Monday, May 28, 2012

Packing A Bug

Well folks, I made it to Colorado Springs! I am happily reunited with Luke and loving it! BUT first, I had to pack my car up. I thought I'd share the process with you! 
It all starts with this perfectly empty palate.  
 Then it turns into this:
 I said "Good thing I'm not claustrophobic." Ruby's mom says "Good thing you're short." All true. This is what the back looks like. I try and cover it all with sheets or a blanket to kind of protect it from prying eyes/sun/whatever. That's what my dad did so I do it too haha.
Now the trick to packing this curvy lady car is to chink all the gaps with clothing. Square boxes don't perfectly fit the curves so I stuff my clothing between all the gaps as I go.
 Here are all the clothes I removed from that last pictured space!
Now here's the back without the blanket. See how I've used my clothes to fit the curve of my trunk! I'd also like to think that they protect the boxes from the rather emphatic trunk closing I have to do when the packing is done. If I don't use great force, that baby wont close and I'll have to look at my trunk light the whole way.
 So here she is, outermost layer of clothes removed. Still looks pretty full eh?
 Here's the box full of clothes! It would have never worked if I had tried to put that whole box in there!
 Sweatshirts are good for filling the bigger gaps.
 Next trip. More clothes, but I've got some boxes too.
 Third trip, getting the smaller boxes out.
So, now is the right time to mention that we live on the THIRD FLOOR! I'm starting to feel the burn.
We're finally starting to get somewhere! 
I use the crates I pack things in for shelving wherever I'm living. Luke doesn't particularly like them, but gosh gee golly they're convenient. I cushion the very bottom of my car with coats and squishy clothes, then put the boards down so I have a completely flat surface for my cutting mat. Essential for quilting! Also essential it stays flat. Then I also have a completely flat surface for my biggest foundational boxes that fit perfectly under the bed. Everything has a purpose/place in packing, storing and living.
Here are some of the things that were in my car.
Here are the shelves before being readjusted with the big boxes Luke brought up for me. (Sorry, I had already started unloading them before I thought to take a picture.
Here they are after I reconfigured them.
They're not particularly pretty but they're functional in our tiny apartment. They're especially convenient because we still don't have all of our stuff all together! We have some at John and Neola's, some in storage in Fresno, a bit at my dad's and I still have some at Tanya's! Gosh gee golly I'm looking forward to being all in one place!

3 comments:

Grandma G said...

WHEW!!! Good job!

The Luedtke Family said...

I grew up with cinder block and board shelves. Whatever it takes, especially when getting started. I do love IKEA's plastic bin storage system, mostly for toys. The bins slide into slits and can be easily rearranged and moved to different rooms. LOVE IT!

Enjoy the unpacking and the re-settling!

Jamie said...

So glad you're finally back with your hubby...since being with hubby equals "home"!!! Hurray that all your schooling is done and you guys can have quality AND quantity time together!!! So proud of you Jess!