I have not been reading as much in 2017 as I’d like. I swear it took me 5 months to finish one book- not because it was bad- just because life gets in the way! I usually only have time to read once the kids are in bed and I often turn into a pumpkin myself by that point. Can anyone relate?

My goal is to read THREE whole books this month. I’m sure some of you could read that many in a weekend, but, again, that’s a tall order for me. I’m excited about my selections, though!

Driftwood Summer by Patti Callahan Henry

My granny flies through paper backs and passes them onto me. This book takes place in a small resort town in coastal Georgia and follows three sisters who have drifted apart thanks to childhood crushes, family secrets, and more. I’m about 60 pages in and it’s great so far! A perfect beach read.

The Sun Is Also a Star (Yoon, Nicola)

I’ve seen this one all over my book club circles and social media so I decided to go for it. According to the book jacket, the book is about a boy, a girl, and the universe. Yoon calls herself a hopeless romantic who believes you can fall in love in an instant and that it can last forever. Sign. Me. Up!

This Is How It Always Is: A Novel by Laurie Frankel

Another book that’s all over social media. It’s about a family with a transgender child and all of the revelations and transformations that arise along their journey. It was named an Amazon Best Book of January 2017. I have a feeling it will give my book club ladies lots to discuss.

These are some titles I always recommend when people ask for suggestions:

The Nightingale and Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah (The Nightingale is the BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ)
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
The Island, The Castaways, A Summer Affair (or really any book) by Elin Hilderbrand
Double Whammy and Skinny Dip (or any book) by Carl Hiassen

What are you reading this summer? I’m hoping to get through these three in June and bring you some new (to me) titles in July!

FYI- I’ve included affiliate links in this post.

If you follow me on the ‘Gram, it’s no secret that we’re prepping for another move (our seventh move in eight years, to be exact). People think it’s strange that we move so often and wonder why.

Here it is in a nutshell: My husband is a builder, so we buy a lot, build a new house, live in it for a while (the goal is two years to maximize tax benefits), and then sell it. We usually rent a home in between selling one and building the next. That’s what we’re currently doing. We’ve closed on our beloved house and about to move into a rental we found in town. We’ll break ground on our new lot in the next few weeks and hopefully move (yes, again) into the new house early next year.

So why don’t we just stay in our current house until the new house is built? A couple of reasons. One- it’s risky to start construction on the new house before we’ve sold our current house. We don’t know how long it will take to sell, what price it will sell for, etc. And two- the real estate market is pretty hot in Destin right now so we just felt it was a great time to list our house. Our hunch was right! Our house was on the market for three whole weeks before we accepted an offer and went under contract. A month later and we’ve officially closed! It’s bittersweet, for sure. This is the first house that I’ll truly miss.

I hope that somewhat explained it for you. But enough of that! Onto some packing tips. I feel like I’ve learned a thing or two from our past moves.

1. Label Well!

My biggest tip is to label those boxes WELL. Don’t just write Kitchen. You’ll have to unpack every box just to find that can opener you’re looking for. I always write the room it belongs in and exactly what is inside. That way I can prioritize when I’m unpacking and start with the most important things first. Since we’ll only be in our rental a short while, I might not even unpack some less important items.

2. Picture Hangers

As soon as I take a picture off the wall, I tape the hanger onto it. I waste no time looking for the box of picture hangers when I’m ready to decorate in the new space. The hangers are already with each picture. Genius!

3. Books in a Rolling Suitcase

Books are probably the heaviest thing we have to move. You can’t put very many in a box before it becomes too heavy to lift (or the bottom might even fall out!). I pack books in suitcases so it can easily be rolled instead of lifted and carried.

4. Keep Hanging Clothes on their Hangers

Instead of taking all my clothes off their hangers to pack and move, I keep them exactly as they are and pile them into boxes. They are ready to hang up as soon as I open the box in our new closet!

5. Bundle Breakables with Towels or Napkins

Kill two birds with one stone here- protect your breakables and get your linens packed at the same time by wrapping those fragile items in napkins, dish towels, beach towels, etc. Be sure to label these boxes as fragile, especially if you’ll have movers handling your things.

6. Don’t Leave (Much) Empty Space in Boxes

If there is a lot of empty space at the top of your box, the contents will jostle all around during the move. Try to fill the box with lighter items or even towels, tissue paper, bubble wrap, etc. on the top to keep everything in its place.

Boxes have taken over my house! I think I might need even more boxes…yikes. Movers come in three days, but I’m thinking next time I might hire them to pack, as well. 😉

What are your best packing tips?