One year on

I realized as I touched down in Orlando last night and the pilot welcomed the locals (sort of me) home, I was doing the exact same thing almost exactly one year ago (December 19) when I returned home for good from England. That flight was a lot different. I am sure most neighboring passengers thought something was very wrong with me as I was crying on and off from the time I boarded in Brum to the time I touched down in Orlando. . . and then some. It was a really hard decision to come back to the United States. Although I still question it to this day, mostly because I loved my life and my friends there (and the easy access to travel elsewhere. . . .oh yeah and the Real Ales. . . ), I am very happy to be home. I am happy to be able to say this is home for me again, because I didn't feel like I had a home anywhere when I left for England in January 2005.




As the quote headlining my Strange Land Blog somewhat reflects, it sometimes takes stepping away, whether that be physically or metaphorically, to realize where your heart is at and what you want out of life. I have managed to settle in nicely back in Indy, better than I ever thought I would. I have some people to thank for that- some that have been friends for years, others that have been friends in the past but our relationship has seemed to evolved to something much stronger to the point I consider them family, and a couple others that have just come into my life this year but I consider a critical component to my life. These connections are especially important to me as I now have no family per se in the Midwest, but have great people I feel I can rely on for support when it is needed. I was lucky to have connections through some of those friendships that have led to a job I love perhaps more than any job I've had in the past and have settled into a home with it's quirks but character. As well as Nia, who also has her quirks but character ;-) and is a soothing comfort on lonely nights in a big house.




There are still a lot of things to be accomplished, some I won't be able to do on my own, but I feel good about this chapter and heading into the New Year very broke (new house, car, dog and all that) but happy and incredibly fortunate and grateful for the amazing experiences I have had so far in my life, the people that have influenced me, and the people that continue to do so.




Happy Christmas Everyone!

Getting Settled . . .

I've been home for about 10 months now from England. In that time I've already been to Florida four times, Chicago a few times, Memphis twice and had three of my closest friends from England visit me. I've got a new job, new car (newest I've ever had), bought a house and adopted a dog. Does this mean I'm growing up? I'm still not all that good at balancing a checkbook and still stay up to late on school nights (i.e., right now). My parents moved to Florida last month so now I am residing back in Indy but with no family. Well, that is not completely true. I have an "urban family" here, as I like to call them, that I don't know what I would do without. Besides, I've done the living somewhere with knowing no one for up to about three months so I suppose I can handle the fact that I'll just have to visit Florida even more now.






With all the wonderful travels and experiences I have had throughout my life, I've got to consider myself pretty damn lucky. I'm often reminded of that with the families that I work with. Sitting on a front porch with a mom and son this afternoon as they tell me about the guys racing by in their truck and how they'll be shooting guns in the neighborhood after dark. I've got absolutely nothing to be complaining about! I'm feeling happy here- most days. I think the days I don't are just part of the normal evolution in the pursuit of happiness we all go through. . . seeking out whatever goals we may still want for ourselves but always seeming slightly out of reach.






I do miss my UK home and all you folks there. I was hearing a lot that everyone has been asking about this blog and what I have been up to. So here you go. . . . there's multiple pages worth of photos spanning from mid-January up to this past weekend. It's not as ridden with witty dialogue as in the past but I'll work on that. Now that I have spent an exorbitant amount of time getting up-to-date tonight I hope to keep it updated regularly again for ya'll. This evening was kind of nostalgic of sitting at my computer at Gospel End in Sedgley while Bri stood in the kitchen and ate cake out of the pan with a fork. :-) I'm also writing again some essay/short story stuff but more in my head and not so much on paper. I may start putting some of that up if I'm feeling up to it.




Much love to you all! xoxo lis, your favorite American West Midlander-Midwesterner.