Moving = Cleaning??

Boyfriend and I went to Redlands this weekend to help my parents move to their new house. All I can say is, WOW my parents have a lot of stuff!! I guess that's ok since they've lived in the same house for 15 years.

My mom tried to give me her old dining room tables. Yes, you read right....she has 2 dining room tables! One for the kitchen and one for the formal dining room. I know she has an emotional attachment to them because one was shipped from our old house in Taiwan, and the other was the first piece of furniture she purchased in the US. However, at what point do you say enough is enough? Everything has some sort of memory attached to it, but you can't keep everything or can you?? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the tables will go to someone who really needs them.

My parent's dog, Molly, wanted to make sure we didn't forget her  so she hopped in the truck and waited while we loaded up some furnitures!

My brother, Alan, and our faithful dog, Misty.

Speaking of moving, before I moved in with the boyfriend, I used to move every year. I have lived in a total of 8 different places (if you count on-campus dorm and on-campus apartment)!! My rationale behind these moves was that I better move around while I'm young and only have to worry about me before I get older and settle down. When I say moving, I don't mean all over the country or world (which would be awesome!). I mainly moved around San Diego. From UTC to Mira Mesa to Pacific Beach, and now Mission Bay. I've experienced sharing a room, sharing an apartment, having my own room, sharing a house, and living on my own in a studio. I have learned how wonderful and disastrous it is to live with friends and strangers.

I loved moving every year because it gave me an excuse to clean out all my belongings and really lead a minimalistic lifestyle. Also I think I just liked the change and experiencing different neighborhoods and people. Everytime I move, I can't get over how much stuff I accumulate over the course of just one year!! I know almost everyone holds on to things, and some people do it to the extreme, but why do we all feel the need to have so much "stuff" in our lives?? Do you like moving? What's your favorite or least favorite part about moving?

My parents' move ended with a gorgeous sunset, as seen from their amazing new backyard!