Monthly Archives: March 2016

For many people, winter weather brings a lot of exciting opportunities. Fresh powder gives skiers and snowboarders a chance to shine. The chill breezes give couples an excuse to snuggle just a little closer. And of course, the holidays wouldn’t be the same without a white Christmas.

But not everyone enjoys the cold climate. Frostbite, slippery floors, and poor road conditions make living in a colder state a hazard. And if you have any health issues, the low temperatures could worsen the symptoms.

If you’re thinking about moving to a warmer state, you’ll be happy to discover that the transition comes with multiple benefits.

1. Increased Vitamin D Production

According to health experts, vitamin D plays a significant role in your health. It inhibits cancer cell growth, stimulates insulin production, and regulates your immune system. This essential nutrient also aids in calcium absorption for strong bones and teeth, and it supports lung function by increasing respiratory muscle strength.

Although you can find trace amounts of vitamin D in the foods you eat, your primary source for vitamin D comes from sunlight. The sun’s energy converts the cholesterol in your skin (7-dehydrocholesterol) into vitamin D3. From there, your body carries vitamin D3 to your liver and to your kidneys where it coverts vitamin D3 into vitamin D.

When you move to a warmer climate, you’ll have a much easier time absorbing sunlight and producing adequate amounts of vitamin D.

2. More Opportunities for Outdoor Exercise

Although cold weather climates have their unique sports, many of these outdoor activities require specialized clothing and gear to fully enjoy (otherwise you may freeze). And during particularly bad weather, you may prefer to stay indoors in front of the TV rather than brave the ice and snow.

But in warmer weather, you have plenty of opportunities to exercise outdoors without the need for accessories. Depending on your mood, you could walk, sunbathe, fish, picnic, or swim. And with a little creativity, you can find even more ways to exercise.

In fact, studies show that physical activity tends to decline during colder seasons. But in areas that enjoy good weather year round, residents view outdoor exercise as the norm.

3. Save Money on Winter Gear

During the cold season, you need to bundle up in multiple layers to stave off winter’s chill. Snow boots, thick wool socks, long underwear, furlined jackets and coats, gloves, and hats all work together to ensure your extremities don’t freeze.

In addition to suitable cold-weather clothing, you may also need to invest in other winter gear to stay warm and safe. Snow shovels and ploughs, sidewalk salt, snow tires and chains, and space heaters can cost you a small fortune every year.

But if you were to pack up and leave to a warmer state, you could invest that money in more exciting essentials, such as swimwear and sunglasses.

4. Exciting Job Opportunities

With hard work, education, and experience, you can usually find a well-paying job anywhere, no matter the weather.

However, states that have warmer temperatures year round often house major tourist attractions and become recreational destinations. To accommodate tourists and vacationers alike, many warm-weather areas feature resorts and hotels, theme parks, clubs, restaurants, bars, shopping centers, and clubs.

If you want a change of pace, or you want to start your own business, you may find more financial success when you switch to a warmer climate.

So Which States Have the Best Weather?

As you can see, warm weather states have a lot to offer you and your family. To enjoy the above benefits (and more), consider moving to states such as California, Texas, Florida, or Louisiana. These states see comfortable temperatures, dry weather, and clear skies throughout most of the year.

Tagged in: California, Florida, Louisiana, relocating, Texas, Warmer States, Weather

As you approach your upcoming move, you have plenty of tasks to complete. Between arranging to purchase or rent your next home and sorting through your belongings, it’s easy for things to fall through the cracks.

When you have too much to do, you could make your move more stressful, less organized, and less efficient. For some homeowners and families, the solution to this overwhelming dilemma comes in the form of a home concierge.

A professional home concierge works with you to ensure you have the time (and energy) to focus on the most important aspects of your move without distractions. Whether you’ve never heard of a home concierge or you’ve put hiring one at the top of your to-do list, read on to learn more about how a concierge can benefit you.

1. A Concierge Has Access to Industry Resources

During a move, you work with a slew of professionals, from your real estate agent to the interior decorator responsible for your new home. Because home concierges plan and handle every aspect of a move, they have access to vetted professional resources.

These resources may include:
•    Packing supplies distributors
•    Real estate professionals
•    Storage facility managers
•    Trustworthy, specialized movers

Your concierge may contact these professionals on your behalf or provide you with comparisons of multiple industry resources.

2. A Concierge Saves You Time

Because a concierge takes care of research for you, you save hours you’d spend reading reviews and interviewing potential professionals.

A concierge can handle many of the logistical aspects of a move for you, including:

• Checklists
• Expected expense lists
• Itemized lists of your belongings
• Packing lists
• Utility-related tasks

Your concierge can also help you create a timeline for your move and schedule important events.

3. A Concierge Helps You in Your Home

Because moves involve so many steps, it’s easy to miss things. Part of a home concierge’s job is to perform basic household tasks before, during, and after your move-in date. These tasks may include:

• Child care
• Houseplants and garden care
• Laundry, dry cleaning, and clothes preparation
• Mailing and shipping
• Pet care

Not sure how you can handle a specific task? Talk to your concierge. While he or she may not have the resources to take care of it for you, your concierge will help you reorganize your schedule to create more open time. When you work together, nothing falls by the wayside even during this busy time.

4. A Concierge Offers You Better Organization

As mentioned above, a concierge creates timelines, checklists, and schedules to help you become more organized during the moving process. In addition to these services, a concierge offers practical suggestions.

Your concierge could advise you about the safest ways to pack keepsakes or the most environmentally sustainable ways to transport your belongings.

5. A Concierge Gives You Peace of Mind

A move comes with a lot of uncertainty. Hiring professional movers, working with a reputable real estate agent, and planning ahead eliminates some inherent stressors. But these typical measures may not grant you full peace of mind.

Working with a home concierge can. With the help of a concierge, you move out of your old home efficiently and safely, and you arrive at a new home with your cable, internet, and utilities already connected. When you have peace of mind, you feel ready to take care of yourself, your family members, and your pets without fear of forgetting an important moving step.

To make your move simpler and less stressful, partner with an experienced concierge. Many home concierges even offer services after your move officially ends, including nannying and pet watching services, meal planning, and event or wardrobe consultation.

Professional home concierge’s also specialize in different types of moves. For example, the National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM) helps older adults as well as their families through the process of downsizing, as well as moving into a new home. Wheaton World Wide Moving is one of NASMM’s preferred van lines, and we provide special discounts to seniors, as well as years of experience in handling their specialized needs. Learn more about moving concierge’s or NASMM by contacting your local agent.

Whether you decide to work with a concierge for the duration of your move or throughout the process and your daily life, choose a professional partner to take advantage of the benefits listed above.

Tagged in: Moving Concierge, NASMM, Organized Move, relocating

You’ve just embarked on a great adventure. You’ve left the community you know behind and stepped out into the unknown. You’ll get to meet new people, see new marvels, and make new memories. You can’t wait to decorate your new house, landscape your new yard, and join new fitness classes or book clubs. Perhaps you have a shining career change waiting for you on the other side of relocation.

You couldn’t have more going for you. So why do you feel stressed, anxious, or even frightened? You may even feel a deep-seated ache that borders on depression. And at the same time, you also feel guilty because you know you have much to be grateful for-you don’t have room to complain, right?

Wrong. You feel valid-and normal-emotions. Many people feel anxious, stressed, and sad after they move. To recover, you just have to determine why you feel the way you do, and then you can use activities and other tools to boost your mood.

Why a Move Brings on the Blues

A move can make you feel blue for any number of reasons. Common reasons include:

•    You relocated because of a stressful situation, like a lost job or a death in the family. You may have also lost your home to a bankruptcy or a disaster. Divorce often leads to relocation as well.
•    You have left your support system behind. Your support system consists of your family and close friends, as well as anyone you interact with in your community. Your church or other organizations could also count as your support system. Without this system, you can feel vulnerable. You’ll also miss your friends and family members, no matter how independent or adventurous you consider yourself.
•    You feel confused and lost because of the new culture in your area. Even if you anticipate cultural differences before your relocation, they may still shock and frustrate you. You will not feel as comfortable among the unfamiliar as you did in your old community.

No one expects you to adjust to your new life instantly, even if you move somewhere exotic like the Caribbean. But if you pinpoint why you feel blue after your move, you can move on to the list of cures below to try to lift your spirits.

How to Dispel Those Blues

None of the strategies below give you an instant cure. Your recovery may take a long time. It may take months or even years. But the tips below can distract you from your sorrows and help you have a more positive attitude while you adjust.

Keep in Touch With Your Family and Friends

Just because you no longer live near your support system doesn’t mean you have to live without it. Those people still care about you, and they want to help you feel happy. They’ll tell you about the happy things that have happened in their lives, and they’ll want to hear the same thing from you. But they will also help you if you need someone to listen while you cry.

Find a Way to Meet New People

A listening ear and a few kind words don’t usually do as much as a physical hug. You need to build a new support group-and while you won’t have one instantly, you can start making new friends. Meet your neighbors. Say hello to people at the grocery store. Join a church congregation, a club, a fitness class, or some other organization. You’ll start building a support system pretty quickly.

Re-Create Your Old Routine

Routine reassures your brain that you haven’t landed on an alien planet. It surrounds you with the familiar and helps you feel more centered. So stick to your routine as closely as possible. Get up and run errands at the same time you would normally do so. If you used to exercise, do that at the same you used to as well.

Watch Funny Things, Play Games, or Read Uplifting Books

Fun and humorous things will distract your mind and build pleasant memories in your new space. Watch funny videos and movies, play games with your family (or by yourself), read, or express yourself artistically. You’ll see your mood improve in no time.

You don’t have to feel sad or overwhelmed because you relocated to a new area. For more tips you can use after your move, check out the rest of our blog.

Tagged in: adjusting, moving, Post-moving blues, tips

When it comes to moving, many people think about removing bubble wrap, cleaning carpets, and giving the interior a fresh coat of paint. However, many people overlook the outside of their new home.

You want the exterior of your property to look as good as the inside. After all, this house is yours, so why not make the landscaping yours as well? Make your new landscape fit your style and personality with these five tips.

1. Talk with the Previous Owners

If you buy a previously owned home, the former homeowners represent a great resource for learning about the landscape. Ask them about the kinds of plants or flowers that they’ve planted and had success with. If you inherit some of their trees, bushes, or other plants and you want to keep them, ask the owners how to care for the foliage.

2. Decide What to Keep from Your Own Garden

You might have to say goodbye to that oak tree in your old backyard, but relocating smaller plants doesn’t usually present much of a problem. However, make sure you can legally move your plants to a new location-especially if you move to another state.

For example, some states might prohibit transplanting out-of-state plants to control disease, insects, and other plant-related issues.

Once you’ve determined you can move your plants, give them a good drink of water so the roots don’t dry out. Then remove some of the leaves and stems to make for easy transportation as well as reduce the shock of moving. Dig a circle at an angle around your plant, cleanly cutting off the roots. Then take the plant out of the ground and wrap it in burlap or put it in a pot.

Relocating your plants is always a risk because your plants might die of shock when you transplant them. To avoid this problem, try to move your plants in the winter when they are dormant.

3. Survey the Landscape for Problem Areas

Before you start doing anything to your yard, check it for potential problems. If you have pets or children, you need to make sure there are no holes in fences, loose boards, or any other dangers.

If the previous owners did some landscaping, make sure the trees and other plants are in good condition. Any rotted, infested, or otherwise damaged trees might pose a problem later on. You might also want to have the soil tested to see what kind of nutrients it contains. The test will help you determine what you can plant there and whether your soil needs any help before you start planting.

4. Map out Your Landscape

Once your yard lacks obvious problems, you can start planning what kind of a landscape you’d like to create.

Make sure that there aren’t any restrictions you need to follow. Some neighborhoods or states might prohibit certain fences, trees, or yard decorations. Also, find where the sewer or water lines lie so you don’t risk cracking them. You don’t want to plant anything where water can’t reach or put a picnic table right by a sprinkler either.

Draw a diagram that shows where the water sources are. Add other features to your diagram, including where the sun and shade will be. Additionally, do you want a cobblestone path, a fishpond, or a garden? By mapping out what you want and where it will go, you can have a realistic idea of what you can do to your landscape.

5. Pace Yourself

You don’t need to create your new landscape overnight. Just as it takes time to unpack and set up your new home, it takes time to get your yard the way that you want it. Pace yourself-you’ve moved to a new area, so you don’t know what the seasons are like.

It doesn’t matter if the landscaping process takes two months or a year. Once you have a plan, you can start gathering materials and tools and then get to work personalizing your new yard.

Tagged in: exterior, Landscaping, lawn care, New Home

Many of our previous blogs refer to the best ways to plan in advance every aspect of your move. Although it’s ideal and convenient to have endless time to plan your next move, people experience the opposite circumstances all too often.

Different situations might require a sudden or unexpected move. For instance, if your next move depends on your acceptance to an institution, you may only achieve admission to a place out of your area, which would require immediate relocation.

Another common reason for sudden relocation comes in the form of an eviction. No one enjoys being forced to move, but sometimes it’s best to accept what has happened and move on.

Sudden job losses or reassignments may also contribute to your immediate need to move. Whatever the reason behind your relocation needs, use the following steps to help you achieve a successful move despite the circumstances.

1. Keep a Clear Head

Upon finding that your immediate removal is necessary, take a moment to assess your feelings. Though your emotions may range from shock to anger or feeling overwhelmed, don’t let them rule you. Instead, find ways to come to grips with your emotions.

Letting yourself wallow in self-pity or stew in righteous anger doesn’t do any good. Accept your new circumstances and move on from there. In everything from packing to ending various relationships, staying calm will save you time and a headache.

2. Focus on What Matters Most

First things first-you need to prioritize, and you need to do it fast. Because you have little time to pack and plan, it’s important to stay motivated. But don’t be too hard on yourself when big decisions come.

Focus your efforts on finding a new place to live, securing a new job, and determining your future transportation. Once you take care of the essentials, proceed to address less important issues.

3. Communicate

You’re likely struggling with many challenges as a result of such a sudden change, and you could use someone to talk to. Express your feelings to a close friend or family member.

It’s also not a bad idea to contact old friends and acquaintances near your future home to develop a network of friends before you get there.

Don’t forget to discuss all your options with those you’re close to. This will help you process your emotions while preparing mentally for what’s to come.

4. Ask For Help

No one move is simple or easy, but it can be particularly difficult when you have a limited timeline. Contact anybody who might be able to lend a helping hand, including friends, family, and local moving companies.

Although it might seem like a good idea to do everything on your own, you’ll be glad you obtained help. Professional movers offer all the necessary moving supplies, and they know how to move your belongings in an orderly and efficient manner.

5. Start Fresh

Get rid of anything you can, including things you rarely use or items that you don’t need. Take advantage of local charities and donate any unwanted items. This will save you time while helping those in need.

It’s good to get your possessions in order, but don’t forget to address the financial and emotional aspect of your moving process. If your old landlord evicted you, do what you can to make things right. Replace damaged property and pay what you owe when possible.

With these efforts to make amends and resolve your debts, you can move forward with a clear conscience. Paying your bills will also help you begin to reestablish your credit, thus creating a brighter future for housing, loans, and other expenses.

6. Embrace the Change

Although this change may happen quickly, adapting might take some time. Allow yourself this time to adjust, even if it comes after the dust has settled from your recent move.

Use the above steps to make informed decisions and achieve a successful move. Your circumstances may lack convenience, but that doesn’t have to ruin future opportunities.