Aug 21, 2016

Heading South...?

Hello World!

So... I believe that in past blog posts, I have mentioned a bit about wanting to travel and eventually possibly moving out of state. Well, until recently I had no set plan for as how I was going to start this, or when. 

Back in June, I took a trip to Virginia Beach for a friends wedding and while I was there, she and her now husband invited me and my best friend, who also happens to be my girlfriend, to move with them to Georgia! 

They had mentioned it a lot before we had gotten to VB but I was very hesitant considering, I hadn't met them until I came down for their wedding. (If you're confused as to why I want to a "strangers" wedding, it's because for my girlfriend, those were her best friends.) After meeting them I realized that they were amazing people and within the first couple of hours being down there, I agreed that moving to Georgia with them would be a fun experience and a good opportunity to start traveling. 

I have never been to Georgia, and neither has my girlfriend-Abby, but I am so excited to see where this takes us. I know that it's going to be hard at first, being so far away from home and all of my friends. As well as, I am sure that my anxiety is going to be through the roof for a bit but I am ready to work on it every bit that I can. 

I'm going to miss little things, like sitting on my couch at the end of the day with my mom and watching Modern Family. I'll miss my dog being hyper and annoying me like crazy (he is currently trying to drink my coffee) whilst still being the cutest pup ever! And my fat cat who was my only pet, and my whole world, for about 9 years. I will miss work because I finally have a job that I absolutely love and work with people that I love just as much. I will miss seeing my friends and having the greatest time in the world with them and knowing that if I need them, they are a text and a short drive away. And most of all, I will miss laughing with my mom. My mom is a very stressed woman and sometimes she goes a whole day without smiling and it breaks my heart when that happens. But the days that I can get her to laugh with me, even for twenty minutes, are some of the best.

But being away will help me to appreciate these things, and I am sure many more. It will help me to look forward to them when I visit home or when people come to visit me. 

So, in a little less than a month, we are going to be moving over 1,000 miles south. We will be driving about 14 hours from New York to Georgia and we have no clue what is on the way! If anybody has suggestions on fun places to stop on this longest-road-trip-we've-ever-taken they would be wonderfully appreciated!

I'm hoping to see some pretty cool places, because well I mean... Isn't that what road trips are for? But I think we should probably find out where on this journey these hidden treasures are, before we leave so that we aren't wondering... Should we have made a stop back there? Or... Is this really a good place to rest or is there some place cooler up ahead?

Please do let me know, if you know of any interesting places along the way!

Lots of Love,
Mari!

Aug 2, 2016

It's Been A While...

Hello!

As you can tell, if you take a very very quick little scroll down my blog, my last post was a "Goodbye 2015" post and we are now heading into the eighth month of 2016. I know what you're thinking- Great job Mari, you've really kept up with things quite well, haven't you? 

Okay, so maybe not exactly that...

I wish I could say that I tried, but we all know that I'd be lying. Over the past eight months I have let the hectic tendencies of a nineteen-year-old-girl's everyday life get in the way of my tendencies to do the little things that I love. Little things like writing. 

I cannot express how much I have missed writing, in fact I think about it everyday. But one of the other things I have been missing, or rather--lacking, is my confidence. It seems to be something I left behind in 2016. If you haven't already guessed (considering, here I am, finally writing again) I have actually been working on regaining my confidence in not just my writing but, in all aspects of my life, as it is definitely something that I think every living person is entitled to and should be encouraged to have. I've learned confidence is quite an important quality to have, for your own mental health.

Throughout the course of this year so far, I have gone new places, met new people and learned new things. I know, a lot of new! 

I went to Virginia Beach for the first time ever and it was so much fun! I absolutely love sea water and don't live anywhere close to a sea shore, so when I go somewhere that I can easily access the ocean, I am absolutely thrilled to jump right in. Literally. Is it just me, or is the sea actually warmer than lakes and pools? Because it can take me hours to get into one of those, but when it comes to the ocean... It takes about a minute and I'm under! 

While I was there I met so many new friends and connected with them immediately. Even though I was only there for four days, I really bonded with them and I'm missing them like crazy! 

I have been and still am continuously learning about my anxiety and how it works. While discovering new things about myself everyday.

I have also done things that aren't so new, but more like traditions. 

This year made my fourth year in a row going camping with one of my best friends and her family! 

I have things planned for the near future and am looking forward to writing about them and sharing them with all who want to read! How has everyone else's 2016 been going? We can think of this as a Just-Past-Half-Way-Through-The-Year Share Post. Tell me about your year so far, and what you have planned for the rest of it!

Lots of Love,
Mari!

(A photo from my camping trip that's on my instagram)