Moving and Memories

I'm sure everyone is glad we have finally moved into our new home so they can stop hearing about it and seeing the pictures I post every 5 seconds on my facebook. Well, let me tell you, I am more ecstatic than anyone else that we have finally moved, because now I can get back to my life. The past six months have been spent stressing and planning and spending and waiting. It's finally over. We are, for the most part, settled in.

We got our keys on Wednesday morning, December 23rd. While we waited for some of our friends to show up to help us with the move, we had ourselves a little champagne toast, admired the stockings my mom left us and decorated the little tree she got us as well. What she did for us is totally something I would do and it just makes me realize how much like her I really am. Once the helpers arrived, we went over to my brother's house to pick up my couches I had been letting them borrow for the past year and a half. Not having anything to tie them down with, I stressed the whole 15 minutes back to our place that they might fly out of the back of the truck. They made it. And the guys maneuvered them upstairs to the loft without damaging the couches or the walls. I almost couldn't watch.

After that was all taken care of we headed up to my parents' house in Rescue to retrieve my belongings that have been stored there for the last 18 months. Two more of our friends followed us up there with their SUV, which made it possible to get everything but my BBQ without having to use the utility trailer. Thank goodness for my step-dad who is the ultimate puzzle person. He made everything fit in the back of Jeff's truck and secured it all so it wouldn't fly away. We all looked at each other in amazement knowing that we would never have been able to do that without him. Once we got back to the house, we unloaded everything as fast as we could since Jeff had to get home. We were able to get another truck to get to Grandma's house and get the matresses and the TVs. We needed somewhere to sleep and the Surewest guy was coming in the morning. After one more load and a trip to Wal-Mart, we called it a night.

Christmas Eve began with the Surewest guy ringing the doorbell. Shortly after, the guy showed up to install the blinds. Not long after that, our new couch arrived. That was about all we had time for before family Christmas festivities began, so we had to pick up where we left on Saturday.

More great friends and a moving truck made that day possible. We loaded up everything for JB's storage unit and either dropped it off at grandma's house, took it to goodwill, or brought it home. Everything gathered so much dust from being in there for two years, so we had to be sure to clean everything off and out before we took it in the house. When we got there, my dad and step-mom, along with my brother were waiting for us. Everyone got right to work moving and cleaning and hooking things up. It was amazing to know that so many people cared enough to help us out. Nobody likes moving, especially when it's someone else's stuff. I can't say thank you enough!

Having a dishwasher and a nice stove/oven and lots of pots and pans and dishes makes me want to stay home and cook all day! Laundry doesn't seem like such an ordeal now that we have a washer and dryer right in our home. And having a fridge that doesn't freeze the things in the fridge and thaw the things in the freezer is wonderful. Not to mention the ability to thaw frozen things in the microwave. What an upgrade!!!

We are still not able to park in the garage. There are a couple of furniture items and my BBQ in there and I am still trying to sort through my "memories". I had quite a few boxes up at my parents' that read "Breanne's Collectibles" and "Breanne's Memories". I have one box left to finish sorting through and then I need to organize them and pack what's left of them away. Some of the boxes are filled with my favorite books growing up, which I hope to one day pass down to my child or neice/nephew. One of them was filled with all of my Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny ceramic collectible items that might actually be worth some money. I found lots of old notes from 7th and 8th grade, which were hilrious to go through, but definitely not necessary to keep.

The final box I am going through holds all of my memories from my high school days. Pictures, keepsakes, letters, yearbooks, albums, trinkets, journals. So much stuff. I put the yearbooks, 6th grade to senior year) on the book shelf in the office. It's always fun to go through those things every once in a while. I have read through the journals and threw one of them away. It was from 7th/8th grade and it was full of nonsense about boys and cussing at my parents. Pretty funny, but not worth keeping around. The one from high school is pretty significant, so I am thinking about keeping that one around, but definitely locked away.

It has been an emotionally exhausting process going through this box. I have practically re-lived, from start to finish, my 6.5 year relationship. It's interesting how it stirs nostalgia, but I am also numb to the whole thing at the same time. Even though I know it is me writing these journal entries or copies of letters to him and the things he wrote to me in cards or letters or whatever, it doesn't feel like it. It feels like I am reading about other people in another time. It's also weird to have a kind of sadness for those two people that it didn't work out for, knowing that I wouldn't change anything because of where it got me today. So, yeah, rollercoaster.

I have also re-lived the deaths of close friends of mine throughout the years. Gets me every time. Even though I can go day to day knowing they are gone and missing them often, looking at the pictures and reading the articles and funeral programs really takes me right back to that time and that pain. Not even beginning to fathom what it must be like for the parents and siblings of those people who have to face it on a daily basis. Terrible.

Hopefully this trip down memory lane will be over soon and packed neatly away. Except for all the exes who got tossed in the dumpster :). I can't wait to make new memories to go through if I ever have to move again...