Leaving Arizona

So I’m… home.

Kind of.

Last night was a really weird night to sleep in my bed for the last time. My room was completely bare- all of the posters down, half of my stuff sitting in the dumpster outside. I lay there thinking about how long I had been there, but also about how many times I had moved (this marks number 15). I thought about how long I’ve been under my Dad’s wing, and how this time I was going out on my own… Haven’t done that before. I’ve become very independent and mobile, thanks to having two houses and friends all over the place, so leaving is never that big of a deal… Just another plane to get on.

I don’t actually feel like I’m suddenly going off into the world to make decisions for myself or anything… I think I’ve been doing that for at least a little while already. But it’s definitely one of those milestones that makes you look back on what you’ve been through, and be thankful for the people who have led you that far.

So this morning I woke up kinda early, had some parting words with Dad, and then a bunch of folks from AG came over- I’m so thankful for these guys. I’m very lucky to have such a strong group of friends backing me up…. I know that you guys aren’t done yet, even though I’m kinda far away now.

Had a tearful goodbye at the airport with the family… then I went down to Security, and realized right before my stuff went through the X-Ray that I had Shylo’s keys. So I had to call them, make them come back, and do the whole thing over again 😛

The last week has been really weird, saying goodbye to so many friends and family. But Southwest flies between Denver and Phoenix for like….sixty bucks… and I only have classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so if I skip one day of class, I can come down for a four-day weekend!

Getting off the plane was the turning point, though. The weird, bad-gut feeling of leaving so many people that you love so much turned into the feelings of excitement for what is to come. I can’t wait to move into my dorm and start classes… I have no idea of what it’ll be like.

For now, I’m staying at mom’s for 10 days or so- it makes it feel a little bit less weird, because after all, I’m just “back at home” for the moment. All I have scheduled out for that time is looking for a job.

I’ve always said that I prefer Colorado to Arizona, but I never knew that leaving Arizona would feel so weird. I still don’t really believe that I don’t live there any more… That I’m not going to go to bed tomorrow night in Tempe… That I’m not going to make five million more QuikTrip runs for SoBe…

Very strange.