My company has allowed me to work remote, so besides the drastic change in scenery and culture, there has been a drastic change in my work habits. I don't have to commute 25 miles to get to work anymore. I get up, do my morning chores, get ready for work, and sit down in my home office. I still am able to do all my responsibilities and in some ways I am more effective than I was in person. Less distraction, more focus.
But it is still a big change. Every morning before I left for work I would log onto www.startribune.com to read the headlines. When I first moved out here, I still did that. I needed to keep in touch with that life I just left. I followed the news stories as if I were still there. Now, 6 months later, I log onto the Star Tribune maybe a couple times a month.
I also listened to K102 on the radio exclusively. In fact, I didn't even know any other stations out there in Minnesota. So, I listened via computer here on IHeartRadio.com so I could still hear the familiar DJs and the morning show. Within a month or so that dwindled, until I no longer listen to them anymore.
I realize how life changes, gradually. I don't consider myself a complete Utahn yet. I still spent the majority of my life, including my birth and all my childhood, in the San Francisco Bay Area, so I really still consider myself a Californian. 27 years is still a long time. I was only in Minnesota for 10 years.
But it scares me just a little bit how the past is slipping away from me. I am making new daily habits, new friends, and am doing new things.
And, I am thankful for Facebook so that I can keep in contact with my friends from MN. Even though we may not talk every day, I can read their status updates and they can read mine, and we know what is going on in each others lives.
But, the best (and hardest) part is I get to see my family more. Hard because I see my mom mentally declining, when she was sharp as a tack my whole life. After spending an afternoon with her I am so emotionally drained and depressed. It is so hard to see this unfolding, not knowing how quickly or how slowly it is going to progress, not knowing what we will do a month from now, a year from now... etc.
I do enjoy being able to see my siblings, and I love the area we are renting in. I love the ducks, especially the newborn babies, and I love being able to garden and grow things. The sun sure shines down on us here, and the plants just love to grow. I love the mountains, and the weather. (did I just admit that?) I feel healthier out here than I did in Minnesota. Maybe it is because I am now able to find time to go to the gym to take classes and work out. Maybe it is because I am near family, and that usually helps lessen stress. Maybe it is because I am growing a lot more food, or have more time to cook meals from scratch instead of eating out all the time. But whatever it is, I am grateful that amongst the added burdens that have been placed upon my shoulders, I also have been given additional blessings to compensate.
I don't know what the future will bring. But I will have faith that it is where I am supposed to go.
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