leaving the nest.

I have a confession: I've never been good with change. One of my personal weaknesses is accepting that change in my life and being able to adapt with the adjustments I have to make. The reason that I'm saying this, is that in about 50 some days, I'm going to go through a big change.
Good-bye parent's house. Hello duplex.

I'm going to go from college student living at parent's house {rent-free, bless their selfless hearts} to a brand-new wife, renter, and {still} a college student. I'm going to live on my own: being responsible for myself and Chad's well-being and create a house suitable for my new husband and me.

Now, don't you all agree that is a lot of change? I like living at my parent's house and I've never really had to be concerned with the water bill or if I should buy generic or not. This isn't me saying that I'm not looking forward to living on my own with Chad--this is saying that some part of me is going to miss living at home. {The "I'm Excited to Live on My Own" post is coming later this week.}


Here are some things I'll miss about living at home:

01. hearing my parents talk quietly in their bedroom when I come home at the end of the day

02. Saturday morning pancakes. I don't get to do this tradition as often since I work on Saturday mornings, but when I'm able, I love waking up to my dad calling us down to breakfast.

03. listening to my sister practice her piano music. She's quite talented when it comes to the piano {unlike me, she actually went past the parent-required 3rd grade level} and my favorite is hearing her play the music from pride+prejudice.
 
04. the familiar: how I can tell when Hannah home from school, knowing where the mail goes, knowing that when my parents go out for a walk, they'll always come back with coffee, knowing that Monday is laundry day here

05. debating television shows like LOST with my dad and Hannah: is Jacob the Messiah? Who is Smokey?
debating shows like Project Runway and Glee with my mom: did that designer really deserve winning?  should Rachel and Finn be together?

06. the notes my mom leaves for us on the kitchen counter--notes ranging from telling us to record a television show for her, telling us to clean the bathroom because we're getting a weekend house-guest, or asking us if we know where her scissors are

07. having my homework helper right at home. My dad's the guy who helps me with graphs and statistics, as well as suggesting topics for my research paper and what lesson plans would work

08. hearing the "This is Jepoardy!" announcement and knowing that my dad is hanging out in the living room.  Also could be: Twins baseball, classical music, Gophers basketball or hockey

09. the dinners on our 3-season room in the summer. No TV blaring, no distractions--just us, food, and conversation

10. the tradition Hannah and I have of reading the Lifestyle section of the Sunday paper on the way to church...looking at the weddings and reading the baby names aloud

11. the piles on my mom's desk--pictures she has to put in albums, Kwik Trip receipts she has to enter into the computer, the lists she writes to herself

12. looking at the calendar hanging from our refrigerator: the appointments, the birthdays, the times my dad ushers at church--all in my mother's handwriting. She gave me my organization gene.

13. the comfort: knowing there's always bread in the cupboard next to the refrigerator, knowing that my parents will take care of those pesky bills, knowing that when I write something on the grocery to-buy list...it will be bought, never having to shovel the driveway or mow the grass--having parents who take pride in their work and instill the same values to their children, hearing my dad walk up the stairs at the end of the day and calling out to Hannah and I: "Good night girls, I love you"

Tell me please: How did all of you feel when you moved out on your own?