Pondering Packing

I've been slowly, but diligently, purging many of my possessions since December in preparation for moving abroad in the summer of 2011. This process has been simultaneously interesting and agonizing! I started creating areas of purgatory for certain difficult items. Surprisingly (to me but not to statistics), most things have ended up at Goodwill or my church garage sale pile after it completes its waiting period.

Recently, I was perplexed by the idea that I was more than ready to get rid of my TV that I've had since college. I haven't hardly watched it while living in Clinton due to lack of cable and insufficient local signal, so I adapted and became completely dependent on my computer. However, I felt this strong attachment to the entertainment center that I purchased at a consignment store here in Clinton less than two years ago. Now, logically, why would one even consider keeping an entertainment center if they are getting rid of their TV without a second thought? Then, after deciding that moving the entertainment center wouldn't be fun and I should just donate it, I was seriously considering keeping my DVD player. Really?!? I eventually came to my senses that my computer has a DVD player and without a TV, it's useless!

As someone who considers them self rather detached from "things", I've come to realize I'm a lot more attached and dependent than I had initially evaluated and I have determined that often it's because things are attached to memories. I keep reminding myself that the memory doesn't have to disappear just because the "thing" does...at least I hope not because my parents' basement can't fit all the memories that I've accumulated! :)

Iowa Travels

Moving to back to Iowa in fall of 2009 provided me the opportunity to live in Iowa for the first time as an adult. This made me realize how I changed since leaving after college. I'm now and explorer and experiencer meaning that good old familiar Iowa provided all sorts of new opportunities that had not been previously considered.

Over the past two years, I've successfully experienced some of the touristy highlights (at least according to my world) of Iowa including the Bridges of Madison County, Field of Dreams, Effigy Mounds, Postville, Villages of Van Buren County and innumerable state and county parks with local and out-of-town friends as well as random dates. Most recently, I took in the the Pella Tulip Festival on the most beautiful spring day of 2011 with some old friends from UNI! It was most delightful!

Some of the highlights included:
*75% of the town dressed in traditional dutch attire including ginormous wooden clogs (including 300+ elementary school students walking in perfect rows!)
*Impressive hydraulics on nearly every float
*Clearest, most informative parade sound system EVER!!!
*My first taste of Dutch letters; they're delicious!
*Exposure to traditional street cleaning for the first time i.e. buckets of water and brooms.
*Perfectly-bloomed and beautifully-colored tulips EVERYWHERE!
*Spending time with friends and remembering exactly why they're my friends! :)


I've determined through my travels over the past few years that Iowa truly has "Fields of Opportunities". :)