Unpacking

After all the anticipation of moving, reality sunk in. I found myself standing in what seemed like a tiny room while surrounded by countless boxes. Last Friday, I moved into my new apartment. It was a crazy day - the movers came and loaded all my stuff into a truck in under and hour.

Once I was finally in my new place, I felt overwhelmed. Where do I start? After a thorough scrubbing, I began to unpack all my kitchen stuff. I quickly filled my cabinets only to discover that I had a lot more stuff than I had cabinet space. Oh well. Who really needs multiple cake pans? I then cleaned the closet, unpacked my clothes and then got on my hands and knees to make sure the floor was clean enough to eat off of (important because of the 5 second rule). Thank you Mr. Clean.

Slowly it began to look like a storage unit and more like my new home. Antonio helped put together my TV stand. We make such a good team. By the end of the weekend, I really began to feel comfortable. There is a lot more work to do - still need to buy some furniture and hang my Madge artwork. But it's mine! I love coming home at the end of the day and relaxing without having to accommodate a roommate.

When I think about it, this whole experience is remarkable. I moved from Radford where I was paying $290 a month for my share of a 4 bedroom apartment to New York City. Now I'm paying $1450 for a studio apartment. While it may seem like I'm getting a raw deal, I see it as a huge accomplishment. To come so far in such a relatively short amount of time isn't lost on me. If I were keeping a gratitude journal (like Oprah suggests), this would definitely be a big part of it.