In the past 4 years, I have moved 5 times.
Yes, you read that right.
And that is just moving where ALL of my belongings went with me. There were also 3 long-term periods away from home that, in my book, felt just like full moves.
Growing up
I thought my family moved a lot. From birth to when I left for college, I had moved homes 5 times, and lived in 5 states. I ended up going to three different elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school. Then I moved one more time out to college and met my husband, who is in the military. Boy was I in for a treat!
Moving with Chase
Once Chase and I got married, we lived in on-campus married student housing for 10 months. (And 3 of those months we actually lived with Chase’s family so he could work for his dad). It wasn’t glamorous, but it worked for our needs.
Then in the fall, we learned that we could legally be kicked out once Chase would graduate the following spring. Since we didn’t have his military orders yet, we didn’t want to risk it. Who knows when we would be leaving?? May? December? So we found a cute townhome close to campus where we lived for the next 7 months.
Moving with the Military
Chase’s first orders sent us across the country about 2,000 miles away. We lived in hotels for 13 days. It. Was. Horrible. I love hotel visits. But only ones where I don’t have to worry about getting robbed. Or waking up early to start another full day of driving. We packed all of our belongings into a storage unit for 10 days until we could get into our new place.
Next, we moved our things into a small townhome where we lived for 3 months. That is where I spent most of my days throwing up and attending OB appointments for baby Kaladin. At this point, we knew that once Chase’s training was over, we would continue to spend a year or so where we were stationed. So we started house hunting!
After a few bumps in the road, we bought our first home! Our closing date got pushed back further than expected, which, again, meant moving all of our belongings into a storage unit, living in a hotel, and then finally moving everything into our new home! As exhausting as it was, it was a huge blessing that Chase was on casual status so I could have help packing and unpacking.
His first training date was pushed up a little too close for comfort at the last minute. Which at this point we should have seen coming. It is the military. So we lived in our new home for 2 weeks, and then parted ways for the next 3 1/2 months.
He headed to his first training while I moved in with my family. (I needed help at the end of my pregnancy, and with the baby once he came.) Chase came to live with me while on his paternity leave, and then we headed back to his same training location for the second class.
We are currently living in a cute AirBnb for 3 months…and now we’re all caught up!!
Moving is insane…and stressful…and exhausting. I know. Check out my top ten moving tips to make it SO much easier!
