I officially made my move from Auburn to Kirkland last night, and so far everything is going according to plan, except I have a roommate in the temporary dorm and neither of us were expecting the other to be here. But it’s all good, I did pay for a double, we just both thought we’re going to get by with a double room for our own.

Hi my name is Grant, and I love books.

I successfully got all my stuff into my little Dodge Neon (and yes I could even look through my rear window too!). I also discovered how much I value my books Thursday night when I was loading my car. I thought about how I essentially have my whole life packed into the car, and I thought about how that this could be the day my car finally gets broken into, since that’s how Auburn rolls. The fear was too much for me to handle that I decided to spread the risk variable of my utter ruin and brought one box inside: my books. That is when I finally had to admit to myself that books are the most valuable thing I own. I later realized my fear was purely imagined because who in Auburn is going to steal books? I’ve been to the Auburn Goodwill, people there don’t know the difference between “Good to Great” from a paperweight.

The Dorm.

The reason why I was able to fit all my belongings into my car is that I’m trying to live a more simplified life; probably not quite “minimalist” but I like to call it “reductionist”, it’s just a lot less than usual. I only brought three boxes, and one large luggage bag and a refrigerator (if you look at the picture, you’ll see other bags there, but those are just bags I use throughout my day, like a gym bag, a bag for carrying meals, and a messenger bag). You can see where my priorities are in that one box is purely books, another is purely supplements, and all my clothes (including shoes) fit in one bag. I did go out and buy a couple of extra items once I moved in: laundry basket, power outlet with built in USB ports (a small glimpse into heaven), a bedding set, and some hangers.

Moving Forward.

So we’ll see how the rest of this all turns out, I’m going to continue to work my plan on emulating my fall schedule during the summer (when you’ve had a 6 month summer, you go crazy and you start doing school when you don’t have to, I guess). While I’ll be back in Auburn as often as I can, I’m going to use the time I’m up here to try new things, like I’m going to visit different churches on the weekends I can’t come down to Auburn and show up without knowing anyone there and experience what it is like to be in a church for the first time without having people to rely on.

I’m definitely excited for this new opportunity and I just hope I can make the most of every new experience.

Sad, but fun fact: I just took inventory of all my belongings, and I have 61 articles of clothing (socks counted in pairs)… I currently have 56 books in my bookshelf (that was just the initial batch that I could fit into one box, I have full intention on bringing all the rest of my books once I move into my dorm for the school year). I almost have a 1:1 ratio between the clothes I have to the books I own! I give up.

—Grant X.
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Currently reading:

“Creating a World Without Poverty” – Dr. Muhammad Yunus
“Spark” John J. Ratey

Life verse: “But a generous man devises generous things and by his generosity he will stand.” -Isaiah 32:8

Life Mission Statement: To be intentionally focused on providing opportunity and adding value to others.