finding my place.

Fact: this is the third time I've started this post. Fact: this will be the first time it will be completed. Fact: all three times this post has been started, I have been sitting at this same desk. Fact: they were at completely different times of the day. Fact: when it feels right, it feels right. Fact: it typically feels right when you are alone, and the creative spark just hits you. Fact: you'll notice that it says Tuesday down there-- I am aware that it is Wednesday and a week after I had written this. No, I am not crazy (As of yet anyway--but am just getting around to posting this).

Begin.

So, finding my place. Yes friends, that's right. Contrary to my last post, which oozed of sadness and missing my friends, I am feeling in a much better place this week. Maybe it's finding those little "spots" (IE: a coffee shop) that make you just feel right, or perhaps it is the changing of the seasons, that in turn, are allowing me to be a little more okay with my change. It hasn't been easy by any means, but I'm happy where we are. No, it isn't home. No, I'm not near the one's I love (except for Logan and Max of course....I would surely die without those two dapper gentlemen). But I'm surviving. Survival is key. I can't help but to feel that I'm doing almost more than surviving, and on the border of thriving. Maybe today is just a lucky Tuesday though. Despite my blabbering and homesick ranting, I am left feeling so fortunate. I know that I keep saying this over and over, but I do. I love my job, and I am doing so many fun, and new things that have inspired me. I like my classes, I enjoy watching my thought processes change, and I am enjoying the way that I challenge myself. Life is good. Life is also about making the best of every situation, and I feel like I'm doing just that. However, this doesn't mean that I don't miss everyone. Don't kid yourself, now. I would kill for a weekend being back home. Enjoying late night brews and laughs downtown in the mountainous, city air. Watching the leaves change and having coffee with my mom. But as time passes, and I find my place, I remind myself that I am also one day closer to be surrounded by all of this back home. But I like my new home, it's nice. 

Logan, my little "trip advisor" I call him, has made sure that we have seen every surrounding sight, and has been persistent in making sure that we have something to do every weekend. I am one lucky gal folks. Even though I love to travel and explore, I absolutely loathe planning it--which Logan and I constantly laugh about because I am such a hard "J" (from the Meyers-Briggs) in every other aspect of my life. So, luckily, Logan loves planning our travels. It's quite lovely. Having something to look forward to makes the time go by so much faster--and we have done some pretty spectacular things over the month that we've been here. This doesn't include the fun things planned for the weeks ahead. Fact: living in an area close to many major cities has such a perk in the concert-going area.


Here are just a few fun places we've explored thus far:

Above: Park at Lake Erie. Absolutely stunning. A storm had just passed through so the water was rough, but it made for good pictures. It is mind-blowing how enormous this body of water is. It literally looked like an ocean out there. This is the first Great Lake I've visited. So far, so good.

Above: A couple of weekends ago, Logan and I went to Cleveland to see Sigur Ros. These are just two of my favorite pictures that I snapped that night. I was blown away by how good they sounded. The lights were incredible. It was pretty much the equivalent of a religious experience. What made this show even more special was the fact that the venue was right on the water. This was an area of Cleveland that we hadn't visited yet, so it was nice to go explore.

Above: Dating even farther back in weekends, Logan and I traversed to Toledo to go see a show. Honestly, Toledo was meh. I would have liked to have gone to the zoo, but we were afraid of bad weather so we decided against it...and I may or may not have over-slept a little.