One Year Later

On June 12th it will be one year since I left MA and came to SC.

 I left my job that I loved at BSU, my family, and my friends. Basically everything I had ever known was in MA but Bill and I gave it up to come down here so he could have his dream job as a cop and we could start a life for ourselves by buying a house and saving some money which we would have never been able to do in MA no matter how hard we tried.

When we first got down here, I was fine, I was happy in our apartment, and although times were hard since we were paying rent for the first time and I wasn't working, we got by because we had savings and I just played with Allie in the apartment or at the pool to save money. But as the months went on and people couldn't come visit us as often, I started to doubt things A LOT. I felt like we had made a huge mistake. Everything seemed to be going wrong. The mess with the babysitter kidnapping my baby, Allie was sick all the time, and our finances seemed to be a mess. I honestly felt that the best thing to do was pack up what I could, take Allie, and go back to MA to stay with my parents. And being the wonderful man he is, Bill told me if that was what I wanted, he would leave his job and come back with us, because we are more important to him than anything. But I couldn't do it, my pride was too high, and I couldn't do that to the man I love.

And thank God I didn't.

After I got the job at Aeropostale and got settled and Bill finished the Police Academy, times were still hard. I had a lot of resentment towards Bill for taking me from my family and bringing me down here. I was angry all the time and just wanted to go home. It sucked, but then something happened. I started going back to therapy to talk to someone and she made it clear. I made the choice to be here, I have the option of choosing my own happiness. If I didn't like Allies daycare, find a new one. If I was upset she was getting sick so much, consult a new doctor. If I wasn't happy in the apartment, find a new place to live. And she was right. I guess I just needed to hear it straight out, no sugar coating, and suck it up. And that's what I did. We found a different doctor and got the asthma/allergies diagnosis for Allie. And since her treatments began, yes, she's been sick a few times, but she's 2 and that's what happens. We worked on our finances and have somehow paid off a credit card, paid off a car, and gotten back on track.  We still have our school loans that we will have for years and years, and a pretty large credit card bill, but I guess if debt is the American way, then we are living the American dream! And with time, we will pay that down, and who knows, maybe this time next year I will be writing that we are doing even better.

I guess the biggest thing obviously, has been that we were able to buy a house. And a beautiful one at that. We didn't have a big wedding 4 years ago like most people, we took all that money and put it in the bank and added to it. And because of that we were able to get a beautiful home to expand and raise our family in. And that is something I know we wouldn't have been able to do in MA with the housing market. Allie is thriving and Bill and I are very happy at our jobs. We may not see each other much, but we work damn hard to provide for Allie and pay our bills, and each month we do, which I am so grateful for. I am growing to LOVE it down here, and I feel like I am home. I do miss my family and friends terribly, but that's really all I miss now. The resentment is gone and I am so blessed God paved the way for this move and for all the amazing things and struggles that have happened this past year. I have friends now and because we are smart, we will be able to continue saving and hopefully expand our family soon. I've always believed "everything happens for a reason", and in this case, I know that to be true. :)