We’re just shy of a month away from the big move! YIKES!

Our lives consist of selling everything on craigslist and Facebook. It’s kind of consuming my life right now. The emails, the photo taking, the disassembling and hauling out to strangers’s cars, the reorganizing the things from inside the shelves and drawers. Soon we’ll be camping in the shell of our house.

Pray it all sells.  We have some big items like our couch and the girls’ beds that need to go for a good price so we can afford to buy furniture for our new place when we arrive. Every dollar we make here means we can fill the new house in Italy.

Most people ask us about what we’re taking with us so I thought I’d write a post about it for those who are curious.

First of all, we’re pretty minimalistic and don’t have a ton of stuff. Even so, I’ve said before I wish I was forced to make a big move so I’d be forced to do a big downsize. Whelp, here’s my chance and I’m doing it.

When we first started thinking about the move, one of the first things I did was make a list of what we’d keep.  Yeah. I’m a list maker, it helped me tremendously.  Below is what we’ve finally settled on.  Sometimes I think it’s too much and I freak out it won’t all fit. Nick reassures me it will and that we can always have someone ship us a box after we’ve gone.

What we’re keeping:

Large(ish) Items:

Camping equipment (2 tents and sleeping bags for everyone)
Nick’s road bike
Girl’s bike helmets (they currently ride $20 craigslist bikes and will need bigger sizes soon anyway)
Girl’s life jackets
Bedspreads and 2 favorite cuddly couch blankets

Toys:

Stuffed animals (we paired down a TON, but man my girls love them and I think we have too many)
American Girl dolls + clothes + stroller and a few other loved baby dolls
Barbies
LEGO
Tea Party/Dishes/Doug and Melissa Birthday cake
Art supplies (I stocked up on some of our crayola faves, kept paintbrushes and favorite pens)
Kinetic Sand
A few games: JENGA, Candyland, Chinese Checkers, Scrabble, Settlers of Catan, Mancala, UNO, Memory
A few dress up clothes

BOOKS! So many books – I think we’ll end up with around 50lbs of books alone. These are mostly children’s books since I’ve gone almost completely digital and read on my Nook. Our bibles and journals will come too

Kitchen:

Le Creuset pans: 7 qt. round Dutch Oven, 3 qt. round Dutch oven, 5.5 qt braiser, 9 in cast iron skillet
Silverware
9×13 pan
round cake pan (2)
muffin tin
Salt and Pepper shakers
stainless steel measuring cups and spoons
knives
tongs (1 silicone, 1 metal)
silicone spatula
silicone and metal spatulas/flippers
pizza cutter
tiny whisk
strawberry huller
thermometer
honing steel
microplane
water bottles
favorite mugs (4)
champagne glasses (2)
small teapot for lose leaf tea
2 candlesticks

This list is of our highest quality items or things that mean a lot to us.  We’ll be buying new plates, pans and some other items when we arrive.

Clothes:

We don’t have a ton of clothes and shoes. I won’t bore you with a list of what each of us will bring – or maybe I’ll give it it’s own post since I’m getting close to a capsule wardrobe

Electronics:

Laptop computer
Tablet
Headphones
Jambox (bluetooth speaker)
Camera
Nook
Phones

Other:

I decided to bring my hair straightener and blow dryer after all.
Clarisonic Mia
Blue light to fight those cloudy winters
Homeschool workbooks
Photobooks
Some art prints and photos
Sheets for girl’s bed (we’ll buy new for ours)
Christmas ornaments, nativity and advent wreath
Norwex cleaning rags
2 bath towels (because they’re fluffy and thick and awesome, we’ll buy IKEA ones for the girls and guests)

There are probably a few more things that didn’t make the list, but this is pretty dang close to all of it. It should all fit in 5-6 boxes we ship + our suitcases. I’m really looking forward to living with less – we won’t re-purchase everything we had here (like a KitchenAid or Mountain Bike or 100,000 picture frames). It’ll be an adventure for sure!