This blog has many purposes - journal/chronicle, open forum, and information source, among others. I've had a lot of changes in the past year and I feel like my life is just getting started, so it's time to start keeping track of things.
So you know where I'm coming from, here's who I am:
- I was born and raised in a tiny town in Texas and I've lived there my entire life... until now. I just moved to New York City. Manhattan, to be exact. Sugar Hill, if you want to get specific, which is the northern end of Harlem.
- Even though I lived in this tiny town my entire life, I do consider myself well-traveled. I've been to Europe twice (once for a week and once for a month), to include England, France, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Belgium, and Austria. I have close family across the United States, which means I've spent a lot of time in Florida, Connecticut, Wyoming, and Washington state (as well as Washington DC, though I don't have family there). I've seen my fair share of American landmarks, including Devil's Tower, Yellowstone National Park, Mt. Rushmore, the monuments of DC and the Smithsonian, the Alamo, the Mississippi river, and countless others. So, even though I'm just a small-town girl, don't be too quick to called me naive, please.
- I just graduated my college with my bachelors degree, and even though I went to school in my hometown, I lived on-campus for two years (required by my scholarship) and then I lived in apartments for 3.5 years (enabled by my scholarship and later, part-time jobs). Then, I lived with my husband's parents and then my mom for 1.5 years, to save money for the coming life events, like getting married and moving to New York City.
- Yes, I was in school for 7 years. I even took summer school for 6 of those years. I graduated having successfully completed something like 213 hours (whereas the average bachelors takes about 130 hours). I have two degrees in music and a minor in philosophy. I am a true nerd, not one of those people that wears thick glasses to be a hipster nerd.
- I'm starting my masters in about 2 weeks. I was accepted into a very unique program and I'm excited. You've gotta understand, going to college in my hometown made every day kind of like a high school reunion. I couldn't go a week without seeing at least 5 people I grew up with. But now, living 1800 miles away, I don't know hardly anyone here. That's where I get a little scared.
- But luckily, I do know a few people, at least in the city, if not at my school. I live in New York with my husband, Ryan. We've been married a whole 2 months, so we're still trying to figure this whole married-life thing out. He's a wonderful human being and the perfect match for me. I'm very lucky to have him, and for him to be so supportive of my goals. He also just graduated - we met attending the university. We had a beautiful wedding and an unforgettable honeymoon, so we're still coming off of those events. I called our road trip up to New York our second honeymoon. It, too, was unforgettable.
- And, we have our roommate, Henry. He and I have been good friends for about a year now; we met through work and we've been almost inseparable ever since. Ryan, Henry, and I are all musicians, so living together works out really well, as far as habits, noise production, and go-to conversation topics. Plus, we're all in that late 20's, figure-out-life phase. We don't have the invincibility of the early 20s or the sense of settlement the 30s bring (so I've heard), so we all have each other to bounce things off of. Henry's from Texas too, and new to the city (though not as new as me and Ryan).
- We have a couple other friends that just moved to the city from small-town Texas, too, so we're really not completely alone. Plus, like I said earlier, I have family in Connecticut, which is only a 2-hour train ride away, and neighboring New Jersey (1-hour by car).
- I also have 2 siblings - one in Iowa and the other still in Texas - both older than me and both very big influences in my life. My mom also still lives in Texas, in the same house for the past 26 years. I don't have a relationship with my father.
- I'm very overweight. A big part of this blog is me being accountable to myself, writing about my workouts and my meals each day, or as often as I can once school starts.
I didn't expect my life story to take quite so long. However, that's me in a nutshell. This blog will be a place where I post information and stories of all the topics I've mentioned thus far: moving across the country and now living in New York City, being a newlywed, weight loss and health, being a musician, and others.
Thanks for reading.
