Getting Ready...

How do you fit your life into 15 boxes? What are the things you can't live without? We have spent the last three weeks or so trying to decide what we need to bring, making lists and checking them twice.


We don't need to bring furniture, linens or basic kitchenware- but clothes will take up about five boxes. And there is a box of "bathroom items" like shampoo, razors, sunscreen, a huge bottle of Advil- on second thought, maybe that should go in the car with us! Two more boxes have "office essentials" like a stapler, an assortment of cables and cords ("never know what we'll need"), files with stuff like medical information and receipts, and the rolodex of addresses. Two more boxes have additional kitchen items- a handy-chopper (who could get along without that?), crock pot, cheese slicer, etc.


That leaves 5 boxes for "personal items" like books, DVD's, hobby materials... anything that makes your apartment your home. It's these five boxes that were the hardest to fill. At first, I wanted to take ALL my books, ALL my DVD's, ALL my hobby materials (and I have a lot of hobbies!), ALL my framed photographs... pretty much everything I own. While I was contemplating what to bring, I was reminded that I should hold loosely the things of this world, for they will soon be gone (and I really wish I could remember the Bible verse that says that!). As I thought about it more, I decided part of the adventure of this year would be doing new things- not just the old things in a new place. With that thought in mind, filling the boxes became easy- a little of this, a little of that. I didn't need to have ALL my stuff after all.

The Fed Ex driver picked up 13 boxes today. Tomorrow the adventure begins...