My First Post From Our New Town

Day 1 of being in our new town:

I'm about ready to venture out on my own today to go see what I can find in Kelso and Longview. I've been holed up in this hotel room all morning trying to get caught up on a few things, but still can't post any new pictures on my photo blog or flickr due to the fact that I can't get hooked up to the wireless here at the hotel on my computer. As much as I depend on my computer to do the things I do, I find that I want to throw it out the window most days. I've witheld so far, thinking better of destroying something I depend so much on. Anyway, we are starting our new life, and I'm excited, but at the same time I already miss home.

There's just something about your hometown that feels right, that will always feel like, "This is where I belong." All your childhood memories are wrapped up in this town, you feel comfortable, and to step out of that comfort zone that you have surrounded yourself in is a big deal. I'm finding that I feel like nothing that bad could ever happen when you are in the town you love and surrounded by the people who love you. Like we're in some sort of bubble where we are. I know we need to step out... But sometimes I wonder why? I've started to remember a few little things that I sometimes forget about my childhood. Some things that I tend to take for granted by forgetting to remember they ever happened.

Josh and I were driving up to Olympia the other day and I wondered how many times I had taken that trip in my life. How many times have I seen those same trees and never paid any attention to how beautiful they are? Josh mentioned how beautiful everything was and said he'd never noticed before. We are only an hour and a half away, but not seeing those things on such a regular basis will be sad, but at the same time it will make us pay attention more.

I've come to realize how much I love life. I mean really love life, and sometimes I find myself overwhelmed by how many blessings big and small that I have had during my 21 years here. Little things like the turning color of the leaves. It's simple, but I love it. The bad sometimes feels like to much, but the good out weighs the bad most of the time. Life is beautiful.

So now Josh and I have to take on the task of learning to create new memories, our own memories. Memories that we can build our life together on. And I'm excited about all the new things and all the new possibilities to come. I'm welcoming the hard times along with the good times because I know life is so much sweeter when we know struggle. I'd like everything to be easy, but it never is.

So I'm determined to like being down here, and determined to do new things and love life more. We move into our apartment on Saturday. I'm so excited, but in the meantime I'm hanging out in this hotel room by myself. If you are ever in the area come visit! We would love, love, love to see you! I will keep everyone updated on our progress this week and so on. And hopefully soon I will be putting some pictures up! Have a wonderful day!

Alyssa