Austin, TX

June 1st marked the end of our first year in Austin. Can you believe it? A year ago Friday we packed up our little lives and uhauled our butts down here in 100 degree heat. We were hella naive and optimistic (and slightly stupid), little did we know what was in store for us!

Turns out, I hated it here. I was away from everything familiar, thrown into a big city. My friends were hundreds of miles away. I was lonely and sad and wanted nothing more than to run away back to Denton. Last June was one of the roughest months of my life. I couldn't find a job, I spent the majority of my time alone, we were broke broke broke, and then I got pneumonia. I was seriously ready to give up. I mean, pneumonia? What kind of crap is that?

But I got over pneumonia, eventually. And I got a job (thanks Coffee Bean!). And things slowly perked up. We figured our way around town (at least our small corner of the city) and things didn't seem so unfamiliar and scary. We got to know people here. And slowly but surely this crazy city sucked me in.

Since then Austin has grown on me. Tremendously. I love it here. I love this stupid city. It's insane and scary and too big for me, but I love it. There is so much to see and so much to do. It's such a vibrant place full of vibrant people. Moving here almost broke me but it has made me into a stronger and better person. My life is drastically different now than it was a year ago. If you told last May I'd be where I am now, I'd laugh in your face.

I was thrown out of my comfort zone and into this mess and I have made it my home. Our home. Me, Brendon, and the cats are one happy little Austin family. Although Brendon says he hates it here, but I think he secretly loves it. Just like he secretly loves pharmacy school (ha, jk! pharmacy school is the devil). There are somethings that truly are terrible here (traffic!!!), but for the most part the good greatly outweighs the bad.

Last summer when I first started blogging on the reg (another good thing that came out of Austin, my month of unemployment kick started this blog!), I said I hoped I would learn to love Austin like I learned to love Denton. Your girl called it, I have. This is home now and it becomes more so everyday. And I plan on staying here as long as we can. Although moving into a nicer (safer) neighborhood would be nice. Tryin' to upgrade!

So thanks, Austin. Thanks for whooping my ass and making evolve into something better. Tough love.