But first, breakfast:
Warm and delicious Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal.
On a whim, I made my boatmeal with coconut butter as the fat source. As it turns out, coconut butter pairs really well with pumpkin. Not that I expected any different; coconut butter pairs really well with everything!
And this single-serving recipe never fails me.
I also ate the last of my samples of Vegan Greek Yogurt.
Then, after breakfast, it was time to meet a friend… and move into our new place!!
That’s my big news. (See? I told you it was something that was a huge deal to me, but that y’all probably wouldn’t care about. Your guesses about me running away with my blind date were much more interesting!)
We spent Thursday, Friday, and some of Saturday moving furniture, unpacking boxes, and organizing everything. The actual process of moving is never any fun, and I’m definitely not a stranger to it.
As a child, my parents bounced me all over the world: London, Tokyo, Philadelphia, Manila, Shanghai, and Dallas. And the bouncing didn’t stop when I got out on my own, moving first to a dorm in freshman year of college. When I transferred to SMU, a friend and I found an apartment together. Junior year, I moved to a single apartment after my friend graduated, and it was an adorable little place. But I arrived home one day to find a note taped to the door that said: “Move out, because we are demolishing your apartment to make room for the George Bush Library.”
Ugh.
So I got another apartment, with a roommate. And then, tired of all the moving, I moved back in with my parents for senior year. Living at home was awesome. It was free, familiar, and I got to see the people (and puppies!) I most love in the world. However, it’s just too easy to pretend you’re still a kid when you live at home. I was ready to get out on my own again and be independent.
Question of the Day:
If you don’t live with your parents, when did you move away from home?
Or when do you think you will leave home? Although I’ve lived on my own before, this is the first time I’ll truly be independent; paying my own rent and bills.
P.S. Can someone quickly go “like” my Facebook page?
I’d be so grateful… I know it sounds ridiculous, but I’m superstitious and am scared of 6666s! 😕
Hi Katie! Congrats on the big move, it’s definitely exciting! I was bounced around a lot as a kid too actually… any chance you went to the American School in Japan when you were in Tokyo? 🙂 It’s a small international community!
Yes I did!!! When were you there? I only went there for pre-school… but we might know some of the same people!
How funny! I was there from 1rst-3rd grade and then 8th grade till graduation.. haha, leave it to my family to move to Tokyo twice. Hmm we may have overlapped a bit – how old are you again? I’m 23, so I think 1rst -3rd grade was uhhhh 94-96? I could be wrong though.. I’m terrible about recalling years 🙂
I’m 25… we probably just missed each other, but I bet if we compared yearbooks, we’d see some of the same people!
Well actually, since you’re 2 years older but was there for pre-school while I was there for 1-3rd grade, we probably even own some of the same yearbooks! Seems like we were there the same exact time.. how funny!
Ummm wait nevermind. My logic is totally flawed haha. You’re older than me, so that doesn’t make sense! We must’ve just missed each other 🙂
Congrats on moving girly! I haven’t lived at home since the summer after my freshman year in college. Currently, I am very nervous because I graduate from nursing school in December and I have NO idea where I want to go. I don’t want to have to move back home at all–after living alone for so long it is just kind of annoying to live back under the parents roof!
Yeah, that’s how I felt… I loved being home, but it was so weird to live at home after being on my own!
I feel the same way! I lived at home for a few months before volunteering with India, and my mom totally acted like I was 14 again. I remember going out for a walk in the evening and I came home and my mom was really frantic saying “you have to tell us when you leave the house!” This was in small town WV, when I had just come back from living in the 2nd most dangerous city in the country on my own, and I was 24 years old…
“P.S. Can someone quickly go “like” my Facebook page?
I’d be so grateful… I know it sounds ridiculous, but I’m superstitious and don’t like 13’s”
Lol! You are such a cutie! I’ve already Liked your page on FB so when I tried again it wouldn’t let me!
Congrats on the move! How exciting!
Awww lol YOU are such a sweetheart :).
I moved out on the morning of my 18th birthday.
It was NOT pretty.
I moved out for reasons of my own, from anger to loneliness, and my boyfriend (at the time) helped me move all of my stuff. I had nowhere to stay for about four days and then I found an apartment, which I had to pay in full for.
Again, NOT pretty.
However! As time went by, my family and I grew closer and we understood each other on a deeper level. I am very thankful that, through the pain and suffering, everything worked out better than expected. I can finally say “I love you” to my dad without feeling awkward.
Through this experience, I can say distance really does make the heart grow fonder. I love my family.
Pardon me if I’ve said too much. 🙂
You could never say too much! Long comments are my favorite… maybe because it reassures me that I’m not the only chatterbox in the world? 😉
Heheh, understood. I’m usually a very quiet person but, bring up a topic and ask me at the right time and I won’t stop talking!
the george bush library, really?
yikes…………a note on the door?
sounds like the break up in sex in the city.
Haha, like you my parents had my brother and I moving from place as children. 🙂 Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Singapore, Fukuoka, the US, Manila… When I moved back to Canada for college, my parents had to stay on so my dad could finish his posting in Manila, so that’s when I left my parents. I stayed in a dorm for a year, too… It was horrible! Did you have a better experience?
And… seriously. The George Bush Library? 😐
My dad went early to China (6 months before us), and that sucked. But otherwise, we were lucky to always be together.
Oh, what I meant was, did you have a better experience living in a dorm than I did? I know university dorms vary greatly across countries, or even provinces and states. 😛
My dad actually did that for all of our postings! (Flying ahead half a year earlier.) It’s very fortunate that you managed to stay together, always. 🙂 Must’ve made the actual move a little bit more of a family effort, no?! Because my dad was always going ahead, our stuff would usually be sent ahead and waiting for us by the time we arrived, and there would at least be some sort of order in the apartment or house we’d move into.
By the way! Where did you live in Manila? I lived in Taguig/Metro Manila, not far from Makati. And did you ever get to experience any typhoons while you lived there? (Not fun…! But sure make for great stories!)
Ayala Alabang (hehe, I love Tagalog names!)
Luckily, we didn’t experience any typhoons… just a TON of mosquitoes. Yuck!
That is very exciting! I’m still in high school but I plan on moving out as soon as I get to college. Some people like their family and would love to just stay with them always but my situation is quite different. I gotta get out! I hope you like your new place!
That totally sucks that they made you move the the George Bush Library. 😛
I moved out from my parent’s directly after college. I literally was home for a week while they finished the flooring, then moved back down by college (1.5 hr away) into the tiniest apartment ever. But, it was mine, and I loved it anyway! It’s fantastic to be independent.
That is exciting news! I moved out late- when I was 25 I think- when me and Andy bought our home together.We did look at renting earlier but thought we would be better to save the money. 🙂
Baked oatmeal looks amazing
I left home at around 19, but paid rent since the age of 17, so it was sort of like I was on my own at home lol, but not really. I now own my own home (with my husband of 13yrs), and though there is always that little bit of anxiety about making ends meet and such, I am so grateful to have a place to rest my head at night 😀 It’s something I never thought I would be able to do (buy a house that is, not rent one), and when that dream came true, I was so ecstatic.
Congrats on your new place, it’s the beginning of a wonderful new life 😀
congrats!! You are going to have so much fun =))
I just moved into my own place. My parents are footing the bill but it’s my first place that isn’t a dorm room. It was sort of weird at first–especially because I don’t have roommates. But I’ve grown to really love it. It’s sort of funny how something so foreign at the start can grow to feel like home.
Congrats on your move!!
Congratulations on the move!
I lived at home all through college and through a master’s degree (which is the same home in which I spent my enitre childhood). I moved out when I started my PhD just over 3 years ago. Now, I am happy enough to stay here for as long as possible–moving is the pits!
Yay, congratulations!!!!!
I also first moved out when I went to college. Ironically, at the age of 42, I, along with my Hubby, the kids, and dog, will be moving in with HIS parents. Between the economy and his dad’s surgery (and the fact that they have a HUGE house), it makes the most sense.
I admire people who can move away from home. I know my complicated past makes it a little more tricky but i hope that in the next 2 years i will be able to get even stronger & move out hopefully for university. It does kind of depress me that i will be 27 before i move out for uni even, but then i know lots of people are moving back home for financial reasons too these days. My neighbours’ son has just moved back home so he can study & he must be nearly 40! (he does have a wife & kids in japan tho)
Finally!! haha I was so curious 🙂 Congrats on the new move, I know it can be super stressful getting settled in and unpacked, but exciting at the same time.
I moved away from home for University, lived in residence the first 3 years, and now for my last year in a house with two awesome roommates. As much as I love living at home (I’ve spent summers there still), I really enjoy the freedom of living away and having my own space.