Moving Up and Moving On

It is Thursday, June 21, 2012.  I am in my hometown of Madison, Alabama, sitting at my mom’s kitchen table while Louie sleeps at my feet.  It’s a pretty normal (post grad school) scene for me.

But very soon, I’ll have to find a new normal.

Last Saturday, I said goodbye to Tuscaloosa, the city I’ve called home for the past five years.

This Saturday, I’ll be saying goodbye to Madison, the city I’ve called home home for more than 20 years.

I’ll be packing the last of my belongings into my car and hitting the road, trying not to cry as I embark on my trip to my new home: Cincinnati, Ohio.

When my 6 ½ hour trip is finished, I’ll be unloading my things into the place I’ll be living for at least the next two years (Pictures coming soon!).  Then, I’ll be settling in for a day before starting my first real job bright and early Monday morning.

“I’m moving to Cincinnati.”  I say these words out loud, sometimes to myself and sometimes to other people, multiple times a day.  “I’m moving.  To Cincinnati.”  That just doesn’t sound right.  “I’m. Moving. To. Cincinnati.”  Nope, still not processing it.

I was born in California, but I don’t have any real memories before my family moved to Alabama.  This state has been my sweet home since February of 1992.

In the infamous words of Jessie Spano, “I’m so excited!  I’m so … scared.”

I’m anxious. About leaving my friends and family, starting my job, paying my own bills, making new friends, being an adult.

But mostly, I’m excited about all those things.  It’s time to take a step forward.

The past year wasn’t fantastic; graduate school was a weird, lonely, exhausting, unsettled time.  But now I am twenty-two with a master’s degree, and I have the opportunity to put my years of education to good use!

Furthermore, I have the opportunity to build a life for myself sans school.  It's time, and I'm ready.

So goodbye for now, Alabama!  And hello, Ohio!

(Does this mean I have to change the name of my blog?)