We’ve Arrived!

14 days after moving, we finally have internet connected in our new town home. I’ve missed blogging tremendously and the ease of accessing information. We don’t have unlimited data plans for our cell phones, so it’s crazy how quickly you use up those MBs. Being disconnected helped us in some ways to focus on getting our (overload) of stuff unpacked and in it’s place. Two weeks later and we’re not done yet, but we’re getting there.

This move for law school has taught me a great deal of things in a short time:
* We have too much stuff. If you haven’t used it in years, 2 years, or last year, you don’t need it. (Unless it’s baby stuff and kids clothes.)
* Purging feels awesome, but you should do it before you move.
* If you haven’t used it in ages, put it in a garage sale pile. As that pile grows, your sense of accomplishment grows with it.
* If you’ve been away from facebook for awhile, the day you return will be the day you realize why you don’t miss it.
* Old things become new again after a short time away – Netflix has a kids section on Xbox now!
* “Vacation” with your spouse from work and school is awesome, even if it means hanging out while you unpack and keep each other on task, even when you’re too exhausted to care.
* Unplugged and together with your best friend doing something challenging is actually amazing. It makes for the best laughs and reminds you why you’re in this together.
* Babies will teethe, big girls will become afraid of the dark, and little boys will miss their friends tremendously as soon as you move. This will will mean no sleep for you, just when you need it the most.
* Taking the leap to having zero money is scary. Really scary. Pee your pants scary.
* Food storage will make you feel rich, even when you have nothing.
* Dig out those boxes from storage you haven’t explored in awhile. You never know what you might find –  Old love letters, sweet photographs, the sayings you kept from the insides of fortune cookies from your wedding reception, and beloved toys.
* Order the bigger moving van. Double check that they have it. Make a back up plan.
* I heard this recently at a book club and I’m finding it’s true – “You’re never stuck unless you believe you’re stuck.” When things don’t go the way you planned, create another route, build a new railway to your dream.
* Doing the right thing doesn’t mean it will be easy getting there or that it won’t feel scary as hell.
* The stages of culture shock can hit you in a very short time. Hold on. It’s an emotional ride.
* You can’t make a new home by trying to make it like you’re old one. It will only disappoint.
* Act with confidence, no matter how you truly feel. The real deal isn’t far behind.
* People are amazing. Great friends still exist. Kindness prevails. A strong church community is priceless. 

…and so much more.

This is just the beginning of a whole new stage of our lives. Everyone I’ve spoken to who made the leap like us – early thirties, a few kids, a comfortable job – into law school says they were some of the best years of their lives. They had little, they struggled, but their family grew stronger and they wouldn’t trade it.

Looking ahead, I have no idea what the future will bring. I read this recently in The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball and it has remained with me (and sparked my friend’s comment about never being stuck). If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it.

“When we would talk about your future in private, I would ask Mark if he really thought we had a chance. Of course we had a chance, he’d say, and anyway, it didn’t matter if this venture failed. In his view, we were already a success, because we were doing something hard and it was something that mattered to us. You don’t measure things like that with words like success or failure, he said. Satisfaction comes from trying hard things and then going on to the next hard thing, regardless of the outcome. What mattered was whether or not you were moving in a direction you thought was right.”