Just a little Grace: Seven Years Later

"I'm so excited to get out of this town!" The words that came out of my mouth to my parents seven years ago as I was getting ready to graduate High School.

Seven years have passed as I have been up here in Morgantown, WV. I got my degree here at West Virginia University, joined a Sorority, made friends, and made a million memories; some I remember, some I don't =)

If you could sit me down and ask me what all I have done in the past seven years, I could talk your ear off! There is no where to start, not one memory beats another memory, not one event seemed to be better than the other. I have lived my life up here for seven years.

As I sit here at work, thinking about all the packing I need to do when I get home; I take a stroll down memory lane, and I think about what is about to come. I also think about the new and exciting journey God is giving me, us.

A new chapter. A new journey. A new adventure.

If you asked me seven years ago where I would be right now, I would tell you in New York City, or in the Carolinas or Texas. Well my loves, God had a very different plan for me! Jobs were lost and new jobs came about; not in my field of course. I don't regret any life decisions I have made, because you know what, everything happens for a reason and God has a huge plan for me, and all of us! We just don't know it yet.

Valentines Day Weekend 2016 - After hearing the words out of Mr. Mans mouth, "I have been laid off" - my heart sunk, and my stress levels started rising rapidly. Wondering if I should tell him to return my Valentines gift or if I should start selling clothes, wondering what our next steps were. All the worries and questions and emotions just hit all at once. Yes, I cried... I'm Grace Katherine (and I'm a Scorpio), would you expect anything less?

Long story short, Logan found a job quicker than we thought! Praise the Lord! I had my prayer warriors out there and we prayed for a new job...back home.

Walk down memory lane - Logan and I grew up in the same town, went to the same high school, and were very good friends in high school and in college. Pretty much I always thought he was the one that got away - until we ran into each other, again, up here in Kroger, as I was going for some ice cream and he was wasting time until his apartment was ready. And three years later, here we are! But, I'll leave on that little love note. =)

Seven years ago, if you asked me where I would be today, the very last answer I would have given you would be back home. Just because that was my kind of attitude back in the day. I wanted to get as far away. Well, you try being away from your family for almost 8 years. It's not easy! Seeing my parents having the ability to go visit my older sister or spend time with my younger siblings, really put me in such a depressed place. Wondering, well why can't they come see me? Well for one, I'm 3 1/2 hours away - and it's not a fun drive either! So, after almost 8 years of being away from my family, I have learned to appreciate the time with them! And, I freaking miss them! I have prayed on this next step in our lives to know if this is right for me, for us. And one day, it hit me; yes, it's time to go home. I always worried that if I went back home, if we went back home that people would look at me and think, "oh she is a failure" - and that gave me a lot of anxiety and stress. Well, you know what, I'm NOT a failure. Logan is NOT a failure - this was OUR decision.

Seven years later, today; ask me - where do you see yourself today? I see myself back home with my family and with someone I can call my sweetheart and my best friend. I see me raising babies where I was raised, and take them to church and picnics. So yes, I'm coming home.

So, friends come and go, memories will always be memories and places where you lived will always be there. It's taken me a long to to really understand the true meaning of family. I always thought I was so close to my parents and my brother and sisters. I watch the way Logan is with his parents and envy him for how close he is with them. I'm actually quite jealous of that relationship. Yes, he is an only child and I have three siblings, shouldn't I be closer to my family? I'm not, but I want to be. I'm not saying I have no relationship with my family, I do! But, I want more.

7 Years of Memories

(freshman year to now and these are just a few pictures I could find, I have so many more with many more memories so if any of my friends are seeing these and don't see their pictures, don't be alarmed...these are just what I could find with limited access.)