouldn't consider myself a hoarder, but more than ever now.. I try to hold on to my favorite memories... and I have a lot of those. 

On another note, I did appreciate that they waited to pack our master bedroom. Apparently they leave the master bedroom last because they try to let people have their beds an extra night. It was appreciated because our entire family piled in that night. Day one of packing was successful. We were exhausted, but the girls got to bed on time, Justin and I managed to get a lot of other things done, and two of Justin's soldiers came over to help. Justin ended up giving away his propane grill ( i was only slightly irritated by this) and a fridge full of food. It was great to go so much accomplished though.

♥- Leilani