I feel like October has been one big blur. Which, most months kind of go by like that for me, but this month especially. 

It all started the last week of September when I was at work and my mom texted me that she found a condo not too far from us with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, first floor, and pet friendly. (No, this wasn't super random. We've known we'd be moving for some time now, but weren't sure when.) I texted her back that it was great and she should give them a call to check it out. A few hours later she tells me that she already wrote them a check and we could move in October 1.

That was in exactly one week.

Yeah. ONE WEEK.

Thankfully, we were able to keep the old place for another couple of weeks so we could clean out and move things over or put them in storage. After living in the same place for nine years, your stuff starts to pile up. 

All month, our lives have been consumed with moving. Packing, unpacking, throwing things away, deciding what was worth keeping and what wasn't. Apparently in the process we accidentally forgot to bring with us the kitchen pan covers and our kitchen towels. Whoops. 

Moving is not only time consuming, but it's hard too. Particularly when you need to get rid of things. We've been trying to prepare ourselves for this and clearing out unwanted or unneeded items for awhile. But, when it comes down to the wire, you need to make some tough choices. 

A friend of mine, Sarah, has been going minimalist and has launched a great blog about it. I've been going to her for advice on purging our closets and basement, but even with all of her wonderful guidance we still had so much stuff. 

Things from the funeral home and my dad's office. Old childhood things. Items handed down from previous generations. I'll admit, a lot of it was junk and things we don't need. But a lot of it wasn't. How do you decide to get rid of a lamp your grandmother made? Or plates you don't necessarily like, but have been in the family for years?

And we had a lot of random stuff too which I'm sure other households don't. Things like ashes from the funeral home family members never picked up years ago. Or all of the x-ray files from all of the broken bones and surgeries I've had. And a printed out copy of the first full-length novel I wrote in high school. (I still haven't dared to read it because I'm sure it's awful.) Stuff piles up.

You'd think that purging would be easy. If you haven't used it or doesn't bring you joy, get rid of it. But for some reason, it's harder than it sounds. As I've been telling my family, "it's just stuff." But I'm also convincing myself of it. I know we can't take it with us, and these things don't last. Yet, it's still difficult. Things are complicated. 

We made it though, Most of the boxes in the condo are unpacked and everything else is in the garage. It was nice to see that a majority of our neighbors also used their garages for storage and parked their cars outside. 

Looks like we all have stuff.