Having to pack one for college and also pack for camping with all the girls and grand-baby, it got a bit crazy trying to work it all out. We had to get permission for Princess three to stay where she was for a few extra days and pay by the day rent. We had to get permission for us to move Princess Four's stuff in a week early as well. I had to pay extra to store our trailer a night earlier than the reunion so I didn't have to haul it the extra to the college and back to camping and then back to move Princess Three out and back to pick up the trailer from the park on the way home.
I thought it was quite brilliant that I was able to figure and work it all out and was very grateful for the inspiration as the gas for the trip was really expensive and if I had to do it two or three times, it would have been much worse. 
The other issue we had was that Princess Three is headed to a college much further away and I didn't want to have to haul a desk and bookshelf, and end table etc. all that way and since Princess Four was moving in and the desk matched what she has for decor, I figured it was smart to just give Princess Four the items from Princess Three and buy her some closer to where she will live or one's that break down into smaller units for transport so I don't have to take the suburban the 11 to twelve hour trip to move her to college. 
Since Princess Four is an ambassador, she gets cheaper rent than normal and so we went with this unit as they gave her a good discount and the other girls said it was a good place to live. They also didn't charge us to move in early due to her ambassador retreat as she has to help others move in on move in day, they have been really wonderful that way.
About a year ago, I felt like it was important for me to start getting things ready for Princess Four to go to college. I thought it was a bit early but as the time got closer, I could see that with all that was going on with Princess Four graduating, sterling scholar etc, it would have been a bit crazy to get everything together and also, with Princess being so young, she has had more reservations about heading to college and tells me often that she is too young to be heading to college and she is nervous about knowing how to cook things or do her laundry etc.
I've noticed that the younger the girl in the family line up, the less they remember when it comes to chores and how to do things. I think somewhere in their head, they think they deserve to be taken care of since they are the youngest or something and have that expectation so it gets frustrating at times to have to repeat instruction over and over. I think this is part of the reason she hasn't felt prepared to go to college.
If you remember, when Princess Three headed to college, I purchased stuff that was "African" to decorate her room as she went there on her service mission. Click here to see her room.
Since Princess Four went to Thailand, I tried to purchase items that were of that style for her room as I know Princess Four loved the room we did for Princess Three so over the past year, I have been buying items that fit an earthy, natural fiber, things from nature theme. She also LOVES being called "Princess" so I got her Princess stuff for her bathroom. I would show her everything I purchased as I got it for her apartment so she could start gearing up for moving on to college.
When she was little, when we wanted to leave the park or some other place where she was having fun to go somewhere else, she would get upset if I told her it was time to leave. If I gave her some warning that it was coming up, she would then gear up to it and not be as upset when we did leave. So, I would say, "In fifteen minutes or 1/2 a show of Barney, we will be leaving." and she would be a bit sad but would realize I was giving her a few more minutes. I would then continue down in five minute increments until we got down to one minute and I would have them put their shoes on to leave at that point. It made leaving so much more bearable as they had time to process the change. It also kept them from asking for "five more minutes" or bargaining for more time.
By buying the items needed over time, I was able to find items that would match her room style and found her two comforters that matched. I found the cutest monkey lamp and grassy shade, bamboo tissue box, leaf shaped bowls, pottery pencil holder, candle holders, dishes that are earth tones, framed real leaves and shells etc. I was also able to find her serving items and pans for the kitchen at second hand stores. It gave me time to find frames that I liked that matched and print up pictures of her in Thailand and frame them for her apartment.
By doing it this way, she knew she had all the comforts of home and could allow herself to relax and not be so worried that she didn't feel ready for college.
We spent hours getting her moved in and washed all the dishes in the dishwasher, put away all the cans and food as Princess Three cleaned out hers from her apartment, we didn't have to pack much. We were going to use all her decorations in her room but since the beds have the drawers under neath, we couldn't use her side table so we put it out by the couches in the common room and stuck a new soft blanket in it and boxes of tissues everywhere as well as all the extra's like the dvd/vcr player, power strips, nightlights and vacuum. She was VERY happy with everything by the time we left. I put several of the pictures around the apartment as they matched the end table decorations as well and we figured if the room mates want to have them gone, we can easily put them back in her room but we wanted it to look nice when her roommates arrive next weekend.
I called the manager to thank her about letting us in early and tell her of a few minor repairs needed and she told me that her husband said, "I like the girl moving in already.... I've never seen such a cutely decorated apartment." She told me that he doesn't notice things like that as he is the "Handy man" but she said he noticed and liked what we did. I told her that I was out for hire if any parents wanted to fund me decorating their kids room or apartment. :-) She said she looked forward to seeing it since he isn't into those type of things, it must be nice. I explained why I did it that way and that Princess Four is now excited to move in there.
Of course, on the way out of Princess Three's apartment, as we were walking to my car, there on the ground were two pennies. I noticed the one when passing to go to my car and as I pointed it out to Princess Four, we noticed the second. It was just such a perfect way to start the day.
She had a job interview while we moved over the big items from one apartment to the other that is why she looks so cute. Funny how we get "feelings" and I have been around people in the past who would make fun of my "feelings" but they serve me well. I didn't have a good feeling about the job interview and shared that with Princess Three but didn't want to freak Princess Four out. I just felt that she needed to be somewhere else. I said a prayer that if she wasn't supposed to take the job that it not be offered and that we would be led to a better job for her. She didn't get the job and I wasn't really happy how they handled notifying her as they knew our schedule etc. So, she got a call today from Princess Three's boss asking her to come in on Monday morning before her retreat to interview for an office assistant position.
It reminded me of when we were looking for a job for Princess Three and tried the library and I had a bad feeling about it and told her we needed to go back to a building we had already been in and entered a different door, walked up the stairs, looking into an office, saw a man and he became her boss and she worked there for two years. He now retired and they don't need new people as they hired several last year knowing they were losing some this year. So, Princess four is interviewing with her other boss for a different job which I think she will be better suited. 
I wanted her to have foods that she would feel at home eating and know that she was loved so I made a frozen dinner which I put into her freezer so she could take it out when she needed to feel like she was safe and I also had her pack a box of her favorite foods and snacks today to take. She was excited about the items and it gave her choice in it and she will have everything she needs to succeed. 
I sent her with the "vitamins for stress" items she would need as every single girl at college called me crying saying they were stressed out and couldn't handle finals and working etc. I tell them to take their vitamins and they are fine in a day or so. Here is a link to that page on my blog.
We were a little sad about how small the closet is and she has to share it with a roommate and it isn't deep enough to put bins because of the metal thing in the middle, we couldn't hang a second bar down for skirts and shirts either so she is having a hard time deciding which shirts to take. The four small drawers under the bead don't give enough space for clothes, three pair of jeans would fill it up. I think a dresser would be smarter than the desk at this point but I'm not going to worry about it as she can stack t-shirts on her bookshelf. I will miss Princess and am glad she is living so close so we can visit often! :-)
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