Things to Know When Packing for a Move Across the Country

Ok, so this isn’t your typical blog post here at 365 Days of Baking.
It isn’t a recipe, it’s just something I need to discuss.
To save you.

Or to remind myself how, if EVER we should move anywhere again, especially across the good ol’ U. S. of A., what NOT to do when packing your ever loving belongings.

It makes perfectly good sense when you’re packing at the time to wrap pictures that have been hanging on the walls and sitting on shelves in mattress pads, bed sheets and pillow cases, right?
It just seems kind of brilliant at the time and kinda kills two birds with one stone.
Or so you would think.
I mean, I’m able to safely pack things that are breakable with soft, cushiony pieces of material, the glass on the frames stays intact and I don’t have to pay for additional packing paper or pads.

BUT…
when you FINALLY move into the home you plan on settling in, you may or may not have a difficult time
figuring out where things are.
I think this may also have to partially do with the fact that since we moved to the state of New Hampshire two months ago we’ve lived in three different homes, one being a relative’s for a few days and the other two, furnished rentals.
It was great that the rentals were furnished, because we were able to put the majority of our items into storage instead of having to cart them from house to house.
Oy vey! What a royal pain THAT would have been!
I did miss most of my kitchen things though and for that reason I had Mr. 365 take out a few boxes so that I could have some of my essentials when I desired some kitchen time.
Kept me sane in this craziness of not knowing where we were going to be putting down our roots and working full-time at the part-time job that I took.

Anywho…
so, we FINALLY move into this new-to-us-long-term-rental home this past weekend and it became a mad frenzy unpacking and getting settled.
When I was packing in Phoenix, I thought I was doing a pretty darn good job of labeling boxes with what was in them.
Apparently not good enough.
I found things which I hadn’t labeled, which I suppose is a good thing, but don’t exactly know where I’m now going to put them and they are now just sitting in random places.
And going through the boxes labeled pictures, I knew there were said bed sheets and pillowcases in them as well and I was very excited to get beds made so that we could sleep peacefully in our OWN beds the first night.

Ok, so…

• Tip #1 –  DO NOT separate your bed sheet sets IF you should ever decide to wrap them around pictures because you’re going to have a difficult time locating them.
• #2 – make sure you REALLY figure out what size truck or TRUCKS you’re going to be needing when you do make that trek cross country. You don’t want to be throwing things away or donating them if you don’t need to just BECAUSE THEY WON’T FIT IN THE TRUCK!!!
  • Like
    • your mattress when you know you’ll be sleeping on just the box spring
    • trash cans
    • your dryer
    • the piano…and this wasn’t just any piano, it was the upright my parents bought me as a teen so I could take lessons. It stayed in my mother’s home until she died and our kids briefly took lessons on it as well. I had told my husband that this piano would be going WHERE EVER we went and that had included going from Rhode Island to Arizona and then into each of the four homes we lived in while we were there. It just wasn’t something I was willing to part with even though it hadn’t been tuned in ages and was needing about $800 worth of work to get it in shape again. It represented mom. And while I have other things that were hers and have strong sentimental value, there was just something about this piano. The day came of the move and the U-Haul was getting tight. I’d called Teen Challenge a little while earlier in the day to ask if they’d take the dryer and mattress because we were predicting they wouldn’t fit in the truck. Mr. 365 had gone out with the kids for a short time and while they were gone, I called Teen Challenge again and asked if they would have use for a piano that was in need of some work but was in fairly good condition. The gentleman said he’d love to take it, would give it some TLC and knew their chapel would be the perfect place for it.
      • • Sometimes you just need to go with your gut and know that there’s a place for everything. Even when it doesn’t fit in your home or in this case, the truck, it will always have a place in your heart.
  • In all actuality, we probably definitely could have used a larger truck and then a smaller one, but we thought a caravan with one truck and an SUV was large enough.
• #3 – Label those boxes with exactly what’s in them regardless of how much writing you already have all over the boxes. You’ll thank me later. Trust me.

So, we’ve been in the house one week tomorrow. As of today, I still have yet to locate…

• the coffee maker – ironically, we found the box I bought it in. It was filled with the plastic wrap and cardboard that had protected the coffeemaker, AND the humidifier. ???? REALLY?? How on EARTH could we put the humidifier in there, but not the coffee maker? And why would we have left it behind when it doesn’t take up that much space and I had just purchased it weeks before we left??
• the tea kettle
• the camera so that I can take pictures of the FOOD that I’ve started to make
• some pillows (oh yeah, ’cause I used those to stuff on top of the China, so they would by protected on top
• the iron. I have the board, but nothing to use with it.

We’ll get there and if we can’t find the things we’re missing I guess we can always drive to Wally World.

Now,…if I can just find my turtlenecks, sweaters and other pairs of shoes….

I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins!!