If you didn't already know, James & I have moved into our new home! On 7th April, we moved out of our 1 bed flat, into our 2 bed house, on the other side of town.
When I think back to that Saturday, I actually feel quite sick. Not necessarily in a bad way, but even now, the actual moving day was a bit of a blurr. I cried, I laughed, I gained lots of bruises & my back ached for days, but now looking back almost 3 weeks on, all I feel is happiness.
On the morning of the 7th, James & I drove to our house to meet Mark, the guy who would be doing our inventory for us at 9am. This is where it all started to go downhill. I was already stressed from packing manically the week before & once we started looking round the house & pulling it to pieces (every crack, scratch, dent, mark has to be recorded) I was feeling mildly sick. It wasn't until the guy had left & I was standing with James in the middle of the lounge, with nothing surrounding us, I burst into tears. Call it what you will; hormones, excitement, sadness.. it all hit me at once. The house was cold as the tenants before us had moved out a couple of weeks before & all that was going round & round in my head was the guy saying "So this house has had it's fair ware & tare, you can see here this is damaged & this is broken.." Everything got a bit too much & all I could focus on were the negatives. After poor James consoling me best he could, we headed back to our old flat, to meet our "moving family" before loading up the first van full. After another surge of tears & everyone convincing me I'd gone slightly nuts, that this move was honestly the best thing ever, I decided to head back to the new house with my girls to unload the first few boxes.
I love to organise things & be in control so we thought being in the new place unpacking was the best thing for me to do while James stayed at the flat (& it got me out of the flat that I was so upset about saying goodbye to!) The girls were amazing & we set about making ourselves busy in the kitchen, un-packing the cutlery, plates & pans. The boys would occasional rock up with heavy furniture & I could direct it all to the places I wanted them! After an hour or two I was starting to feel more relaxed. My brain had told me this was the right move for us & once I'd got a few of our things into the house, I felt so much better.
If you have moved before, you'll know that the majority of the day is one big blurr & to be honest, that's exactly what it was. I remember unpacking boxes & cleaning & hunting for the kettle (FYI, it was the last thing we found, despite my strategic packing!) but the rest of the day went by so fast.
A few people stayed after we'd moved everything in & we grabbed a cheeky KFC for dinner. Luckily Allan, Alex & James had set up our bed & Maria had been kind enough to make it up for us, so we literally crashed about 9pm.
The next morning, I actually surprised myself & woke up & knew exactly where I was. I wasn't feeling on edge or upset, but content. James woke me up at 8.30 (Tbh I was so tired, I could have slept till midday!) & made me a cup of tea & we set about unpacking a few more boxes. We figured out how to use the washing machine, the hob & attempted putting up the washing line. (Update, I've only just figured out how to properly use it without it collapsing but it's still an on-going battle!)
The following Monday we headed back to the flat to clean. This day probably topped the stress of the moving day.. I absolutely love clean things, I just hate cleaning. We spent the whole day on our hands & knees cleaning the flat top to bottom, before taking photos & heading home.
Friday was our official check out date & as James had to work, I met our agents at the flat to give back our keys. It did feel slightly weird knowing it was the last time I'd ever be in our first home again, but I wasn't as upset as I thought I'd be. It will always be extremely special to me, it was the first home James & I shared together, along with our first Christmas & other countless memories. However, our new home has become so special already.
I hope this post doesn't sound all doom & gloom, I mean, firstly, we now have a garden! YES. A garden! Our outdoor furniture arrived last week & we have been making the most of this "heatwave" by trying to eat breakfast outside in the mornings & having tea in the afternoons. Last weekend, mum & I went to our local garden centre & got some new plants which I have potted in our beautiful pink pots Nicola kindly got me for my birthday. I've also purchased a few seeds, so I'm going to attempt to grow a few onions, carrots & lettuces! I've never been into gardening, but I'm extremely excited to have a garden to experiment with now!
We also have a second bedroom which we have turned into an office / second bedroom. Just having an additional space has made our lives feel alot less cluttered & spacious. I also adore our bedroom & lounge, in the evenings I light all our candles & we have fairy lights on around the windows & TV stand. It's really starting to feel like home.
Writing this post, I honestly thought I'd feel more upset about knowing I'll never be going back to our flat again, but actually, I'm not. I'm so happy in our new place, I never thought it would feel as homely as it does so soon. It was definitely the right time to move on & perfect timing for Summer. I can't wait to get everyone round for a BBQ & games!
I just wanted to say a final thankyou to everyone that helped us move & for all our housewarming gifts. We are seriously so grateful & couldn't have done it without you all!
