The Big Move

And Surviving Hurricane Florence

They say timing is everything, and mine happened to be pretty terrible as far as this move is concerned. Ironically, the last time we moved, Hurricane Matthew had just hit Eastern NC. We didn’t suffer any damage, but it did delay our moving truck by a couple of weeks. What is it with me and moving during hurricanes?!

This time around, the risk was even greater because we actually bought a house in the area hit by the hurricane. In fact, we closed almost exactly a week before it hit.

Pro tip: You can buy a house in someone else’s name using a special Power of Attorney (POA). That’s right, I was able to buy our house without my husband ever seeing as much as the neighborhood in person.

Poor David hasn’t ever stepped foot in the house he now owns, and once news of the severity of Hurricane Florence broke, he was afraid he never would.

Read the full story on building our house HERE.

Our new town of Swansboro received record breaking amounts of rainfall (more than 30 inches!), and by far the most in the state. I’m still evacuated, but from the pictures I’ve seen of our house, the exterior looks unharmed. Unfortunately, a lot of people can’t say the same.

Eastern NC experienced massive flooding along the coast and inland, and it will take a lot of time, effort, and money to rebuild. It’s been amazing to watch how communities are coming together and rolling up their sleeves to provide food, relief, and repairs for families who are suffering.

I’m eager to get back home and check things out for myself, but for now I’ll reminisce on moving in, and look forward to getting things finished.

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Famous Last Words

Before David left for his deployment and I moved home with my parents, he asked me to please not buy a bunch of stuff while he’s gone (he knows how much I love junking and my mom and I are a dangerous duo when we get together). My response was “of course I won’t buy a bunch of stuff…where would I put it?!”

In my defense, I didn’t know I was pregnant when I agreed to this deal. And when you find a great deal on an antique chest or a Mid-Century Modern dresser perfect for the nursery are you really supposed to pass it up? I think not.

I quickly learned to take advantage of all the nooks and crannies of my parents’ house to stash all my goodies and bargain finds, and ended up renting a 6’x12′ Uhaul trailer to carry all my new belongings to NC. #sorrynotsorry 

Thank goodness for parents, because I could not have moved without them. My dad is a master Uhaul packer and knot tier, and my mom has more get-up-and-go than an Energizer bunny. It took us an entire day in the 100 degree heat to get that thing loaded and ready to hit the road.

Eventually, we were ready and mom and I hit the road to NC. Uhaul and all.

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Moving In

It’s funny how in six months I totally forgot how much stuff was crammed into our 15’x20′ storage unit. Or maybe I just blacked it out…moving out was not pretty (and it didn’t help that we waited until two days before David’s deployment to get it done).

My mom literally laid on the ground to hold stuff in so I could open the door to our storage unit. And once it was open, I was partially amused and partially embarrassed at the amount of stuff crammed in there. I’m pretty sure David and his friends are Tetris masters from how well they utilized every inch of space.

Professional movers are worth their weight in gold, y’all. They had everything moved out and loaded in their truck in under two hours. I think it would have taken anyone else at least two days!

Once we got to the house and the movers had everything unloaded, we breathed a big sigh of relief. And then we looked at all the boxes and died a little inside. 

As exciting as it is to unpack everything and be reunited with all my furniture, dishes, and decor, it was a little overwhelming – especially at 7+ months pregnant. My mom is a trooper though and singlehandedly tackled anything that required lifting, a ladder, or being on your feet for more than an hour.

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Calm Before the Storm

Before I show you the mess we created with unpacking, here’s a look at the house while it was still empty.

Upstairs

Downstairs

We got into an unpacking groove and established a system for organizing. The living room was the downstairs drop zone and the loft/office was the upstairs drop zone. Truth be told, mom did most of the unpacking on her own while I made phone calls to utility companies. She’s a fast worker!

The sad thing is, this isn’t even half of what we unpacked. The entire back wall of the living room is lined with wall decor, the kitchen had boxes upon boxes of dishes (and Rae Dunn of course), and upstairs was a smaller version of this organized chaos.

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Work in Progress

In between doctor visits – I had to get established with my new OB – we spent a solid two days decorating. I definitely overestimated how much I’d be able to do, and after the doctor sent me to the hospital to get my legs and feet checked out for swelling (I guess you really are supposed to stay off your feet while pregnant…), I wasn’t much help at all.

Mom, on the other hand, is a total rockstar. She hung six sets of curtains while I sat and directed, and unpacked/set up our entire kitchen, among a million other things.

With so much decorating left to do, I didn’t trust myself to be without supervision in our new house. So, we did as much as we could before heading back to SC together. We knew the hurricane was a real threat at this point, and did the best we could to move irreplaceable and valuable items upstairs in case the house flooded. We prayed over the house and our town before backing out of the driveway, and hoped for the best.

Now that the hurricane has come and gone, I’m breathing a cautiously optimistic sigh of relief. Our town is still without electricity (and has been for the last week), and many of the roads are closed due to flooding and/or flood damage. Some of my new neighbors shared pictures of our street and from the outside everything looks ok.

I’m praying things will look exactly the way we left them inside when I get back to NC this week, and I can’t wait to finish decorating the house before David gets home and we become a family of three (plus Lilly, of course).

It’s definitely still a work in progress, and I can’t wait for a few big pieces like the sectional, crib, and glider to get delivered, and to finish decorating. Regardless of the mess, it already feels like home.

Once we get totally moved in and set up, I’ll do a full home tour. Stay tuned!