One year in Charlotte

Last weekend marked one year since I moved down to Charlotte from Virginia, and Tuesday marked one year at my job. A year is, in a lot of ways, a pretty small thing. But this year was a big one for me. In the last year, I moved away from most of the people I know to the largest city I've ever lived in. I started a job in my dream field that I never thought I'd land. I've lived in three different locations with multiple different people, and I've met wonderful people. When I first moved down to Charlotte, I moved in with my sister Megan, her husband Ryan, their three kids in their house just outside of the city. In January, I moved in with a coworker living in the city and her two cats. A few months later, Ben went from driving down to visit once a month and drove down with a car packed to the brim and moved in. We spent the summer apartment hunting for a place of our own and moved into our current home at the end of July. There were a few bumps along the way, but Ben & I are settled in. If you asked me a little over one year ago where I thought the next year in Charlotte would take me, I don't think I'd have an answer. Or if I did, it surely wouldn't be where I am now. I never could have expected the challenges and gifts that this year has brought, but I'm so thankful for them. I didn't know what to make of post-grad life, as I never really felt prepared for it. In college, you're taught skills and you're prepared to do work, but you're never really given a heads up on what life after a college campus will look like. This is great, if you ask me.

As I sit here typing this reflection on year one in Charlotte, it's impossible not to wonder what year two will bring. I don't know who I'll meet, what I'll learn, how I'll grow. And while that can be a little scary, it's sure as hell exciting. I've come to realize that even if things don't make sense as they're happening, looking back it's all crystal clear. So even if year two doesn't go according to plan, I'm sure I'll be sitting here one year later letting everyone know that it all worked out just fine. Let's begin.