Got a Life

I guess I was satisfied with my life back in the Panhandle.  I had a decent job, made decent money.  I had my own house, some friends, freedom, a church family.  I played in a band.  My garage constantly needed to be cleaned, but I was ok with all of that.  And then I moved to San Antonio. 

When I found out that I wasn’t going to get the librarian job at Hereford, I started sending out resumes everywhere I was willing to live.  Though I got a couple of local interviews, I didn’t get those jobs.  I had another horrible interview in the Dallas area.  When I got the message that SAISD wanted me to come interview, I wasn’t sure what to think.  I was still hoping something local would come open so I would not have to consider moving.  I also considered not even responding and just spending another year teaching. But since I just finished my degree, I thought that I really should take whatever library job I could get.  I needed to get my feet wet and get some experience.  So I got the job offer in late June of 2011 and by mid-July I was making plans to move across the state.  It was going to be the first time I ever lived far from the home I had known for the past 35 years.  But I figured change could be good and if it wasn’t I could always go back.

And I realize that change is good.  When I first moved here, I was happy with the house I got and having access to all the things such a large city has to offer.  I still lead a fairly quiet life – especially since I didn’t have a lot of friends here.  But I got to see my friends Marty and Brent from time to time since they lived in Austin.  I went to the movies by myself a couple of times and just enjoyed a fairly quiet life.  But I still wanted something a little more so I decided to try online dating sites again.  I thought that since I now lived in a big city, there might be more choices – maybe out of the 1.3 million people living here, there could be a decent single guy that wasn’t creepy, desperate, perverted, etc.  I did go on one date with a guy I met on eharmony, but he definitely wasn’t it.  He seemed nice enough, but no sparks at all.  And then I decided to give Catholic match another try.  I thought that surely there are a bunch of single Catholic guys around here – maybe I could meet just one of them. To my complete shock, I did. 

I saw Matt’s profile and read that he enjoyed Scrabble and going to theme parks.  Though he was 10 years older than me, I didn’t mind that.  My only hesitation was that he had never been married.  I figured that might indicate something was wrong with him.  But I figured I couldn’t find out if I didn’t take a chance so I sent him a message.  And he replied back.  Then we started emailing.  I could tell that he was very smart and that he seemed pretty nice.  A few weeks later he called me up and asked me on a date.  A few months later, he finally kissed me.  Now we’ve been together for a year.  Because I came to this new city and met this amazing man, I started to realize that although I had a decent life back in Canyon, I don’t think I was really “living.”  So many new doors have been opened up here.

Though we don’t go to movies a lot, I probably went to more movies last year alone that I’ve done in the last 5 years total.  I’ve experience more artistic and cultural events than I ever did back home.  Before I came here, I had been to a total of 4 “pop” (non-orchestral) concerts in my life.  After moving here, I’ve been to 4 in just the past year.  I’ve attended two symphonies, played in a symphony, and still play in a band.  I’ve eaten a LOT of great food (and gained 15 pounds).  I’ve gone to Sea World and Six Flags multiple times.  I’ve competed in three Scrabble tournaments.  I have something to do almost every night of the week.  Even though sometimes it is overwhelming, it really is a good kind of busy that makes life more interesting. 

Several of you have commented about how much my life has changed in the past year.  It certainly has and I couldn’t be more happy.  I love my new house here; I love my job; and I really love my wonderful boyfriend.  This experience has been a blessed change.  Not everything is completely picture perfect of course – I’m still trying to find a church home that I love, but I have to say other than that, so far, so good.  I’ve finally got a life.