The First Box...

Sunday, I packed up the first of dozens of boxes that we'll pack up for the move. It was a small box, consisting only of a few decorations for fall. We were cleaning the house, and I was changing the mantel and TV stand over to spring decorations. As I was putting the Jan/Feb decorations into the hall closet I realized that I won't be needing the fall decorations before our big move. So I carefully packed them away, and labeled them "Pumpkin Decorations - Be sure to Move to CA."

It's strange, our big move is four months away and in some ways I feel so ready, and in others I feel so completely unprepared. We are established here. We have a church, and friends, and family. We love our little rental house. We know our way around. We have moved from Arkansas, to New York, New York to Florida, Florida to New York, and New York to Austin. Since we've been living together, we have lived in this house longer than any of the others (it will be two years the month we move).


I feel completely unprepared to learn my way around a new city, to make new friends, to pack and unpack all of my belongings. I feel unprepared to find a beloved item broken upon arrival, knowing that there will be things that get damaged in the move. For as much as I am excited about, it suddenly hit me, there is so much to be hesitant about. I'm starting to write my list of the things I want to do one last time before we leave Austin, and I'm making sure to soak up every memory. When I knew we were leaving New York, I made a conscious effort to soak up every moment and to enjoy last second, and some of my most vivid memories of New York are from those last few months... so that's what I am aiming to do in my last remaining months in Austin. To soak up every foggy day from the 27th floor, to drink in the smell of the rain on the desert, to enjoy every minute of every run around Town Lake. 

I've put down roots here, and all too soon, they will be torn up. That tearing up of roots is painful in ways that I have forgotten about until today, so for now I'm aiming to soak up every nutrient that I possibly can from the soil in which I am planted. Hoping that the transplant process won't be too shocking for my system!