I Can Finally Say It...

It's almost been six months since I packed up and moved to a city that I'd only visited once before where I knew no one. My life hasn't been easy and has resembled a gigantic roller coaster these past 10 years, but I am proud to say that I am the happiest I have ever been. Actually, I don't really remember being able to say that I was genuinely happy...ever. It has been a big deal for me saying, out loud no less, that I am finally happy!

Some people have said to me that by moving down to South Carolina, away from everything and everyone I knew, I was "running away." I didn't and still don't think that I came here just to run away, but you know what, so what if I did. Moving away has been one of the greatest decisions of my life. I've been working on reading Catch-22 for a while now (I just can't get into for some reason), and this quote seemed to fit my situation perfectly, "There's nothing negative about running away to save my life."

Grad school has not been what I expected, but it is going well. I even got a 4.0 last semester...wahoo! For those of you who don't know, currently I'm getting a Graduate Certificate in Drug and Addiction Studies, but I found out about a month ago that I got accepted into the Master of Social Work program for next semester. I also received a Graduate Assistantship!

My last bit of exciting news...I am going on a mission trip to Nicaragua this summer! I am so excited! I don't know all of the details, just the basics, but I'll keep you all updated!

I've been scared to say all of that out loud because so many good things have been happening that I'm afraid it's about time for something bad to happen. I'm really working on remembering that God has a purpose for me and my life no matter what happens.

Here's To New Beginnings

Happy New Year to everyone, and yes I realize I'm a couple days late. I've been having a difficult time deciding what I want my New Year's resolutions to be. I don't want to make too many and overwhelm myself; I want them to be more meaningful than "eat healthier" & "work out more", and I want them to not only enhance my life, but to make other's lives more meaningful as well. I don't really think that all of my resolutions accomplish those things, but hey, I tried!

So I'm hoping that by putting them "in writing", it will help hold myself accountable to them. 
Here's what I got:
-Stop apologizing for things I have no reason to be sorry for (i.e. my feelings).
-Finish reading the Bible (I'm a little shy of being halfway through) and put God's teachings to work in my own life.
-Start regularly volunteering somewhere I'm passionate about
-Get healthy physically, psychologically, spiritually, and socially
And Finally...
-Sidenote: I have an obsession with books; Half Price Bookstore is one of my FAVORITE stores. I have a bad habit of buying books even though I have plenty of unread books that I already own. 
So my resolution is to finish all of the books I already have before I can buy or borrow any more. According to my last count, I need to read 23 books before purchasing/borrowing any more, which at the rate I've been going, should be a piece of cake!

Hope you all had a great holiday season!