Moving Again.
scroll to the bottom for the audio version
I have moved a ton, I didn’t grow up military but a lot of people thought so when I reviewed all the places I had lived when they asked the inevitable question “Where are you from?”. I was born July 22nd, 1997 in Cañon City, Colorado which is a very small town southwest of Colorado Springs. My family lived there until 2001 which is when my dad moved me, my sister Serenity (1 yr old), and my mom to Highland, Illinois. We were in Illinois until July of 2003 when we moved to Paintsville, Kentucky until the Fall of 2006. After Kentucky, we lived in Sahuarita, Arizona from September 2006 - December 2008. My brother Kellen was born in Arizona, in March of ‘08, so we had an additional person in the mix but we moved over to Texarkana, Texas Winter of 2008 - August of 2010 then moved to Clovis, California. We lived in Clovis from December 2010- July 2012. I started my sophomore year of high school in Colorado Springs in 2012 and finished high school there in 2015.
Goodness, every time I chat about my moves growing up it is just such a mouthful, damn near out of breath. I tell you the timeline of things to sort of give you a picture of why I am the way I am as an adult. Growing up it was very normal to move every 2 or so years.
These moves as a child were A LOT but luckily I wasn’t in charge of them. I just had to maintain my emotional bounds of meeting new friends, finding new favorite places, being comfortable in the new house, joining new extracurriculars, etc., and of course, the emotions that come with leaving things behind. It was challenging especially because most of the towns we moved to were fairly small and the kids who I went to school with had known one another since daycare. But eventually, I got used to it and as an adult, I adopted the routine of moving every few years.
After high school, I started at Colorado State University - Fort Collins. When I lived in Fort Collins I moved into the dorms (August 2015-May 2016) from the dorms to Colorado Springs (May 2016-August 2016) from Colorado Springs to a four-bedroom house (Aspen Heights, August 2016-August 2017), from that house to a house off Elizabeth (August 2017-October 2017), then to a house off Shields and that was where I lived from October 2017- August 2019.
Those moves, while I was in school, were not as heavy emotionally and were also not too bad physically because it was in the same town, I wasn’t necessarily leaving anything behind and I didn’t have a ton of belongings. Now that’s not to say that I didn’t miss my house off Elizabeth but it was best I left that living situation. And then again when I left the house off Shields it was difficult emotionally because that was the end of a chapter in my book of life, the end of being an undergrad.
Post-grad I lived in Phoenix, Arizona from August 2019 until very early March 2021. While I was living in Phoenix I lived in a house from August 2019-September 2019. I then spent some time at a friend’s place before I could get my own place in Tempe off Baseline from October 2019 to March 2020. In March 2020, the start of COVID, I moved to a different apartment, a one-bedroom, that was in Downtown Phoenix a couple of blocks away from the Sun’s arena. Moving around Phoenix was stressful, to say the least, I think it was mostly due to the situations that forced me to move. The move from the house to a friend’s place in Tempe to my own Tempe apartment was less than ideal. The situation rushed my apartment search and I ended up in a literal garbage can studio in Tempe since I had just started at my first “big girl job” and was slowly but surely building my bank account back up. In that apartment in Tempe, there were issues with the safety and cleanliness of the complex so I needed to get out of there asap, luckily a friend from work and her brother were available to help me move last minute. I then found myself living in one bedroom in Downtown Phoenix when I moved in I just had my bed, a Hovet mirror from Ikea, a countertop table with stools from the Facebook marketplace, and a Pillow LoveSac beanbag… I used the Facebook marketplace to find a dresser and a couch. Then slowly I ordered other pieces like a rug and desk but it took me a while to get everything I wanted into the apartment AND THEN I DECIDED TO MOVE AGAIN but this time out of state. I sold or donated damn near everything I owned, packed up my car, and moved to Miami, Florida. I drove, just me and Ace, stopping in Dallas to stay with a friend and kept pushing to South Florida (I do not advise doing this drive alone). I was miserable and literally had numerous moments of crying to Bryson Tiller and questioning my decisions. But one thing about me is if I start something - I am going to see it through. Plus, I didn’t really have a choice at that point lol I really didn’t need to move to Miami but like I said in my very first entry, I am going to do what I want to do and I was so tired of living in Phoenix.
I got an Airbnb for the first week of living in Miami and then found the most amazing studio apartment literally one block away from Miami-Dade Arena in Bayside. My time in Miami was amazing, of course, had its ups and downs but I lived in the same place the whole time which was so nice. In May 2022 I then moved to New York about an hour and some minutes outside NYC to my parent’s house. This was a HUGE change and I have been adjusting to it every day since the move. The move here was interesting because I got rid of my car when I lived in Miami and so I had to rent a car and leave a TON of clothes and belongings behind because not all of it fit and I didn’t have the time or patience anymore to deal with it. So I drove with just me and Ace to NY (I also do not advise doing this drive alone). Thankfully Derrick, who never sleeps, was able to keep me company on the phone and I got to stop briefly in Virginia to see my dear friend Mary and her husband Justin!
Uhmmm you’d think I would be tired of moving. NOPE. I am moving to Houston, Texas on April 2nd, the lease has been signed since February and I am so excited to start this new adventure. This move though is also interesting because I never got a car, just never felt the need for it. I was with my parents so I didn’t need to buy furniture. All I need to do is transport my excessive amount of clothes and a ridiculous amount of kitchenware. I decided that I am getting a trailer dropped off to pack up at my parents and while that is driving across the country I am going to be flying with Ace to Houston.
Whew.
All of my moves have been emotional, I feel like that is pretty normal. Aside from the crying and such I think that the month leading up to the move is the worst part, especially with me being an overthinker. I literally have been sitting here the past three weeks thinking of everything that could possibly happen, positive and negative. SOOO if you are planning on moving here is a little piece of advice - you can’t control everything. I have changed my plans three times since I started thinking about this move and this final plan isn’t perfect but it is as close as I am going to get. I always tell myself “everything will be fine” but I hardly believe it but I think the more I say it the more I start to believe. I could sit here and keep planning and planning but eventually, that’s not going to lead to anything but more planning. So at some point, you have to make a decision and stick with it then pivot when needed.
I will be in the future writing another entry on the details of each move, why I picked the places I did, and my experiences in those cities.
Writing this out has really helped me reassure myself that I’ve got this - especially after this morning’s breakdown. I feel a bit less stressed, so thank you for being here and letting me chat about my moves and reflect on my past and how I successfully navigated through those. If you need any advice moving please ask, I am very happy to help 😊
xoxx
B
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