A Good Place To Live

I don't know what I expected when I planned a weekend in Bristol but whatever those expectations were, they were more than met and it's a weekend I would repeat 10 times. It was definitely different than my typical "get crazy" weekend in Charlotte but I loved every minute of it.

I've known Jenna for 8 months if you don't count the 7 years I "knew" her when we were at JMU. Since we reunited, I've been talking about going to Bristol to watch her race. For about 8 years she's been driving every make and model of race car in this grass roots (as her dad put it) racing league. A lot of her races are near her home but she's traveled all over the place to race. To top it off, she works for NASCAR, is completely submerged in the auto racing industry and is constantly pointing out my lack of knowledge of the culture.

So Megan and I finally committed and made plans to go to Bristol for the weekend. We got up early Saturday to make the 3-hour trip stopping every hour for the bathroom and being utterly floored by our first stop. The bathroom had a sign in it that said "Please don't flush paper down the toilet." (Just let that sink in for a minute). Then we're pretty sure the two guys at the counter stole the debit card they were using, and the guy at the coffee counter walked out on his cup of decaf when the attendant told him she didn't have any sugar packets. (Really!? Not sure if I'm more shocked that he needs sugar that much or that the store didn't have any in stock). Meanwhile, in the parking lot, a woman had driven her tractor to the station to get gas. Seeing as there wasn't a house within a mile of the gas station, we're pretty sure she was going to have to use all of the gas she'd just bought to get home.

About halfway through our trip, Jenna texts us to ask what our plans are. Uhm, call us crazy but weren't we going to see her? Shouldn't she have a plan for us? She was headed to the track already and gave us a list of restaurants to try in downtown Bristol and told us to kill some time. So we embarked on a self-guided tour of Bristol complete with antiquing and a trip to the giant sign. For those who don't know, Bristol is on the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. On one side of the street, you're in Bristol, Tennessee and on the other side, you're in Bristol, Virginia. We got a kick out of being in two places at once and joining in on the town joke that the sign says it's a good (not great) place to live.

 Doing a little antiquing on the VA side!

A quick trip to Wal-Mart proved to be an adventure in itself. The shelves were lined with NASCAR gear and Duck Dynasty paraphernalia and we made out with some funky shirts and duct tape to make shirts for Jenna's race. We eventually made it to her house where we met up with her mom. At this point, we'd been in Bristol for 4 hours, toured downtown, gone to Wal-Mart, met her mom, saw her childhood bedroom and still hadn't actually seen Jenna. She called to check-in and make sure we got there okay and said she'd see us at the race.

We hopped in the car to make the hour-long trek to the race track. The way Jenna talks about her mom, I feel like I've known her forever. It turns out Jenna tells her mom and us all the same things so we were able to bond over those stories on the trip. As we drove through, her mom told us stories about how they used to live at the track and how one adventure to a drive-in took an unexpected turn. It was an easy conversation which helped considering there were only miles and miles of trees and mountains to look at (not complaining, it was gorgeous).

We made it to the track watched Jenna qualify and she came up to say hi (first Jenna sighting since we arrived). Much like minor league baseball, grass roots racing has a lot of bells and whistles that accompany the races: introductions, talking to the racers, and a few games to make it a little interesting. We watched a few of the other classes of race cars and Jenna completed her first race.

The track :)

As the sun started going down, things started getting interesting. I grew up close to the country so I'm not unfamiliar with country folk. Southwest Virginians, however, need their own introduction. Jenna has somewhat of a southern accent but I was more or less floored by some of the accents during the interviews they conducted. There were families and firends sitting in groups cheering for certain drivers and getting feisty during cautions and accidents. At one point, I thought there was going to be an all out family vs. family brawl after one driver spun out another. There was a mom cheering on her son so vigorously that she had to take puffs off of her inhaler in between laps just to keep it up and one driver had cut off his racing suit and his black and red heart boxers were showing out of the bottom. At the end of the night, we sliced up a watermelon right in the infield and had a little "treat" as they put it.

We headed back to the house where Jenna's mom laid out a full-blown spread of meats, cheeses, chicken salad, pasta salad and chips that would have been fit for any family BBQ. Jenna showed up about an hour later and we were able to hang out before we ALL passed out after the excitement from the day. They took us to lunch Sunday where I was blessed with soft pretzels and a beer cheese dip that is worth the trip back in itself.

I feel like you learn a lot about someone when you visit their hometown and while I knew a lot about Jenna going into it, nothing could have prepared me for the excitement at the track. The contrast between Jenna and her relaxed parents and the families coming out in broods of 10+ was startling. They take this racing very seriously and had there been no cars actually driving around the track, it would have been equally as entertaining. I'm sure they would come to my hometown and judge every thing about it so I don't feel the least bit guilty pointing this out. Different strokes for different folks and all.

I'm not a newcomer to auto racing having seen a ton of races in Richmond growing up but I recently rekindled my love for the sport when NASCAR was here in Charlotte a few weeks ago. I don't know where Saturday night short track racing has been all my life but it will definitely be a permanent fixture from here on out. I already made plans with my dad to go to Winston-Salem and he's taking me to Richmond on my next trip home.

 The Bristol sign lit up at night :)

If nothing else, I had a relaxing, entertaining, and enlightening weekend. I got to hang out with some pretty awesome people and witness Jenna in her natural habitat. Should we make another trip to Bristol (and we will), I challenge it to be half as exciting as it was this time. Who knows, maybe I'll learn what it really means to be an "Appalachian American."

Middle Child Syndrome

It's a real thing.

My "diagnosis" with the "disease" has always been more of a joke. I'm the middle of three girls: 7 years younger than my older sister and 18 months older than the baby. We had a jokes growing up about it; random "pick on Christy" marathons where they ganged up on me and pointed out every little thing I said. We're all a lot alike but also very different so we all found our own hobbies, our own niches, and our own groove. It wasn't until a recent conversation with a friend about my so called "disease" that I decided to look into it a little more.

So, being the researcher that I am, I googled it. And came across an entire community of research, blogs, family planners and message boards, all about middle child syndrome. So yes, it is a real thing, and yes, I do have it. And yes, this discovery has been the highlight of my week. I know things like this (horoscopes, abstract concepts, etc.) tend to be vague so people can draw their own conclusions about their own lives. And naturally, I found research that I agreed with and some I didn't.

Seeing as this is a happy discovery, I'm gonna focus on the positive first. I learned in this research that middle children learn early on to speak up and stand out to get the attention they're often denied. They tend to be more flexible and aren't often thrown off when things don't go their way. They thrive in spontaneous situations and find planning and organizing somewhat of a burden. They build strong relationships and hold them closely. They have a hard time making decisions and when they do, the decisions are usually rash and not well thought out. But when they do make these bad decisions, they are great at the aftermath and can usually handle it quickly and painlessly. I think it's safe to say that I exhibit most if not all of these behaviors.

There's definitely some negative connotations to this syndrome and probably explains why we all get such a bad name. A lot of research says we're co-dependent and have low-self esteem because we didn't get a lot of attention growing up. It also says middle children are constantly seeking their parents approval and looking for attention whether that be in a negative or positive way. This low-self esteem and feeling of inadequacy can often keep them from pursuing what they want. Clearly, none of these things apply to me. However, if I have an identity crisis at some point in my life (which happens often) we know it's a direct result of my being the second child.

One of the bigger pieces and something I saw frequently was that middle children are often defined by their older sibling and overshadowed by the younger sibling. The older sibling gets to do everything first. And the younger sibling is, well, the baby. And while I spent a lot of my childhood as "Betsy's sister" I don't ever feel like I was forced to be defined by her. In fact, I wanted to be just like her. And there's some things about her I still wish I could steal. On the other end, my little sister and me are so close in age that we shared almost everything. We got phones at the same time, had the same rules and curfews, sometimes even had matching outfits, and now we share a pretty diverse circle of friends.

I made a joke the other day about how I've embraced my middle child syndrome, but I'm starting to believe that holds a little more truth that I initially intended. Some of the middle child qualities I identify with have landed me in a new state with new friends and a plethora of new experiences that make me step outside my box. My older sister got to have the first kid and my little sister is having a big, fancy wedding, so there's no pressure on me for grandchildren or to settle down too quick. I get to make mistakes, learn from them, and move on because I've had so much experience making similar mistakes when I was growing up and no one is really paying attention to me (sidenote: this is joke. My parents love us all equally). I'm not saying that I'm stomping on the floor throwing a tantrum because no one is paying attention to me, but I do recognize that I'm a little different than the two of them and have quite a few qualities that make me question how the three of us ever survived 18 years in the same house.

Don't get me wrong, I love being in the middle. I get to be both a big sister and a little sister at the same time. I get to learn from my older sister's mistakes and try not to make mistakes that affect the younger one. I honestly don't think my parents "ignored" me and I don't think they played favorites, (like so many middle children claim) but I am grateful that I had a little room to stretch my wings and no one has faulted me for the quirky, creative, sometimes reckless behavior that I exhibit everyday. Whether that behavior is a direct result of me identifying as a middle child or not, it's safe to say that being stuck in the middle has had some kind of impact on my personality. And if I have to live in the shadow of an older sibling and fight for attention with the other, I couldn't think of two other people who know exactly how and when to put me in my place: right smack dab in the middle. Afterall, isn't the middle section the best part of an oreo?

Three Sixty Five

I'll admit, I was going to save this post for the one year anniversary of my move to Charlotte but I thought the month between graduation and that move deserved some of the credit. Plus, all the hype and Facebook-focus on everyone graduating at JMU this weekend and it just felt timely. May 4th (Saturday) was the one year anniversary of the day I graduated and it has been a whirlwind of a time since then. Three hundred sixty five days later and I'm concerned how the next year is ever going to top this past one.

In the past year, I traveled to Europe and traipsed across Ireland and London for two weeks. I said good-bye to six years of experiences in Harrisonburg and moved to Charlotte. I started a job at a fortune 50 company doing something I have NEVER done before. I've been to concerts, sporting events, weekend-long adventures, and added to my ever-expanding friend network. And three of my best friends and one sister got engaged and a handful of others got married. It's been nothing short of a roller coaster to say the least.

While there's been a lot of ups, there's been a handful of downs. I'm making more money than I ever have before but my lifestyle changed accordingly so I'm not living large like I planned. Some of my most valued relationships have been tested. And after a year of doing a job that I love, I still have no idea where I want to be 5 years from now. Regardless of these little hiccups, I don't pretend to be the same person I was a year ago and have both the good and the bad to thank for it.

The pros definitely outweigh the cons and I have zero regrets about this past year. I'm so looking forward to the next 365 days. There's quite a few weddings, a boat, and some trips I'm looking forward to and oh-so-many things in Charlotte I have yet to try. Past that, I'm not sure what to expect. But then again, I wasn't really quite sure what to expect when I moved down here to begin with.

I know I'm ready for a new adventure and I'm ready to test a few theories. I'm ready to capitalize on the opportunities I've been putting on hold and I'm more than ready to move forward...whatever that may mean or take to happen. So, here's to another successful and challenging 365 days of awesome people, awesome experiences in the awesome city I've come to love.

Night on the Townie

I’ve already written about how much I love the Town of Davidson (circa Christmas). However, it consistently manages to fascinate me with its small town charm and hole-in-the wall finds. The kind of places you only find because you accidentally stumble across them or because someone, somewhere has mentioned it. Fortunately, last weekend, we had our own personal tour guide.

Right off of Main Street on the corner is a little coffee shop called Summit. It tends to be more of a “summer” hangout for my coworkers because of its spacious outdoor patio that doesn’t bode well in colder weather. It has a wide selection of IPAs and insanely good cookies made in the home of one of my coworker’s friends. It only has about 10 tables inside and the upstairs has a random collection of broken-in couches and overstuffed armchairs. It has that hole-in-the-wall feel I love about Davidson with a little outdoor ambiance and the occasional live band.

Summit on Fridays usually means a few beers on the patio and maybe splitting a bottle of wine. Since cookies don’t qualify as a meal, around 5:30 we start talking about food and/or making plans to go home and get food on our own. Me, my three coworkers, and one significant other decided on a little Italian place called “Meatballs on Main” that no one other than the one townie had ever heard of.

Meatballs on Main was located about a mile down the road in an old house. While it’s not that far off for businesses and restaurants to be built into houses, this one still had every wall and room intact. Minus the granite bar in the front room and the mismatched tables, you’d never think it was a fully operating restaurant.  It had cute, decorative hanging light fixtures and a stairwell that ran right in the middle of the main hallways. The menu had a make-your-own pasta option and five different kinds of grilled cheese. Top it off with baked mac and cheese and it’s pretty much all my favorite foods in one place.

 Wall decor inside of Meatballs on Main

After dinner, we headed down the block a ways to Carolina Cone, a small ice cream shop that served 40 flavors of Hershey’s ice cream and had every type Mylar balloon you could possible imagine. In a way, it reminded me of an old school soda shop. It had a merry go round and playground outside, old yellow booths and gumball machines inside, and all different kinds of balloons taped to the ceiling for display. Not to be overlooked were the 30 different colors of regular latex balloons where one of my coworkers negotiated a deal and plans to bring 100 strategically-picked balloons into work. The only problem: how exactly is he (are we) going to get them there?

 

Old School Gumball Machines!

 

Ceiling decorated with hundreds of balloons.

In a span of about 5 hours, I swam in the charm that I love so much about Davidson thanks to a group of coworkers I enjoy just as much in the office as I do outside of it. And, with the help of our own personal townie tour guide, we got to experience three little gems that I probably otherwise wouldn’t have ever stopped at. I realize Charlotte is a huge place and I have SO much left to try, but coming up on a year of living here and I’m still blown away by all the little secrets this place has to share.

Here’s to another adventure in Davidson and another blog post inspired by a night out with people that can turn any shitty week completely on its head.

A Not-So-New-Year Resolution

It’s been a long time since I wrote which is both a good and a bad thing. Thanks to the holidays and some crazy, elusive illness my entire family had, I haven’t been really motivated to do anything after work. My evenings consisted mostly of finding something for dinner and distracting myself with computer games and ABC Family movie marathons until I got enough energy to move from the couch to the bed.

Thankfully, four weeks later, I’m finally feeling better and feeling the pressure from the creative side of my brain. This hiatus from blogging was also a good thing because I wasn’t looking at every situation as a “blog experience” and could, for a while, live in the moment. Now if only I could find a way to separate myself from tweeting and Facebooking every memorable quote of my evenings.

It being the New Year, it only makes sense to do a resolution post. I’m only 28 days late and when I think about it, it’s actually better because I’ve had 28 days to reevaluate the alcohol-influenced resolutions of New Year’s Eve and throw out the unrealistic and boring ones that are either unattainable or just ridiculous. The resolution theme this year: long-term goals. In other words, my goal was to think of resolutions that would stick and be a lifestyle change I could make a regular part of my life.

Resolution #1: Good deeds. The first one is recycled from last year and one I stole from my aunt. The idea is to do something nice or some type of good gesture every day. Whether it’s holding the door, picking up a piece of trash, letting someone over on the highway, etc. It’s not difficult, or hard to adapt into an everyday lifestyle change but something that could in the long run make just a little bit of a difference.

Resolution #2: Healthier Lifestyle. I don’t want this to be like everyone else’s resolution. (“I’m gonna lose ______ pounds.”) My goal is for it to encompass a lot more than just eating better, but adapting a whole new healthier lifestyle in general. This includes but is certainly not limited to, spending more time outside, drinking water instead of soda, spending more time around kids, getting more sleep, and just all around making better decisions that affect my physical or emotional well being. Probably going to approach this one with the “baby steps” philosophy and ease into adding all of the good stuff back into my life.

Resolution #3: Be more aware of my surroundings. I don’t like to admit it, but sometimes I feel like I live in a bubble. I’m blissfully unaware of what is going on around me. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s not so great. Fortunately, I haven’t been in a situation where this minor flaw has led to detrimental consequences, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen very soon. I want this to include both my immediate vicinity (friends, coworkers, etc) but also bigger things (politics, weather, world events). It never hurt anyone to be a little more aware of what is going on in the world.

Resolution #4: Plan Better. I hate planning. It does not agree with my personality type, it stresses me out, and I thrive on spontaneity and spur of the moment decisions. I plan when I have to, like when it comes to paying bills or planning trips home, but I try to avoid it as much as possible in my every day activities. I know that if anything big happened to me, I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I don’t like to think so negatively but I feel there comes a point in adulthood when you have to start planning past Saturday night. It’s no secret that I’m openly against growing up but I feel like this little goal will get me in the right direction.

Whelp, that’s it. I think four long-term goals is enough to get me moving through 2013, even 28 days late. Tomorrow is 8 months since I moved to Charlotte and I had a moment of realization this past week of how much my life has changed from the day I moved down here. If 2013 is half as awesome as 2012 then I have nothing to worry about, other than sticking to my resolutions.

So here’s to a new year and new goals to come with it. Here’s to another 8 months in Charlotte, all the weddings coming up, my line-up of concerts and adventures, and all the crazy people to do all of it with me. 

Christmas in Charlotte

First Christmas in Charlotte and so much to do!!

Decorations
I have a strict rule about the Holiday season. No Christmas decorations or music until Black Friday. That means no red and green until after Thanksgiving and my body has had time to settle from the Turkey day excitement. To kick off the Holiday season, my grandma hooked up me with a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It came with it's own red ornament, Linus blanket and it plays the theme song. I set up the Christmas tree, took my new Charlie Brown nativity scene out of its box, and put Ron's Christmas collar on. BOOM. Holiday decorating complete.

 

The extent of my Christmas decorations.

 Birthday Celebrations
Smack dab in the middle of the Holiday season is my birthday. I've never really enjoyed celebrating my birthday (in terms of presents) because it's so close to Christmas. I usually tell my friends that we'll celebrate Christmas and that's the end of that. Mike and Whit still cooked me my favorite dinner, baked me Christy-themed cupcakes, and even made it snow. (Ever since my mom died, it has snowed EVERY year on my birthday except that one year it was crazy warm and it just rained. A coincidence, probably, but something I looked forward to every year.) This year, it was not only warm, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Being the awesome friends that they are, they took some scissors to a few sheets of white computer paper and made it snow in their house. To cap off the evening, Whit asked me to be a bridesmaid in their wedding so now I get to be a part of their special day! Definitely one of my better birthdays to date!

 

Birthday snow :)

Christmas in Davidson
The town of Davidson is a little town about 20 miles North of Charlotte and where a few of my friends live and/or grew up. The town (and the college in it) got on the map when the little Division 2 private school went to the Final Four in 2008. Christmas in Davidson is a three day event where vendors and organizations set up tents on the lawn with everything from games to charities and bake sales to contests. There's Christmas music, carriage rides, carolers and tree decorating contests and it embodies everything about that small town feel. We spiked a little eggnog, bundled up and walked around the event for a few hours stopping to play with the wooden puzzles and watch the dance company. If you've seen any episode of Gilmore Girls, then you can more than understand the culture and feel of the town at Christmas.

 

The A2S tree at Christmas in Davidson

Holiday Office Party
We didn't have an official Christmas party but we had a decorating contest and a smorgasbord of baked goods. The decorating accelerated quickly and people dedicated hours and recycled cardboard to the cause. The contest was judged by some upper management in our department and included entire cardboard villages and even the crazy Christmas light ball from the Lowe's commercial. My team, being as no one had the time, energy, or money to devote to decorating, set up a tiny pink tinsel tree and drew a tree on the white erase board. We didn't win.

 

Part of the cardboard gingerbread village

 

Lowe's themed cookies!

Christmas Adventures
I'm usually hit or miss at Christmas. Some years I'm all about some quality family time and shopping and other times I seriously question why we put our selves through this every year. One thing I'm always down for is good Christmas music and Christmas lights. We set aside some time tonight to go to a cute little store in Southend called Paper Skyscraper that sells unique gifts and decor. We ended up at Mellow Mushroom for some serious pizza consumption and reduced our speed in one of the nicer neighborhoods to view (and judge) the Christmas lights. We ended the Christmas festivities by stopping out a big tree outside of a pub to take some pictures all the while listening to the Straight No Chaser Christmas CD. (Men's a capella, Christmas music, and festive lights can never end badly).  

 

Christmas tree in Southend

 So I got to tie in some of my favorite things with the new things I love about Charlotte. Despite my crazy work schedule, I'm gonna make it home for a two-day sprint of family time before I head back to Charlotte for New Year's! (Can't WAIT for that one!) As much as I love all the company and excitement of having people come visit, I'm excited to have a few weekends all to myself in January. No visitors, no traveling, no cleaning my apartment on Friday after work. That should give me plenty of time to rest up and prepare for the upcoming weddings and springtime fun!

Home Sweet Home

About 10am Wednesday morning, my boss walked up to me and said "You can work from home Friday." Being in retail and Black Friday being a pretty big day all around for my company, I was planning on being in the office that day which resulted in me not being home for Thanksgiving. Numerous people offered to let me crash their quality family time in the Charlotte area but this early Christmas present from my boss made it possible for me to head home.

I packed up Thursday and make my first stop at Thanksgiving Feast 1 of 2 in Lynchburg, VA. I spent the afternoon with my mom's parents, sibling's and significant others before finishing the last 2 hours of trip en route to Fredericksburg. I got home right before the end of the Redskins game, scarfed down some amazing ham biscuits and mac and cheese (Thanksgiving Feast #2) and hung out with my adorable nieces. Pajama's and two bedtime stories later, the girls were asleep and the parents, my step sister and me retired outside by my dad's newly purchased fire pit (which he didn't hesitate to tell me be bought at Lowe's).

I woke up Friday morning to an adorable five-year old telling me about the chocolate chip pancakes upstairs. My nephew (who I NEVER see) got there a little later and the children achieved full momentum around 9:30. Then it happened: my step-mom busted out the GIANT bucket of Play Doh accessories. This wasn't just a few tubs of Play Doh. It was every color, cutter and tool imaginable. We had rolling pins, spaghetti makers, cookie cutters, critter makers, all of them. I'm convinced that my step-sister and I were way more excited about the morning activity than the children because it entertained the two of us for about 2 hours. My mad Play Doh skills were nothing compared to Ashley's holiday themed Play Doh cookies.

My mad Play Doh Skills

Ashley's mad Play Doh skills.

Friday turned into a lunch date with Alex and some quality nephew time with my friend Zac. We decided to go see a movie and convinced my parents to come along. (We went to see Lincoln and I highly recommend it). You know you're an adult when you 1) willingly invite your parents to a movie and 2) invited them because you wanted them there and didn't just need a ride. Yay for growing up!

Saturday started with me picking out my Birthday/Christmas present and lunch with Mamaw (which also came with a few Snoopy-related goodies). The afternoon consisted of my little sister and fiance gracing us with their presence and the first time I got to see her gorgeous engagement ring. We talked weddings for like the next two hours and daddy cooked up some fried oysters and leftovers for dinner. Kristina showed up about 11 and we headed out downtown in an attempt to meet up with some wedding goers. Due mostly to poor planning on the part of my friends, we did not actually meet up with the wedding people and ended up hanging out downtown.

Sunday was lunch with both sisters at a cute little place downtown called Eileen's. They had gourmet sandwiches and salads. This, of course, was another first in a city where I didn't think there were any more firsts to be had. I settled on some sort of ham and cheese quiche-esque dish that had this crazy good pesto cream on top. The women behind the counter were extra friendly and even checked on us a few times during the meal.

Eileen's in Downtown Fredericksburg. It's inside an old church and still has the "churchy" feel to it.

Whew! That's a lot. So let's recap:

1) I got to go home for Thanksgiving.
2) I got to see 90% of my family.
3) My loving parents and grandma hooked me up with a sweet birthday present and some Christy-appropriate Christmas decorations.
4) Saw the three close friends I still manage keep in touch with.
5) And most importantly...I gained a new appreciation for Fredericksburg.

I've never disliked Fredericksburg. I just knew that it wasn't where I wanted to end up. Until I moved to Charlotte, the great cities of Northern VA, Charlottesville and Harrisonburg were my top choices and Fredericksburg never made the list. Maybe it was because I had lived there so long and I was ready for change. Not sure. However, this weekend, I remembered why I love the city so much and why I feel a tiny sense of pride when I tell people where I'm from. It also helped that it's Christmas time and all the shops downtown are decorated for the holidays. You can almost feel the holiday cheer just walking down the streets.

Downtown Fredericksburg all decorated for Christmas.

I guess knowing that I was leaving at the end of four days and making my way back to Charlotte made me appreciate Fredericksburg a little bit more. It's my home. Most of my family lives there and it's where all my roots are (minus the few that are still holding on in Harrisonburg.) I got a little sad leaving Sunday afternoon knowing that my next trip home is going to be a short two days. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I was leaving home rather than running towards something else. And equally as important, for the first time in a long time, I'm counting down the days until I can go home again.