One Year Ago Today

One year ago today I made the move to Olive Branch to start a huge new phase of my life.  I had worked hard to finish my Master's and searched to find the right job for me, and I found it here in DeSoto County.  The past 365 days have been full of ups and downs, triumphs and tribulations, encouragements and obstacles, but I truly wouldn't trade them for anything.  I have changed as a person over these past twelve months, and I am not the same girl who stood unpacking box after box (after box after box... y'all know I have waaaaay to much stuff for my own good) in this apartment last July.  Circumstance, experience, and, most of all, life has changed me.
Here's a brief recap, a highlight reel, if you will, of the past year--in no particular order:

I joined a book club.  If you know me at all, you know how pumped this made me.  Currently we're reading 11/22/63, which is so completely off-the-chain-and-totally-worth-every-one-of-its-eight-hundred-plus-pages.

My mom was diagnosed with cancer, had a hysterectomy and began taking chemotheraphy.  She is doing remarkably well after 3 treatments (halfway... 3 more to go!), and she will start radiation treatment later this month, hopefully.

I survived my first year of work and fell in love with my kids in the process.  I'm not by any means saying that every day was a picnic, but I really do love my job and feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be.

I have made my apartment, my own little space in this big world, mine, and I truly love coming here at the end of the day.  My personality and who I am echoes throughout these rooms, and, as cheesy as it may sound, this place makes me happy! 

I saw 6 fabulous Broadway shows at the Orpheum.  This is probably my favorite thing about living in greater Memphis and, if I'm wholly honest, one of the reasons I searched hard for a job here.  The Orpheum consistently has the best Broadway lineup outside of Times Square, if you ask me, and I always look so forward to seeing productions there.  Over the past year I saw these gems:

I bought a new (to me) car.  The purchase was long overdue, really, but a huuuuuge commitment.  I'm so excited to have a new ride, though, and it's a good thing because I'll be making payments into my thirties.  (I almost threw up when I typed that, for several reasons.)

Most recently, I officially launched my calligraphy sideline business.  You haven't heard about it?  Well, by all means, please check it out here, and feel free to refer me to any and all of your friends/family/loved ones (shameless plug).  I'm really excited about it!

I am incredibly excited and hopeful as I look forward toward what's to come in the next 365 days.  There's no way to know what God has in store for me during the coming twelve months, but I am excited about the possibilities, opportunities and experiences that I know lie ahead of me.

Good Night, and Good Luck

Today was moving day. 
Everything was packed into boxes and hauled away in the moving truck... only to be unloaded 25 miles away in my storage unit--home to my belongings for the next year.  In all honesty, I am a mix of emotions leaving my apartment behind.  I know it wasn't much, but it was the first place in this world that was wholly mine, and I am going to miss being there.  I will miss sitting on my back porch and looking at the stars; I will miss sprawling diagonally across my bed with a good book;  I will miss my pictures on the wall; I will miss lounging on the couch storytelling and drinking wine with friends; I will miss decorating for Christmas; I will miss my flowers.  I can do all of these things at my mother's house, of course, but it won't be quite the same.  I will not miss, however, sweating to death in the kitchen and/or bathroom no matter what the time of year or the temperature; I will not miss the overly sensitive smoke alarm; I will not miss a closet the size of a postage stamp. 
Today I laughed to keep from crying, and looked forward instead of glancing back in the rearview mirror.  Just when I think I have everything figured out and compartmentalized perfectly, life, inevitably, changes again.  It's funny like that, isn't it?

In the little taupe room

There was a television

And a few spots of maroon

And a picture of...

Three friends standing under a beautiful moon

And there were teddy bears and black and white chairs

And a number of candles and a pair of sandals

And a cabinet of red and a wrought-iron bed

And a book and a brush and a note from a crush

And a quiet young lady who was whispering "hush"

Goodnight room

Goodnight room

Goodnight friends standing under the moon

Goodnight light and the spots of maroon

Goodnight bears

Goodnight chairs

Goodnight candles and goodnight sandals

Goodnight clocks and goodnight socks

Goodnight cabinet of red and goodnight bed

Goodnight book and goodnight brush

Goodnight nobody

Goodnight crush

And goodnight to the young lady whispering "hush"

Goodnight stars

Goodnight air

Goodnight noises everywhere