Well, I started off this month’s Get More Sleep Challenge with a bang: I got 10 hours of sleep last night! I can’t remember the last time I got that much sleep, but it felt amazing! 🙂
We spent all morning and early afternoon unloading the moving truck. It’s always a little overwhelming to have all your earthly belongings being hauled in at once and dumped in the appropriate rooms. I sort of wished I could wave a magic wand and have everything unpacked and in its place. 🙂
Since the house layout/room set-up is pretty different here than our previous house, we don’t have a basement, and we have fewer rooms/bedrooms than we did in our old house, it’s made figuring out where everything goes a little more interesting! But we’re really happy with what we finally worked out… now we’ll see how it works!
I’m so thankful my youngest sister, Olivia, is here with us through tomorrow. She’s been a huge help. I can’t even count all the boxes she unpacked today or the hours she saved me! We’re going to be sad to see her leave in the morning. 🙁
After about three hours of unpacking, I needed a breather, so Silas and I left to go get lunch for everyone and coffee for me (mama needs her coffee!). That was an adventure, to say the least. I learned which roads were one-way (yikes!), got stuck in traffic, and was ever-so-thankful for a GPS. Navigation in new areas (or even in areas I’ve driven in time and time again!) has never been my strong suit. 😉
We made it back safe and sound and jumped right back into unpacking. A little while later, the doorbell rang. It was a neighbor with a bouquet of sunflowers. She had seen our Kansas license plate and had gone and bought us a bouquet of sunflowers. How amazingly thoughtful was that?!?
She came back a bit later and brought me a little notebook. She shared how they had moved here from across the country a few years ago and it had been so difficult for her. One of the things that had helped her tremendously was to write down three blessings every day. Remembering this, she wanted to give me a notebook and encourage me to do the same. I can’t begin to tell you how much this touched and encouraged me that she had gone out of her way to do this for me!
The doorbell rang again and it was another neighbor. She brought her children over to meet us and, within minutes, our kids had bonded. Pretty soon, they were racing each other on the sidewalk, riding bikes, and talking all things Minecraft. These neighbor children introduced my children to more neighbor children and, by nightfall, my kids have a gaggle of new friends!
Again, this was such a blessing. It warms my Mama heart to see my children connecting so well with other children — especially since they were so sad to move and it was so difficult for them to leave their friends and relatives behind in Kansas.
I had hoped to have almost all of the boxes unpacked by tonight (yes, I kind of set an ambitious goal!) and that didn’t happen (surprise, surprise!). But we did make major headway today and have almost all of the first floor unpacked and set up.
Tomorrow, I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to finish most of the upstairs so that we aren’t living out of boxes on Monday… I’ll let you know if we hit that goal or not! 🙂
It sounds like you found an amazing neighborhood! That is so wonderful to have neighbors comes over and introduce themselves, I know it may seem akward, but in the end it always works out for everyone, God bless and good luck!
Congratulations on the move! I know this is an exciting time for you and your family! I lived in Nashville while I went to college and I still call it home! It is were I established myself and discovered who I truly was etc. My heart is still in Nashville and a day doesn’t go by that I don’t think of it and all my friends there.
Best of luck on the transition and learning where those light switches are etc. I always find that the hardest part when moving somewhere new…what does that switch go to?
Enjoy those friendly neighbors! They sound wonderful! Many prayers and blessings to you and your family as you settle in!
Your new neighbourhood sounds lovely! I have to say, I’m quite jealous. I’m not sure if it’s just the difference in countries, but I’ve never experienced hospitality like that here in Australia. We have nice enough neighbours but not ones that’d bring us flowers, that’s for sure!
This has inspired me to be that person though!
Good luck and God bless the rest of the unpacking process!!
I am so glad to hear that everything is going well and that us Southerners gave you a warm welcome!
Crystal, Welcome to Nashville! I have followed your blog for 6 or 7 years now. You’ve taught me so much! I can’t believe that we’re in the same city now. Maybe I’ll run into you at the grocery store (ha! I say that like there’s only one grocery in this city!)
I look forward to reading about your new adventures here in my hometown.
That is so neat that your new neighbors are so friendly. What a huge blessing! I hope to be like that but so often let busyness get in the way. We were similarly blessed yesterday as we bought new land this winter and will be building a home on it as soon as we sell our current home. Yesterday we were over there working on the land (planting fruit trees) and our neighbors (an older couple that we bought the land from but didn’t know and hadn’t met because they go south for the winter) saw us out and came out to greet us, invited us in their home, offered us hot chocolate and we just completely welcoming. That is such a wonderful blessing to have good neighbors!
Welcome to your new home! I’m glad that you arrived safely and am amazed at how quickly you’re unpacking!! I hope that this is the start to a wonderful new journey for you and your family. It sounds like you have terrific neighbors.
Many blessings to you.
P.S. I’d love to see the rest of your house! 🙂
Crystal, I am so, so happy for you! I’m a Tennessee girl relocated to California, and I’m so glad you’re loving my home state so far! All the best to your family.
Crystal God is SO good! I just smiled reading your post because (and you know this!) HE ordained your move, the neighbors, the entire process for your good. Blessings in your new home! I enjoy your site tremendously – God Bless you and yours. 🙂
Yes, He is SO good! And thank you for your sweet encouragement!
I follow your blog and I must have missed something as well, did you say why you were moving? And none of my business is an OK answer. I really liked your book, lots of helpful information and I recommend your blog to lots of women.
Thanks for your kind encouragement! I shared some about why we’re moving here: https://moneysavingmom.com/2014/04/headed-nashville-changes-coming-blog.html
So glad your move went smoothly! I imagine being in the Nashville area must open up a world of business growth opportunities for you! Our jobs tie us to the greater NY area, but I admire people who are able to make these moves and see what doors God may be opening up in this other area. I look forward to reading more about this new adventure!
Crystal, this is so heart warming and encouraging! My family & I will be moving to TN from IL in the near future as well. So thrilled that you and your family are being blessed beyond measure!
I hope you have just as great of an experience as we’ve had! It’s a BEAUTIFUL country, with even more beautiful people!
We have been living in a temporary location for the last year and I have learned so much about how it feels to be loved on as a newcomer!!! It is convicting and motivating for me that when we get back to our permanent location and have new neighbors, folks at church, etc. to just reach out to them. The smallest gestures mean so much!!! It is so worth the effort!
Yes! The warmth and friendliness has been so very inspiring to us to look for ways to bless and encourage others who are newcomers to an area or situation.
If you want to take a road trip Meijer is opening in Bowling Green, KY in June!
Our realtor said it and it’s true, for women the kitchen makes the home. 🙂
Oh, thanks for that tip!
Wow, I’m out of the loop! I knew I’d not had time to read blogs a whole lot for a while, but I didn’t realize how long it’d been. 🙂 I totally missed the fact that you were moving.
Your new kitchen is beautiful! Glad you arrived safely and blessings as you settle in! May God settle you and stablish you in this new path of your life.
Thank you so very much!
There is nothing like living in the south. It sounds like you have made a great choice for your family.
Aw, so great to hear it’s going well! We’ve moved a lot and I still miss Georgia’s easygoing friendliness. It’s so easy to make friends in the south! You’ll love it I’m sure.
And those sunflowers are just beautiful! How sweet of your neighbor!
I so agree!
wow! you are blessed with such a nice neighbors! It sounds so amazing!
I’m so happy to hear you’ve been made to feel welcome! As someone who has moved across the country with a family, I certainly know how much that means. We happen to be moving out of our house right now too, and into a 5th wheel for a 1 year cross-country trip. My move is a little easier than yours though because my new house is in my driveway 🙂
I *just* gave your blog name out to someone a few weeks ago who was thinking of doing what you’re doing!
Wow! Everything is going so perfectly for y’all 🙂
So many answered prayers… we’re humbly grateful! And so very thankful to all who have prayed for us in this transition. {Hugs!}
I’m so happy things are going well and you are almost unpacked. I’m hoping our move and unpacking will be successful like yours- 3 weeks to go here.
I have been praying that The Lord would bless you in many unexpected ways during this stressful week. 🙂 So HAPPY to hear your move went off without a hitch and that your kids have found solid ground already. Praying your weekend is super productive, though it took me a month to unpack everything during our last move. If you can do it in a weekend, someone needs to give you an award! Lol Blessings 🙂
God is most definitely answering your prayers … THANK YOU for praying! We’ve been overwhelmed by the kindness of so many blog readers who care so much for us and have been praying for us in this move. It humbles us and inspires us!
A crazy question !! Where did u move crystal ?
We moved to Tennessee!
This just brought tears to my eyes. I love how God is tangiably showing you His love and care for you through your neighbors and the children connecting with kids. It’s even more a confirmation you’re right where He wants you! Blessings to you!
Yes! We’re humbly grateful!
What wonderful neighbors! We definitely noticed the difference in the way strangers and neighbors act in the south when we lived in TN (Knoxville).
I’m so glad your kids have already found some playmates, I’m sure the move away from long-time (lifetime to them) friends and close family has been challenging.
I’ll be praying for speedy unpacking today and good attitudes for the whole family 🙂
Thank you so very, very much for your prayers!
Got tears in my eyes from how the Lord has blessed you with such thoughtful neighbors and new friends for the kids! So pleased you are off to such a good start. Blessings!
God is so good!
So glad to here that all is going well.
We moved cross country 8 years ago and it was was so very hard! What a huge blessing that people are so friendly there. I hope it continues to go well!
Reading this this morning brought tears to my eyes, what a good God we serve who delights in shower us with multitude of blessings. You have been a blessing to me. I pray God continue blessing you and your family as you settle in a new area.
Yes! We feel truly overwhelmed by His goodness!
Glad you arrived safely friends. Keep an eye out on other rentals now that you have yours. See you in August/September.
p.s. My wife appreciates living vicariously through your move by reading your blog. Gives us hope that our transition will be smooth too.
We’ll definitely keep an eye out for you! Hoping for a wonderfully smooth & blessed transition for you all, too. I know it will be bittersweet, but we’ll be praying for strength, encouragement, and special blessings!
So encouraging! I am hoping for neighborhood friends above all ! Maybe I’ll put blinking lights around our South Dakota plates 🙂
LOL!
Hoping you’re able to find a neighborhood that is really friendly and warm, too! Excited for you all and we will be praying for you!
{Let us know when you decide for sure when you’re moving and where you’re moving. We want to help out with moving/unpacking, etc. in any way we can!}
Enjoy your new home and town…in 8 weeks it will be my turn. We’ll be moving for the first time ever! From NY to GA…I got butterflies in my stomach.
{Hugs!} I hope it turns out to be a wonderful experience for you all!
Pat Gomez : Welcome to Georgia! I hope you and your family have a safe and smooth move here 🙂 Do you mind me asking which part of the state you’re relocating too ?
We moved from Nashville last summer and really miss it. It a great place! Blessings on your new adventure!
I am glad you are having such a great experience moving. My husband and I moved a year and half ago from mid Minnesota to Iowa. It has been difficult as we don’t have children at home anymore and I don’t think it is right to get co workers to be your best buddy due to possible conflicts. But I must say it is a little easier. Worst part is my husband is in school so we may have to move again. Next time I will try further south sounds more welcoming.
We have no children at home also.Hardest move was the one we did 15 months ago from North Carolina to Georgia.People didn’t welcome us to the area .Some of how the people are is if it is a transient area. I could tell you stories about some closed up cities in the south so they are not all welcoming.
Sounds like the move is going well so far! 🙂 Glad the kids have already made friends too.
When we moved here, there was a women’s small group offered at a church in Franklin called “Moving On” and it’s all about adjusting to a move. They might be offering it again. It was wonderful! Moves can bring out all kinds of emotions, and it was nice to have a place to talk and find out you’re not alone.
Thanks so much for the suggestion!
And that is how a military move goes, at least when it goes well 😉 so glad you’re having a positive experience
God is good! I truly love that your kids are already making friends! And those flowers are beautiful. I wonder if she knew it was the state flower of KS?
I know exactly what you mean about navigating a new BIG city. I’m doing better 5 months in but still get confused in some areas! So thankful for GPS too!
Loving these glimpses into your life!
Yes, I think she did! I was pretty amazed at her attention to detail and thoughtfulness!
That is so heartwarming to hear! I am a Jersey girl, and when I moved to Mississippi, I was overwhelmed as well by the generosity and warmness of southerners. As a newlywed, it still seems awesome, how kind and thoughtful others are in unexpected ways; I have a neighbor, a retiree, who often blows the leaves or debris off of our driveway and curb, when he does his own lawn because he knows I am busy working-from-home in my office. He once told me that he imaged I worked better with a clean yard! Neighbors can be awesome!
I LOVE this!
You are drinking coffee again? When did that happen? 🙂 Things sure are changing – you are posting things on Sunday and you are back on coffee :). Glad to hear your moving is going so well and yay for 10 hours of sleep!
🙂 I only went off of coffee when I did the 30-Day No Coffee, No Sugar, No Gluten thing. I learned a lot from it, but one thing I learned is that I feel *better* when I drink some coffee everyday! Go figure. So I’ve been drinking it, but as I’ve mentioned in my recent cutting back on sugar posts, I cut way back on the sugar I use in it.
Oh and I have started pre-scheduling a few posts to run on Sundays on Facebook because we discovered that with Facebook’s changes, if I don’t post at all on Sunday, Facebook doesn’t show my posts to hardly anyone on Mondays and Tuesdays. However, I’m still offline and not posting on the blog, just pre-scheduling the Facebook posts. I hope that clarifies there. I love my quiet, offline Sundays!
I knew that facebook only showed a VERY small percentage of posts to fans and that the more “likes” and “shares” you get, the percentage goes up. I DIDN’T know about what not posting 1 day would do to your reach the next 2 days! Thanks for that info! How do you schedule a facebook post? Are you just scheduling them on paper for yourself to post on Sundays or can you actually set it up ahead of time on facebook to automatically post? Because that would be awesome!
So glad about your neighbors! Neighbors can make or break where you are living.
You can choose to post a post immediately, or you can click on the little clock sign at the bottom of the post on Facebook to choose when to post a post. I use this feature all the time and LOVE it!
Thank you sooooo much! This is great! I am going to try this out right now!
That’s neat, I didn’t know about that trick! I’m glad you’re settling in and your kids have met some new friends. 🙂 We were just in Nashville yesterday for my daughter to have some medical testing. Maybe we can meet up next time!
The waving comment….so funny because its something my little Yankee of a husband commented when he moved down here in the deep south. Its just something we do. And in this area you hear a lot of “How’s you momndem?” Which means “How is your family?” Southerners are usually the nicest people. Welcome to the South. Now figure out how to make sweet tea so you have something to offer people when they visit.
I gotta work on my sweet tea making skills for sure! If anyone has tips or recipes, send them my way! 🙂
We love everybody here in Tenn! Lol… I’m so thankful that your neighbors reached out to you today! What a great start.
Such a great story. It is good to know that there are still polite & friendly people out there. I missed stories of why you were moving, but I wish you Good luck in your new home.
I know, it warms my heart to see how kind and friendly people are here. And it inspires me to pass it on!
How many people waved at you today? I’m from a Georgia and a family friend once told me about moving from up north into my hometown. She said that every time she drove down the street or walked around town, people were waving at her and she couldn’t understand why? She was told that it was just the friendly nature of us southern folks, we might never talk to you in person but we may wave to ya every mornin’ anyways!
We’ve been so amazed at how almost everyone talks to you — asks how you’re doing, seems genuinely interested, offers to help! So incredible!
We moved from NJ to Alabama 15 yrs ago and the waving and friendliness blew us away, too. Love the south!
OOOOOHHHH!!! This warms my heart! What an insta-friend in the sunflower/journal neighbor! The Lord truly does provide all you need all the time. I’m so thankful the kids are seeing ways He is good too! Hope the weekend keeps bringing sweet surprises!
YES! Missing you, friend, and hope you have a wonderful weekend! See you soon!
So awesome to see how God is blessing you guys! I’m humbled to see how much He cares about the little details of our earthly lives! (I’m also a wee bit jealous that I’m not one of your new neighbors! 😉 )
Yes! He’s so good! I’m humbly grateful!
Wow! That is so awesome about your neighbors! 🙂
This is so encouraging to read, Crystal! I’ve been praying for your move and your kids to find friends. So neat to see how everything went today!
THANK YOU so very much! God is answering your prayers in pretty amazing ways!