The “Practice” Moving Declutter Begins

I really like to keep anything I write about on this blog, and on social media in general, as optimistic as possible. There are times when I can’t keep things upbeat, but I still try. Yet, right now, I’m struggling with some serious worries in my life.

Among the problems everyone is worrying about, (The economy, health, ect.) I’m also worried about housing in the area where I live. I don’t make a secret how much I hate the area where I currently live in. I mentioned this online as well as to people I know well. This is why it is no secret I want to move as soon as possible. Yet, there are still a few things that keep my attached to the area. This includes my job.

My overall idea is that I’ll move once I save enough money and can find myself a job in the area where I want to move to. So far, nothing is going as planed. Because of this, I don’t know what my next step in moving is.

It is hard right now to tell the difference between what I want to do versus what I need to do. I never thought about buying a house because I don’t know where to move to! I have certain states I would love to move to, both for work and health purposes, but nothing is for certain. This is why I feel stuck in my life without knowing what to do or where to go.

Things are going to be ok, but to be honest, I’m just in a confusing time in my life. I don’t know where to move to, even though I have a rough idea where I should go, and I don’t know what type of job I’ll search for.

Even though I don’t know where I’ll move to and when my next chapter of my life will begin (Or if it already has), I decided to take some advice from friends of mine. They suggested that I prep my things as if I were going to move. Prepping my things includes packing them, sorting them, and getting rid of things that I don’t want or need anymore. Basically, all the things that need to be done before any move.

So far, I’ve begin to pick through some of my things, including DVDs and CDs. I’m currently not going through my book collection. I have a huge book collection, including sewing, fashion, and art books I used for work or just to make something. Since I’m using many of them or I can’t replace them (The fashion, sewing, and art books) without paying over $200 USD for them, I decided to worry about them later.

Picking through my DVDs and CDs made me think about what I kind of music, movies, and TV shows I used to frequently watch and listen to. I had a large Josh Gorban collection. I didn’t know how many Taylor Swift CDs I owned. And don’t get me started on all the Anime I used to watch.

To be honest, I found many things I don’t like very much but decided to keep. The reason is, again, for work and hobby purposes. Since I sew so much and dabbled into historical costuming, I have a collection of DVDs of movies that sometimes get referenced due to historical costuming. I don’t necessarily love the stories, but it is better to keep the DVDs I already own. That way I don’t need to go out searching for them and buy them all over again if I need them.

Overall, I’m making huge progress. I am finding some bugs and creepy insects as I search through my things, but that’s ok. They are the reason why I see this clean out as a good thing. They now have less places to hide!

Letting go of my things wasn’t easy to do when I was sick. Now that I am healthy, I can honestly say that I don’t mind getting rid of some of them. There are so many things I never liked, but never trusted my decision making back then to get rid of. Today, I am confident I can live the rest of my life without these things. If I need them again, I’ll buy them. I doubt it though.

Well, that’s all for now! Thank you for reading!

Featured Image is from Pexels.com

Thoughts on Moving to a City (Plus Pros and Cons)

As I write this, I’m still trying to figure out a timeline for when I can move from my current home. Everything moving related is still up in the air due to delays beyond my control. In order to keep myself motivated and optimistic, I’m focusing on where I would like to live and why. One of the areas I am strongly considering moving to is in a city.

There are many reasons why I’d like to move to a city, but it mostly deals with my job. I know I will need to be able to travel to a metropolitan area for work. Even though living in an area where I can commute to work sounds nice, I wondered if I would like a change. I never fully lived in a city before, so I thought maybe that may be something I’d like to do.

Continue reading “Thoughts on Moving to a City (Plus Pros and Cons)”

A Post About My Dog, Friendship, Where I Currently Live, and Belonging Somewhere

On March 30, 2021, my dog, Brownie, passed away. Even though she was sick for many months, I always held out hope that her heath would improve, yet it was not meant to be. I’m happy she was my dog and she is in heaven where her health would no longer be a worry anymore.

I am still sad, but the day after she passed away, I looked around my current home and wondered what I should do in my spare time. I work from home and, even though my day job keeps me busy, I have some down time. Usually I spend my down time taking care of Brownie, but now that she isn’t here anymore, I tried to think of something else to do. That’s when it hit me: I don’t have anything to do near where I live.

I do have friends, but they live at least a 45 minute drive one direction away from me. I tried to make friends where I live, but it never worked out. As for attending any sort of events in the area, nothing peaks my interest, especially after the pandemic. There are parks in nearby towns I’d like to visit, but the parks are near agricultural fields that cause my allergies to get worse. The other areas I’d like to visit are either too far away or are so packed with people “social distancing” that it’s not even worth trying to visit.

After thinking about other things I could do, I finally realized it’s probably almost time to seriously consider moving. I talked about moving from my current home many times on this blog, but after Brownie’s passing, it hit me harder than ever that I need to move not only away from my current home, but possibly out of state.

I really liked living in Arizona, but with so many people moving to the state, it’s hard to find an apartment or house that I’d like to own in my budget. Also, my allergies are at their worst in the areas where homes are available, will be available, and/or in my budget. And when it comes to work, I’ll need to get a new job because I cannot continue working my current job if I move. (Even though I work from home, I still need to stay in the area where I currently live in order to do it.)

Even though I had a plan for what to do, I made it without a pandemic and all the problems associated with it. So, now I have no idea what to do.

Fortunately, I have great friends that, even though we live quite a distance away from each other, we still try to keep in contact with each other. They have been my support group during Brownie’s illness and after her death. I also found out many within my friendship circle that have dogs named Brownie passed away in March, with my Brownie being the last Brownie to pass away. Knowing we’re going through the same thing at the same time has been both hard and comforting. And they too feel the same way about finding a place to live in Arizona, allergies, and jobs. All of us are trying to look for a new place to focus our house hunting and job hunting efforts and, if everything works the way we hope they will, we will move together to the new state. We won’t live in the same home, but we hope to move together and live much closer to each other than we currently do.

I am afraid of this new chapter in my life, but I know it must happen. It also makes me so sad to know my Brownie, or any of my friend’s Brownies, will not be moving with us, but now there is nothing holding us, or me, back from moving. I know outside of Arizona there are jobs I want and am qualified to do that pay much higher than I currently am being paid. Also, there are chances for freelance work in areas I would like to work in, which really peaks my interest in moving out of state.

I don’t know where I’m going, or when I’m going to move, but I know it probably should happen this year. I really don’t fit in where I live, I can’t find a job that pays well or a job in the area I want to work in near where I live, and finding a home in Arizona without a huge sum of cash is impossible now. Since things are so uncertain, I’ll refrain from writing posts about buying homes, home items, and other topics associated with homes, jobs, and moving. I’ll still talk about everything else I usually talk about on this blog, but for now, I’d like to focus on trying to figure out what my plan is for moving, getting a job, and other life things without talking about them online. If I feel comfortable talking about them, I will, but right now I want some privacy to figure out were my life is heading and mourn for my Brownie and all the Brownies that passed away this past month.

Well, that’s all for now! Thank you for reading!