How To Keep Memories Alive When You Move

Hey there! It’s Faison from Faison Anne, and today I’m talking about a huge change that’s about to happen for us- we’re moving! And we’re moving to the happiest place on earth, Disney World! Okay, well, it’s actually Orlando but we’re really close to Cinderella’s castle! It’s a very exciting time for the Weiss family, and one that can be really stressful too.

Are you a serial mover like me? You know, you move almost every year? We’ve moved three times since January 2014, and we’ve made a lot of memories in each home of ours. We brought Walter, our son, home from the hospital to our high-rise apartment in San Antonio in November 2013, and we had so many special moments and had lots of sleepless nights there. In January of 2014 we moved to Oxford, Mississippi and then moved again in November of 2014 to a new place (that was conveniently next door). We can officially say that we are no stranger to cardboard boxes! So, today I’m sharing the three things that I do, and will do, from now until we get settled into our new home next week. 

As a photographer, I love to capture special moments. And, as a photographer, I love to capture perfection (and I’ll just blame that on good ol’ Instagram). Sure, we all want the ideal photo of our gallery wall and want it to look, well, perfect. But here’s the thing: that crooked frame on the wall, who did that? And that highlighter on the wall, who created that lopsided circle on the beige wall? In our case, I can point the finger at one little toddler: ours. 

Our gallery wall was perfect in December 2014 on the left, and on the right is what it currently looks like. Several frames (a huge one fell victim too) are missing because of a certain little toddler’s sticky fingers, and the couch is a mess. But you know what? The gallery wall, the empty spaces, and the smiling won’t be around in the same spot next week, and it won’t be over our sofa in our new home; there isn’t a wall where our sofas will go to remake our gallery above them. It’s not perfect, it’s not even close. But capturing the crazy from our toddler is what’s most important, and this will remind me of how Walter gathered pillows and stacked them on the sofa so he could reach that frame he wanted to grab so badly. So take pictures all around your home before moving, even if the house is wild and crazy, because you’ll forget those little things that have made your house a home (with a toddler). 

There have been so many memories in each cozy spot that we called home, and a few years ago I decided to categorize our special moments on Instagram, and you can find our special moments with our hashtag #WeissWesidence! Yes, I totally replaced the “r” in “residence” to a “w” to make it catchy and more personal. Yes, it’s totally hokey, but with all of our moves I wanted to be able to look back and see how our family has changed over the years. One special transition I’ve loved looking back on in our personal hashtag is our brick patio that we layed ourselves in 2014. 

That brick patio took a whole weekend to lay, and has been one of our favorite places to relax in the afternoons and evenings. We can’t take this little slice of heaven with us, but being able to see each one of these happy moments on Instagram when I need a pick-me-up and an easy smile is worth all of the hokey hashtag shenanigans. Another reason to have a hashtag for your home: I’ve been a slacker when it comes to scrapbooking, and ChatBooks has come to the rescue! A super easy way to make a book with ChatBooks is to submit a hashtag in their book builder app (for us it’s #weisswesidence) and all of the images from that hashtag will pop up, and voila! All of the photos from that hashtag will be printed and bound into a sweet little book and sent straight to your door. It’s so easy! You can bet I’ll have another #weisswesidence ChatBook as soon as we move!

And finally, I’m one that loves to explore new places, and moving to a new city is the perfect excuse to take your camera with you everywhere; you never know what you might see! This time I’ll have my toddler-sidekick with me at home, and I can’t wait to do Disney World trips weekly and capture his excitement. And to share his Disney adventures with friends and family, I’ve created a new Instagram account specifically for our new memories made at our special place. 

Instead of spamming my Instagram account with WDW photos, I decided to dedicate @waltsdisneyadventures to all of Walter’s meet-&-greets, character meals, and all of the photo ops that happen along the way. Creating a new Instagram account to explore your new city is a great way to share all of your new experiences with friends and family. Want to follow along  as Walter plays at Disney World weekly? Follow along on Instagram at @waltsdisneyadventures!

So there you have it, the three things that will help us to remember our happy times in our home and how we plan on sharing our new memories in our new city with family and friends! While we’re sad to box up our lives in Oxford, we are so excited for our new life in Orlando, Florida. If you’re ever in the Orlando or Disney World area, please reach out! Whether it be for photos or for advice on the best places to eat, or how to ride those elusive rides at Disney World, I would love to hear from you. Have a wonderful Thursday, friends!