Hello, Roanoke.

Wednesday morning, I stuffed my car with suitcases, bags, and boxes, and said goodbye to my house in East Nashville. I went to my favorite coffee shop, Bongo Java, for my favorite iced coffee and bagel (cinnamon raisin with peanut butter, bananas, and cinnamon), and began the long drive home. As I passed 3 Crow, and left 5 Points, it finally hit me: I'm leaving Nashville. I'm no longer a Tennessee citizen. I won't lie--my eyes watered as I waved goodbye to the Nashville skyline. I soaked in as much of it as I could, risking glances back to see the stadium laid out in front of the Batman building. And then I hit the highway, and my view was gone, replaced by long, straight roads back to Virginia.
I pulled into my new parking lot at exactly 5pm. Erica and I got to her apartment, I jumped in the shower and we met her mom and two friends for dinner. As soon as they walked in the door, her mom greeted me with giant hug and "You're a ROANOKER!! You're HERE!!!" She was so excited for me, and we had a lovely dinner full of excited conversation. Erica and I went back to the apartment, stayed up way too late talking, and then it was Thursday morning. I went to the office to sign my lease, did all the remaining paperwork, wrote the last bit of the security deposit check, and was taken to my new apartment to check everything out.
It's more beautiful than I remembered. The living room is huge, with plenty of space for all the furniture. My clothes are all hung in the closet, my bathroom made up as much as possible until I can get the rest of the materials with my mom Saturday. The loft is gigantic; I had worried we would have to squeeze everything in, but I can already see the giant space in the middle to use for playing with Fisher, painting, or yoga. There will even be enough space left by the staircase for me to set up a desk and workspace, so that I can work at home when I leave the studio. I brought my art supplies with me and it's taking some strength not to rip everything out fo the bag to start painting, because I feel so inspired by this place. Everything is brand new. The kitchen is just gorgeous, with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. There's even more storage than I remembered. I cannot believe I live here. It's the nicest place I've ever lived and I'm pretty sure I could just stay here forever. The first thing I did after I was alone in the apartment was call my mom, apologize because I knew she was at work, but then tell her I simply couldn't wait any longer to tell her how retardedly happy I was and how incredible the apartment is; she passed me around to her coworkers, family friends who I've known forever, and they all said they wanted to visit. I know my mom was happy that I sounded so happy. I told her how excited I was for Saturday; I cannot wait for her to see this place, to go shopping for furniture and decor, and to spend the day together knowing that this can happen anytime we want now, rather than every 5 months. She's an hour and a half from me and I couldn't be more thrilled.
I start work on Monday and I've been compiling a list of things that I need to learn, and marketing ideas that I want to implement for the business. I have an employer, but for the marketing matters, I get to be my own boss and I plan on working my ass off. I'm going to make it so that he can never lose me. I think the way it'll end up working is how my relationship is with Erica--he'll be the brains and I'll be the mouthpiece.
Tonight I'm Erica's 2nd shooter for a friend's wedding rehearsal; tomorrow is with my mom, and then after she leaves we have to go shoot the actual wedding. Sunday is a photo shoot in Erica's apartment, both for practice and marketing purposes, as well as business card ideas for myself. Then I start work and Jason will be here with his mom next weekend, along with B & T, I hope. It's all unbelievable. I just can't wrap my head around any of what's happening right now. It's too good to be true. I'm starting to recognize streets and places around Roanoke and I think I could really enjoy the city. The apartment itself is pure inspiration and I honestly cannot wait to post pictures after my mom has decorated her way through the place. It's going to be even more gorgeous once it's no longer echoing my footsteps. I just keep looking around in awe. I think perhaps I'll go take another walk around, just to make sure it's real.
LC.