We've Reached a Decision

As you know, the past few months have been full of stressful and petrifying life decisions. I have placed my post-graduate life in Andrew's hands while he chooses where to go to school in the fall. And I think he finally made a choice. It's scary, and frightening, but the more I think about it, the more okay with it I become.

Andrew is going to Atlanta.

I was raised in Upstate New York and I go to school in the city. I'm a city girl through and through. I love public transportation and busy streets and a cafe on every corner. I love taxis and hip bars and restaurants. Atlanta was never where I saw myself.

But the more I think about it and read about it and talk with people, I realize that Atlanta is not "the south" like I think of it. It's not a plantation and a farm, it's not hillbillies, it's not the little house on the prairie. It's a city, and a really young one, at that.

And then the more I think of it, the better it feels. I hate winter, and winter in Atlanta is so much more mild than New York winters. I hate the busy, dirty, touristy parts of New York, and love the cute little neighborhoods. That's Atlanta.

What's been hardest is wrapping my brain around the fact that New York is not the be-all, end-all. There is life outside of New York. People exist outside of there and are actually successful. People are happy in other places. I can be happy in other places.

I also keep telling myself that nothing has to be permanent. Of course I love Andrew and I am more than willing to have this adventure with him, but I know that if I'm miserable when he graduates, we can move. Graduating from college doesn't mean I have to settle down and start acting like my mom. I can hop all over the country if I want.

What's more is that I won't have to take this journey alone. I'll always have Andrew by my side, and that's what's really helping me through this. Knowing that at the end of this year I'll embark on a really crazy adventure with my best friend is really an amazing thing. Not to mention, who doesn't want a really wild and adventurous post-graduate life? My favorite stories are my dads from when he was traveling, living in Nashville and doing things that were so un dad-like before I was born.

So this fall, when Andrew drives down to Atlanta and starts this wild adventure, I will be nervous, of course. I'll be terrified. But I know he'll be with me every step of the way, and that my family will never be more than a phone call away.

Life will always be a scary adventure, so taking a few risks can't really hurt, right?