Happiness is a Run Around the Lake

Today was not the prettiest of days. It was overcast and the clouds were gathered in the sky in such a way that it looked like it might pour rain at any second. It was cooler, but yet a pinch of humidity still hung in the air. Today may not have been pretty, but for some reason, it made me feel like going for a run.

This is a feeling I have not experienced in a very long time. Knowing full well that my sudden will to exercise could evaporate at any moment, I hastily put on my Nikes and grabbed PT's leash. We were off to the lake.

PT strutted beside me as I ran down the trail, both of us panting heavily as we went along. I'm sure we were quite the sight to anyone who passed us; a little blonde girl, completely out of shape, dragging a slightly unwilling wiener pup behind her. We may have looked silly, but I felt great.

In my haste to leave the house I had forgotten to grab my iPod, so without any music to listen to as I ran, my mind wandered. For reasons I cannot explain, my brain played back little memories from the past month here in Dallas, and as I jumped from thought to thought, I realized something: I am happy here.

Let me be clear that this is a phrase I never thought I would say. I moved here with every intention of leaving in a year, transferring to some other office in a city where I had friends. But now having lived here, I think I'm changing my mind. I like it here. I like my house, my job and my new friends. I love this city more than I ever thought I would and I am ecstatic about that. Dallas is my home now, and I like it that way.

.I am happy here and I'm happy about that.

The Big Day

.Occupation: Student Auditor.
I woke up this morning [much earlier than I have in a very long time] and took a good long look in the mirror, expecting to see a woman, wise and mature, ready to start her career. To my surprise, the girl looking back at me looked no different than the one from yesterday. Her hair was still an unbrushed mess, her face still splashed with redness [a lovely gift from the acne fairy who apparently has not received the memo that I have long ago left my adolescence] and her eyes were still droopy from [unnecessary] lack of sleep. I looked pretty much exactly the same as I have looked every morning since I hit puberty. And I felt no different either. I didn't have a sudden burst of maturity or vast increase in intellect as I was hoping to have.

I guess I just thought that starting my first real-life, bonafide, 9-5[ish] job would change me, make me somehow instantly older and more mature. That's foolish, I know, but there's never any harm in hoping. Alas, my little fairy tale turned out to be just that, no more than an imaginative wish. But regardless of my readiness, I rushed off to work and my new life.

As I showed up at the office, promptly 8:30 [a good half hour before really necessary] I realized just how different my life was about to be. After lallygagging around for what seemed like endless months, indulging my fleeting childhood, today I was pulled back into the reality of the adult world. I am now a grownup with a career. My life is going to be much less spontaneous and carefree these days, and more filled with work and responsibility. But no matter how different my day to day routine may be, I do believe my life will be equally enjoyable and just as filled with friendship and love as it's always been.

.New adventures on the horizon and this little girl woman is ready to go on them.

My Little Corner of the World

.Unload.Unpack.Organize.Trash.Buy.Drill.Hang.Rest.
My life the past several days has solely revolved around getting my house in order and presentable to guests. After hours of work, and probably just as many hours of rest, it is finally finished! [Or at least as finished as it's going to be for now] I now submit for the approval of the followers of my blog, pictures of my humble little abode.


.The Living Room.

.The Kitchen.



.The Bedroom.