21
Where is the flour?
I’ve never moved before in my life.
I, Rachel, am 23 years old and have lived in the same house since the day my parents brought me home from the hospital. I guess you could say that technically I have moved, if you count moving from a shared bedroom with my sister into my own bedroom in the same home… a move.
Jason has moved like 17 times in his lifetime.
He has the one-up on me in the moving department, that’s for sure. I actually have no idea what I’m doing when I “move”. I’ve helped my friends move, but… throwing their stuff into a box and placing that said box into their new home for them to deal with is a lot different than packing up your own junk and carrying it into the new home you are responsible for decorating.
I haven’t officially moved. My clothes and desk and bed are all still at my parents house. That’s where I sleep and occasionally pass through for free snacks. But since my almost husband and I have already combined bank accounts and I am half paying for this new house, I spend a lot of my time there.
Most of you have moved before, so … this isn’t new for you. But for someone who is a moving newbie, I am still grasping the complexities of what a move has in store for a person.
First of all, new homes smell weird. I thought that opening the windows for 3 hours would do the trick, but… I have to remember that people actually lived in this house before we got there, so their smells are all over the place. We bought candles and air fresheners, and it’s helping, but it’s a process.
Second of all, new homes don’t come with anything. We’re renting. Renting is also new for me, obviously. Part of me thinks a landlord should stock you up with necessities like toilet paper and paper towels and food. OK, not the food but… it really sucks when you’re in a new house and you’ve forgotten to buy toilet paper or paper towels or napkins or kleenex or any paper products whatsoever. Same goes for cleaning products. That stuff sucks to buy, the owners should just keep the place stocked with cleaning products like, “Hey, here ya go thanks for renting, keep the place clean”.
Thirdly, the food situation is grim for a little while. Here’s the deal, we can go buy a frozen package of chicken and some lettuce but… without spices our chicken will never taste good. Or how about wanting to add salt to your meal? Or maybe sugar to your coffee? Or perhaps you wanted to make a quick batch of cookies? In a new home, you don’t have this stuff, you have to go out and buy it… and that makes your grocery bills expensive.
So I’ve learned over the past few weeks that when you move, you don’t necessarily have all the things that houses are supposed to have. I’ve lived with my parents forever. When we’re out of cinnamon, my mom buys some more cinnamon. When we don’t have snacks, mom buys me snacks. Oh, you need oil for that pan? It’s cool, I got it, because that’s just something you have in a home.
My almost husband and I have to make this new place a home. We bought flour and brown sugar the other day. It was the highlight of our week. We also bought wall decor for our bathroom and I admired it for at least 3 minutes. It’s the little things these days that I’m loving, the things I’ve never really thought about before. In less than 3 weeks I’m going to have a whole new home with a whole new husband and we’re going to start a whole new family. I can’t wait.
-R
