2012, the year of change

Remember that exciting event in the works?  It's official now and I can finally let you in on my little secret.  After living in the same place for 7 years, I've decided its time to move on.  That's right, come late July/early August, I'll be moving into a condo (still renting because of my fear of a long-term commitment!) out of the 'hood I'm currently in and closer to my family.

My Dad is completely thrilled as are my Bro, Aunt and Uncle and Nicole, but it's taking some time to get my Mom and Michael to come around with this change.  I think Mom is fearing I'll never come to visit even though I'll be living the same distance away from her as I am now (so not true!) and pretty much she has this idea that I'm moving to a foreign land.  My Dad and his side of the family see that I will be only about a third of the distance away from them as I am now and are happy that I'm going to be closer.  Rather than the 50 minutes it usually takes to drive for a visit, I'll be 20 minutes away and on top of it, I'm only a few minutes from Dad's work.

For me, I'm excited to have another change of scenery along with a bigger place in a quiet, park-like setting.  This move is a little bittersweet for me though too.  This apartment is the first place I rented on my own after graduating college.  I have a lot of memories from all of my time here, from moving day back in August 2005 and Bro mowing down one of his friends while they were bringing in my furniture, to showing off my really neat shower curtain to my friends right after moving in (inside joke), to girls' weekends with Nicole, to the cooking competitions in my tiny galley kitchen with Broccoli to the family dinners and fun times I've had with everyone who has visited me.  And while I know I'm able to continue these types of memories in my new place, I just don't want to forget some of the best times in my early adult life.  The other great things the new place offers is more space (100 sq ft more!), a washer and dryer (no more laundromat!  woo hoo!), a bigger kitchen (more culinary experiments!) and a fireplace (ambiance and coziness!) and luckily, my commute time to work and the gym (a new location, but another in the chain) is virtually unchanged.

I'm still working on the logistics for planning my moving day.  Right now, I'm thinking late July just so I have time to get things moved and situated the way I want before turning the keys in for my current place.  Plus, I have to coordinate my moving efforts with all of the fine fellas that are going to help me.  Bro and his roommate are going to round up the boys to get me moved and I have to find a time that will work for them.  I'm definitely grateful for the amount of support and help everyone is offering.

Besides the actual move, I'm just left packing up 7 years worth of my life and changing my address on everything.