Move to Bucks County, PA

Our happy family :)

Guess what?  We've moved again!

For all the readers who have been following our adventures: thank you for joining us on this journey, and for new readers: a big welcome and feel free to check out the archives to catch up on why we sold our house back in October 2015 and have been living all over the east coast since December (how have these past 6 months gone by so fast?!)  And a HUGE thank you for all our family and friends who have supported us during the ups and downs along this road - love to all of you!

So no surprise here, we've moved again.  But this time it's for longer then a month in a vacation rental because this time we signed a 13month lease in an unfurnished townhouse - gasp!  Yes, it's true, we are settling down for a little while to enjoy some non-traveling adventures ahead of us.  As many of you who know, I'm now 7months pregnant.  It's a good time to settle into one place with more consistent doctors, stable living environment, and not to mention getting our own bed back finally - yippie for comfort!!  My husband also accepted a great career opportunity at a solid company which is super exciting!

Ok, ready for the tour of our new naked home before we put millions of boxes or furniture inside to create chaotic clutter?  Welcome to our new home, complete with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and a finished basement!

Our end-unit townhouse

PODS being delivered

We sold a lot of our stuff before we put it in storage, but we still had one completely full POD and one packed about 1/3 full.  Being in a townhouse means we don't actually need to use our push-lawn mower, snow blower, power washer, etc so we are just keeping them in our utility storage until our next place.

Keiki with our new keys!!

Dining & living room, outside patio

Kitchen

Master bathroom with two sinks!

Master bedroom

Kids bathroom

Two equivalent kids rooms

Such modern utilities!
Keiki's whimsical attire makes me giggle,
complete with:
1. Minnie Mouse purse filled with bracelets
2. Irish shamrock antennae headband
3. Star shaped fairy wand  

Spacious finished basement,
soon to be huge playroom and a place
to simply run around on rainy/snowy days!
Also has an extra finished room that can be
made into an office or guest room

AND second floor laundry - I'm going to become super spoiled in this place!

Car Shipping

the.honoluluadvertiser.com

If we ever really do decide to move to Hawaii, it might be smarter to bring our car with us then to buy a new one once on the island , especially since our cars are already paid off. Shipping a car to Hawaii is ONLY through 3 shipping carriers:

1. Matson
2. Pasha Hawaii
3. Horizon Lines

From the research I've done so far, cost depends on:

1. Where shipping from - rough estimates for pricing:  about $1000 from west coast, about $2300 from east coast (quoted from NJ terminal in Edison), and $4500 outside the US
2. Size of car - you will pay more if car is over 21ft8in long, 8ft wide, or 7ft high (truck/suv)
3. KBBworth - market value  >  shipping costs
4. note - replacing a car on Hawaii is generally expensive and used cars suffer damage from salt water, intense sunlight, and humidity.  It's actually suggested to pre-wax car prior to shipping to prevent rust from salt water and salt air

Here is the general procedure to follow:

1. Make reservation at drop-off port
2. Remove ALL items from car!!  Exceptions are spare tire/jack, and maybe child car seat.  Must also remove after market roof racks and stereo speakers
3. Disconnect car alarm so battery doesn't die
4. At port, bring these documents: Reservation, drivers licence, car registration, title for proof of ownership (or a lien letter from lender), copy of all keys, contact info of owner picking up vehicle
5. Make reservation at pick-up port
6. Pick up car with drivers licence and paperwork for proof of car arrival
7. Save shipping receipt called "Bill of Landing" which is needed fro registering car in Hawaii
8. Take car to PMVI (Periodic Motor Vehicle Inspection) at gas stations and auto repair shops for state-required inspection (note - need Hawaiian insurance first!!)
9. Register car in the new county you will reside in within 30days from picking car up from port