My life in boxes

By News9 Meteorologist Carrie Rose.

My life is being bubble-wrapped and taped into boxes.  My house is a maze of boxes, some already sealed shut and labeled for moving, others empty and open like a grave awaiting a burial. 

I say grave, because this really is the end of my life in Oklahoma, the season of life where "home" and "Oklahoma" were synonymous.  In just a few weeks, I will abandon my sweet house with my remaining belongings and begin the cross-country drive to my new home, Richmond, Virginia.

I actually hail from Virginia, if you trace back on both sides of my family.  My dad was born in Virginia, and that side of the family still lives there today, and has been there since before the American Revolution.  My mom's side of the family settled in south Georgia back in the 1800's after migrating south from...yup, Virginia.  Obviously by my pale complexion and red hair, I am of Scotch-Irish descent.  Virginia and Georgia were popular destinations for my ancestors. 

My ancestors immigrated to the United States before it was the USA.  They were mostly poor, Protestant farmers escaping religious persecution and trying to find a place to farm.  Relatives on both sides fought in the American Revolution, so I am a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  I am looking forward to learning more about my family on my dad's side once I move. 

But back to all that stuff I mentioned being packed into boxes...it has been incredibly humbling to see how much "stuff" I have in my posession.  In an effort to de-clutter my life, I am having a yard sale this weekend.  As I line up all the items for sale, I wonder, "How in the world did I amass so much stuff?!"  Seriously, I don't need that wicker basket holding the stack of old magazines I just chunked into the trash can.  And why did I keep all those stuffed animals?  There are plenty of kids who will love my tenderly loved stuffed animals.  Whatever posessed me to buy margarita glasses after college, I will never know (since I do not drink margaritas!).  Maybe I was attracted to the unique shape of the glass and the colorful blue and green designs around the rim.  I've mostly used them as ice cream bowls, but they are for sale now!

I will admit I am a little sad to sell all my Christmas decorations I worked so hard to collect last year for my first Christmas in my house.  But, I am pretty sure my new apartment complex would not approve of my outdoor additions to the lawn...

Still, my cousins in Virginia are going to cut a live tree down for me from some of the farmland and haul it up to Richmond!  I have not had a live Christmas tree in years, and I am so excited about decorating the fresh tree. 

Even as one season of life is dying, a new one is being born.  Even though I trip over boxes and the popping sound of bubble wrap crunches under my toes in the middle of the night, soon I will only hear the soft padding of my feet on the floor of my new apartment as I wake up long before most other people for work.  Oklahoma will always have a piece of my heart, because home always does that to you.  You may move away and move on, but home goes with you. 

My last shows on air at News9 will be the first week of December.  Thanks for watching, and stay with News9, we'll keep you advised!