Growing Up and Moving Out

I'm going for another "All About Me" prompt tonight.

In the spring of 1984, I graced the world with my presence. I was born at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids, IA.

I lived in our 18th Street house from the time I was born until the fall of 1990. I can still the remember the house fairly well. Pictures have helped that memory, but I really do remember things from back that! I'll share a few of my memories.

*I had a play area in our basement. My horse, "Blacky" was down there. It was one of those rocking horses on springs. I loved that horse. I had a very creative imagination...I bet you can guess what color the horse was. It also had my rad kitchen set (which happened to be Emily's kitchen set that her dad gave to me!). Plus it had my checkout stand and cash register. My dad actually built the checkout stand for me and it really beeped when I ran items over it!

*I enjoyed taking the cushions off the couch and jumping on them. Hanging upside down of the couch. And dancing around the living room to my Psalty cassettes.

*Laying in bed with my dad and having him teach me the names of the planets and continents.

*Playing doctor and having my parent's realize that my "owie" that I wanted a band aid on was actually the start of my chicken pox!

A couple pics from that era:

We moved to our Eastview house in the fall of 1990. That's where we spent the rest of our childhood.  I loved our house. My parent's somehow conned me into taking the bedroom in the basement. I'm glad they did because I ended up loving the privacy as I got older.

There are way too many memories in that house. We've had laughter, tears, fights, and everything in between. We always ate supper together as a family. We enjoyed watching TV together. It was always a treat when mom and dad would agree to have a game night! My favorite was Monopoly because it meant that we would get to play longer. Plus I knew I could kick butt at that game! There were nights of hanging out on the deck. Playing lawn darts. Launching rockets. Fires in the winter (which almost always ended in the smoke alarms going off because the basement would fill with smoke). Lying in the dark at Christmas with just the light of the Christmas tree and listening to Christmas music. It was nice when we got to share happy times as a family.

(We totally had a pink house!)

In 2003 it was time for me to move again. This time I was moving on my own. I was 19 and ready to get out and prove to the world (or mostly to my parent's) that I could make it on my own! I went with my mom and looked at an apartment that was only about a mile from their house. My mom kindly paid my deposit... and made me sign a 6 month lease in case things didn't work out. They worked out.

I loved my tiny little one bedroom apartment. I had freedom. I could come and go as I pleased without anyone asking me where I was going or when I was coming back. I got to grocery shop for food that I wanted! Believe me, it was NOT healthy food! I bought anything that I could microwave or frozen foods that I could just pop in the oven. I had one of those tiny ovens which burned everything on the bottom and didn't finish cooking on top. Every time I made pizza the smoke alarm would go off! I had a tiny little TV with giant rabbit ears. No cable for me for awhile! I didn't have a computer for the year or so until Keith gave me his old one. Thinking back I have no idea how I made it that long without a computer!

My living room and door.

My kitchen. Yup...it was that tiny! That little piece of counter top WAS my only counter top.

My bedroom

Eventually I outgrew my apartment. I accumulated a lot of stuff and couldn't wait for my lease to be up. Of course, it was a 1 year lease by this point and I had just resigned it about a month before I got it in my head that I was ready to move. That made for a long 11 months!

Packing up!

I found my next apartment and of course fell in love with that too. I wasn't sad to leave my first place...although I had to tell it goodbye. Ha ha! I moved in on Memorial Day weekend of 2007. I was so excited! I had a fireplace, a huge living room, 2 bedrooms, 3 closets, a dining room and a regular sized oven!

Signed the lease and got the keys!

Living room/ dining room.

That apartment was good to me. I had a great landlord too. I actually felt like a I really had a home. It was so cozy and warm.

My dad told me when I had moved into my last apartment that he wasn't helping me move again until I got married. I stuck to that promise! I met Jacob, fell in love and got engaged. It was time to move again! This time away from my hometown and to a brand new state. There was lot of stress in finding a new home, but we found it and I couldn't be more happy! I packed up and moved to Illinois on Memorial Day weekend of 2009!

I'm sure it's not that last time I'll move, but until I do, I plan to make more memories of my home now.