Sometimes life takes you in directions you never would have imagined.

One day you're lying on the floor wondering what the point of life is anymore and the next thing you know you're waking up in a different state making pancakes on Sunday mornings with someone you've only known for three weeks.

That's what happened to me anyway.

For those who don't know, I've undergone some BIG life changes and if you haven't talked to me in the past few months you're probably wondering if I've just fallen off the face of the earth.

Or chances are you didn't even notice.

Either way, I'm here to fill you in on all the details.  I feel that I've reached the most exciting time in my life and that the next few years are going to be very, very eventful.  

So I've struggled with mental health for a long time.  It's not a secret and I have several blogs, videos, and podcast episodes about it.  There are times when I feel really good and I am genuinely content with my life, but other times...not so much.

The past few years I've battled with depression, anxiety, food problems, and other mental health issues.  It was never very serious, but I would experience those feelings off and on.  When COVID became a thing last year, all of those issues got worse.

I don't consider myself an introvert or an extrovert, but I do enjoy the company of people.  I enjoyed going to my job, going to class, and my other outings before COVID.  When everything shut down, obviously all of that came to an end.

Classes moved to online.  I couldn't go to work.  I couldn't see my friends.

Naturally, that did not help my depression and anxiety.  I, like many other people during the pandemic, suffered from depression and anxiety throughout the lockdown.

I have a video that goes more in depth about what I went through over the course of 2020, but I won't get into all of that here.

It's a new year.  A new slate.

And fortunately, I don't suffer from any of the problems I had before.

I met my boyfriend, Tom, on a dating app called Hinge in September.  During the pandemic, I got very lonely so I downloaded almost every single dating app I could find.  I wasn't planning on looking for anything serious, more of just someone to talk to.

Tom and I hit it off right away.  We had a lot in common and were able to talk so easily without any of that awkward "small talk."  After what I believe was two weeks of texting back and forth, we finally decided we wanted to meet in person.

That's when I discovered that he lived two hours away from me.  In Ohio.

What.

Now I know what you're thinking, and no, I didn't just blindly drive off two hours away to meet this random guy.

He drove two hours to meet me.

We met on a Saturday afternoon in Starbucks.  I will never forget the first time I saw him.  I was sitting at one of the tables outside (the inside was closed due to COVID) and this man is walking towards me with a bouquet of roses in his hands.

FLOWERS.

HE BROUGHT ME FLOWERS.

Please excuse my excitement, but listen.  I've been on my fair share of dates, but never once did I get flowers.

We clicked right from the start.  We talked the entire time we were together and at the end of the night, I knew I had found someone special.

Obviously, we kept talking after that, but it became difficult to see each other between work, school, and the fact that we live two hours apart from each other.

So naturally the only solution we came up with was for me to move in with him.

After only three weeks of knowing each other.

Normally I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, but fortunately, I got lucky and it worked out.

I've been here for four months now and needless to say, I'm probably one of the happiest people alive.

Moving from a small town to a bigger city has been quite the adjustment, but I'm so in love with it.

Get this: I could go to Walmart in my Pajamas but no one knows me here so who cares?

That's just one of the many things I love about living in a city.  Oh and also, everyone here is rich so people are a lot more pleasant.

Seriously, I am still surprised at how friendly people are like I walk into Target and just start making friends with random people.

There's also a Chick Fil A right down the street which is a huge plus.

Cons of living here:

1.  Ohio drivers

But, one of my favorite parts about being here is my job.  Tom works at a specialty grocery store and was able to get me a position there as well.  Let me tell you, I have never had a job that I looked forward to going to.  Never.  Now, I wake up every day and I'm excited, yes excited, to go to work.

That's crazy.  I never thought that would happen.

Next, you're probably wondering what it was like moving in with someone you barely know.  It was definitely weird at first, but we worked so well together that there were never any problems.  Living with someone changes your whole relationship, but luckily for us it changed in a good way.  Tom and I talk about this all the time and we both agree that we wouldn't have the kind of relationship we do if we didn't live together.

It's like having a sleepover with your best friend every single day and neither of you ever have to leave and go home.  Being in a bigger city means there are more opportunities for things to do and places to see.  Basically, that means I'm never bored.  There's always something to do.

It's crazy because I never thought I would leave my hometown.  I thought I had the most hometown pride out of anyone and I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.  It turns out though that leaving it was one of the best decisions I've ever made and has been the cure to finding joy in life again.  We can't hold onto things forever, eventually, you have to let go and see the rest of the world.

So that's what I did.

It's funny because people ask me all the time if I'm homesick, and the answer is....no.  I'm not homesick.  I know I am where I'm supposed to be right now and there's nothing I would change about that. Now that doesn't mean I don't think about home from time to time, but it's not like I can never go back and visit.

I feel really good about this year.  I'm praying it will be full of health, happiness, and joy.  At least I hope so because I think we all deserve a break after last year.  I know there will be some big things happening in my life, which I can't wait to share with you all.

But I think that's all for now.  Thank you for taking the time to read this and don't forget to follow me on all my other platforms linked at the top of this page.