Thank you, Two Men and a Truck Birmingham!
From stressful to exciting, Two Men and a Truck made all the difference!
####Who has time to move?!
Like many couples in our generation, we became first time home buyers in our mid-30's. We have always had the goal of moving into the city limits of Birmingham and living closer to downtown. So there we were with a contract on a house in East Lake and no idea when we were going to find time to actually make the move. As you know, our schedules are insane and moving takes a LOT of effort, so I sent out an SOS to my friend Kelly Sturwold.
Kelly has been the marketing director for **[Two Men & a Truck Birmingham](https://www.facebook.com/twomenbirmingham/)** for the better part of a decade, which is pretty rare in the industry nowadays. She was a former client of mine from back in my days at **[B-Metro Magazine](https://www.facebook.com/Bmetromagazine/)** and I knew that she kept Two Men and a Truck involved in a ton of local activities. I reached out and, with her help, we came up with a game plan! 
####Options are always good!
Amber and I were given a couple of options to choose from. We could either have our stuff boxed up for us and moved, or we could pack ourselves and have the items moved once we boxed them. Y’all, it’s amazing how much stuff you can accumulate during nine years in one place! We needed to purge! Because of this, we opted to pack everything ourselves so we could decide which items to move and which to **[donate](http://happeninsintheham.com/tidying-up-with-the-konmari-method-here-are-8-places-to-donate-your-items-so-they-can-spark-joy-in-others/)** or throw away. 
Two Men and a Truck has their own branded boxes, which kept us from having to go out and find boxes that we’d have to transport from the store back to our house. We drive a Camry and a Civic, so that wasn’t going to be an easy task! It was so nice to have the boxes we needed dropped off and placed inside the house for us. They even brought markers and tape!
####Get peace of mind through preparation.
Stressful!!! That’s what moving is, especially when you are purchasing a home. The home buying process is no joke and will overtake your Google Calendar faster than a cheetah on a gazelle! Between inspections, financing, and counter-offers you have little to no time to worry about anything else.
When it came to actually moving, we had no idea where to begin. Enter **[Two Men and a Truck](https://twomenandatruck.com/movers/al/birmingham?fbclid=IwAR1WstMQ6KgkwMgrmKVrvPTkKHwGpFwHyjgxU9lea3acK8QBxsHX8EuWQJE)**! A mover came over to our house and did a walk-through with us to work up an estimate. As we walked around he made a point to break things down room by room. It made everything seem a lot more manageable and nowhere near as daunting of a task. They even provided us with a Pre-Moving packet that gives you a checklist to work off of starting from as far as six weeks out! Little did I know that you’re actually supposed to START with the attic! The walkthrough and packet helped lower our stress tremendously!
####The big day!
Our townhouse was now overtaken by boxes. As a kid I could only dream of building a boxfort this massive! This fort, however, was made up of all of our possessions and needed to be disassembled with care. When the truck showed up the two movers, Dan & Danny, wasted no time getting started. We seriously were astonished at how fast and efficient they were! 
Ironically, it was the first time in the process where we felt like we could sit back and relax! They were careful to handle every item with care. The way they stacked everything in the truck was like watching a game of Tetris on steroids! Before we knew it, everything was in the truck and we were ready to head across town to our new place in East Lake! 
When we arrived at our house they literally rolled out the red carpet for us! The guys kept up the pace, but were sure to ask us where we wanted what if it wasn’t labeled for a specific room. (When you label a box “Garage” and don’t have a garage at the new place, you tend to get creative.) 
####We learned a lot from the experience.
It has been two weeks since the move and we are happy to report that we’ve yet to come across anything broken and nothing was “lost in the move.” (99% of the time this is due to a spouse putting the item in the trash before it’s “packed.” Oops! ) While we still have plenty to unpack (our schedules are still just as crazy!) everything is boxed, labeled, and waiting for us to decide where it goes. There are a few pieces of wisdom we picked up along the way:
-Start prepping SIX weeks out!
-Pack the attic/basement/storage first since it’s already mostly boxed up.
-Label BIG and label often! Write as much detail as you can on *MULTIPLE* sides of the boxes. 
We could go on and on, but most all of it was covered in our pre-move prep packet. We can’t say enough what an amazing and professional job **[Two Men and a Truck Birmingham](https://www.instagram.com/twomen_bham/)** did! They were also kind and courteous throughout the entire move. I personally would be cranky after moving about six boxes or so, just ask Amber. Using Two Men and a Truck took so much off of our already overcrowded plate. A good friend once told me, after deciding to just rent a truck and move, “Save your marriage. Hire movers!” He wasn’t wrong. If we were to move again there are plenty of things we’d do differently, but I’d still place a call to **[Two Men and a Truck Birmingham](https://www.facebook.com/twomenbirmingham/)**!
-Russell H. ___ *Note: Moving services were provided in exchange for coverage. Our opinions are 100% our own.*
