Year One.

One year. Four seasons of love, joy, growth, loss, and breathing.

One year ago today, I entered the so called "real world."  There was a walk across a stage, pictures with my favorite mascot, and a whole lot of good wine with even better people.  And just like that the transition to post-grad life began.

Following a few hard "see you later's" and a quick stint at my aunt's house, I settled into a new apartment and actually felt like an adult. At this point, I'd been at work for about a month but my life didn't feel all that different because it was still summer and I could have just been interning and gearing up to head back to school come August.

Then sorority pre-recruitment snapchats/Instagrams/Facebook posts started coming in and like a ton of bricks, it hit me. The fact that I wasn't packing Yolanda up to head for school. The fact that I wasn't going to see my people until our planned football weekend came later in the fall. And mostly, the fact that I really was done with the four years that taught me about hard work, family ties, and how to successfully cook ramen. I was done. This wasn't a temporary thing - the adult switch had permanently flipped to on.

Football is always a good idea.

So I cried. Deleted social media. Cried. Had a ton of wine. Cried more. 

And then I took a breath. A big inhale followed by the deep sigh my wonderful yoga instructors encourage.

This breath is the reason I have not only survived year one of post-grad but have had quite the adventure and found a little bit more of myself along the way.  This breath in addition to blessed phone calls with Mom, Dad, and friends, and naturally a glass of wine (or three) sometimes.

It's easy to say that the four (or five or six) years spent in college are "the best years of your life". Never again will you be in that quintessential place in life where you can nap through a class or drink too much on a weeknight and not have to deal with coworkers in the morning.  Never again will you be constantly surrounded by people in the exact same place of life you are. And that's sad, it's a loss.  It's okay to be sad; what it's not okay to be is so sad that you miss the chance.  The chance for growth this awkward year (or two) after graduation provides.

This amazing chance for growth exists because never again will I be 23, living in a large metropolitan area, working my first job, and not having a clue what the next 4 years, let alone 4 hours hold.  For the first time in my life, I don't have any huge goal I'm striving towards, no set timeline.  And for this type A girl, that's terrifying.  But maybe that's the point.  In the moments of fear and uncertainty, we find our strength.

Old friends, new friends, and trivia!

The strength to breathe and move forward to new adventures.  When you take that first breath after a good "holy cow, I graduated" cry, you make room for new love of people, places, or activities.  You make room to find new joy in the routine of a 9 to 5 job or uncertainty of the job search.  You make room to just be and fully live into the part of life you have found yourself - post graduation pretend adulting.

Adult league volleyball, a rediscovery of a lost love with new friends!

It's been a year with moments of full on adulting (hello, filing taxes on my own!) and moments of pretend adulting (hello, occasional weeknight shenanigans!).  I have breathed, loved, found joy, and grown this year in ways I didn't know I could; I have also lost pieces of my life which, as my wise nephew once said, "was not a fun adventure."  But I'll raise a glass to this past year because, in its own way, it was one of the best of my life.

{This blog is my attempt to share with family and friends my adventures and shenanigans along the way to wherever God and the universe have me headed.  Welcome to the ride!}