Adventures in Box Land: Moving Days Mayhem!

Hi friends! I made a poll to ask what ya'll wanted me to write about on the blog and you wanted to hear about our move. Like idk why I feel like personally lifestyle stuff like this doesn't do well online but it seems to be the type of content that you all want to read so here goes. I'm gonna break it down day by day to let you know what happened each day.

I also really hope that we don't have to move again for a while - like until we can buy somewhere a while because I am over moving. It feels like as soon as we get settled somewhere, the universe is like "okay, on to the next one" and I'm super grateful for not being homeless and absolutely being able to get another rental in Melbourne with the crazy rental system and have a roof over my head. I just don't want to unpack or pack boxes any more. Also, who'd of thought you'd get sick of bubble wrap?

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Day 1: Friday 9th February 2024 - Acquire keys to the new place.

Day 1 was relatively smooth. We woke up early and then had to drive from Essendon to Brunswick to pick up our new house keys. We actually got two sets this time (instead of 1 like our current place) so that made things really easy for us. We spent a bit of time talking to the new property manager who was super lovely, we asked about pets and the situation there (because I think a pet would be good for my mental health e.g., anxiety + PTSD) and the vibe was professional but exciting so hopefully we can get a pet request form soon and apply for one, which would be amazing (and imagine the content we could get but also I would love an animal to have an amazing life). I'm really hoping for a corgi because I've wanted one for like 15 years now and honestly they are the cutest little munchkins ever. Plus, we want something that is easy to train (and corgis are super intelligent beings).

After picking up the keys, we grabbed a coffee from a really nice cafe - I enjoyed this coffee more than the coffee across the street now and I don't particularly like the taste of coffee. I don't remember the name of the cafe but the guy in there was really nice. Anyway, we went to have a look at the new place, take some photos, and get the condition report done because the PM was super organised and sent it to us on the first day of the lease - thank you. I love organisation. I'm also kinda surprised at how clean the place was - it was cleaner than what our current place was when we moved in. Anyway, we did give it a bit of a wipe down then made a quick trip to Kmart to get a few things (I do enjoy buying new things to make it feel like ours and obviously I'm grateful for people who have given us stuff, but getting things that are solely Luke and mine makes me feel good). We also stopped for Banh Mi for lunch which was yummy and I think Luke really enjoyed his BBQ chicken one. I had a tofu one that I thought was pretty good and the first Banh Mi I ever had in Melbourne was terrible so I've got some high standards. After this, we started moving some of the stuff we had already packed over. We spent the afternoon doing a couple of trips and actually got quite a bit done - I think Luke was impressed - but duh, I'm an organised lady. Although we do have a lot of stuff, I wish we had less haha.

After dinner, Luke's family came and helped us move some of the smaller furniture over. I do struggle a bit with standing my ground and saying where I want things so hopefully that's a bit better when the removalists come. We also heard a dog barking next door and I met the neighbour Juan who seems lovely (we haven't seen his doggo yet but my bet is that it's a Golden Retriever or some kind of Lab). There were also A LOT of cattos around and one black and white kitty who I've nicknamed Socks decided he wanted to come into our garage and then into our house. He ran all the way up their stairs and let me pick him up. He was so cute and friendly. I felt special being able to pick up a strange cat. I also want to say that if you ever meet an animal that you want to pet, hold your palm out in front of them to let them sniff you first to show you're not threatening. If you show the back of your hand to an animal, this can come across really threatening. Also, don't pick cats up at their tummies - it really hurts them. Pick them up gently like you're picking up a teddy bear. Then they'll be your friend. Animals are such special creatures and we need to treat them with the utmost respect. We didn't really have any food or tea to offer Luke's family so we just gave them some water out of some wine glasses which we took over (so funny). After they left, we ended up doing that Australian thing where you say goodbye but no one actually leaves and you still talk for ages. This was a bit detrimental for me though, because I got attacked by mosquitos. I was wearing skinny jeans but my ankles were exposed and the suckers got me good. I still haven't been able to stop scratching (and I didn't even get bitten once on our last roadie). We finally went back to our current house and were super cold because all our rugs had gone, but we were slowly but surely making progress.

Day 2: 10th February 2024: Luke's 2-day cricket game + moving more boxes

So the second day isn't that interesting because Luke had a 2-day cricket game over the weekend. However, because where he played was really close to the new place, he was able to take a load of stuff over in the morning. There was the offer of more help to be given to me while Luke was at cricket but honestly, days when Luke has cricket are my me days. I don't get them very often but I don't want anything to disturb that. Pls respect that.

Anyway, I got a lot done this day - I packed up soooo much more stuff, a lot of the tech gear, linen, pretty much the last of my clothes, and did all the cleaning. Usually, I leave the mopping for Luke but I was just in go go go mode that I did it all. I even went for 2 walks and cooked dinner too. I was super proud of myself. It was a good energy day.

Day 3: 11th February 2024: 2nd day of cricket

Day 3 wasn't super exciting. Luke had another day of cricket and took a few boxes over in the morning. And then after dinner, we took over a few more things and then went and did some unpacking at the new house (mainly because we ran out of boxes, but it felt like it was getting a lot tidier).

Day 4: 12th February 2024: One day till the removalists come

More packing. More boxes. More things I forgot we had. Sigh. The weather was VERY hot. I spent most of the morning packing up the kitchen and pretty much emptied my wardrobe upstairs at our current place.

Luke had an appointment in the evening so we decided we were just going to get Subway for dinner and then head over to the new place to take a few more things, we did two trips so that we could take a lot more kitchen stuff and some of the smaller furniture the removalists wouldn't be taking. Not a lot went on this day as it was super hot. But some stuff got done!

Day 5: 13th February 2024: Rise and Shine for Removalists

Ah the official moving day, the day the removalists came. I slept awfully the night before and then we woke up at 5am to get ready for the removalists. They came around 7:30 and made everything look so easy. They got all of the furniture over and Luke went with them to help guide where to put things. They were pretty nice - one a kiwi who also enjoyed making fun of Aucklanders. He also had this cool UFO tattoo that I was jealous of. Anyway, they headed off about 10am and Luke went with them to the new place. We thought it'd be better use of time if I stayed back and kept packing. I made the mistake of only eating a banana for breakfast and because everything was packed up there wasn't much I could eat. Thankfully, the removalists were done by 12 and Luke bought me back the most delicious cinnamon roll - I don't think I've ever had one before but it was bloody good. Safe to say one of the new cafes is good.

Anyway, we took one load over to the new place thinking we'd get in a few more but the weather went a bit crazy in the afternoon. So went and organised a few things. I hate mess, I struggle with it. But yeah, got some stuff organised, got some lunch, and then headed back for the 2nd load. We only got one more carload in because of the thunderstorms AND we got stuck in school traffic. There are some really weird places schools are located around here. We would have done more if we had more time, but as it was Luke's mum's birthday, we were required to head out for dinner. So we got ready and headed out. We thought we might have been able to head back to our old place after but we were just way too tired. It was a long day for sure.

Day 6: 14th February 2024: Happy Valentine's Day!

I didn't get to sleep until well past midnight last night but it wasn't a bad sleep. I slept okay and there were no weird dreams to report. You know how when you sleep in a new place for the first time and you have these weird a** dreams? Probably the first time in my life that hasn't happened haha. Anyway, Luke headed off to the office as we don't have any wifi yet so I'm just hot-spotting for now, which seems to be working okay for me. Although I have my mouse pad here but not my mouse and I keep going to grab it and be like where is it? I have no idea what bag or box it's in so fingers crossed we can find it for tomorrow.

I got up kinda early today and did a lot of organising. I put all my clothes away, tidied the kitchen up, put most of the things away in organisers and the place is looking much cleaner and tidier than it was before. I feel quite accomplished.

In the evening, Luke and I went back to our old place to pick up his monitors, the modem, and a few things like plates and cutlery. We also got our bird feeder and seed, but didn't have much luck in the evening luring the birdies in. Luke got a lot more unpacked and his office downstairs is starting to take shape now.

Day 7: 15th February 2024: Thankful Thursday

Ah, today was a relatively chill day. We woke up early as we had people coming to do a gas safety check. We thought they needed to come inside but they said they only needed to do it outside as he'd done most of the checks last week so that's good. They took like 5 minutes. I'm also sleeping okay here. Not really waking up in the middle of the night so far and only waking up once the light comes through so I'm happy with that. Must mean my health is slowly getting back on track.

Last night we also set up the interwebs - it's a bit hit and miss while we wait for the nbn box but we made the most of it and it means Luke can work from home now. Most of the stuff was unpacked last night so I haven't had too much to do so far today which means I can focus on my own stuff. YAY.

The nbn box arrived in the morning and the interwebs is working absolutely great now! We had a good day of getting a few walks in too, so I was proud of myself for getting to my 10,000 steps. However, I started not to feel very well in the afternoon, had a nap, then woke up to have an IBS attack that was awful. I rest for most of the evening and then went for one last walk of the day. I went around the block and saw a guy, smiled at him and he must have been doing a similar loop to me, because I say him again. I smiled politely at him, and he said "you again huh, you live around here?" which came across really creepy. Like just smile and say hi back. I was clearly uncomfortable and didn't respond at first and eventually went uh sure then he started cackle-laughing at me being uncomfortable. I don't think he intended to come across creepy, but I was uncomfortable so people should back off when that happens. I really hope we can get a dog soon because I want to feel safe on walks when it's still daylight!

Anyway, Luke had cricket training and headed back down to our old place after to pick up a few more things so we're slowly getting there woo!

Also, as I used to do a Thankful Thursday on my IG but I've started writing a daily gratitude list so it might not be as prominent on my socials - just a lil update.

Day 8: 16th February 2024

Ahh, Friday Friday Friday. This day was uneventful during normal business hours, but we managed to get a load of boxes from the old place before we headed out for one of Luke's mates birthday drinks. That's really all that happened regarding moving ahaha! Oh and our pet request form was approved so keep an eye out on some updates on that one!

Day 9: 17th February 2024: Saturday Again!

Ahhhh, this day was insane. We got pre much the rest of the stuff from the old place bar a few things left before Luke headed off to his haircut and cricket. Then I spent half the day putting as much away as I could and I got all those boxes put away which I was so proud of! I was very tired also. In the evening we had a reverse raffle to go to for Luke's cricket club and we actually won some stuff so that was pretty cool. I was very wrecked though so my social skills weren't that good. So if I spoke to you, I apologise.

Day 10: 18th February 2024: A special day!

Sunday was a very special day for sure! We got our cute little Welsh Pembroke corgi called Benji, who is 75% a perfect angel and 25% a little sh*t. We grabbed a few more things from the old place before we got him and headed to kmart to get him a bed and standard doggo things and then picked him up just before lunchtime. We also took him down to the pet store to get some supplies and he was such a good boy there. Everyone just loved him. He has to be carried around at the moment as he needs 2x more vaccinations before he can go on the ground and walks. He also got socialised and meet Luke's family and a few of the neighbours when we took him out to the yard for bathroom breaks. He's doing okay in that regard. Not 100% perfect, but he'll get there, he's only 9 weeks old! I'll do a special post for him during the week so I can post some cute af photos of him!

We had a shortlist of names but the one he responded to most was Benji so he is Benji Bear! Too cute.

Day 11: 19th February 2024: Drama Llama

Well, Benji finally settled to sleep around 11pm so that was good and I don't think he woke up too much. He used the pee pads to go potty at least once so we think he did that around 5am which is good.

Anyway, to the drama of the day. We had arranged for cleaners to go to the old house at 8am today and then gardeners for the next day at 8am (Tuesday). However, Luke checks his phone at 6 and has a text from the cleaners saying they're running behind (at 11:57pm) and won't be at our house until 12pm and will call to confirm. Very unprofessional! But I think they got an emergency cleaning job. Anyway, the next drama was that the owners (not the property manager) had organised gardeners to come and garden the front yard and behind the gate. We were kinda shocked because we had no notice of this and it made us a bit uncomfortable because our lease is still until Friday the 23rd technically and the PM had made it clear that we had to do the gardens. Anyway, Luke asked what they were doing and they said the owners had hired them, so Luke called the PM who also had no idea and once confirmed we were told that we could cancel our gardeners and that the owners had hired them by error. Very confusing.

Oh and I can't forget that we finally learned the name of the cat I nicknamed socks, his name is Tokyo and he goes into everyone's houses, all the neighbours know his name. So cute.

I think that's all I'm gonna write about moving now. And I've made a little vlog as well that I'll try and edit this week and post below:

Much love,

Ash xx

PS: here's some Benji tax!