Moving and relocating can be an extremely stressful time. All sorts of things are running through your mind: Did I make the right decision? Will all my stuff fit into the moving van? Will the kids like the new school? Will everything make it to our destination in one piece? How will I find the dishes for dinner? Where should I put my clothes for tomorrow?

Here are a few helpful tips to help you locate, mark and ensure the safe arrival of your grandmothers stemware, the kids toys and your toothbrush!

1. When moving your dishes, it has long been standard practice to wrap each plate with newspaper or bubble-wrap and stack them carefully into the "dishes" box. Instead of this practice, try purchasing a large bag of Styrofoam plates and alternate stacking the glass dishes with the Styrofoam dishes and...Voila! You have created instant padding.

2. I don't know about your household, but in my house matching socks is a like a puzzle that never has all the pieces. I have a laundry basket of mix-matched socks that I affectionately refer to as "half-sock-hell". When packing your stemware, take one of these pesky sock andslip it over the glass to help keep them safe and well padded.

3. Take a garbage bag and slip it over a bunch of the hanging clothes in your closet and tie the open end around the hangers. Be advised that some moving companies will not touch items that are not in boxes, but if this circumstance does not apply to you, this litt tip can lead to packing up your closet in no time flat!

4. Use sheets and towels as an extra layer of padding between your mattress, furniture and sofas. Be sure to use old ones that you won't mind if the get torn or stained. Using these types of items as packing material also frees up more box space.

5. Labeling each box as to it's contents and which room it goes in can take up quite a bit of time. Time that you can spend doing much more important things...like ordering pizza. Buy a package of colored dots and designate a specific color for each room, then just slap a dot on the box. Don't forget to keep a ledger, you don't want your den ending up in your bathroom.

This is an exciting time in your life, you are off on a new adventure! The easier the move is, the more time you will have to kick off your shoes, put up your feet, grab your pizza and remote and enjoy the game...as soon as you find the T.V.