So I graduated college three years ago and I am finally not a sandwich maker or a temp or a receptionist.

Finally.

Somehow the path to where I am now led me from Erie, Pennsylvania to The Middle of Nowhere, Pennsylvania to Worcester, Massachusetts. So random, and yet somehow I feel so at home now. My adult life has really started in Mass...My first "real" job, my first apartment on my own, my first car payment. These roads are more familiar to me now than the ones I grew up on.

There are a lot of things I have to figure out up here though. I've been through a few serious relationships and now I'm 25 and single. That's a lot to think about right there. 2007 has been an off year for me in terms of man choice. I've been wrong on my picks every time. Maybe I have bad taste (Do we all have a "type"? I might need to change mine...) or maybe I am just settling because I feel like I'm at the age where I want to start settling down. (But for some reason when I get close to settling down with someone I crave my space so much I pull away from them.)

It's hard to try to make a life for myself with my family so far away, too. Some live in New Jersey, some are still in PA. Even though the distance improves our relationships in so many ways (I haven't fought with my little brother since 2002!), it also puts a gap that I don't feel comfortable with. My brother was driving for 6 months before I ever got in the car with him. My nieces crawled, walked, and talked without me there. My dad is getting older and I don't have him in my life everyday.

So I guess growing up is all about learning and sacrifice. And hopefully if I do enough of both I will be able to figure out the best way for me to fit, make a difference, and make things really count in this great big world.