Moving on out? Over? Across? Up?

- November 26, 2022

From June 1st to Nov 13th the "we are moving to Italy" felt like a bit of a hypothetical - a maybe.

While Facebook reminds us of 9 years ago when the house was being built
it went up for sale! Later in the day it snowed.

The reality check came as we watched our belongings - things we won't see for five years and things we we won't see until March - be packed into crates, nailed shut, and driven away.

This is just one moment in a string of moments leading up to us boarding the airplane and looking down at Fairbanks for the last time for a long time. But this was a pretty big moment in that string of moments. In typical of our DoD international move experience, the date of our move changed. Apparently the contracted moving companies don't care that I literally wrote the second quarter lesson plans around the two moving dates that we selected months earlier. My Type A, planning, organized, and practical self is learning to be more flexible which, apparently, is an actual survival tactic of being a DoD minion away from home. After some rearranging, and lesson plan rewriting, our dates were set to transition from our our 9 year home at Moonlight Mansion to suitcases and Chena Ridge.

Olaf was helpful and then he was pooped. The Head Mover got bonus points when he set down a huge stack of moving paper for him to make a nest on then he found the yet unpacked yoga mat.

I'm pretty proud of how much we did to prep for the movers: we meticulously went through everything we owned. We made giant piles of stuff to come to Italy and those to leave behind. We donated old clothes that we never wear. We gifted things that we couldn't decide what to do with. We threw away treasures that over the years have transition into "why do we still have this?" We laughed at memories long packed away and cried at old photo prints of moments captured in time. By the time the movers came we felt really confident that we had done what we could - to have what we need in Italy, to preserve what we wanted long term, and to let go of literal extra weight that we won't miss.

Our master bathroom was the "don't take this stuff" hodgepodge!

It is really a mentally challenging exercise to look at all the things you own and try to decide what you'll need for the next 130 days considering the possibility of -40 Alaska and whatever greets us with a Mediterranean spring. One week after waving goodbye to moving trucks, I'm already tired of looking at the 14 tops and 3 pants that found their way into my luggage. We each get two suitcases plus our carryon and we didn't touch close to two bags. There is Christmas and last minute Lordy knows what between now and departure.

130 ish days worth of stuff!

In our last blog update we were set for a Dec 11th departure but, as is the theme of this experience, sike! Our Italian visas haven't arrived yet and we got nervous about sending Olaf on a cross country journey without knowing that we could actually enter Italy legally. So, to be safe, we've pushed our departure back and should be arriving in Italy within the first two weeks of the New Year. Until then, we are back to calling Chena Ridge home as we take advantage of the hospitality of Jackie and Ed Chacho. We lived there for a year prior to building Moonlight Mansion and are so grateful to be welcomed back! Being able to send our stuff but not leave for a bit should mean we see it sooner rather than later across the Atlantic pond. But then again, that wouldn't fit the theme of this move!

Classy as can be with our whisky toasts in plastic ware!

In short, if you see one of us around town this Holiday season, be kind if you see us in the same clothes as the week before! And send some positive vibes that those same crates end up at our new place in Italy!