Looking back

This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of my moving to Columbus. Prior to living here, I had lived in suburbia all my life. Big yards, off-street parking, quiet streets, etc. Needless to say, living in the 15th (or 16th--not sure) largest city in the country was a bit of a culture shock.

But now that I've adjusted to the changes, I feel more at home here than I have in ages--since I lived in North Carolina, I think, in my early teens.

And as I look back over the last year, it kind of blows my mind how much I've grown up. I graduated college, bought a car, got my own health insurance, got my own (non-family-plan) cell phone line. I moved in with my boyfriend and I got a grown-up, career-starter type job. I started a 401(k). I paid off a credit card. And now? Matt and I are looking for a house (rental, not to buy) with the hopes of getting a dog someday too. If that's not "settling down," I don't know what is. (Don't say marriage/babies. I'm nowhere near grown up enough for those things yet.)

And then I think about how lost I felt at first. About my feeble attempt at blogging then, I think I called it "Leaving Neverland," about the struggles of trying to establish oneself in the real world. It was a depressing thing, no one read it, and I gave it up quickly. It bored even myself. I guess leaving neverland, saying goodbye to the lifestyle you led in college, is not a quick process. Even now, I still maintain some aspects of that lifestyle: I procrastinate and I spend way too much money on alcohol.

But still, I've grown so much in the last year, and I'm so happy with where I am. And with my birthday coming up (another time for intense introspection, right?) I feel positively excited with what the next year may bring. It will be interesting, I think, to say the least.