Today

One week from today I will be "busting a move" as I have now official termed this transition.

6 days from today, all my stuff will be put in its summer locations, and we will see how well my color coordinated move works.

5 days from today, Madre and Padre will arrive in the 'ham, my stuff must be packed and there will be dreamcakes, a reward for perseverance!

Today I said goodbye to my sunday school class, I have taught at this church for about 2 years. So the kids in my class I've seen for 2 years, I've watched them go from toddlers learning to walk to potty training and speaking in complete -ish sentences. I managed not to cry until I got to my car in the parking deck. The same cannot be said about the rest of this weeks goodbyes. It's hard to believe that I will not be there next week.

2 days ago today, I said goodbye to my precious class. I loved teaching them and seeing how much they learned in our short time together.

Tomorrow, I've got to get my act together and make my "mountain of progress," aka boxes that are packed, grow from a tiny hill into a true mountain... I CAN DO THIS.

I'm avoiding a few goodbyes and can't let myself leave them until 4 days from today, because that day is already going to be hard enough. I cry when I think about 4 days from today.

The moral of this post can best be summed up by Michael Scott, "t-shirt idea, goodbye's stink." I'm excited about the road ahead of me, I'm excited to meet new people, and have new experiences... but man leaving a place you've called home for 6 years isn't fun. I have a family here, a community. Birmingham, I have loved, you. I have learned a lot, and grown a lot. I became a real grown up here. This is the first place I lived on my own. I'm glad I've had the separation from my beloved Samford, or this week would be terribly sad. But I must find a new disney world campus, full of happy memories, and friendly faces. I can do this, I will do this, but I will also shed a few tears as beginnings are often scary. I am reminded of when I was headed to London and I knew no one I was going with. And the emotions I felt as I began that journey and as I look back on that week leading up to my plane ride, I think of my London family and the love we have for each other now and all the good that semester put into my life.

Chaos

My life looks like total chaos, my normal organized, clean self feels like I'm living in a pig pin.

I will be taking one of the biggest risks of my life, I'm moving. I'm leaving a city I know and love with people I know and love and call my family, and a job I love with people I enjoy seeing daily. I going to a place I know no one, have no job, and really no plan. But oh what an adventure it will be! I am so excited for the adventures and new experiences this chapter of my journey will bring me. I have known this move would happen for sometime, I've felt it coming for months, I could feel the change in the air of my life, but now that we are here it doesn't seem real. I don't know how I will leave my community here. I can't bring myself to continue the packing process I started, 1 because its the last week of school and my life is busy, 2 because there are lots of people that I will not see consistently after next week, and 3 because packing makes it real and that's scary, and 4 packing is not very creative and I feel a need to be creative lately.

So here I sit, in my living room, knowing I need to pack and reorganize my life, but I can see my classroom decorations and supplies I've taken out of my room this week. That room is now so sad the walls are bare, where once there were art projects, color and life and I can't stand the thought of living in my apartment like that for a week, so I'm avoiding.

Something I have to keep telling myself every day, every hour is that my adventure doesn't start in a week, not really. Really its already started, and I can't continue living in it until I pack all my junk and drive all the way to the new location of my adventure.