The POD is packed!

             I say again, the POD is packed (and probably picked up by now).  I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally be packed for the move.  Please keep in mind that I have been packing since May due to needing to be out of both my classroom and townhouse by the end of June.  Being in a constant state of packing is tough, but I know it will all be worth it once we get there.  Now for a little impromptu advice about packing, PODs and moving in general…

            Get rid of EVERYTHING!  Haha you say, but seriously though, the more you can give up/donate/sell before hand the better off you are going to be.  Throughout this long process I have been trying and trying to downsize.  I have gone from wanting to just leave it all behind to wanting to save things that probably didn’t need to come because I might need them when we get to our new home (which we still don’t have picked out yet).  However, now that I have been packed for awhile, I can honestly say that there are some things sitting in our POD that I intend to give up pretty immediately once we get there. So if you can stand to part with it, do! 

            Our POD is a 16ft leviathan that basically is just the type of container that goes on the back of a truck.  Two things that you definitely need for packing a POD is good spatial awareness and a propensity for Tetris and patience, ok three.  PODs are sectioned off into four areas via four by fours and eye hooks which you can use to create webbed “walls” with rope.  This is where my scouting and canoeing background comes in handy as Joe has no idea as to what to do about knots (love you, honey!).  Packing and repacking each section as boxes became available was tedious, but well worth the piece of mind.  Obviously there is no guarantee that our possessions will make it to the other side of the country safe and sound, but I feel pretty good about the chances.  What is most shocking to me is that we absolutely filled that POD, with very little furniture, mostly just boxes.  Now I know that we are combining two houses and a classroom into that thing, but seriously?! Full?!  Yes, yes it is.  This just makes me want to get rid of things all the more when we get to Seattle, because I really don’t want to start Joe and I’s new home together with a ton of junk.  ::sigh::

Now that the POD is packed, it’s really hitting me how little time we have left here.  We will be heading out early Sunday morning to begin our road trip.  Joe and I have been trying to spend as much time as possible with friends and family and have really been enjoying the social time. J  Thanks to everyone who has made an effort to come to see us or have us come to see them this week!  We really do feel incredibly loved and fortunate to have so many wonderful people in our lives.  We will be back in the area for Christmas without a doubt and we may be back this fall for a weekend of RenFair!  We will keep you posted on those developments. 

2 weeks to go...

            There’s only 2 weeks to go before we pack up the car (and the dog) and head off West!  I’m so excited/nervous/excited/stressed/excited/sad/excited that I can hardly contain myself!  The POD will be here on Friday, so we can finally pack up all the boxes that have been sitting at Joe’s and feel like we’re actually getting things done. 

Mostly I’ve been spending this time trying to luxuriate in the feeling of being here.  Taking my time in the morning lounging on my parent’s sofa with a cup of coffee, one of Mom’s magazines and my parent’s jack russells while I day dream about decorating our new place; having dinner with my parents and grandmother or lunch with friends in the afternoons; going out the barn to volunteer my time with the horses and the kids I’ve been working with for the past year.  I’ve also been trying to schedule as much time with friends as possible, so if I haven’t gotten a chance to see one of you yet, please give me a call so we can try and spend some time together!  And of course, I’ve been helping Joe pack and trying to get the last of my own things packed up and ready to go.  I still can’t believe how much stuff I’ve accumulated over the years!  There have definitely been times when I just want to leave it all behind and start completely from scratch, but there are too many things I just can’t bear to leave.  Oh well.

            The yard sale last Saturday was a great success.  We got most of our traffic from 7:30 AM to 10:30 AM.  Word to the wise, there is no reason to have a yard sale past noon.  No one comes, so you might as well just have it again the next morning if you really need to sell stuff.  Also, the detailed Craig’s list post I did about the yard sale really, really helped.  We probably could have forgone the flimsy garage sale signs I bought at Walmart and still would have been ok.  We kept putting things out and putting things out all morning and there were still things we forgot to put out.  When it was all over I looked at all the things that hadn’t sold and felt like we could still do a yard sale out of it!  Most of the leftovers were packed up for Purple Heart to come pick up and a few things were brought back into the house to be packed up (only a few!).  We made a nice chunk of change to go towards furnishing our new home.  Speaking of which..

            No, we do not have a house yet.  We are hoping to get a property near one of our friends that has the most AMAZING view ever, but the realtor won’t call us back.  At this point we have decided to save our money and head out with a final destination of a dog friendly hotel as opposed to our own place.  Since POD gives us a free month of storage, we’ll have plenty of time to peruse the housing market instead of getting stuck with something sight unseen, which might have hidden issues. 

            On a new topic, the BBQ that we had Saturday night was fantastic!  Thank you to everyone who was able to come by.  Joe and I feel incredibly fortunate and loved by our many, many friends!  We will miss all of you and have a special pace in our hearts and open space on our futon for everyone.  Come and visit us as soon as you can!

It's offical...

…we’re moving to Seattle!

Now for the FAQ.  Most people when I tell them that say “Congratulations!”.  Followed almost immediately by one of the following questions; “Why?”, “Do you have family out there?”, Do you guys have a job yet?”.  I think the hardest of these questions is the first one.  So instead of telling “why” we’re moving to Seattle, let me tell you what it is about Seattle that we’re really excited about.

Seattle is a beautiful, lush place with amazing views of cloud covered mountains peeking through like storybook kingdoms. 

It is a very artsy place, which means that it has a great music scene (in fact one of Joe’s favorite bands is from there) and will hopefully help me rejuvenate some of my dormant creativity. 

The people in Seattle are exceptionally friendly.  When we went out to visit in February, we were chatted up in bars, lines and pizza joints (Serious Pie…yummm) by people we had never met before, who wanted nothing from us, but talked to us like old friends, bought us drinks, and offered us advice about the area.  This is such a change from the stiff, keep to yourself attitudes of northern Virginians that we were taken aback at first and kept waiting to hear what it was they actually wanted from us.

Everyone hikes, bikes and goes outside in Seattle.  Yes, it drizzles or mists a lot in Seattle.  Often it flat out rains, but people there don’t seem to mind.  Everyone rides a bike, there are even actual bike lanes on the road!  People who we know form Northern VA who were never really the “outdoorsy” type actually spend their weekends outside hiking, skiing, canoeing and whatnot.  I’ve really missed these kinds of things since moving to NOVA and can’t wait to get back into the outdoors without having to drive an hour to do so.

The farmers markets in February were amazing.  There was tons of fresh fruit and vegetables and they all looked fantastic.  From the little we actually tasted, everything was delicious, most of it was organic and it was mostly local.  If that’s what’s available in February I can wait to try what will be there during the summer and fall months!

We will be within quick travel distance of several other amazing places including: Vancouver (about 2 hours), Portland (about 2 hours), Alaska (3 hour plane ride), Hawaii (quick plane ride), and the wonders of California (Napa, San Diego, and San Francisco).  All of which are places we’re hoping to travel to during extended weekend trips once we get settled.

Did I mention it’s beautiful?  On our trip out there we absolutely fell in love with Alki Beach.  The stony beach, with its tide pools full of hidden treasures; vibrant anemones, spiky urchins, and the occasionally darting shrimp or fish, were just captivating.  The view of the skyline of Seattle (complete with Space needle) off to our right was only matched by the Olympic Mountains and wooded beach off to our left.  Everywhere we went, there were amazing views, breathtaking sunsets and picturesque bungalows.  Who wouldn’t want to live around all that scenery?

So now we can get to the hard questions.

Do we have family there?

  No, but we have some amazing friends who went out from Northern VA and never came back, which gives us a good indication of how it compares to NOVA.

Do we have jobs yet?

  No, not yet, but if an elementary teacher and an IT guy can’t get a job in Seattle, then there’s something else going on.

Do we have a house yet?

 No again, but we’re planning a quick trip out there in July to house hunt and do some interviews.  We’ve been keeping tabs on what’s available and there are some great places for rent that are considerably less then what we would be spending back in NOVA.

Are we excited?

  Yes!  Neither of us has ever lived on the west coast before, so we are absolutely excited at all the possibilities and new adventures this will bring.

Which brings us back to our original question of why?  The easy answer is; why not?  The long answer is that we love our family and friends here in NOVA, but we are ready for the next adventure and what could be more adventurous then moving to the other side of the country and taking a week long car ride (with the yorkie) to get there?

We’re hoping to have lots of amazing things to post about along the way and once we get there.  Hopefully you’ll enjoy the ride along with us as you read along.