It's Official, I Live here Now

I just realized something.  I live here.  

No, but really, I live here now.  Last year I never felt that connection.  I was ready to leave and go on to something else or I was ready to give up and end up right where I started but now, I live here.

Now.

I realized this when I thought of how fun it will be to take some friends of mine, from here, around my hometown on my next visit.  They are excited to go because they have heard loads of stories from "various" locations throughout the "Queen City" and they are ready to see for themselves.  

I also came to the realization that in this year I don't have the connection to my friends from Charlotte that I felt last year.  I am connected here.  I am excited about my friendships and they that is what they are turning into.  They are not just people I have met, they are people I have gotten to know and become closer friends with.  I feel lucky to have met the ones that I have managed to maintain.  It is tough moving somewhere new because it is easy to give up.  

I know what had worked for me in the past, I know what had not worked.  When you see these character traits in someone from the beginning it is hard to give them enough time to manifest into something more than a mere acquaintance.  All in all this one rule will translate no matter where you are:  the ones that are worth keeping, will always stick around.  It's true.  I have managed to find some really great people to surround myself with up here and I cannot wait to take them to Charlotte and show them a few little nuggets of life that have helped me get to where I am now.  

On previous visits to my hometown I was fleeing my surroundings and trying to submerge myself in what had once felt so right.  With each visit this feeling slowly faded and now the tables have turned.  I am going as a vacation, not as an easy out.  I am the most excited about spending time with my family.  I have missed my mother and father very much.  I have not even gotten to see my sister-in-law or my new niece Daisy since I first saw her when she was born (She was born the January 19th, 2008, while I was up here looking for an apartment).  I only got to hold her once before moving and since then her and her mother have been ill everytime I have ventured home.  I have warned my sister-in-law that she is NOT to be ill and to keep that baby healthy cause I HAVE GOT TO SEE HER CUTE LITTLE FACE!

It's a lot better feeling when you look around and have the peace of living somewhere instead of just moving.  2008 I was in a constant limbo of wondering which world I should strive to connect with.  Now I am happy with where I am at.  Well, at least as far as my friends are concerned.

My wallet, that is another story altogether...