So for those of you new here let me update you, and for those of you not so new, well, we could all use a refresher (except for me of course, who has this way to fresh in my mind). By Friday evening, so in less than 48 hours my 5th major move since college, yes, that's correct, my 5th move in nine and a half years will be complete.
May 2004 - Graduated, left Ann Arbor, came home to Atlanta for about a month and a half knowing I would go to NYC for the job hunt.
June 2004 - Moved to NYC with nothing, zip, zilch, nada - no apartment, no job, just a suitcase. I had a sublet for two months while a I busted the pavement (If you are really intrigued you can reading any of my "getting to know me posts."
August 2004 - miraculously found a job in my field (book publishing), an apartment with 2 roommates and stayed there on 56th Street for two years.
Back from NYC and now in Atlanta - didn't care much about other features in an apartment, I was just excited for a washer/dryer!
Welcome home to Atlanta in 2006!
July 2006 - Moved back to Atlanta to a three story walk up, one-bedroom apartment, began my master's program for teaching, and stayed there for two and a half years.
January 2009 - No one wanted to hire teacher's though. I was certified but couldn't get a job. With no income, though having been away from home for 8 years between college and adulthood I had no choice but to move back to my parents. I completed my master's in May of 2009 and still no job. Several part-year hire positions later and two summers ago I took a chance.
Welcome back home to my own home after leaving the parents.
June 2011 - after a year and half at the parents I moved out to a one-bedroom apartment again. I still didn't know about a teaching job for the fall. Guess what? I subbed all the way through December til I got hired on full-time. That meant that last summer I went through it all again. I didn't know until July 20th, 2012 I would be a teacher again this past year. Living like that put a strain on my budget. I would change the way I did it. I needed my own space, I needed to get back out on my own. I moved to a great area - one of those eat, play, live type atmospheres where not much was really opened yet. Now a ton has opened, and with that my rent has gone up. No teachers in my area have gotten a cost of living increase raise of any kind of 5 years. So out I go, to downsize and save.
June 2013 - It's on. By Friday morning I'll have downsized into about 800 square feet. Lord help me now. My mom and I have reminded myself that if I can live and fit into a NYC apartment I can certainly downsize here.
Here's how I feel about moving:
It's stressful. I dislike packing immensely, in fact, I avoid it like that plague. I am tremendously blessed with parents who come in and "get 'er done." I pretty sure it frustrates them. But they do it. Somehow as I sit here and finish typing this, knowing I have to be at school to teach the summer school kiddos in 8 hours and the movers are coming in 30 hours, I am surrounded by packed boxes. Bless their little hearts.
Part of moving is cathartic - you can throw things out, purge, move on, and grow up a tad. All moves up until have occurred in my 20s, and now I am in my 30s. It's interesting to see how the things that once mattered to you suddenly don't. In so many ways I think it is why I prefer my parents pack it. Do I notice it is gone? Do I notice it is missing? If not, then do I really need it? Right now I notice my blanket from my sofa is gone. I wish they had left it out but perhaps it was used to pad something. A blanket - something as simple as a blanket. What would you notice is missing if you had to be without something? What could you really live without if you had to downsize?
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