Blog - Page 136 of 375 - THE DAINTY SQUID

very rare photo without bangs in my face. just look at that smile though.

Valentine’s Day marked four whole years in Cleveland. FOUR YEARS! Part of me feels like this post is wholly unnecessary. I’ve written some variation of it a handful of times before, all of which I’ve linked at the end of this post, but what can I say? Ya girl likes to celebrate!

First apartment alone. 2014.

Second apartment. April 2015. Kinda miss those blue walls…sometimes.

Current digs that I share with the man of my dreams. 2018.

I’ve been racking my brain over what I’d type in this post. I knew I wanted to share some photos from the past four years as well as some highlighting how great this last year has been but I wasn’t sure what to write along side them. Moving here was a huge momentous thing. My life is radically different. I’m radically different but it’s getting to the point where it’s no longer a ‘thing’. It just is. I live here. Does that make sense? When people ask where I’m from I tell them where I grew up, not where I lived previous to Cleveland like I used to. Life before here doesn’t really matter.

It’s hard to even remember what life was like back in 2014. I’d say most people probably have a hard time remembering what was going on four years ago but I just feel geniuenly clueless. My life revolved around… well, nothing. There were no bikes, no friends, no road trips, no wandering around at night, and dude, no sushi! GASP!

That girl who was afraid to do anything alone, who always looked out the window before stepping outside so she wouldn’t have to say ‘hi’ to anyone, who – without a doubt – was wasting her life, she could have never dreamed of how great life would be in a few short years. I couldn’t even ride my bike around the block. Now I spend my days counting down until the next time I get to meet up with a 100+ other cyclists to yell ‘Happy Friday!’ to anyone in sight.

Honestly, moving to Cleveland changed me. BIG TIME.

I’ve discovered so much about myself over the last four years. I’m happy that I’ve documented so many of my adventures, and created a space I can look back on to view my growth, especially on days I’m feeling down on myself. There are so many little anxieties that I’ve conquered that I might not even remember having had I not written about them. Creating a ‘before’ and ‘after’ has been so great for my mental health.

Life is really rad, and honestly, it is NEVER too late to start again. Being happy is worth so much more than anything that might be holding you back. Thank you so much for following along + being so very supportive of my journey.
xoxo