This is NOT AT ALL how I planned this month to end. I assumed, I’d have grand pictures of a splendidly decorated home, along with tutorials and tips about how our move was a smooth success. Instead, I have a home STILL on the market, walls that are bare, and no handy-dandy tutorials.

What I DO have though is faith that my God is still on His throne, and He knows when our house will sell. I also know that our new house is slowly but surely coming together and feeling like HOME. I know I have a husband who is willing to sacrifice (no TV during Football Season is HUGE!), and I have two precious boys who will forever be my “home.” We have parents who are willing to bring us their leftovers and help in little ways without saying they’re “helping.”

So instead of a grand, “the end of the make a move series,” I am ending this with a “to be continued”…I don’t know what the rest of our “moving” story holds. I don’t know when the house will sell, and I honestly don’t know how we are going to afford Christmas gifts and goodies for our family and friends, but we will Do The Next Thing, and when it works out. WHEN our home sells, WHEN we are able to give gifts (probably made by hand), WHEN the walls are splendidly decorated, we WILL give all the glory to God.

It’s amazing what one can do without when it’s necessary. If you had told me a month ago that we would be CHOOSING to live without internet and TV during FOOTBALL season, I would’ve laughed at you and said you were insane.

Once we found out our house was going to have to be put back on the market, we decided to give up some things–fast food, internet, TV, random shopping, and those pesky Target trips where I go in for three things and somehow come out with twenty. I thought it would be hard, and if I’m being honest, the most difficult time for me is my drive to work, when I’d like to grab a sausage biscuit or a burrito, but other than that, it’s been fairly easy. We don’t NEED the junk fast food that is so easily accessible, the boys are PLAYING more without TV, and I’m bringing less unnecessary stuff into our home.

It’s also forced us to get a little more creative–more of our birthday and Christmas gifts will probably be homemade, which requires more thought and effort, but less dollars. The boys “needed” costumes for Halloween and our church’s Trunk or Treat. In the past, I would’ve turned to Amazon Prime, and that was tempting. Instead though, I got creative–borrowed some of their daddy’s hats and whistles, Lolli gave us some iron on letters, and costumes were made!

Meet the three cutest coaches I know!

I have no doubt that until our house sells, things will be difficult, but perhaps we’ll continue being stretched and learn more about what is most important.

Also, my almost-two-year-old is NOT a fan of sitting still for photos. 😉

We are down to less than 10 boxes! Considering we brought 77 packed-to-the-brim boxes with us, I’m pretty proud of that accomplishment. Some evenings when I get home after work, the LAST thing I want to do is unpack another box, but I hear my mother’s voice saying “Do the Next Thing,” and if I’m around my children, I think of Dory on Nemo…”just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming” Even if I only open or unpack ONE box, I instantly feel more productive. Last night, I opened TWO, so it was a good day!

I will opening admit, that in some cases, I’ve just moved boxes to the inner recesses of our closet, where I’m sure they’ll sit for months, but I’m okay with that. Hopefully, once we have a break from school, I’ll do a purge and just get rid of things. I think one of the blessings of downsizing, is that I will get rid of even more STUFF. I’m glad to know that my treasure is in heaven, and not in all the boxes we’ve been going through!

Soooooo, obviously if anyone read the intro and first few posts of this series, they are probably asking “where are the tips and tricks for moving?” I’ll be honest. I don’t have many. The few I have:

1. Label, label, label, then label some more. (more on that later)

2. Pinterest (it saves lives or at least some ideas to make things easier)

3. As soon as possible, start cooking!

#3 came as a huge surprise to me, and it’s nothing that anyone mentioned to me when I asked for advice/wisdom/encouragement in our 31 Days FB group. I will admit for the first week and a half after we moved, I avoided cooking like the plague. The LAST thing I wanted to do was fumble through a kitchen trying to find things–I couldn’t remember WHERE we put the Ziplocs for crying out loud! How could I possibly find a measuring spoon?!?! However, since we found out that our house had to go BACK on the market, we are obviously not eating out, so cooking became a bit of a necessity. Also, one can only eat so many packages of shells-n-cheese….

Oddly enough, I think that having meals the last few days together has made our new house feel more like home. There’s something about cooking in a kitchen and then offering the results to family that makes things homey. Certainly, they haven’t been fancy meals–one was a “picnic” in our backyard, and some were on plastic plates, nonetheless, I’m starting to feel at home in my kitchen and the entire house altogether.

Well, it’s officially BACK on the market. We have had two offers, one fallen through contract, and we are at it again. We know that God is in control, and we trust His timing, but we are earnestly praying that we get an offer (that comes through) quickly!

We are also praying that our previous buyers’ sell their house and still want ours…either is a great option.

In trying to look at the positive, I’ve realized it will be nice to be “showing” a home without having to stress over keeping it clean or frantically getting kids and a dog out of the house before viewings. Here’s hoping the third times a charm!