Moving from one location to another comes with a lot more than just an early morning and a moving van. Throughout the process of loading and unloading furniture, you come to realize quite a few things.

1. You have way more stuff than you ever thought possible.

You start to wonder how the hell you accumulated so much crap in a single year. After cursing at the difficult-to-move furniture you own and the sheer number of trips it takes to get all of it inside, you make yourself be grateful for all of the stuff you have.

2. There’s no way it’s all going to fit.

After unpacking for hours and maybe breaking into some drinks and snacks while you’re at it, you realize that some of this stuff has no place to go and you aren’t going to be able to keep all of it.

3. There are worse things in the world than getting to pick and choose what you keep and don’t keep.

This is the part where you convince yourself to be thankful again. Thankful for having too many can-openers, thankful for having more baking sheets than you will ever need, and most importantly, thankful you have all of this stuff instead of wondering where you are going to get it.

4. Even though you have all of this crap, moving somehow still manages to be expensive.

Despite thinking you have absolutely everything you could ever possibly need, you start to realize there’s some stuff you forgot, and some stuff that you didn’t know you would need. By the end of it, it almost seems like it would be cheaper just starting from scratch.

5. You are happy you didn’t have to start from scratch.

From the old, worn out tables you get from your family to the random decorations you’ve bought throughout the years in the hopes of displaying them someday, you are incredibly happy that there are little pieces of your life and the people who are special to you in your new home.

6. Those old pieces carry memories with them.

Whether good or bad, everything you bring with you has a story behind it. These stories can serve to remind you not only of how you got here, but how many more memories you still have yet to create in this new, wonderful place.

7. This new, wonderful place may come with some things that aren’t so new and wonderful.

From the odd noise one of your fans makes to the weird way you have to wiggle your key to get it to open the front door, you quickly realize that this new place may not be perfect. You also realize that imperfect isn’t necessarily bad and that if it were perfect, it may not feel quite as homey.

8. You finally realize that this is home now.

No matter how much you either loved or hated the last place you lived in, it seems a little weird to call a new place home. It makes you feel like you are leaving a whole chapter of your life behind and that you honestly have no idea how this new chapter is going to turn out. Regardless, the prospect of a new adventure isn’t too intimidating and you choose to make the new home a place where you no longer crave to be anywhere else.

Regardless of how happy or sad the transition may make you, you realize that this is a new part of your life that has the potential to be the best thing that has ever happened to you. Embrace new experiences, and most importantly, be happy about and thankful for every experience and every thing that you have in life.