Star Shaped

From my window at the Cape.

It's been strange, in a way, readjusting to a life I lead for my first twenty years of existence. Until I moved back east, I hadn't realized how much I had adjusted to the midwestern way of life, and how certain things differ from one place to another.

Everything I ever wanted to do in South Bend was a quick 10 minute drive away. Bars, my place of employment, friend's dwellings; I hopped in my car, drove the short distance, and enjoyed myself. However, in this area, things are a bit more... spread out. I recall this when living in western Massachusetts, and I'm living it again. I drive 45 minutes to work each morning and 45 minutes back that evening. When I bring my car to the dealership I'll be bringing it to a dealership on my drive home from work, not the one in the town I live, only because the one on the drive home is more convenient for me. It's strange to get used to this, as everything I ever needed in South Bend was right there. It is strange.

It hasn't really sunk in yet that this is my home. I feel like I've been dropped here out of the sky with no prior knowledge of the life I lived before the second week of May. Maybe I'll feel more at home here once I get my ID and license plates switched over (which will be fun; my car does not have a front license plate mount, so I will need to figure out a way to get that on my car before I get my New Hampshire plates. Oh, the little things I don't think about when moving to a new state!), or maybe it will just come with time. I do recall not feeling at home in Indiana when I first moved there back in 2001, and here I am, still mentally considering it my home base.

I do love it here. On my drive back from western Massachusetts on Sunday I drove by the marshes and ocean near Hampton Beach. I rolled my windows down all the way and breathed in the salt air, something I missed living in a land locked state. I still have yet to see the ocean in New Hampshire, but I figure summer's only beginning, and I will have many chances to walk on the beach. I am excited.

• I am in New Hampshire.
• I love my new job.
• I love living near the ocean.
• I went to Cape Cod with my mom and aunt last weekend and dug for clams for the first time in about 15 years.
• My last two weeks in South Bend were filled with crazy, memorable, wild, and incredible times. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.
• Moving to a new state is hard.
• I miss my friends in the Bend, of course.
• I'm sort of beginning to settle into my new routine.
• I keep on forgetting I live on the east coast now.
• Though it's been an adjustment, I know I made the right move.
• I am so, so happy to be back in New England. I know this is where I belong.

Okay, I am finally ready to announce my huge, huge news.

In approximately three weeks I will be moving to New Hampshire!

Yes, I am moving home to New England after spending the past eight years in Indiana. I can't believe I'm doing this; I have a new job lined up, of course, and I am planning on living in a small town right on the coast. I'll be two hours away from my family, three hours away from Cape Cod, an hour away from Boston, and four hours away from New York City. I'll be surrounded by Red Sox fans and shrimp pizza and people punctuating their sentences with the word 'wicked'. To say I am excited would be an understatement.

Of course, I will miss the fantastic people I've met while living in this state. I never thought I'd ever make the friends I've made here, but I am confident we will all remain friends, no matter where we are located. Plus, they'll all just have to come out and visit New England sometime, right guys?

The next few weeks will be busy; apartment hunting, coordinating movers, and, of course, getting together with all the people I will miss so much and eating at all my favorite restaurants before I leave. Still, I am very excited and am looking forward to what the future will bring for me.

Carrie and I at the local Chick-Fil-A.

I've had a busy week.

This past weekend, my mother and sister flew in for a visit! My mother's visited me here before, but this was my sister's first trip to South Bend. I couldn't wait to show her my favorite places and introduce her to a few of my friends!

I'm absolutely horrible when it comes to recapping specific events in my life. I usually can't detail a day by day account of a vacation, as I like to remember snippets and highlights instead. Sometimes, for posterity's sake, I feel I should make more of an effort to capture events as they happen, but I've gotten lazy. Plus, my sister has written a day by day account of her time out here, so now I don't feel I need to! (See? Yes, I am lazy. And not afraid to admit it.)

Standing outside of Lou Malnati's with my family... and Kelly!

Either way, I enjoyed seeing my mother and sister for five days. We went to the Lighthouse Place outlets in Michigan City, tasted wine at the Tabor Hill winery, and met up with my college roommate Kelly and her boyfriend in Chicago, where we indulged in deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's and journeyed up to the top of the John Hancock building.

My poor, poor car.

The only bad thing about their trip here? On Friday, after driving home from the winery, I was rear ended while trying to turn left into my apartment complex. We were hit pretty hard, and my car is pretty damaged, but we are all okay. My car, unfortunately, is not; it's in the shop now and it will take three long weeks to repair. For now I am driving a rental and hoping that the other guy's insurance will cover the cost. I miss my poor car.

I have very big news, but I cannot announce it just yet. I'm hoping to write about it later on this week. I'm excited about my news, and if anyone who reads this already knows about it, don't let the cat out of the bag until I post about it publicly! Either way, good things are happening.

Finally, finally, spring has arrived. Sort of. The temperatures have been averaging in the upper 40s / lower 50s, which I can stand much much more than the below freezing temperatures we endured all winter. I'm so glad winter's mostly behind us. Until today, when I woke up to SNOW FALLING. Come on, weather, give me a break! I'm so done with freezing temperatures and white stuff falling from the sky. Sad.

It's blue, and soft, and very, very awesome.

Anyway. A few weeks ago I traveled to nearby Goshen to visit Ewe-nique Knits, a yarn shop Madalyn's raved about since I've known her. So, I hopped in my car, drove out to Goshen, and spent some time petting skeins of yarn. Yes, I love yarn. I ended up buying four skeins of Cascade Pima Tencel in a deep teal color; I'll probably use it for baby sweaters of some sort, eventually. I fell in love with it, and it's so silky and shiny too! And, of course, I stopped by Dunkin Donuts for a coolata on my drive back; Goshen is one of the few places with a Dunkin Donuts in northern Indiana! So I was reminded of driving to Cape Cod on my half hour trip back to South Bend.

This shawl's going to turn out to be the love of my life.

The new Knitty came out a few weeks ago; I sorted through the new patterns while on my lunch break at work. And then, I came across the Aeolian Shawl. Now, I'm normally not the kind of person to impulsively cast on a project immediately after seeing it. I've always been more conservative when it comes to starting projects. Oh, not this time. I immediately queued it on Ravelry, and when I got home that evening, cast on for the swatch. I decided on using the Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Midnight that I bought for a shawl last year, with the same green beads I used for it.

I have not been posting here very much this spring; I've been so busy! I cannot believe it's already April. I cannot believe that next month it will be May. I don't know where the last year has gone, seriously. I am hoping to write more this spring and summer, and I hope I actually stick to it this time.