the beginning of something

Today, as I was texting my best friend a play-by-play of my adventures downtown, she told me I sounded happy.

The funny thing is, she was kind of right. I did feel happy. Somehow, by some sort of miracle, things have come together in the 5 days that I've lived here. My apartment looks good (even if it's occupied by a ghost). I found a job in 4 days. I've made plans for next weekend with a sweet friend of a friend who offered to show me around and introduce me to her friends.

And today, when I drove downtown to fill out some paperwork for my new job, I decided to venture out and drive around to see what I would stumble across. And stumble I did.

I drove past the water again. The water is such an anchor for me. Just to see it, I feel like I'll never get lost. It also reminds me of home.

Of course, the beaches here don't even compare to the beaches back home.

Anyways. I continued along and somehow entered into the cute little downtown area. This also reminds me of home. With its cute little colorful shops and palm trees and plentiful eateries.

I might have fallen in love.

It surprised me how happy I did feel driving through the colorful little downtown. I hadn't expected what I had wandered into and how much it reminded me of our cute little downtown back home. Except with bigger buildings and more traffic and people surrounding it.

I felt like maybe, just maybe, I could be happy here. With these cute little shops and restaurants. The vibe just felt right to me - comfortable and normal. Like I was right back to where I belonged.

This might not ever really be my home, but it might not be so bad in the interim.

After all, you know what they say: home is where the heart is.

I know where my heart resides and it's not in those cute little colorful shops or funky restaurants. No matter how bright or unique or lovely they all were, they'll never quite compare to home.

*photo = cute downtown area i speak of

don't drive and take pictures, it's dangerous, you know