Stamps

One of the joys (ha-ha) of the flood (http://serving-in-seattle.blogspot.com/2011/12/hot-mess.html) is getting to move into our apartment.  Again.  There are boxes everywhere, my Hope Chest is still sitting in front of the fireplace, and I'm hoping that Jason doesn't leave me before it's all back into place (it's hard for a neat freak to marry a pack rat). 

Our move from a 1790 sq. ft. house (with full attic:  http://serving-in-seattle.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html -click on the first picture to see what I mean) to a 1250 sq. ft. apartment was a challenge.  We had a huge yard sale before we moved, got rid of stuff after we got here, and we still had so much that we had to store some at our friends' house (thanks M & N!).  All that to say, I feel like God used the flood to tell me that we I still had too much stuff.

So while I'm putting it all back into it's rightful home, I'm, yet again, getting rid of more junk.  One of my favorite finds of the week was my old stamp album.  Remember those?  I'm not sure how many years I collected stamps, but I know it helped me through those awkward preteen years.  In the process, I found over $25 in uncirculated stamps.  Woo-hoo!  I had forgotten what an art form stamps were and enjoyed looking at over the 200+ years of American and world history.  Those self-stick fakes they have now seem so tacky compared to the masterpieces of years past.

Tonight, I've been knee-deep in one of my "letter boxes."  These are large rubbermaid boxes that contain every tangible memory I've ever come in contact with.  That means letters, concert tickets, name tags, IDs, birthday cards...you get the picture.  I don't really know why I needed to keep them all, but here they still sit.  I couldn't bear to go through them before or after the move, so they just got shoved in the closet. 

Going through all these letters (and yes, I have to re-read each one before I put it in the "keep" or "toss" pile) has reminded me of how blessed I am.  Right now I'm in the Summer of 1997, a.k.a. "My Disney Summer."  So many of you wrote me letters, sent me packages, and kept in touch with me while I worked at DisneyWorld.  Thank you.  Seriously.  For taking the time to invest in me and love on me.  I am so blessed.

One of 3 (maybe more!) boxes of memorabilia I'm going through



My work ID for the summer I worked at Disney.  Miss that hair!