The move

Those who know me know that I HATE moving!!! It always seems to become this long, drawn-out tedious task. Perhaps due to my obsessive/compulsive nature??? It also doesn't help that I'm such a pack rat! =)

Speaking of which, can anyone believe that I've been there for 5 years (almost to the day)??? It originally was supposed to be a temporary place for only a few months, but like my job, a few months turned into years. I'm not complaining, I loved Evanston and had such a great time there. Also, it was the apt/town where J and I met and started our relationship. =)

The good thing is that starting in October, I was ready to move on and out. I don't know if it was the marriage and starting our lives together somewhere new, that I was getting bored with Evanston, or if it was comparing a small one bedroom apt. with living in a large 5 bedroom house. Oh, who are we kidding, we all know the answer to that one!! The later (jk!). Naw, it was the former.

So, we finally set a date to move the rest of my stuff out of my apartment, Dec. 9th. This was planned about a month ago. Of course, while Sat. was overall decent (but cold), Sunday was not. We woke up to the worst weather possible. Not rain, not flurries, but an ice storm. The driveway was literally a sheet of ice. We get to the U-Haul place and their driveway was also a sheet of ice (not fun when trying to walk in the building). J seemed to have no problem in his tennies, yet I was creeping along in my hiking boots and almost slipped a few times. (Must be his athletic prowess due to pole vaulting).

The U-Haul was frozen over and of course, they gave us the truck with the most bald set of tires out of all. Added to that, on the way to Evanston, the windshield wiper broke. Needless to say, I was glad we bought the insurance on it since who know what could happen in this weather. (Nothing did, but better safe than sorry!)

The move out of the apartment went ok. A little disgusting to see all of the dust that had accumulated behind my heavy furniture. Thank goodness for the help from one of J's students, E. He was a lifesaver helping us out!

How come empty rooms always look so much smaller with nothing in it? Seeing them empty, it was hard to believe that so much furniture could fit.

Once we were done, J and E booked out of there to go to to the storage locker. I grabbed the rest of my stuff, vacuumed and cleaned a bit, took a few last looks around and said my goodbyes to the apartment. During which, I kept imagining some sort of movie montage where the actress (me) looks around her empty place and then sees flashbacks of key moments that happened in specific areas of the apartment during the time that she lived there.

I remembered...
... first moving in and the trauma behind all of that.
...mom and dad helping set up all my new furniture and getting everything situated just so. Plus, the most important thing, getting all the tvs hooked up. =)
...my solo year, exploring the North Shore area and revelling in living on my own.
...getting myself back out there and dating a few people.
...my nervousness and excitedness getting ready for my first dates with J.
...baking the infamous key lime love pie.

...hanging/lounging in the ikea chair talking with friends.
...NUMEROUS hours watching tv.
...starting (and completing) wedding planning--boy, did that 9 mths fly by!
...staying in the apartment as newlyweds.

and I'm sure there were more, but I'm blanking on them now.

Anywho...after reminising, I locked the door for the last time. I turned all my keys in and drove to the storage locker. It was about 27F and very cold! How funny that just 2 months before some of us met at the same place (the storage locker) to unload J's stuff and we were all in shorts and enjoying the hot weather. Now, our breath was forming clouds in the air.

Unloading wasn't too bad (esp. since J's friend C came to help--thanks, C!). We were on the road to go home by 4 pm or so. We even got a slight discount on our mileage at U-Haul since the truck was so dirty inside (kinda stained the side of my desk, but oh well). J and I were very sore and tired and slept VERY well last night.

I'm just glad it's DONE! However, now I get to look forward to doing this again in a few months. Yipee!! (please note the sarcasm)