Falling into Place
In the chaotic World-of-Carrie, things are finally seeming to work themselves out. I am a big believer that when God wants you to be somewhere or do something, He makes things happen to push it along. In my experience, that “push” has sometimes been more of a shove, but I have learned to listen. When the opportunity to move to Raleigh came up, I said “yes” without really thinking twice about it. Of course, after the initial thrill of bigger and better things wore off, I second guessed myself incessantly for the next month. I questioned whether I was brave enough to run off to a scary new city on my own, farther away from my friends and family than I have ever been before. Don’t get me wrong…I’m still questioning, but I am trusting that I made the choice that I was supposed to. It feels right.
I forced myself to put it in high gear and start the search for a new home. I was terrified. Apartment living is not for me, and it seemed as though finding a place in Raleigh that would not require me to share walls with anyone else would be next to impossible. I was worried that finding a place that I could afford would mean that we would either be living in a shoebox or in the shady part of town. I didn’t even know where the shady part of the city was, so I had no idea of how to avoid it. It was so nerve wracking that I avoided the hunt altogether. Finally, I sucked it up and started looking.
I struck gold.
Not only was the first (and only) place I looked at available, it was absolutely perfect. The house is in the middle of the country, surrounded by farmland and just far enough away from the nearest neighbors. There is a big yard, a big kitchen, and room to breathe. There is a garage and closets. I won’t know how to behave when I don’t have to stack my bathroom towels on the floor due to lack of space. I am ecstatic. The schools are good, and I will feel better about sending my baby there everyday. There will undoubtedly be challenges, but I have jumped over the biggest hurdle. We officially have a place to live. I promised Kylie a dog, and I’m not sure which one of us is more excited about this.
Once I found a house, I determined to find a date to make me a little more optimistic about the move. It’s always easier when you know people. And hot damn if I didn’t pull that off, too! I joked to my friends that I was going on a manhunt in the Raleigh area for my next husband. I said the same when I moved to Winston last summer, and I made a hot mess of that. Actually, I don’t claim any responsibility for the failure of that plan. My friend Cate insisted that I was just in the wrong city. I think that, as usual, she was right.
A couple of days ago, I went on a coffee date with the first guy that I met from the area. Of course, I’m still doing the atrocious internet dating thing, so this could have gone either way. He seemed pretty awesome on paper (well, online); he was cute, well-spoken, and had a nice voice on the phone. He’s gainfully employed (school resource officer at a middle school), and he has kids that he actually spends time with. I assumed that he was probably too good to be true, but when we met in person, I was completely wrong. Our coffee date turned into a dinner date, and it was fantastic. Granted, we have only had one date, so he has plenty of time to morph into a toad, but we have already planned date number two. And date number three. It gives me hope that my love life isn’t completely hopeless.
