Packing it all up

My Bedroom

This sums up my day/week right now.  Never have I seen my room this messy before.  I have gradually regressed in my cleanliness over the last 4 years.  I was a neat freak in high school color coordinated everything, alphabetized everything, and everything having a specific spot.  Once I left for college, that mentality and personality was forced to change after being put in a box to share with 2 other people.  If I still had my "neat freakish" stressed out characteristic- I would not have survived freshman year. After that year, I think I got used to the messiness- and that is how I got to this point.

Ok, I'll admit, my room will not look like this for long.   I am doing a deep cleanse/going through everything trying to decide whether or not to take it with me to Ukraine, give it away, or for those few precious objects (such as my beautiful bike "the cloud"), store it nicely and unnoticeably  at my parentals house for the next 27 months.

As I sit in my room and try to decide what jewelry to bring, what clothes to bring it becomes more and more apparent to me that a lot of the stuff has got to go. But being reassured that when I return I can buy new stuff, I am happily and humbly giving a lot away.

Still working on my packing list, but this is what I have so far:
Please feel free to give your input on things that you think I may need to bring/ things you think are unnecessary for me to bring that are on my list.




3/21/11- final items packed

Orange Check in Bag- 7lbs

-11 scarves

-converter plug thing

-sleeping bag

-black leather boots

-indoor/turf soccer shoes

-havanas

-green flip flops

-tan/red boots

-black flats

-brown moccasins

-yaktrax

-hurley backpack

- blue canvas shoes

tampons/ pads

-2 tote bags/ 1 laundry like bag

-pocket knife

-5 ou. Tapatio bottle

-zip loc bags

-micro fiber hair towel

-toiletries

          -contact solution

          -toothpaste

          -shampoo/conditioner

          -razors

          -deoderant

-6 soccer/running shorts

-6 soccer/running shirts

-blue skirt

-brown ankle skirt

-multi-colored skirt/dress

-flute

-see’s candy lollipops

-markers

-potato peeler

-2 swimsuits

-2 wraps

-4 belts

-socks

-brown leather purse

-black down jacket w/ fur hood

                   Total Weight: 50.2 lbs

Red Suitcase- 11.5 lbs

-7 camis

-tank top

-5 leggings

-yellow sweat pants

-faded teal gauchos

-blue jeans

-black fleece pants

-white pants

-black work pants

-black skinny pants

-4 shorts

-white skirt

-grey wool skirt

-5 dresses

-3 vests

--4 flannels

-1 rain jacket

-5 tank tops

-1 tube top

-5 short sleeves

-2 long sleeve work shirts

-3 long sleeves

-black skirt

-green short sleeve over shirt

-4 tights/ leggings

-blue fleece sweatshirt

-yellow hoodie

-brown sweater thing

-cream crochet crop sweater

-underwear

-bras

-socks

-pictures of family, friends, etc.

-red pepper flakes

-paper-cutter

-contacts

-nail kit

-loofah

-running shoes

-5 gloves of some sort

                   Total Weight: 50 lbs exact

Carry on Total Weight: 34.5 lbs

-       2 uno decks

-       Phase 10

-       Banana grams

-       What’s cookin

-       Toss up

-       2 deck of cards

-       Gifts from home

-       Sharpie pens

-       Mini sewing kit

-       Junk box

-       2 packs of index cards

-       Jewelry

-       Journal

-       Bar of soap

-       Floss

-       Hair accessories

-       Chargers for electronics

-       2 Beanies

-       2 scarves

-       Hemp/friendship string

-       Grey pumps

-       Black v-neck

-       Orange tank top

-       Yellow sweatshirt

-       Purple shirt

-       3 Dresses

-       5 tights/leggings

-       Grey cardigan

-       White/black boyfriend shirt

-       Fingerless gloves

-       Birth control

-       xyngular

-       mini speakers

-       jeans

-       quick dry towel

-       belly dancing wrap

-       bike lock

-       laptop lock

-        

-       -

-       -

Purse- weight: 23.5 lbs

-       I phone

-       Cell phone

-       Video camera

-       Laptop

-       2 digital cameras

-       Rusty

-       Headphones

-       I pod

-       Bag of liquid/gel stuff

-       Toothbrush

-       Contact case

-       Scrapbooking paper

-       Tide to go

-       Chapstick

-       Purple odwalla long sleeve

-       4 pairs of glasses
          *excessive I know…

-       Green bag

-       Face cleanser

-       Perfume

-       Eye drops

-       External hard drive 500GB

-       Rusty

-       books

-       peace corps blue folder

-       stationary

wearing olive pants, brown boots, blue beanie, cream scarf, colorful scarf, black fleece, r-comp jacket, charcoal peacoat, IC peace shirt……   Security will be fun

--Everything below is the beginning of my packing experience.  I felt that it was important to keep what was originally written, so you may ignore the rest of this post

Electronics/ Luxury

-surge protector for laptop

-laptop

-ipod

-video camera (plus accessories)

-external hard drive

-USB flash drive

-camera

- Ugandan cell phone

-extra memory cards for camera

-extra battery?

-nook

-chargers for everything

-adapter

-black mini speakers

-I phone

Clothing

-snow pants

-waterproof sweats (soccer)

-3 gauchos (blue, 2 brown)

-olive pants/jeans

-black skinny dress pants

-other nice black pants

-black fleece sweats

-grey baggy sweats

-black shorts

-skinny jeans

-2 boyfriend jeans

-crop jeans

-khaki pants

-1 warm vest

-3 stylish vests

-3 flannels (brown, red, blue)

-10 t-shirts

-10 tank tops

-4 long sleeve or ¾ sleeve shirts

-white button up long sleeve

-9 dresses

-4 other shorts

-9 skirts

-charcoal peacoat

-black down jacket

-white snow jacket

-black blazer

-black windbreaker

-grey cardigan

-5 sweatshirt like things

-blue soccer rain jacket

-2 swimsuits (just in case I lose one… you never know!)

-6 camis

-4 soccer shorts

-3 work out shirts

-leggings/tights

-socks  WOOL SOCKS!

-underwear- enough (I hope)

-2 strapless bras

-3 good “normal” bras

-3 sports bras

-4 bandeaus

          … I WILL MAKE  IT FIT!

Shoes

-Running Shoes

-black flats

-yaktrax

-knitted slippers

-havanas

-tan/red snow boots

-black leather boots

-grey pumps

-indoor/turf soccer

-green flip flops

- pink uggs

-moccasins

-red rainboots

Toiletries

-Tampons

-contact solution

-contacts

-glasses (black, purple, yellow, zebra)

-tide to go

-deodorant

-toothbrush/toothpaste

-razors

-makeup

-tweezers

-vix

-shampoo

-conditioner

--face wash

-Face lotion

-floss

-chapstick

-3 month supply of meds

Accessories

-scarves

-beanies

-jewelry

-sunglasses

-extra stud earrings (right  gauges)

-gloves (3 fingerless 1 all weather)

-5 belts

For the Job

-hostess gifts (ni'ihau shell necklaces, shot glasses from SF, possibly key chains??)

-crayola markers/ sharpie pens

-note cards

-peace corps blue folder

-English grammar book (2)

-Preston’s geography books (2)

-whistle

Other

-flashlight

-immunization history

-sleeping bag

-stationary

-hot sauce- Cholula & sriracha

-zip loc bags large & small

-pictures of family, friends, yadiyadiya

-rusty

-soccer ball

- ball pump

-hacky sac

-3 journals to write in

-bible

-mini sewing kit

-calendar

-pocket knife

-deck of cards

-hemp string/friendship bracelet yarn

-silver water bottle

-pink thermos

-tote bag to carry around

-purse

 -1 backpack-black hurley

-1 duffle bag (red one)

-map of the world

-watch

-quick dry towel (1 large 1 small)

-a fluffy towel- if room

-duck tape

-skull candy headphones

-banana grams






So chances are that this will not fit, but I will cross things off once I start "test" packing. 

Countdown is getting smaller as my bags are getting larger

Exactly 23 days till take off, and my bags are not even close to being packed.   After making approximately 13 different packing lists, I still am at a halt by the thought of fitting everything in 2 suitcases, a carry-on, and my purse- let alone keeping it under 100lbs.

My procrastination for things has got to change.  As I cross my fingers for certain packages to arrive before take-off, the only thing I can do is carry on with my check list.

So, for all of those who are bored and care to know what I still need to do before I leave, here it is!

• get a 3 month supply of medication
• go to the doctor one last time to make sure I am not dying
• celebrate my lil' bro's birthday
• archaeology friend gathering!
• insert phone numbers to comp. of the people I want to stay in touch with
• finish painting Grandpa's Gazebo
• finish my painting
• sister night out (my Christmas present)
• try to retain a little bit of Ukrainian/Russian
•  unlock an iphone (YES!  I never thought in a MILLION years I would ever stoop to getting one, but since there are so many old ones lying around my parents house, why not snag one?!)
• shop for all the nic nacs still needed to pack.
• go to all my favorite food places one last time  (This should be at the top of the list)
• pick up glasses
• PACK

... ok maybe I really don't have much to do now that I write it all out, but time sure is going fast!

Until next time,

Cheers!

Mo

Mail Contact

If anyone would like to send me mail my address is

Morgan Roth
A/C  15
Kremenets
Ternopil'ska Oblast 47003
Ukraine

or

морган роз
а.с. 15
кременець
тернопіл'ска обл. 47003
украіна


I know this is probably only addressing my parents, but I like to pretend there may be a couple more people who love me out there  ;)

Some things to keep in mind:

• padded envelopes are preferred for they have less of a chance to be opened before I get it
• airmail is more reliable than surface mail, keep in mind that it is more expensive.

Also, Ukraine has interesting custom regulations, so you may want to pay attention to it:

  

" Ukrainian customs law has restrictions on shipments from/to overseas. Make sure the following materials/things are not included in a parcel:   ***This means "hide" it.   

1. Money, credit cards, valuables/expensive objects, and any type of jewelry
2. Documents such as personal identifications, diplomas, and certificates
3. Any kind of medicine, food, plants, seeds, alcoholic beverages
4. DVDs, CDs, videotapes, audiotapes, any type of dictionaries. (You can ship CDs, DVDs and other media into Ukraine, but they cannot be returned to the U.S. unless you can prove that they originally came from in the U.S. Therefore, people shipping such items to Ukraine need an itemized list certified by the company doing the shipping. There is a limit to how many pieces of media purchased in Ukraine can be shipped to America. The limit is 20 total pieces, and this can be a combination of tapes, videotapes, CDs and DVDs (20 pieces total—not 20 DVDs plus 20 CDs plus 20 videotapes, etc.))
5. Flammable, explosive devices, sharp objects (knives with large or multiple blades)"