Moving Out and Moving On

We all were forced to move out and move on all on the same day. It kind of whomped. Kind of? It did.

Kelsie was the first one to leave Friday morning. Kelsie had been packing for days and was ready to move out once the moment arrived. It was so heart-breaking to see her stark white walls - her lack of personality! I came home after my final and saw that some of her stuff was out in the hall. She was still around for me to hug her good-bye one more time!

Then Michelle left us. She was able to carry the majority of her things out in grocery sacks; ones she had been storing in her bottom drawer all year. ;) With all our skills at lifting groceries up and down three flights of stairs all year, it was easy to help Michelle move out. When she had left, it was like my other half had gone too. She put up with me and my odd night-habits all year. (I apologize profusely Michelle!) Then her half of our room was left stark white.

Mallory was the third to leave. Taking not only her stuff, but many of the objects that Rachel had been so kind as to let us borrow this semester (Thanks Rachie! - wouldn't have survived without a microwave!) So many things! Her mom made me laugh at each remark she made concerning Mal's load. :) Mal is our color-coordinated roommate. I died a little inside see the stark white of her walls.

Then it was left to me and Taylor. We had put off our chore of cleaning to the last minute. So we packed and we cleaned for hours on end!

My room was decked in hundreds of photos. It took me a solid hour to pull them all down and remove the poster putty. I pulled out an Audrey Hepburn puzzle from under my bed. One that I started at the beginning of the semester, but never finished. Two nights earlier, Shanna and Taylor worked on it a little bit more, giving her some hair...and a beard. ;) I dusted off all my shelves and wiped down my stark white walls. Everything was shoved in blue garbage bags, ready to be taken down to my car. Mind you, I took one load down in my car the night before. This was round two!

Then I looked in on Taylor's room. It was just as maddening seeing her lack of photos and princess memorabilia. Taylor was stressed not knowing if everything would actually fit in her car. We took load after load down those stairs and across the lawn to our cars. We fit it all though. We fit EVERYTHING into Tay's car. It was a "free one." No need to stress anymore! Then it was time to rearrange Taylor's room. She placed her desk back to it's original position, and her bed. It was not Tay's and Kelsie's room anymore. It was a hospital room - with stark white walls.

We were late for our assigned check-out time. We asked to have our RA, Megan, come around to see us at 1:30, but our kitchen was in shambles. We were busy sorting out who's was who's. Being the last two to leave, it was up to Tay and I to make sure everything got out - even if our roomies had left some things behind. ;) (Don't worry guys! We got your backs! We'll get all your stuff back to you at some point. haha)

We were finally ready to check out at 3:30. Everything was gone. The apartment was vacuumed and swept and our living room wall that had collected a hodge podge assortment of posters and papers, was left barren and stark white.

At this point in the game, it wasn't hard to leave. It wasn't our place anymore. But Taylor and I sat in the living room and reminisced for a little while, taking one last breather before we traveled home. We would miss the uncomfortable couches that left lines on your face when you slept on them, our kitchen cupboard that never shut completely, the drafty windows. :) We decided our place was a dive. It wasn't ever very much in the first place, but it had character! We had made it our own. I only hope that the next people blessed to live in that apartment come to love it as much as our group did. I'm really going to miss that place!

Taylor threw a thought out to the wind. What if walls of Rich 301 could talk? What would they say? Could anyone really love that place as much as we did? Who lived there in the past? There's so many memories locked in that place.

And I'm sure some of the best memories were brought there by us. ;)