There are a few things I can count on that are always the same right before we move. I always have a moment where I literally ache to stay. It’s so close to the reality of everything changing that the comfort of familiarity feels too hard to leave.

I also love the moments of family time in those final (and first) weeks that feel more close and special within our family.

Moving overseas gives urgency to seeing family one last time that’s so different from just a regular stateside move. We knew we had to make this massive trip happen, but I can’t tell you how many times I just wanted to stay home…stress makes me collapse in on myself sometimes. It’s not easy to take the kids out of school and miss work for 14 days and spend 6 of those days just driving, BUT IT WAS WORTH IT.

One of the things on my list this week was emptying out Nola’s room to be our “No Pack” room. She has the least amount of furniture and belongings, so her room is our designated space to separate out our things we are packing with us and the things that need to go ahead of us in our smaller air shipment. I’ve got 4 different checklists on my phone right now for these different shipments and what we need to remember.

No we’re not there yet…in fact, we’re only nine hours into a 26 hour drive. Before any military move we usually try to visit our parents and extended family, but with an overseas move it feels more urgent, and takes a whole lot more effort too. So here we are, nine hours in we’re feeling “are we there yet” pretty intensely.