Here is how busy and quick the whole process was after our wedding...

1. November 14th, MARRIED!
2. November 16th-November 23, Hola, Honeymoon in MEXICO!
3.  November 26th, Thanksgiving Day Festivities
4.  Christmas/New Years Celebrations & Travels
5. Then, sh*t got real.

JD left for Germany on January 1st for 2 weeks to start his job in Hamburg, and to look for us an apartment. (Which we quickly found out was difficult). We planned to have a yard sale when he returned for the weekend on January 16th. While he was gone, I needed to organize and get ready for not only the yard sale, but the big move!

Let me add that we moved from an 850 sf apartment to an 1,800 sf home, and even though we were only in the house for a short amount of time, we acquired a lot of stuff. We had wedding presents, we bought new furniture for the extra rooms we didn't have before, yard equipment, kitchen gadgets etc. We knew our living space was going to be limited in Hamburg, and we had a short amount of time to get completely out of our house - especially since JD was only in town for the weekends due to his work until he left for good on January 30th. Times were stressful.

The fist step was to go through the house and make three distinct piles: Moving Sale Items, Hamburg Items, and Storage Items. This was easier said then done. I knew what needed to happen, but at this point we did NOT have an apartment lined up in Hamburg yet. This made it difficult because I didn't know how big or small the space would be. Could it fit our bed, or did that need to go to storage?  How many closets will it have to store linens, towels, our clothes? Do they even have closets there?? What about the kitchen...how much kitchen storage would we have (because, I was taking pretty much everything we got from the wedding!). 

I advertised the sale through social media groups for local yard sales and did the traditional signs around our neighborhood. ( Funny side note - I originally took the time to go to the store, buy posters, markers and stakes for the signs....and when I was finished "creating" the signs, I sent an image to my sister to show her my handy work. She then replied with, " I just ordered you a yard sale package from Amazon. It comes with 6 signs, the sticks, a marker, balloons and the price stickers. It will be shipped to you in 2 days." I laughed and felt a sense of relief because deep down, I knew that my signs were ugly....gotta love Amazon prime!).

What was left from the yard sale we took to Goodwill & Salvation Army. We then moved out some furniture that my sister and her fiancé are graciously letting us store at their home...but, I have a feeling I may have to put up a little fight to get back my sectional sofa that actually looks AMAZING in their living area. Really brightens up the space.

4 days later the shipping container and movers arrived to pack up the remaining items that would be going with us to Hamburg. And then the house was completely empty.

Shipping day was the first day I think it dawned on me that we were really moving. To another country.  It was bittersweet, but I did LOVE the feeling of getting rid of old items, random things we didn't need...it was like an early deep,DEEP, spring cleaning! It felt freeing - everything throughout this process has just felt right. I have had a sense of peace, happiness and excitement about it all (and of course, nervousness too!) . And, I think it is crazy & amazing that it is the start of our new life as a married couple.

"And suddenly you just know...it's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings" -Meister Eckhart