Not Another Goodbye Post

Hey folks!

So, exciting things are happening here at JJo headquarters. Although by "exciting things" I certainly don't mean "packing." Or "planning for the drive down to my new home." Nope. I mean more like "my last day of work came and went" and "I'm moving in two days." You know, exciting things.

So, two days out, let's take a minute to be mushy and reflect some on the past year.

It's been an incredibly strange, rewarding, disorienting, and surprising year. It's hard to describe the experience of moving home after a six-year absence. On the surface, everything seems exactly the same, but really, it's not. At all. In fact, everything's different. Reestablishing yourself in a place you've never really experienced as an adult is weird.

I saw moving home purely as a means to an end. I wanted to go to grad school, and I wanted to do it sooner rather than later (and, you know, I couldn't stand living in New York). I was fairly certain I was dooming myself to a miserable year, but I knew it would be worth it. I semi-jokingly nicknamed it my "monastic retreat," which is a nice way of saying "This year's going to blow."

But you know what? This year didn't suck. At all! Twelve months later, I've got a really good thing going, and leaving is a lot harder than I ever imagined it could be. I never used to understand the people who grow up here and never leave, but now I sort of get it (sort of. I still think there's a lot to be said for experiencing "something else," expanding your horizons and all that). For the right kind of person ("right kind of person" meaning weirdos like me), Anchorage is a wonderful place to live. It has a few obvious downsides (cold, dark, not as culturally rich as some places, etc.), but for me, these are totally worth the upsides. But I've never lived on the (lower) West Coast - maybe there you get all of the upsides with none of the downsides! We'll see.

So, what's happening with this blog of mine? In all likelihood, it'll be business at usual, at least at first. But in the event that you don't hear from me for a while, never fear! I'm as obsessed with running as I ever was, and from what I hear, grad school is very conducive to my li'l hobby. Even if I'm not writing about it, you can be pretty sure I'll be doing it. I'm also planning to continue to stalk your blogs, although I hope you'll forgive me if I don't comment as often. [quick shoutout to Coach Holly, GCA, and GGR, who ran marathons this past weekend!]

And thus, we conclude the Alaska portion of this blog. See you on the other side.

Favorites from this past year, in no particular order:

 

Had to throw this one in here.

 

 

Love, love, love this dog. She will not be coming with me to Eugene. We are both devastated by this (although she's too dumb to realize it yet).