I love my new job. I love what I do. I love that I work at a university library. I feel valued, and valuable, and trusted. I'm treated like an adult, and a professional, which is a welcome change from my last 2 employers. My coworkers are nice.
I love our new city. We have so much to do, and so many places to go. We've just barely scratched the surface. I love how diverse it is, and I love seeing the White House on CNN and thinking "That's 30 minutes away."
I love that we live near old friends up here. It's nice to move to a place with built-in friends, people you love dearly and haven't seen in years. When I told Julie I was moving up here, she screamed. When I told Sherri, she cried.
I love that there are Columbia transplants up here with us.
And I love that I have my husband up here with me, experiencing this new phase of our lives right along with me. In my life, I've barely been able to get a guy to go to a wedding with me, and Curtis uprooted his whole world, left a city and a state where's he's lived for the greater part of his life, to move up here with me. I know that that seems like a given: he's my partner, we're a team, we should do things together. Well, it doesn't always work that way. He could have said "I'm not leaving. I'm staying." But he didn't. Because I, and my happiness and well-being, are important to him. I've been the one who left (because the guy adamantly refused to untie the apron strings), I've been the one who gave up a dream (because the guy adamantly refused to move with me, no matter how many different options I offered), and I've been the one who was left (because the guy wasn't serious enough about me to take me with him, although I was willing to go). And then I found a wonderful man, who loves me, values me, wants to spend his life with me, and wants me to succeed and be happy.
There is so much to love about living here. I am so lucky not only to have found a job, but to have found a job that I sincerely love. I am so lucky to have wonderful friends up here. I am so lucky to have my beloved husband up here.
I am genuinely happy. Most of the time.
But today, for some reason, I'm terribly sad. It's a combination of things.
It's missing our house. I saw a commercial for Lowe's and started crying because we used to go buy plants to make our house look nice.
It's missing the places we went in Columbia. I've gone to some great restaurants up here, but I haven't found "our" places yet. There's no Utopia. There's no Mr. Friendly's. There's no Art Bar. There's no Sheraton. There's no Gourmet Shop. And, of course, at the end of those statements, there is "yet." I didn't find Utopia, Mr. Friendly's, or the Sheraton 4 months after I moved to Columbia. Yes, I found Art Bar and the Gourmet Shop within a month or two, but I have to remind myself that Columbia is a smaller place, a more closed community. I will find the off-beat, casual restaurant where the owners know your name and make you a cake for your graduation party. I will find the upscale restaurant where I eat lunch at the bar and, to quote Cheer's, everyone knows my name. I will find the bar where I feel at home, where I suddenly find the perfect community. I will find the right hotel bar. I will find the perfect chicken salad. But I haven't "yet."
It's missing the things we did in Columbia. Artista Vista, Runaway Runway, and the Rosewood Crawfish Festival all happened this week. There are so many things to do up here, I know, but we haven't found our patterns yet.
It's missing the friends we made in Columbia. We've been extremely fortunate that we've had friends come to visit: Crystal, J, and Carolyn have already been up to see us. Tracy will be up in a few weeks. Jim, Jill, Wade, Kim, and Erika are all making tentative plans about coming up. Erica has mentioned visiting. Carolyn wants to come up again. Shannon is talking about coming up, maybe with the new baby, which would be exciting. We're making plans to get to SC during the summer, and to spend more than a week in December/January; we'll be staying with Curtis's family. But I miss our friends. I missed Jim and Jill's birthdays. I won't be there when Lulu is born.
I'll be okay, but I'm just down today. 95% of my time, I am so thrilled to be living up here. I love my new life. But in that 5%, on days like today, I'm happy . . . mostly.
