No Valentine's Date for Me

It wasn't for lack of planning. I had two completely different and completely awesome Valentine's Date ideas.

1) We would go play paintball. Angel's never played paintball before, I've played twice, and it's awesome fun. Nothing wrong with this plan.

2) We would go to SkyZone, jump around, and spend the evening with some of our favorite friends at the college Bible study where we met. This date idea was perfect because it combined exercise and fun with romance (you know, the 'back to where we met' factor)

Either one of these would have been an awesome Valentine's adventure. However, when the day came around, our evening adventures turned out to be characterized by a U-Haul and take-out pizza shared with half of my family instead.

While I'd sure like a raincheck on paintball or SkyZone one of these days, our February 14th was an adventure in its own way.

Some of you may remember my post last October about how Summer Vacation Changed My Life. I haven't written much on the subject since, but trust me, in the background, this life change has been motivating most of our actions, with the result that we're working toward moving overseas this summer. I will write more details about it at some point, but for now, what you need to know is that we're preparing as best as we can for a big move a few months from now, which led to how we spent Valentine's Day.

The day before, my mom called me and sprung the news that my parents have decided to sell the house that we live in (we're renters) when we move out. Therefore, they'd decided to show up the next day, February 14th, with a U-Haul to take all of their furniture and everything they had stored in the house out of it so that they wouldn't have to worry about the location of their stuff when it came time to sell the house.

A large percentage of the furniture that we have used for the past three years actually belongs to my parents, so this meant that we had to quickly clear and empty cupboards that needed to be loaded in the truck. My parents also recommended that we take advantage of the already rented U-Haul to take any of our most treasured heirlooms away for storage at my grandparents' home, and we did.

 Goodbye, cupboard.

All of this meant that we spent Valentine's Day itself as well as the next day moving furniture (well, not me. Angel, my dad, brother, and uncle did that) and packing and sorting (that was the job that the ladies tackled!)

Is this book a treasured heirloom, something to give to a friend, or should it be donated to the thrift store?

Valentine's Day was the beginning of my encounter with how big of a change this move will be in Angel's and my lives. In recent months, it has already changed our future plans and dreams...but now it's changing the way my house looks. As I packed boxes, I realized that with this move, I'm letting go of my childhood dreams of owning a dollhouse and having a luxurious library in my own home. I'm letting go of the cupboards where I've stored dishes for the last three years and the desk where I have written hundreds of blog posts.

 Goodbye, gorgeous, gorgeous bed. I will always love you.

Some days, summer, and the adventure that awaits, still seem painfully far away. But then again, I know it's coming closer. We don't have plane tickets yet, although I'd like to, but we're doing exactly what we know we should be doing, and there's so much peace in the midst of what could be scary decisions.

I had plans of fun and frivolity for Valentine's Day, and instead, the weekend left me with a home much emptier and a heart much readier to go.

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On that note, who's up for playing paintball with me?