Songs of the Solomons: Moving Day

Today is our moving/packing/shipping day! We got back Thursday, and while I didn't want the trip to end, it felt REALLY nice being able to not live out of a suitcase and be back in our own home. We've been prepping all weekend, checking things off bucket lists, packing, organizing, cleaning, and now the movers are finally here and are packing us up as we speak. It's kind of surreal and I can't actually believe that we'll be on in a plane to the US in 48 hours. I honestly think we've both been too busy and too frazzled to even stop and think about what this means and how we're actually feeling.

We also had our going away party this weekend - if you can even call it that - which consisted of a bunch of our friends all gathering at our favorite local pub for some low key drinks. It was a great turn out and really good to have everyone I love in one place and it made me feel very...blessed. Which is cheesy and cliche but it's true. We received a lot of incredibly thoughtful going away gifts and really meaningful cards from our friends that I know I'll keep forever. We've been so lucky with our friends here which has been such a humongous blessing.

I said goodbye to several friends on Saturday, several more yesterday at a girls brunch, and I'll probably see a few more tonight and tomorrow night before we actually leave. (Drew was like "Lauren, you've gotta quit dragging this out. You have to tell them all goodbye eventually." NO I DON'T! Leave me alone!) Saying goodbye gives me anxiety and I don't wanna do it!

These last two days, we'll...walk around the city, hit up our favorite places a few more times, continue numbing ourselves and not thinking about what this all means, and try not to cry. I feel like I should be feeling...more. But I'm not. I'm just numb. And sad. And weirdly excited. And numb. Maybe this means that it's just time to go..? Our time here is done, and that's ok..? I don't know and I don't get it but for now, I'll just let it ride.

Here we have Lauren (who I also call Ladonna, one of my best friends), Tracy (whose been with us since Day 1, and is staying another year in Dublin, lucky bitch), and my other friend Lauren B. (who I met through the American Women's Club)

And here's Diana (who I met through Drew's coworker, from NYC), and Deena (who I met through Meredith, works at Yelp)

Drew and Ian, one of his best friends that we've been tight with since our second month in Dubs

Me and Autumn, one of the main players in my Dublin life since the beginning!

All four of us!

Us and TP - couldn't have done this journey without her!

Drew's friend Anthony from Boston - they work together

Me and Micah! Another Dallas transplant that I became really tight with since they moved here in October. (We also went to Istanbul with them)

Drew with Jeff (Micah's husband), Anthony, and Andrew (another friend from NYC we met awhile ago)

It was a ton of fun and very bittersweet seeing them all and telling them all goodbye. Ugh. I hate life changes.

Anyway...all day Sunday, we laid out everything we owned in our tiny "dining room" area, much like we did in Dallas before we left, so we could show the packers what to pack and take and ship. I don't think I realized we had that much stuff but it was a ton more than we anticipated!