A post that has (almost) nothing to do with triathlon...

So...it has been just over two years since I moved to Boston, so I think it is a good time to reflect on some of the changes and some of the growth that has happened in the past two years.

When I first graduated college, I moved back home even though I knew it wasn't what I wanted. I had always had this thought in my head that you go to college and then you move out on your own. I guess in my head I had never thought about the fact that it takes a job and money to move out on your own. When I graduated I was looking for a teaching job, and all the professors at my university made it seem like we would all get jobs easily...that was bullshit, in fact I'm still looking for a teaching job two years later. But anyway, I digress. I moved home and kept looking for jobs. I thought I wanted to move to the Boston area, and my reasons were many. For one, I was born here and have always loved the area. I was also dating someone who lived in this area and we had been dating all through college long distance. I wanted to be closer to him. I also wanted to live in a city while I was in my early 20's, I thought it would be really fun. One Saturday in June of that year I was applying for jobs and I haphazardly applied to a job as an art teacher in a summer camp. I really didn't think much of it until they called on Tuesday and asked if I could come for an interview on Thursday. I said yes, hung up the phone, and then started packing to drive to Boston. I called my friend Jess who lived in Boston. She was my best friend as a young child and we had lost touch and then gotten back in touch in college. I asked if I could stay at her apartment the next night, and she said yes. I drove up on Wednesday, slept on what is now my living room floor, and interviewed on Thursday. I drove straight from my interview back to New Jersey...because I was working at a daycare center and had to be back for work on Friday. I got a call on Friday saying I had the job and I needed to be there Monday to start. I packed up all my stuff...called my friend Jess again and asked if I could move in with them. She said one of their roommates was moving out and so on Sunday I drove to Boston and on Monday I started my job. I worked there all summer and then got a job as a teaching assistant in the fall at the same school. That is the job I am still doing now.

But anyway, onto the interesting things. Here is a list (in no particular order) of things I have learned, experienced, ways I have changed, and reasons I am so glad I made this move two years ago.

- I learned how to "really" live on my own. In college I lived on my own, but my parents were kind of paying my way and I always knew it was only the school year. I feel like now I am really on my own. It feels good.

- I learned that sometimes long distance relationships don't get better when you get closer. In fact, sometimes they get worse. For 5 years I thought my ex and I would be blissfully happy when we were living in the same state, but I found out when I moved here that we were actually less happy together. I'm glad I found this out when I did.

- I learned how to ride the T. Haha...I know this sounds crazy, but when you grow up in a rural area, riding the T (subway for those of you who are non-Bostonians) is something you never learn how to do. It's an awesome thing and makes it much easier to go out in the city.

- I have changed my outlook on money. I know now that you don't have to make alot of money to have a fulfilled life. I never was the type of person to really care too much about money, but I am extremely proud that I make a very little amount of money and I have still managed to live for two years completely on my own without having any credit cards.

- I have changed my outlook on love and men. I used to try so hard to make my ex love me. I tried everything I could to try to get him to want to make time for me, to want to be with me, and to want to try as hard as I was. None of this really worked. Now that I am with Bryan I realize that if someone really loves you they will want to spend time with you, they will care about your feelings, they will want to do special things for you, and they will want to introduce you to the important people in their life. My outlook now is that if someone likes me they will call, they will try, they will show me, and if they don't do these things then, to quote the movie "he's just not that into me" and then why bother with him anyway?

- I have discovered a passion for triathlon. (The title of the post said ALMOST nothing to do with it!) I NEVER thought I would be able to do a triathlon, or that I would ever want to. When I went through a break up in March I decided I needed to rediscover myself. My friends and family had been telling me that I had lost my glow, my passion and the spark that used to make me the funny, perky, bubbly girl I always was before. My mom said that for the past few years it was like I had a dark veil over my face,  like I just seemed depressed and sad alot of the time. I wanted to do something for myself, something that would give me satisfaction without feeling like I was depending on someone else. I also wanted it to be something healthy. I mean, it would have been easy to start baking cupcakes in my spare time, but I don't make alot of money and couldn't afford to buy bigger clothes, so that was out of the question, hahaha. I decided I wanted to do some sort of exercise, but I didn't really like running, master's swimming was too expensive and I didn't really want to join a team sport. I wanted this to be an individual journey. That is when I decided on triathlon. I went online and signed up for one that day. I knew if I didn't do it then that I never would. I completely immersed myself in learning everything I could about the sport, I started training, and I started reading blogs about it (slow, fat triathlete and Brybrarobry). I completed my first triathlon on July 11, 2010 in 2:15. I am so proud of that accomplishment and I cannot wait to do another one. As much as the actual acomplishment of finishing the race was wonderful, even better is all the other things that have come from discovering this sport. I joined a triathlon group and met some great people, I came out of my shell and tried things  I was afraid of before, namely swimming in a very deep lake, running on the treadmill at 9 mph and biking 25 miles.

- I have learned what it feels like to be in a truly loving, respectful, no drama relationship. My past relationship was riddled with stupid drama, there were fights literally nearly every day, there was no trust, and it almost seemed like we thrived on the pain we caused each other. Basically it was really messed up and unhealthy. The relationship Bryan and I have is amazing. There is no drama, there is trust without question, our love is true and pure, and we are together for the reason we should be together, because being with each other makes us happy. I never realized how simple a relationship could be. There is nothing for us to fight about because we just want to be together and we are simply happy for the time we get to spend together. It feels great to be loved and to be living in the moment. I am content.

- Family is even more important to me now than ever. It is hard to be away from my parents and my sister, especially now when my sister is pregnant and my niece is so young. I love my family so much though and it is so important for me to keep up with what is going on with them. I talk to my mom almost every day  and my sister and I text all the time. My dad gets the scoop from my mom, he's not much of a phone guy! Haha...love ya dad!

I'm sure there are more lessons I have learned, but I am tired of typing for now, haha. These  are the most important ones I think, if I think of more then I will have a part 2 for this post. And yes, I realize the longest paragraph in this post is about triathlon even though I said this post had almost nothing about it in here...so I lied..what can I say, I love to "tri"!