Dusting off the blog for a new adventure.

Big changes are afoot! Hiebtown is relocating to South Korea. So each of us are trying to find ways to record our new adventures. The kids will likely start Vlogging, but as I prefer the written word this is where I'll go.  Right now we are sitting in the midst of a partially empty home. A move to Korea requires more thought than other moves, even other OCONUS (outside continental US) moves. Because the army limits your move to only half your normally allowed weight. And weight is determined by rank. That means based on our rank, this family of 6 is allowed to move 5500 pounds to Korea courtesy of the US army. When last we moved we were overweight by about 3000 pounds.  So for this move, a MAJOR weightloss plan was in need. A normal OCONUS would have 2 moving appointments Unaccompanied Baggage, which is essential items you would need when first arriving, like bedding, towels, and some kitchen gear, and HHG or Household Goods, which is everything else and takes longer to arrive. For Korea, a third move is required for NTS or non-temporary storage.

To prepare for all these moves, we have had to go through every item we own and determine which category and subcategory it belongs in, think like an outline for a paper.

A) Korea
   1) Hand carry
   2) Unaccompanied Baggage
   3) HHG
B) Storage
   1) NTS
   2) with a family member
C) Move On
   1) to Family
   2) to Local friends
   3) Salvation Army
   4) Trash

Then we began the pile making. And that's how we have lived for the last few weeks, with piles growing in the garage and living room. Hoping that kids would "respect the pile". And each time a mover comes in they think the whole house is "their pile" until they finally listen as we show them what they are really moving.


I read The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up as I prepared for all the sorting. And the method really helped us pare down. As confessed bibliophiles we were able to reduce our book collection by at least one third. My fabric and other craft items were reduced by two-thirds. And we were able to bless others with items we no longer need.  Not only are we physically lighter, I feel mentally and emotionally lighter as well. With every item we've asked "Does it bring us joy" Because life is stressful enough without having your home stress you as well.

The Unaccompanied Kitchen Pile :)

The first pile of Unaccompanied went really well. I put all the kitchen goods on the dining room table and the soft goods in the living room and they handled the packing quickly and efficiently.

The Second shipment was equally organized with the Living room, craft area, and dining room table being designated. However, the company only sent 2 packers, and 1 of them was quite possibly high and spent as much time on his phone and "taking breaks" as he did packing. I felt very sorry for the other guy. Plus they didn't have a truck to load into. I was thankful for the box of locks we kept out, as we needed to padlock a few items that didn't get placed in a box.







The hard worker told me more than once it was good our bow had locks on it. When the truck finally arrived at 4:09 one of the late arrivers, kept trying to carry off our toolbox before I could get the lock on it, once I realized it wasn't being boxed or wrapped. All of these were loaded into a truck and will be repacked into a crate at the warehouse. I'm cautiously hopeful that all our belongs will actually arrive in Korea.










Now we're preparing for our NTS move which comes Monday and Tuesday. (Did I mention that it has been a different company each time?) This will be the bulk of our furniture, all our christmas decorations, and lots of pictures and a few household items we aren't taking with us.  Over Easter we'll move the items that are staying with family, including a piano.  Hopefully our perseverence in purging and prepping will provide for a pleasant PCS. (that sentence was written with my college English professor Joe Britton in mind).

Despite the chaos and the grief of saying goodbye to the friends we made here, we are very excited about our new adventure and I look forward to sharing it with you :).