Six Months, Already?

Six months, already?  Are you serious?  Yup, it is true.  I moved here, to Ohio, six months ago already!  It doesn't seem possible considering the feelings that I had as I began this new chapter in my life.    As I have shared with you before, this likely was one of the hardest things that I have had to do in my life thus far.  It seems just like yesterday, that I drove under the "Welcome To Ohio" sign with my entire life in tow.  I was absolutely terrified, sad, anxious, angry, sick to my stomach with a tiny, wee bit of excitement somewhere deep down inside of me. 

Those first couple of months here were somewhat miserable and lonely.  I felt so very isolated and visited home as frequently as possible.  The days seemed to drag by so slowly.  People kept telling be that it "will get easier".  At the time, I would hear that phrase and just think to myself, "yeah, whatever." 

Guess what?  It did get easier!  For anyone who gave me that advice and I just shook it off, please accept my apologies because, you were right.  I am not going to sugarcoat it and say that every day after the first couple of months has been wonderful and great.  In the last six months, I have experienced some really wonderful, fun and happy times.  I have also, had some really awful, sad, "just want to get in my car and drive back home and never come back here" days.  And of course, I have experienced just your average, nothing great or nothing awful types of days. 

I am pleased to tell you that I can navigate my way around, for the most part, without my GPS any longer.  I have an Ohio license plate on my vehicle but, don't hold an Ohio drivers license yet....it is on my to do list either this week or next.  :)  I have met some really nice people in the area, most of which are my neighbors, that I shared about here.  Of course I have met others too but, I see them most often and have the most fun with them!  I found a favorite Mexican establishment that I must visit each week...I seem to get teased about this quite a bit too. I have joined a book club.  I have explored some beautiful running trails. In fact, I am running my first 5K trail run event this weekend.

I guess what I am trying to say is that it feels more like home here now. I have settled into what feels like a normal routine of my day to day life here. I still have those days in which I feel lonely or miss my family and friends back home but, those days are not nearly as frequent as they were several months ago. Of course I miss you all daily, but, I no longer spend my days in tears.  The days seem to pass quicker and don't drag by unbearably slow anymore.  When I first got here, I told myself that I would just take it one day at a time and try not to get ahead of myself.  The days continued to pass and six months later, I am somewhat amazed with myself that I didn't let the hard times or lonely tear filled days get me down completely.  I had no other choice than to go to bed each night and know that I made it through another day and when I woke up in the morning, another day would await me. And with each new day came with it a fresh start. With each passing day...it did get easier....just as everyone said it would. I like to remind myself that you only get out of life what you put into it.  I don't want to miss out because I didn't give it all I had.