I had something I wanted to write down and this is the only blog-type place I have, so here I am. If it's tl;dr that's cool. I understand, as I will probably ramble.

I moved from Texas to DC almost a year and a half ago for a job, because I needed a job and this is where they were offering it to me. It's a job that will hopefully give me a leg up on the competition when I'm eligible to apply for my Dream Job a few years down the line. I didn't plan on living in DC for an extended period of time. I figured once I got a year or two under my belt I would apply for an opening back in Texas.

But now I'm not so sure how fast I want that to happen. What I do at my current job isn't really a factor here, but I really like the people I work with. I've made a lot of friends. Some of us are just at-work-friends, while some people I hang out with on weekends (I found other people whose idea of a good time is sitting around watching movies! What are the odds?), but I have a good time with all of them (not all the people I work with, but all the people I choose to hang out with, where ever that may be).

When I moved up here, my reasons for moving back included, but were not limited to:

1) my best friend was in Texas. She's still there, but is now living in a city 5 hours away from where she was when I left.

2) My family lives in Texas. Also still true, and while I'd like to see my parents more, my brother started college in Oklahoma after I left. And while talking about family, my grandparents live up here and I've really enjoyed spending time with them. They're good people.

3) Weather. I still feel strongly about the weather here, in that it's really cold for long periods of time and I don't like cold. But when I get my Dream Job, they may put me somewhere else where it's really cold for long periods of time. I have no control over that. I will have to deal with it.

I like how things are more spread out in Texas and the country is relatively flat. I don't mind the heat during summer and it's weird not having a Mexican restaurant in every shopping center. I miss my family, friends, and the familiar neighborhood. But I realized recently that I don't miss all of that as much as I used to.

I've made new friends. Driving someplace I've never been doesn't freak me out as much. I've got my own place and my very own dog and I can cook Mexican food for myself whenever I want. And when it snows so much that the Metro and down town DC closes and I don't have to go to work I can sit on my couch with my dog and play video games all damn day (assuming the power hasn't also gone out), only being forced to brave the cold when my dog needs to pee. Because that's what it means to be an adult. I guess.

Basically I'm saying that I thought I knew what I wanted, but now I'm not so sure. I wouldn't mind winding up back in Texas some day, but I'm not in as big a rush for that to happen as I was a few months ago. I guess I'll wait a while and ponder this some more. Lay out my options. See what's out there.

P.S. Looking back on it all, I am really proud of myself for moving so far away from everything I knew and not being completely terrified. Good job, me.