Goodbyes

Saying goodbye to all the people and places familiar to me was one of the hardest things about preparing to be gone for a year. I finished up at my job in St. Louis at the end of August. It was sad to clean out and pack up my desk and pass off my projects to others. But mostly, it was hard to say goodbye to my coworkers. I was more attached to them than I had ever realized but I guess that happens when you spend almost every day with someone. There were goodbye parties and some tears were shed.

Here is a picture of my desk before packing it up. Don't you like my large corner office? I had a nice view of the back parking lot.

Then, it was one last evening out with my friends to say goodbye. I will miss them all!! Here's a picture of Holly and I with our friend Deb.


My parents and brother drove up to St. Louis over Labor Day weekend to help me move out of my apartment. They were so helpful and considering that I had almost nothing packed up yet we really got a lot accomplished in less than 3 days.

My apartment before the move.

Everything that came out of the apartment.

The end result...so sad and empty.

After moving all my belongings to a storage unit near my parents house I took a week long trip to visit friends and family in Kansas.

Lucky for me it was the week of the Kansas State Fair. I spent a cold and windy afternoon there and it brought back many great childhood memories! It was really nice to get to spend more than just an extended holiday weekend with family and friends.

My brother and I with our grandparents.

Once back at my parent's house I had about a week to get my life in order and pack 2 giant suitcases with everything I would need for the year. I won't go into detail but let me just say that I didn't get much sleep that week.