You can begin again, with pure joy in the uprooting.

I already posted the news on Facebook, but that life-changing job opportunity I was hinting at has become official: I'm moving to Benicia, California (San Francisco Bay area) to live and work as an Au Pair! I'll be leaving towards the middle or end of next month and I just could not be more excited! Or scared, or happy, or terrified, or anxious...I have so many conflicting emotions going through my mind and my heart...I think I've still yet to let it truly sink in that I'm moving to California, that I'm moving to the West Coast, that I'm leaving Alabama and the Southeast. Holy cow, I'm moving to California.

When I said that I wanted to close the latest book in my life and begin a new one, obviously I wasn't kidding. This is the most courageous, crazy, and exciting thing I've ever decided to do. I'm proud of myself for deciding to make such an extreme change and for deciding to explore more of the world around me. I kind of can't believe that this is happening! I'm a bit in awe of the situation...

So, with this job, I'll be living with a single mother (a surgeon), her 9 year old son, and 4 year old daughter. My duties will include getting the kids out of bed, fixing breakfast and school lunch, driving them to school, helping out with errands, picking them up from school, helping with dinner, bath time, and bed time. More specifically, my hours are basically 6 or 7am-9am then 3pm-7pm. That's right, I have the whole day to do what I need to do and weekends off. The money is good, the hours are good, and the best part? She is willing to help me pay for school tuition, books, etc...Could this woman and this job be any more ideal?! The main reason I wasn't getting the ball rolling on getting back into school was because I couldn't figure out a way to pay for it. So, now with Adele's help, I'll be able to finish my degree!

The town in which I'll be living is beautiful, has wonderful weather, their house is on a hill that has a view of the bay, and it's about 45 minutes from San Francisco. I'll be 3 hours from Yosemite, 3 hours from Lake Tahoe, 4 hours from Reno, 5 1/2 hours from L.A., close enough to Portland and Seattle to make weekend trips....Just so many places and things to see! I'm finally getting to travel and explore. I'm finally getting the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and live in a way that's completely different than I'm accustomed to. I. am. elated. One of my favorite aspects? I'll be 45 minutes from AT&T Park. That means I'll be able to go see the Giants play at home! I know, I'm weird, but I am SO pumped about this! I'm pumped about all of this!

But I'm also absolutely terrified. How could I not be?! It's such an exciting scared, a positive scared. And still, a scared scared. I'll be living on the opposite side of the country of my family and friends. I won't be able to walk across the hall and see my mommy, I won't be just an hour and a half from my sister and most of my friends, I won't be just a few miles from my Birmingham friends, I won't have my baby kitties with me! I'll be living in a new way, in a new place, with new people. I've never had the opportunity to completely start over in such a way. Of course, when I left for college, I was granted a bit of a fresh start, but I was still moving away to somewhere familiar and to a town in which my sister was already established. This venture is mine, this is something I'm doing alone. This is crazy. That's the only word for it. It is absolutely crazy! Slowly, after I've really thought about it for a few days, I'll begin to feel the effects of this decision and all of the emotions that will come with it. But for now, I'm mainly overwhelmed with excitement!

And I'm so blessed to have the parents that I have. I know that they are sad that I'll be so far away, but they've been incredibly supportive of this since I began talking about it. They've already begun the planning process with me and are going to be accompanying me out there. This road trip is going to be so much fun :) I've always wanted to drive cross-country and I finally have an excuse. I'm so excited that I could scream!!! I told you it was big news ;)

This blog is going to be filled with so much more! I'm going to have so many more experiences and such to talk about and keep you updated with! I'll be continuing my journey to complete health, I'll just be doing it somewhere else. I'll still be discovering things about myself and sharing with you the inner-workings of my mind, it will just be intertwined with the details of my new life. This blog has gotten me to this point. This blog is the one of the reasons I've gotten to this job. Through my writing, I've discovered so much about myself and what I can do. This blog has helped me to build self-confidence and to put myself out there. I owe so much to all of you. Without you and your words of encouragement, I would not have continued to write for as long as I have, and, therefore, not reached this turning point in my life. You're all amazing and I look forward to sharing this new book of my life with you :)

"Nothing remains as it was. If you know this, you can
begin again, with pure joy in the uprooting.” -Judith Minty