It's been a long 3 years since I last posted, but I really do need to get back into blogging again...its a cathardic activity for me. Plus...I really do love looking back and reading what I had to say and seeing what I was going through in the past! I need a diary, and since I'm too lazy to buy some books (like my grandma has done for 50+ years) I just need to do this.

My life has been completely insane since I moved to the South. So many things have happened, good and bad. One day I'll sit here and recount the moments, but just take my word for it....and CRAZY would be that word! Things have changed for the better, but sometimes I still find myself right back at square one, as if nothing I've been through has taught me a single life lesson. I have learned a lot about myself by being here.

But let's just skip all that and jump to present day. I'm now living in South Carolina. Bluffton, to be exact. Just a hop, skip and a jump from Savannah. Closer to Hilton Head Island (aka Old Ohio People Paradise). I was promoted to management through my restaurant in Savannah over a year ago and was transferred to Jacksonville, Florida (whoopee!) for 6 months of training and work. That is when my life really changed for the better. I am now a salaried worker. I never thought I could grasp that concept...you know, just getting paid once a week, the same thing all year round. But I have not wanted for anything for over a year now. All my bills are paid on time. I go on vacations. I whip out one of my many credit cards (several of which are paid off, thank you very much) and don't even think about money, which is a really extremely wonderful new concept to me. I am very generous with my money as well, which I was never able to do ever in my life. To buy dinner for a group of friends, very randomly, is nothing I would have ever dreamed of. Now, catch me on a good (think: drunk) day and I will buy you and your friends that I just met a round of drinks and food for the night and not bat an eyelash. I really do enjoy that part of my life these days.

So it was really sad to have to leave Savannah and go to Jacksonville last summer, even though I was really excited to get back to big city living. Let me tell you....being in a small town for a while was getting me down. The move to JAX was exciting and refreshing, and felt like Cleveland all over again, except for the addition of palm trees and beaches! I trained for management, went to Orlando a few times for more training where I met a lot of wonderful people, and met a few awesome guys in JAX too. One of whom I started dating...

Skip ahead to now. The guy I started dating (and I subsequently moved in with in December of '11 and broke up with in May of '12) moved out over a month ago in late August. I met another guy a couple days later on a whim (who happened to be friends with the ex) and have begun dating him ever since. And my life couldn't be any more perfect right now. I mean, there are things which I am still working on within myself. The trust issues, the dependency things, work issues, etc. But this guy has made me feel really complete, more than the ex ever did.

So I live and have finally begun to thrive in South Carolina. I don't plan on staying here forever. I really want to get down to St. Pete/Tampa in the next year or so. My dream is to live in Florida for the rest of my life, and I'm so close! Work is going well, for the most part. I have really been stretched to the max physically and mentally since we opened the restaurant in January 2012. It is now end of September, 2012, and everything has kind of calmed down. I still have a lot of professional growth and realizations ahead of me, but I'm learning so much day to day running this restaurant. Its turned into a love hate thing. Well, I love when I have days off. And I do like being bossy so...

The new guy has only lived in the south for a few months now. He has brought me back full circle to the attitude I had in my last blog, which I just re-read a few minutes ago. He has that same twinkle in  his eyes that I did a few years ago. Hanging out with him has brought that excitement back into my life. Not only is he adorable and sexy as hell, but also a very mentally positive and stable person that will really bring me back to reality as well. He is from Ohio, and grew up only about an hour away from my hometown. How strange is it to meet someone from the same area, almost a thousand miles away, and feel that crazy bond that unites us and really gets us attached to each other? I love it though. We have so much fun together. We try new restaurants, walk on the beach at night, drive into Savannah for ghost tours, food, walks at the Fort, Tybee Island, ....oh it goes on and on. I hope I can snag him for a lifetime. Things seem to be going really well, and I have learned too much about pushing for a relationship over the past several years to push too hard this time. This past month with him has gone so well and has changed my attitude toward life for the better.

I just needed to write some words tonight to describe my general attitude at the moment. I will definitely be back to put down some more when I get a second. But I was just feeling so happy that my life has changed in so many ways, and for the better, over the past several difficult years. It brings tears to my eyes to read some of the things I've posted previous to this, and I really want to get some of my feelings and experiences down somehow so I can continue to learn and grow from them each year. But yes, I'm back. I'll try to stick around a little more often this time.