2007 was a big year for me. Life altering, actually. In 2006 I met a young man from Marietta, Ohio and we became immediate friends. Even though we lived 500 miles apart we became intimately involved, talking online and on the phone for hours. Honestly, he stole my heart! In early 2006 I took a daring road trip to visit him for a week during my Spring Break. I showed up a day early, nervous and unsure of what to expect. He kissed me the first night in the lobby of the hotel where he worked night shift and I knew, right then, that there was no turning back. I have been with that man for 8 years and we married in March 2011. He is the love of my life and I can't imagine sharing this journey with anyone else.
So in 2007 I made the decision to transfer schools and moved to Southeast Ohio that May, 500 miles away from where I grew up and where my family still resides. It didn’t take long for me to become homesick. I missed my family and all of their insanity. I missed the beach. I missed Virginia sunsets. Loneliness crept in like a thief and my first Ohio winter felt like too much to bear. It felt like I was suffocating. I couldn’t see the beauty or opportunity around me because this place didn’t feel like home yet. I felt like a stranger wandering aimlessly through my own life. Until…The Drive. Brandon took me on a drive around Southeast Ohio. Down country highways and back roads until I felt lost in “the heart of it all.” God, it was beautiful. Seneca Lake, beautiful farms with corn fields abounding, covered bridges, cute little country churches, and middle-of-nowhere general stores in towns most maps have forgotten. That drive made me fall in love with where I live. It reminded me that beauty is everywhere and even though I miss those beautiful East Coast sunsets, I have found my home right here in the rolling foothills of Appalachia.