Packing sucks

I love how moving has a way of forcing you to go through your junk, sorting the good from the bad and throwing stuff away, while treasuring and embracing things you'd forgotten since the last time you shoved it semi-ceremoniously into a box.

I'm probably a pack rat to a certain degree, as in I still have all my yearbooks and silly awards from high school, but I also love minimalism and a distinct lack of clutter in my life. The hub's love of technology, however, lends itself to certain amount of 'stuff', but we're working through all that. Sort of.

Items disposed of (donated or trashed):

7 - very large bags of clothing, his and mine, but mostly mine (and I haven't gone through my sweaters yet)

3 - boxes of junk still packed from when we moved here 2 years ago (and probably several more to come)

2 - boxes of VCR tapes (blasphemy!)

2 - vacuum cleaners (we bought a Dyson, don't get me started on how much it ROCKS)

18 - photos of four different exboyfriends (like I'd forget what the jerks looked like, I damn sure don't need photos as reminders)

a gazillion - used pens, old notebooks, random scribbled on papers

6 - boxes of fabric I collected for god knows what reason (found a group of ladies who quilt for charity, yay!)



My dilemma is this: what do I do with things like wedding and honeymoon pictures from my first marriage?

When we moved here, I just packed them up and figured I'd deal with them later. Well, I still haven't dealt with them. I can't just throw them out like that part of my life didn't happen. But they're not relevant anymore either. I tried to pawn them off on him when we split but he wasn't having it. Should I just keep some of the ones that are important to me? What if they're all important to me in some way? And what about the pictures of Hawaii? Those are entirely too beautiful to meet the trash compactor.

This one of me and my dad is one of my all-time favorite photos, even if it is from my first wedding.

It goes in the 'keep' pile.


Thoughts on the rest? Start a bonfire? Let them rest in peace (or pieces)?