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How do you prepare yourself and pack for two years away from what you know? 

I don't know if you can truly prepare yourself for any life altering change such as the one I recently made.  At first I didn't tell anyone, I was scared to jinx the good news of not only having a job, but having it in one of my favorite places. However, as time slowly marched on I realized I needed to prepare myself and others for this separation. Calls were made, texts were send, and e-mails were written.  Then came the farewell dinners and lunches, along with hugs and promises of keeping in touch.  There were friends who I didn't get to see, or say a proper goodbye to and I hope they understand. It doesn't mean I won't miss them, because I do and will. My good friends have changed me, and hopefully will continue to impact my life for the better.

Just the thought of packing made me groan (and still does). I am not someone who packs ahead of time. For one, I'm not good at planning what I want to wear in advance. Additionally, I had to contend with the issue of weight and space. For me it resulted in 3 suitcases, a carry-on, and a very heavy backpack. While I spent a lot of time deciding what not to pack I realistically spent about 2 days packing. In the end this is what I decided to bring:

View 1 of items to be packed

Kitchen supplies: 
measuring cups
measuring spoons
2 cork screws, 2 bottle openers
3 paring knifes
1 chef knife
pie slice lifter (can't think of it's real name)
cooking spoons 5 (for pasta and the like)
1 plastic bowl
2 plastic plates
1 lunch box filled with salad tongs and 2 of my 4 white coffee mugs
1 travel coffee mug
1 gigantic coffee mug
2 plastic cups
2 magnets

Clothing:
6 pairs of long pants
2 pairs of dress pants
2 pairs of leggings
4 pairs of capris
2 pairs of board shorts
2 pairs of short shorts
7 pairs of dress socks
19 pairs of socks (black, white and ski socks)
6 bras (plus 2 sports bras)
21 pairs of undergarments
1 bikini

View 2 of items to be packed

16 tanks
27 t-shirts
13 long sleeve shirts
4 heavy sweaters
7 dresses
15 dress/dressy shirts
6 cardigans
3 pj bottoms
2 tennis skirts (also brought my racket)
6 workout pants (of various lengths)
9 pairs of shoes (2 sneakers, 2 sandals, 4 dress shoes, 1 slippers)
2 pairs of boots
4 jackets (1 fleece, 1 dress, one ski, and 1 blazer)
6 purses
2 umbrellas
5 reusable bags for shopping

Bathroom:
2 towels
a brush and a comb
8 nail polishes
make-up (22 items) and brushes (8)
2 pairs of glasses
3 contact lenses
1 perfume
1 tooth brush
2 lotions
1 deodorant
2 flosses
medicine (4 items total)

Misc:
2 framed pictures
10 pictures of my favorite people
4 Planners (1 big calendar, 1 mini calendar, one daily planner, and one teachers planner)
electronics (phone, ipod, computer, tablet, 2 flash drives, 2 external drives)
Stationary ( 5 pads, 4 post-its, birthday cards)
2 containers with desk supplies (rubber bands, erasers, pens, pencils, colored pens)
1 pack of crayola markers
1 pack of razor point liquid pens
clarinet music (clarinet didn't make it this trip :( )


Amazingly enough none, everything I packed made it on board with me. In total I had about 3 kilograms of space I didn't fill, which is about 6 pounds.

View from my seat of Newark Liberty 

Now the trick is to see how many more items I'll buy in the next two years!