Its Been a Year

Can you believe it? Lorenzo and I have been engaged and living together for a year, which also means its the 1 year anniversary of my blog! This year went by so quickly that I didn’t even realize that the date had come and gone while I was away with the Army. I can say that so far, I am not regretful about the move. I’ve done some things I said I would NEVER do (live with a man whom I wasn’t already married to, took on a house wife role for a while, ate fried alligator, etc). You really should never say never. I was very skeptical about the move, not because I didn’t want to live in Georgia, but I was concerned about living with Lorenzo (its in my About Me). I’ve never officially lived with a man I wasn’t related to, so this was a first for me. I had an ex whom I’ve spent a great deal of time with, so it seemed like we lived together but we didn’t; and because he used to get on my nerves so bad I decided that if I HAD to live with a man, he would have to be my husband. The only reason Lorenzo got a pass was because he lived in a different state when we were dating (I didn’t anticipate that).

Anyway, I really enjoy it here in Atlanta. The positives are that its clean, the people are very friendly, its quiet, the houses are beautiful and affordable, and the weather is nice. The only time I really get homesick (which is something that Lorenzo worried about in the beginning) is when I have to constantly go and get gas because you literally have to drive everywhere, and there isn’t a whole lot of “touristy” things to do, which I understand. New York City has been around forever and a day so you can’t expect Atlanta, which is constantly improving, to have hundreds of sites and attractions like NYC does. But those are the times when I miss it. You can’t beat this weather tho 🙂

Living here with Lorenzo has been great; we were finally able to do all the things that a normal couple does: go out on “date nights”, spend Saturday’s at home doing absolutely nothing at all, cook dinner for one another, hang out with other couples, take weekend trips together, go to wedding events together, shop for furniture for our place. Normal couples do those things right? Let’s just say it sure beats having to FaceTime each other every night and spending $300-$400 on plane tickets every 6 weeks just to see each other for 3-4 days at a time. The first 2 years of our relationship was very rough. At first, I liked the idea of him living in another state because it gave us an opportunity to get to know each other without the added pressure of having a physical relationship. I got to know him, I learned about his past, what he wants for his future, his dreams, WHY he is who is he is, and vice versa. Once we fell in love it was hard to not be with him everyday. I just had to hope and pray that he was in fact all the things he said he was (and he was) 🙂

I’m pretty sure that we are still in the “honeymoon” phase of our relationship and that sooner or later we will start arguing over nonsensical things like me asking him for a sip of juice. That time hasn’t come yet so I’m just going to enjoy this lovey dovey, mushy gushy, sappy romantic ride.  I finally feel like I am no longer going through life by myself, but I have a partner now who I can go through things WITH. He treats me like an equal and holds me to high standards, and I respect him so much for that. Plus he told me he’ll still love me if I gained a bunch of weight from eating all this delicious Southern food. I need to make sure I hold him to that.

The Official Move–Part I

This has been a very busy week! The big day has come and gone and so much has happened that I had to separate it into multiple posts. Well, if you can’t tell by the big smiling face, that I am super happy! I finally was able to make the move that I have been planning for a while, and there were a few additional surprises that I wasn’t expecting.

Let’s start with last Wednesday. I working with a great group of people in NYC and normally when someone moves on from the company, we always have a get-together after work to celebrate. My supervisor, Jon, wanted to take me out to lunch, something a little fancier than the Chipotle that I originally wanted so we went to Oceana-a seafood restaurant on W. 49th St.  Oceana Restaurant is also one of our customers and I know one of the managers who was sad to see me go, but gave me a very sweet going away gift.

  The food was great, if you every decided to go, try the salmon. It was amazing.

After work my coworkers and I celebrated at Johnny Utah’s on W.51st.  They have a mechanical bull that my coworkers and I were daring each other to get on. One of my brothers and two of my sisters showed up as well and my wannabe daredevil brother Kevin was more than willing to get on the bull. My sisters did too, but I think Kevin enjoyed it way too much.

 We all had a good time. One of my sisters was surprised that so many people came out for the event. She looked at me extremely confused. I had to reassure her that there are some people out there who actually like me. 🙂

Anyway, my last day of work was bittersweet. I really wish nothing but the best for my coworkers because I know a lot of them very well and know they are good people. No one cried-at least not while I was there,  and probably because I threatened to punch anyone that did.

I really don’t do well with ‘good-byes’ and I’m not really a fan of the word. My mother used to tell me that “Goodbye was forever” so my siblings and I try to make a habit of saying “See you later” instead-it doesn’t feel so permanent.

So up next on The Official Move Part II- Moving Day.