don't goodbyes always come with new hellos?

Saying goodbye is one of my least favorite things to do...and tonight was a night of good-byes, or as I would prefer "see-you-laters."
Tonight marks Chad and I's last night in our Bourbonnais apartment. An apartment we have made into a wonderful home during our first year of marriage (our first anniversary is this Sunday- crazy) and also our last year of college.
Many great memories have been had in this apartment: couples game nights, weekly guys nights for Chad and his guy friends, pitch in dinners, baby showers, wedding showers, my first ever attempted home cooked meal, Chad and I's first pet (a beta fish who I accidentally dropped down the garbage disposal), Chad and I's first fight, Chad and I's first Christmas, study groups, coffee dates, and many many more. This apartment has been a great first home for us and although we are excited about our new home/apartment, it is bittersweet leaving this place and all the people that have shared memories with us here.
And as I struggle to keep my eyes tear-free during these goodbye moments, I am mindful of the deep and life-long friendships with which I have been blessed. Although I may no longer be surrounded by a constant circle of familiar friends, I know that they are always just a phone call, text message, facebook post, or blog away.

So perhaps, in some way or another, these goodbyes are only just pauses or brief breaks in time preparing us to meet again in another place, another time, another circumstance where our lives will once again cross paths and once again we will say "hello."