"This isn't goodbye..."

I can't decide which task I don't want to do more: pack..or write this post. My belongings lie completely untouched on the floor, and I've been staring at this blinking cursor for the past 10 minutes.

In the words of one of the most influential people in my life, I have been nothing but an emotional basket case all week. Some of you (myself included) are probably thinking..."When aren't you an emotional basket case??". Well my friends, the pre-moving Erica can hereby be referred to as impassive, calm, and collected. I will miss her dearly.

I thought leaving Ames would be similar to how I felt leaving Sioux City, and I was so very wrong. Leaving Sioux City, I was beyond excited and ready to get out of there. And while I'm still excited to leave Ames and move on with the next adventure in my life, I'm finding that leaving here is much much harder. Ames has been my home for the past 5 years. It has been my comfort zone. But I guess the only time you really see how much you can be and grow is when you go out of your comfort zone, right? Am I scared and nervous? Most definitely. Am I ready though? Most definitely.

I'm going to have to keep this very short and sweet, because the more times I delete a sentence or paragraph, the more I realize I truly can't say any of this the way I'm trying to or want to. So I'll keep it simple.

Thank you to everyone who has spent these past few years, weeks, and days with me. Thank you for the endless support and encouragement you provided that helped lead me to this path. Thank you for helping me say goodbye. I will miss all of you very much.