Exactly one year ago yesterday, I packed up my life in my little toyota corolla and headed eastbound on I-20, leaving behind my happy comfortable life in Atlanta.  When I think back to that girl, she seems like a baby compared to me now.  As I was sitting at the dog park this evening, reading The Happiness Project, I began reflecting on how I’ve grown in the last year.  The lessons learned.  The mistakes made. The bloopers and the awesome moments.

When I moved and began this new life, my mom told me I should keep a journal about my experiences because they would no doubt make an interesting memoir.  Northern girl loses big corporate job in big city, buys a house in smaller southern town to defend indigent criminals, leaving her friends and life behind in big city.  Northern girl flounders around becoming an adult.  Flounders owning her first home.  Flounders dealing with a completely different clientele than she’s used to.  Eventually northern girl finds her way as an adult.  Funniness ensues in the meantime.

Yep, that’s pretty much the story line for my life from the past year.  But did I listen to my mom and take notes as things went?  Nope.  That would have been too easy.  And too obedient.

And now, I’m looking back, trying to remember the year.  And I’m sad that I don’t have a full account of this past year (I would love to read my thoughts on the day I came home for lunch and found my dining room ceiling caved in….).  So, I’m doing something I rarely do.  I’m listening to my mom.  And I’m going to start documenting my life…better.  I’m going to do what she told me to do from the beginning.  Because, as usual, mommy knows best.

I’ve been in a blog funk lately.  Not really feeling like blogging…because I don’t feel like I fit in the “healthy living blog” mold.  I don’t fit in the “running blog mold.”  I just feel like I don’t know where it’s going or why I do this.  And then, I realized that the most fun I have with the blog is writing about this new life.  Sometimes that’s about my training.  SOmetimes that’s about cooking.  Sometimes it’s about the time I had to sentence someone while my nose was running down my face (true story.  I’ll tell you tomorrow…).  And sometimes it’s about running into a client in a speedo.

So that’s why I’m actually listening to my mommy this time (a first!).  I’m going to be writing about my new life.  Growing up.  FInding my way as a grown-up.

This means this might be less of a healthy living blog.  And more of Penny Living Blog.

Hope y’all will still stick around.  There will still by cupcakes.  I promise.