I grew up just outside of Philadelphia in a mediocre suburban area with not much to do except smoke cigarettes and drink Southern Comfort at the local elementary school playground. I went to college three times and ended up graduating after four years of hard work with nothing more than an Associate degree from a design school that, at the time, I believed I could easily transfer credits from. Looking back I believe my education at The Art Institute of Philadelphia was over-priced and not advertised well. I’m happy in my career but wish I could have furthered my education in a less expensive manner. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll find a way to do that but for now I’m making quite a bit of money working my own schedule from home for a company that I love… and I’m debt-free! It can’t get much better than that. My lovingly weird family and incredibly supportive best friend still reside in PA and I try to make it back to see them as often as I can. They are why I keep calling PA “home” even though I haven’t lived there in years.
I have moved around quite a bit. After living in downtown Philadelphia, I moved to the Northern Virginia suburbs of DC, then to Portland, Oregon and now Raleigh, North Carolina. The only move I can honestly say I did for *me* (versus “us”) was the one to Oregon. After a pretty sad breakup in late 2006 I decided to sell most everything I owned, pack up my little car and head to Oregon. I lived there in 2007 for nearly a year and learned so much about myself and who I am striving to be that on some days it’s hard to process all the information. I consider the me that exists now to be the best me I’ve ever been; one that is on a life-long adventure with herself.
While I was in Oregon, I found my soulmate, BG, which I never in a million years expected could happen, especially not *then*. (Seriously, I was ready to be the old lady in the house on the hill with cats.) He is a wonderful, loving human who puts up with my panic attacks, sends in his rebates and questions everything. He knows me better than I do. (It can be annoying on some days, sexy on others.)
I am currently (and temporarily) settled in Raleigh. I have not yet found anything interesting or unique about this city. One good quality, however, is that the cost of living is extremely low. My mission here is to save money. I reside with BG in a small 320 sq. ft. studio apartment where we worm compost, grow some of our own food and are in the midst of planning an awesome adventure for which we’re publishing a blog. (It’s not public yet. I will announce it once it’s live.) The adventure consists of building an off-the-grid cob house in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains.
Let the adventure continue… ;)
