Far, far away

Wow. I didn't realize it has been so long since I last posted.

Since I got back from vacation, things have been kind of crazy. I'm taking 3 classes this semester which isn't terrible. It is taking quite a bit of effort to keep up with it all, though. Between working at Target, substitute teaching and going to class, I'm stretching myself a little thin. All of my classes require a substantial amount of reading and I'm proud to say that I have been keeping up pretty well.

Also since I got back from vacation, I have had this overwhelming feeling of isolation. I went from being in an RV surrounded by my mom, dad, sister, brother and sister-in-law to apartment living with just Ryan. Here in Panama City, we haven't really made any friends. There are people that I talk to at Target and maybe once in a blue moon I'll spend time with one of them outside of work. Literally, in actuality, I mean once on a blue moon night, I went to dinner and then shopping with a girl from work. I think we did that about 2 months ago.

We might not have gotten along perfectly well on the RV trip, but it was really nice and really fun to be surrounded by my family. I genuinely miss them all. Since moving out of my parents house waaaay back in 2002, I haven't really had that feeling sink in so deeply. Living in Gainesville meant that my family was only an hour and a half away. I never missed anyone's birthday and never worried about making it home for the holidays. Ryan's family was just around the corner and that meant more family and more fun. Panama City is only between 4 and 6 hours away from it all, but somehow that seems too far.

I missed my sister's birthday last week and it was pretty much heart-breaking to hear about how she had about 30 people (mostly family) came to her house to celebrate with her. I'm not even sure I'm going to make it home for Thanksgiving since I now work in retail. That is truly depressing.

I very much miss being close to family and friends.