Name:  Lisa Bernhardt

Title:  Vice President of Finance

Years in the industry:  28 years in finance and accounting

Years at Exodus:  6

Place of Birth: Scotts Bluff, Nebraska

Fun Fact: Member of the University of Nebraska Flag and Dance Corps (and all attempts to find photos and videos by her fellow employees have been futile)

Strangest item you have ever moved: Nuclear laser for CSU valued at $1,000,000.00.

Favorite part about working with Exodus: finding values for bizarre items.

Tip to share with people who are moving:  If it is truly priceless, and you can move it yourself, do so.

There are many factors in a family’s first move, not to mention feelings and emotions. When you are helping your families adjust to a new place and new city that you are going to be calling home, it is important to lead them around so their transition is cushioned with leadership, compassion and understanding. Here’s how you can help.

Take a Tour

Make sure that you clearly state every room and who will be living there, and what the room will look like or what will be done there (family room, laundry room, etc.) Does somebody’s window face the lake? Or have 2 closets? Make this apparent to all. Walk around as a unit and be there for any questions or any confusion as to what room is whose. Also, you can try making things into a game to lighten the mood and to make their first experience in their new home positive and filled with laughter and smiles. Achieve this by playing hide and go seek or tag–especially if the house is empty!

Essentials Box for everyone

Having each person pack themselves an essentials box is incredibly important. For kids it should be things that comfort them. Games, music, books, journals, cameras all are important. Things that they are used to that they can turn to when they need some moments away. If possible, have the family move their essentials boxes so that the kids have a piece of familiarity and home the first night.

Plan a Family Gathering
Although planning anything this early in the game may seem daunting at a time like this, it doesn’t have to be. Find out what every family member wants to eat–grab your biggest blanket and your candles. Set up shop in your living room or dining room on the floor and get ready to talk. Talk about the move, the exciting and not so exciting parts, what you are looking forward to in your new home and city. Get it all out! This is also a fabulous forum for family support and understanding when members open up.

Unpack the Kids Rooms…first!

This is important that you can assure that your babies are taken care of and feeling secure as soon as possible. This includes posters being put up, music being set up or toys being brought out. A happy kid’s room is the key to a happy home.

Making Your Child Comfortable in Their New Room

Kids can be scared in their new living space, especially at night when its time to go to sleep. Make sure to make the room look as close to the old set up as possible to help them feel familiarized and at home ASAP.

When you are moving there can be an absence of the comforts in your life when you are settled. The smell of home, furniture, television, favorite foods and of course your MUSIC. For some of us we have an iPod that is kept close to us at all times, being treated more like a child than is mentally healthy. For those of you without a .mp3 player on you to enjoy at all times, check out Pandora.

What is Pandora, I hear you asking?  Pandora is a new form of personalized internet radio that was designed to help you discover new music you’ll love, and enjoy music you already know. It is powered by the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken, the Music Genome Project: a crazy project started over ten years ago to capture the complex musical DNA of songs using a large team of highly-trained musicians.

You may be thinking that there must be a catch here. How could this be true, free? Well believe it. The only catch is that you are not able to listen to songs on demand. Meaning you choose a station of your favorite artist and the playlist from thereon will be determined by your digital maestro. But don’t fret. if you don’t like the song that you are listening to, simply give it a thumbs down to let the program know that you do or do not like a specific song.

For instance, if you like Joni Mitchell, create a station with her name. Then, say Carly Simon comes on, and you really don’t have a taste for her voice. Simply click the thumbs down button and watch as your selection changes. Its simple.

However, free Pandora accounts will only play 40 hours of music for free per month, then the music will stop. Once you reach that 40-hour limit and the music stops, you will have the option to pay 99 cents for unlimited listening hours for the rest of that calendar month, but this is entirely your choice. You can choose to pay nothing and to come back on the first day of the next calendar month for another free 40 hours.

Pandora is streaming radio that is available online and in many cases on most smart phones, computers (with online access) and supported home theater equipment. If you are interested in checking whether you have Pandora available for your free download, go to http://www.pandora.com/on-the-go to make sure that you have the application before the big move. Once you have it in place, plug in your headphones and get groovin!

Get out the duster–moving into a new home can be a dirty job. don’t leave the cleaning up to the previous owner or landlord, listen to the old adage that says, “if you want something done right, do it yourself”. Dirty elements like dust mites, bacteria or just plain stuffiness needs to be addressed before moving all of your things into your new place.

Kitchen

Pull our your sponge and organic natural homemade cleaners because you need to scrub out that lingering smell that the previous owners cooked into the walls and counters. Things like oil and smoke can stick around longer than appreciated to new owners or tenants so make sure that you really get some elbow grease and work on this area to feel your kitchen is really your fresh new place to cook.

Sink

Yuck. This is where all of the bacteria has grown from a variety of functions that are quite normal when it comes to cooking and cleaning, but how do you really know how clean something is? Bottom line is that you don’t. So to make sure, clean it.  Make sure to thrown in some cleaner down the disposal to start fresh.
Appliances

This area is probably the most important and also in need of the most effort. This may take some heavier cleaners that can cut through some heavy baked on grease and other mysterious goos and gunks. Make sure to move the appliances and clean behind and under them to really get the clean start you are looking for in your new place. Appliances include the oven, refrigerator, stove and any other electrical appliance included in your new place.

Kitchen Cabinets and Counters

Cabinets can collect dust and mold from dishes and lack of use. Make sure to wipe a heavy cloth through each shelf of the cupboards to make sure you aren’t taking anything in when using your glasses cups, bowls and plates. Counters are pretty obvious, the most used surface in the house.

Walls

These can get gunky quick. As you may know heat rises and can take up some pretty goopy elements with it and once cooled gets hard and builds up a residue. Get your heavy cleaner with your cloth again and clean up those walls.

Floors

Mop it! Mop it good! Chuck the disposable mop and pull out the real deal to get up those scuff marks and stains.

Overall, moving into a clean new kitchen is the only way to go. Otherwise you are looking to move in to a dirty scummy place filled with other peoples grease and dirt.

When your moving and going through your old ‘junk’ you want to look for ways to reduce, reuse or recycle. Carrying over that green mentality while getting rid of things that don’t work, or things you don’t want to hold on to during your move, trashing your vacuum is the last thing you’ll want to do. To help you, we came up with a few green alternatives of ways to rid yourself from your vacuum cleaner, which may be good for you, good for someone else, or good for the environment.

1. Sell it. If your vacuum cleaner still works and is in decent shape, put an ad on Craigslist. Even if it needs a little repair, you may find someone who is interested in buying it from you or you may even find a vacuum sale and repair shop that would love to take it off your hands.
2. Donate it. This is probably the best and most common option people go with when moving. If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed with the move itself and don’t have a lot of time to devote to figuring out what to do with it, drop it off at Goodwill or Arc. Also, remember that there is usually a tax benefit for donated items, so make sure to check the tax code for details.
3. Kick it to the Curb. If your vacuum cleaner still works and is in good shape, you can try leaving it curbside with a sign indicating that it is free and that it does indeed work.  The best time to do this is on the weekend and is mostly successful only in urban areas. If it doesn’t get picked up within a few days, make sure to find another way to dispose of it so its presence doesn’t irritate your neighbors.
4. Recycle it! In most areas you can find a local recycle station who will gladly accept your vacuum. Most likely, if you call your waste removal service they will be able to help you out. They may even provide free pick up for your recyclable items and appliances and will gladly take your vacuum cleaner off your hands.

Eating healthy is so important, so finding local, organic and sustainable food is so important when moving to a new city especially. Not only does it keep you connected to your community, but it also allows you to support your local farmers, making sure that your dollars are going back into your local area—not into faraway places. To top it off local and organic food proves to provide a healthier and more responsible life for your body and soul.

Once you get off the moving truck and unpack all of your belongings, you are going to realize quickly that it is time to cook. Check out the website LocalHarvest.org this website provides  a milieu of choices as to what kind of food/shops/farms/markets you are looking for in your community. It also lets you search by state, city or zip code to best get the results you are looking for.

On Local Harvest, there are a number of types of food stores that you can search for. To name a few,

• CSA: Community Supported Agriculture, this type of business has individuals buy into shares on the farm to invest in the growth of local and seasonal, usually organic vegetables that you pick up to enjoy bi weekly
• Farms: Local farmers that sell directly to consumers and that do not go through stores, or a third party. The less hands that touch your food the fresher and the safer.
• Local Restaurants: You may ask, what is the difference between a local and non local restaurant? Well its simple. Do they ship in food or do they buy from local farmers and support local agriculture? Are they a chain that is available all over the country or are they a local shop specific to your community? Local restaurants again bring your dollars back to the community and can many times buy from local and organic growers.
• Grocery/Food Co-op: This is a fun and important part of every sustainable food community. Becoming a part of a co-op means that you are now a part of the solution for sustainable eating and living, not to mention are filling your fridge with local organic food. As a member, you are part owner of the store and have a say as to how things are handled.

Don’t ever forget: food is important! Where it comes from, how you get it, how it is grown. Using local harvest.org will not only connect you with your new community, but lead you down a road of health and sustainability.

Are you planning a major home improvement project in the near future? Then you will probably want to hire a contractor. Here are a few tips to get the job done right the first time around and get the most bang for your buck.

Regardless how big or small the task is, make sure you spell out all the terms of the project, especially the payment details! Another thing to think about beforehand is to determine if you will pay an hourly rate or a flat rate. If you choose to pay hourly, it is in your best interest to create a daily time sheet used daily by you and your contractor. Also, make sure to discuss an end date with your contractor, because more than likely they have many projects on their plates and you don’t want them to forget about yours.

Most contractors mark up the price for materials they use for a job. If you provide your own tools, you will actually end up saving money. With this being said, do some shopping! Visit your local stores to find the best prices for the fixtures and finishings you want.

Know your contractors specialties and make sure to get the right contractor for the job. Also, become aware that a general contractor needs to hire a specialty contractor to perform jobs that need specific licensing.

Last but not least, understand the difference between handymen and contractors. Handymen are not licensed or specialized and are usually found on sites like, Craigslist. Contractors, on the other hand, should be licensed, have many years of experience, and work in remodeling or construction full-time. If you do hire a contractor, make sure to see an updated license as well as insurance coverage.

It goes without saying, but we’ll say it anyway… don’t sign a completion statement or make the final payment until the job is complete. When using contractors for home improvement projects, money is the only leverage for getting things done right, the first time around.

What’s the one thing you have to have when you move? Some might say a moving truck, some might say patience, but the number one thing you have to have when you move is moving boxes. Moving can be extremely wasteful, especially since a lot of people will just throw away their cardboard boxes after using them once. You can always reuse them or recycle them, but often people feel like it is “easier” to just throw them out. To avoid being wasteful and even to help with some home space issues, we compiled a list of some great Do It Yourself projects to put those cardboard boxes to good use, and keep them out of the landfill.

Brought to you by wikiHow, this article helps you learn how to create a fantastic Cardboard Box Storage System. All you need is boxes, tape, scissors and a Sharpie for labeling.

For those who have a love for playing games, how about a Faux Wood Checkers Box? It’s light weight, saves money and is easy to make!

And the daddy of them all, how about 101 things to do with your used cardboard boxes? Well that list exists and it is good! You’ll find anything from hot wheels racetrack to a robot to a toolbox and most importantly, because you never know, a homeless shelter.

Hope these DIY projects were helpful and sparked your creative and crafty side. If you do decide to create anything from the lists we included, please send us your photos, we’d love to see your handy work!

Here at Exodus we are all about finding ways of treading lightly on the planet as a moving company. We use durable bins when moving customers, wooden shelves on wheels for office moves instead of boxes, and we offer recycled boxes giving them a second life and reducing our resources. When we came across an article explaining what designers Diogo Aguiar and Teresa Ott did with their used storage boxes, we had to feature it on our blog.

What do you get when you put 420 IKEA boxes, LED lights and a metal base together? How about a 15-foot-high bar that has funk, character and uniqueness. The appropriately named structure; Temporary Bar, was constructed for a competition organised by the architecture faculty at the Universidade do Porto in Portugal. Finished in just one week with the help of students, this bar stands tall and proud in Parque da Cidade, Porto, Portugal.

Next time you move, think about the endless possibilities you could do to reuse those boxes instead of throwing them in a land fill. Moving somewhere dry and need to get rid of your umbrella(s)? Bars are not only made out of recycled boxes, but can also make a bar too, like the Bucky Bar in Rotterdam. Talk about creativity and reusing! This project references the famed geodesic domes of the late American architect Buckminster Fuller and attracted 300 visitors before the police intervened at 2 am on February 19^th, 2010.

Morale of the story, whether you are moving or not, look around your house and before you throw anything out, see if you can reuse it for something else, or donate it to someone else that could put it to good use.

The green scene is kicking into full gear and as we enter 2010 we vow to do our job to help our beautiful planet by going a little green ourselves. We used to be greener when we ran biodiesel and veggie oil in trucks, but that actually is not working out so well mechanically, so we’ve backed off of that. BUT – we do use plastic totes for office moves, we re-use boxes for just about every move and we use what are called “speed packs” over and over. These are large boxes on wheels that we can put lots of things into and wheel them rather than carry them. Of course this works best on office moves, however not so good on residential moves.
We pick up boxes and you better believe we use them time and time again! Hopefully, if we are all making moves that are more environmentally friendly we will see a positive effect on mother earth!