How to prepare for a fast move

11: HOW TO PREPARE FOR A FAST MOVE

5/11/2018

SO I love change but careful what you wish for...Since the new year, in a nut shell, my granny died, we found out we were pregnant with baby #2, we found out we lost the baby, I had very low mood after the loss, we found out Cory's work was re-locating so we had to buy a house further south and sell our house, I decided to leave my current workplace and apply for other jobs further south, and we had to find new daycare. Read more to find out how I stayed calm during the process.

OUR STORY

I seriously feel like we were JUST here. Two years ago, Cory and I met and within 3 months decided to start a family. We had two dogs at the time, we were renting and needed to find a home ASAP. I was changing jobs, dealing with prenatal anxiety and money was TIGHT. We needed to prepare for a baby, think of nearby daycares, and just figure out how to have fun throughout the process!

WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR

Fast forward and here are some of the changes that have happened this year:

December: My grandmother died, we found out my brother and his girlfriend were expecting
January: We found out we were having baby #2
February: We went on a family trip to Florida (thinking I was pregnant but baby was already dead), Rockie's 1 year old bday and two days later we confirmed that we had lost the baby
March: I physically lost the baby near end of March, my brother's baby was born
April: I found out that my miscarriage was 100% complete after weeks of blood work, my sister's baby was born
May: We found out Cory's work was maybe moving somewhere...no idea where
June: Begin search...for homes/jobs/daycares within a 2 hour radius of everywhere lol
July: We found out his work was going to Scarborough, begin focused search and notifying my workplace that I was leaving + was offered a contract coordinating an Indigenous collective from home (DUH...I said yes) put an offer on a home, put our house up for sale, interviews, daycare visits, etc.
August: Summer festivities, parties, birthdays, + sold our house, moved in to our new home August 31st
September: left my other workplace, settled in to our new home, new daycare and spent some time decorating/looking for work.
October: still trying to figure out what I want to do but I think I decided that, although I am open if something comes along, that I will ONCE AND FOR ALL launch my doula practice and work both for the Chigamik Indigenous Doula Collective as well as Mountain Momma Collective.

This brings us to now...November where I am sitting here feeling like some days, we just lost the baby again and other days feeling so much guilt that Rockie is in daycare full-time and I am "figuring things out" and other days SO grateful and move myself forward so much.

CHECK OUT SOME PERSONAL PHOTOS

Before I jump into why I only have 2 tips for a fast move...here are some personal photos of our move...

Our cabin in the woods :( we didn't have a lot of money when we got this only for 158k...and it was a total fixer upper but we did what we could by saving and doing one thing at a time.

We had to stage it like this every morning...with a toddler and a massive drooling dog :P

Our last family photo n the house...I'm going to really miss those trees :(

Cory and Bruce sitting in our empty home.My mom has Rockie, we just need to sweep the floor and say goodbye :(

On to new things...Rockie admiring her new fish pond (this is such a beautiful ZEN space in our front yard...) so in love

Our new bedroom furniture...I am having fun decorating and spending a little bit of our profit money :P but my MAIN goal is to create a calming space. We got rid of so much when we moved and I really want everything in this house to be clean & calm.

What our mornings look like...

There you have it...you could say that our new home is "BIGGER" but to me, it's a constant daily reminder that if you are not happy with the small, you won't be happy with the big. What do I mean by this??? I caught myself the other day huffing and puffing about the addition to our home that is older, not renovated and we have lots of work to do in it...um sorry addition to our home? Our other house had carpet in the kitchen and bathroom and gas station signs holding up the bathroom wall LOL...

I am not saying compare your life to something crappier so you can be happy with what you have...I am saying LOVE that kitchen with the carpet, be grateful for it, create memories there, appreciate the day that you had enough money to replace it, and love on those photos you take after. It is ONLY with that level of pure gratitude that you can be grateful for the SAME time of stuff when your home is bigger.

MY TOP 2 TIPS

Okay...the goodness. If I had to pick two things it would be...

1) DEVELOP TRUST

I always hear of people talking about their relationships in that trust is #1 but they are often talking about adultery or them being around others in that they need to "trust them". I am not talking that kind of trust here...I am talking trust that the universe HAS YOUR BACK.

You have this exciting change ahead of you, something is changing - I know it may not be the same stuff as me but it is something. To me, this means that somewhere in your life you were open to the possibility of change or it would not have come your way. This means that you can handle it! You will handle it and will come out of it with even more life lessons than you can imagine.

Trust in yourself...that you will find work, that you will unpack things accordingly, that you will triage things to cleanse your home even more, that you will budget accordingly to be able to "survive" that you will continue to practice gratitude because no one wants to hire a stressed out ungrateful worried junkie.
Trust in your partner...that they are doing what they can as well, no nagging, control what you can and encourage, love more, support more, more will get done that way ;)
Trust in your kids...that they will develop beautiful lives in a new place, that they can adjust, that you will create the best memories in a new space and that they will turn out to be exactly who they are meant to be because of this move.

2) OH LORD...MAKE SURE YOU USE YOUR PATIENCE

Okay...when I met Cory he said he was impatient but seriously...life or death I am the LEAST patient one of us both. I want it all, fast, in a compressed period of time, before I go to bed, I want it to be consistent, structured but fun, no stress, with balance, flexibility, calmness, candles, good times, some candy & chocolate and a sexy body and sweat pants on the runway and not an ounce of dust anywhere...

MAN...Thank god for Cory.

In order to go through a FAST move, I had to first trust that everything was going to be okay relying on myself, my partner, my children and the powers that be...and THEN wait for it to happen!

I just wanted to know...what our room would look like, how I would decorate it, how much profit we were going to make, where would I be in 60 days, how would Rockie settle at her new daycare, would Cory be okay at his new job, what would it be like in the winter in this new town, will I make friends there, can I continue blogging there, what about bruce...will he be less anxious with a fenced in yard, what will our Christmas be like???

Okay...so you can start to see how anxiety can creep in.

IF you can truly trust the process, you now need to be patient and now wish your life away. Although a move happens FAST, do not forget to bend down at your kids level and watch her draw or ask her questions about her day. Do not forget to put work aside, stop looking for jobs for a night and spend time with your partner...take a nice nature walk to remember the smells around your old neighbourhood. TAKE TIME....take time to absorb where you are and embrace where you are because again...if you don't embrace the present and patiently await all the beauty that life holds for you...you are wishing it away.

CONCLUSION

There you have it! I am sure some of you have moved faster than this with MORE variables involved but this was my experience and I think if I had to do it over again I would still focus on TRUST and PATIENCE. Send me your moving stories! How fast did you find out you decided to move, what kind of things were thrown into the mix to make it challenging for you??? Share your story with me below.

SHARE YOUR STORY HERE

MY FAVOURITE NURTURING RESOURCES

For your soul
The Desire Map
The book that gave me ultimate clarity on making decisions to get back to myself after giving birth.

For your energy
Herbalife Nutrition Herbal Tea
This tea gives me incredible energy and vitality. A blend of green tea and orange pekoe with cardamom seed and hibiscus.