Change is SO good!

Well, friends, I'm still alive!

Sorry I have been MIA for the last few weeks. Life has been busy, busy... but GOOD busy, unlike the super stressful/annoying and overall BAD busy of before. 

We have moved & settled into our new place in Columbus. It's funny how comfortable I feel here compared to living in Charlotte. Ohio is, and will always be, HOME. I'm glad I figured that out sooner than later. And I'm lucky to have a husband that is more than willing to let me have that, even though home to him is the Rocky Mountains. 

Speaking of the Rockies... we managed to squeeze a trip out west into our crazy few weeks and had a fabulous time. Check this out: 

 

That's me, skydiving! 

Here's me, happy that I am still alive.
(I was nervous about that.)

How did this whole skydiving adventure come about, you ask? Well, my father-in-law is a second generation smoke jumper (you know, those crazy people who parachute into the wilderness to fight wildfires because it's impossible to get there in a vehicle). After that, he worked for the Forest Service on parachute design & testing and now he does top-secret stuff for the military. Cool, huh? So anyway, he signed us up for a jump and I thought what better situation than to jump with someone he knows is super good? Super good tandem jumper, Gary, pictured above. The guy has been jumping for 40-some years and has made over 8,200 jumps! Yeah, I think maybe he knows what he's doing.

Every experienced jumper I talked to before the big day (Paul, Paul's dad and Paul's grandpa) told me I wouldn't feel like I'm falling at all... no stomach in the throat, just the feeling of floating. I couldn't believe it, but that's TOTALLY correct. I had NONE of that roller-coaster feeling. I screamed, yes. But then I looked around at the gorgeous mountains. See?

(That's Paul & Gary coming in for a landing.)

I cannot WAIT to jump again. I think this is our new (expensive as hell) hobby. It takes 25 jumps to get certified to jump solo. Just FYI. Ha!

Anyway, back to the point. I'm loving the changes in my life - new state, new job (um, seriously, no boss is the best thing ever), new apartment, new (SHORT) drive to see the fam, new (LOW) stress level... good stuff. Very good stuff. Yay. :)

The South ain't all bad.

Indeed I am, and will always be a mid-west girl. My 2 years in the south have been a bit rough - being far from family & friends, struggling with jobs & money, trying to build new relationships... all the while feeling like I'm a bit of an outsider. I'm excited to get back to where I feel I belong (HOME), but there are things that I will certainly miss about Charlotte. Here are 12.

1. Charlotte friends. You are #1 by far on my list. You made this experience something I would never trade. I am so grateful to know you all. We are still planning on that annual beach trip, so count us in next year... or we'll just crash your party.

2. Being close-ish to the beach & the mountains. 2-3 hours east or west gets us to the Atlantic or the Appalachians. It's pretty cool. Check out the sand dollars we collected at the beach this past weekend:

(Pardon the terrible CrackBerry quality photo.)

3. REAL barbecue. (see below... not the kind you get at Sticky Fingers.)

4. 70 degrees in January. Actually, I'll miss the weather October - March in general.

 

5. Beer. Specifically Yuengling & my newest favorites - all 3 beers made by Big Boss Brewery out of Raliegh. Also, I'll miss the unlimited access to Fat Tire, Carolina Blonde and numerous other awesome mico-brews that I've come to love.

6. "Y'all" This is one southernism that I find charming and useful. Up north, as you know, we say "you guys"... doesn't quite roll off the tongue.

7. Running all year long. Even when it snows, there's still not enough, nor is it cold enough to stop me from running - with the exception of maybe a week or 2. Ohio is MUCH different in this regard. (Sad face.)

8. Lake Norman. It's pretty, and I like to watch the boats. Although there are giant lakes back home, they won't be in our back yard.

9. Rust-free vehicles. I know Paul will miss this for sure! However, I will get to use my 4WD again, so that's cool... I guess.

10. Slower pace. Now, let me clarify. My day-to-day is very fast-paced, but if you took work out of the equation, life is indeed slower here, which is nice.

11. Moe's Southwest Grill.  Man, I just really love Moe's. I'd like to own a Moe's one day.

12. Being the one with the accent. It's fun. 

Things Clients Say #8

Here we go! (I think Blogger is broken. It doesn't like my line breaks today. Sorry!)

"Add a white or bnlack border. All the graphics and final materials look much cleaner when there is one."

Yes, yes, you're right. Borders = much cleaner. Especially bnlack ones. Gosh, I'm glad you're here to educated me on this.      -- 

"I have been waiting 13 days for the graphic?"

Wait, are you asking me? Nope, you just don't know how to use the very complicated question mark character. (on a side note, I sent her the graphic in question 12 days ago.)   -- 

"This is not as classy as we were hoping.  Can they say that it is [client]'s 3 Year Black & White Anniversary Party.  Can we please make this look a bit more special and classy.  Can we add crystals too it?"

Adding crystals "too" stuff makes them classier AND special-er! What was I thinking!?

Here is last year's anniversary party they are referring to:      

It's lovely, no? WHAT is that thing coming out of her head? It's very serpent/alien like. Let's go celebrate Anytime there. Are you in?  Haha!-- 

"Just a suggestion, the bottom picture is just a giant nacho could you slip in half and do the second half with something gameday related? May a pictures of some classy girls watching sports on tv, or toasting over a touchdown, something like that?"

lol. This one just made me laugh. "Giant nacho"... hehehe! Also, I always toast with my girlfriends over a touchdown... looking classy of course. Don't you? -- 

"I think the negative of reminding people we’re not local out ways the positive of multiple locations or that we are local for some."

Hehe... "out ways"... duh.  -- 

I may not have as much material for a new post each week (thank God) from now on. However, there is no limit to the stupid in this world, so this definitely won't be the last!