Packing Out



For weeks, whenever we bumped into friends or acquaintances here in Misawa, they asked us how the moving prep was going and when we would be packing out our house. We couldn't help but smile at their shock when we explained that we had no idea because we didn't have orders yet. Without orders, you can't do anything. No pack-out date, no plane tickets, no room reservations in Montgomery. Thankfully, God answered our prayers and we finally received our orders one week before we were scheduled to leave Misawa. Once those came through, everything else quickly fell into place, and two days later (on Thursday) the movers arrived at our house to pack everything up!

That's our couch on its side by the front door in a custom made box

I must say, the Japanese are amazingly efficient workers. They showed up promptly at 8 am. By 11:30 am they had EVERYTHING disassembled, wrapped and packed into boxes. We all took about an hour and a half break for lunch. Then they returned and it took them about an hour to load all the furniture and boxes into the crates. By 2 pm we had an empty house! To put that in perspective, it took the movers in Phoenix a day and a half to do the same thing. Granted, the Japanese moving company had 5 packers instead of 3... but still. It was incredible!

kitchen all packed up and ready to go

that's our bed

packing everything in the crates on the truck

After the trucks drove away, a couple friends came over and helped us clean the house and prepare for our final inspection. By 9 am the following morning we were completely out of our house and ready for the next step in our journey! It will be strange living out of suitcases for the next 2.5 months, but I'm just thankful that we have nothing else to worry about. As long as our plane takes off on time, I'm at peace!