The Move

Grayson got his official offer with Nike in Amsterdam the day Max was born. July 15th, 2015 is kind of a big deal. Cue chaos in the Tenney household.

Gray left for Amsterdam on Labor Day; talk about a sad day all around! I am pretty sure Penny was the most upset.
gray moving dayWe had just over one month to get the house, dog, and baby ready to move half way across the world. Gray got a lot done before he left, but there’s only so much you can do in advance. Luckily for me, my Mom arrived the day after Grayson left for reinforcement – and I needed it! A lot happened in that month, and it’s already becoming a blur. I’m not sure I would have eaten a single meal if my Mom hadn’t helped cook every day.

“We had just over one month to get the house, dog, and baby ready to move half way across the world.”

We decided to rent our house out, because it really is my dream home, we love our neighbors, and I want to come back to it. We had a lot of communication gaps and some things slipped through the cracks. Like how I haphazardly found out at 5 p.m. one day that our house was being shown to potential renters at 10 a.m. the following morning. My mom and I cleaned the house until almost midnight, and got up early the next day to finish up. I happened to have a physical the next morning at the same time to get life insurance, so I loaded up Max and my Mom, threw Penny in the back of the Jeep, and off we went. They all stayed in the car while I went in and got my physical. A stray dog wandered by and set Penny off barking (oh, Penny), waking up the baby. When I climbed in the backseat to check on my Mom holding Max, Penny jumped half way over the seat. So my Mom, my newborn baby Max, my 100+ pound dog Penny, and I were all in the back seat of the Jeep. We stayed like that for a while, because it was too soon to go back to the house being shown. I felt like we were on a reality TV show, because you can’t make this stuff up. The good news? That was the one and only time the house was shown, and we have a nice family renting our home.

“So my mom, my newborn baby Max, my 100+ pound dog Penny, and I were all in the back seat of the Jeep. I felt like we were on a reality TV show, because you can’t make this stuff up.”

There were a lot of loose ends to tie up, Penny to take care of, and packing to get sorted out. I also officially resigned at Target, and said goodbye to some incredible people I’ve met the last nine years. It was around-the-clock busy, all while taking care of a newborn and being very sleep-deprived. Fortunately, I have an amazing family, and my Dad and Kara swooped in the last week of September. Kara brought a new outfit for Max for every day she was there, and Dad helped with Penny and some of the heavy lifting. I really don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have all the help.

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Kara stayed for a week, and then Mom and Dad got to stay for the actual packing of the house. I really shouldn’t complain, because a moving company came in and actually packed everything up. However, it was so chaotic having movers in and out of the house all day for four days, asking if every last pencil was going ocean freight, air freight, getting packed in my suitcases, or getting stored in Portland (I don’t know if I’ll want those old bachelorette party decorations in Amsterdam, okay?!). We had a couple of nights where we all fought over the last chair (from my college days!) in the house. The movers were great though, and we got some funny stories out of Moses (one of the movers). I wonder what he’ll say about us…

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One more twist to share… We listed the house available for rent starting October 15th so we could attract renters before the holidays, but that meant we would have to be moved out the 12th, a week before we fly to Amsterdam. Bring on temporary housing, what’s one more thing?! My Mom, my Dad, my newborn baby Max, my 100+ pound dog Penny, and I somehow got all of our stuff loaded into our two cars and moved into an apartment in Hillsboro. Uff da. The next day, my Dad helped me sell the Jeep and we picked up a rental car. Gray finally got home on Thursday, we jammed in a few last errands, signatures, and physical’s on Friday, and said goodbyes to friends and family over the weekend.

Monday all we had to do is fly a ten hour flight with a baby and all our stuff to move across the world…piece of cake.

7 Comments

    1. Such an exciting adventure you’re on! I’m enjoying tagging along.

    1. Amazing! I’m stressed out and exhausted just reading this. I don’t know how you did it.

      1. Ha! It was a lot, but we made it. Remember the black chair from 517?! I almost thought I should bring it to Amsterdam 🙂

    1. Loved every post Suzanne!! Such a wonderful adventure and many more to come.

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