2011 saw my first full year in Pittsburgh.Oddly, I've not been on nearly as many bridges as I thought I would. But there were several, and they were awesome. My first Winter was spent largely getting used to working again. I think I did pretty well at my job, but it wasn't particularly fun (phone customer service -- not exactly meant to be fun). J and I did more settling in to our relationship, and actually enjoying the normalcy of it. We did a lot of hibernating, but it was a decent winter!
In the Spring, we were able to get out, explore, and enjoy Springtime. Our first Kindred event since the founding was a huge success. We continued to make the apartment more of our home. It was a really lovely time. The job was getting a bit on the irritating side, but at least it was money.
Summer started well. We were able to do more together on the weekends. Spending time with him, being relaxed, enjoying his company, falling in love with him even more each day. As our first anniversary approached, we reflected on our time together up until then. The weekend of our anniversary was wonderful. He took me to a gorgeous hotel, set up two wonderful dinners for us, and we decided it was too late to run. We were stuck with each other, which is just fine with me.
After that, for some reason, the year went downhill a bit. Within a month, the engine on my car blew, which made it impossible for me to keep my job. That, and various other things caused stress in our life. Trying to remember what it was specifically, I can't right now. This leads me to believe that there likely wasn't much tangible. I missed my family, my car of 14 years was dead (leaving me with no car, and no one to ask for help for the first time in... ever), I was unemployed again, and the fact that, by that time I was getting antsy for the divorce to be over with all played a part in the stress. But, for some reason, I had remembered it as much worse than that.
By Autumn, there were two weddings coming up which were going to be challenging given the financial situation. We made it work by J going to one alone, and depleting my savings for the other. I wasn't having any luck finding a job, and we were worrying about a lot of little things. The second wedding, which was at the end of October, involved us driving back to where I grew up... in a snowstorm! In October! We made it there safely, the ceremony was lovely, and it went well.
After the wedding, we stayed with my Mom for a few days. In New Jersey. With no power. And a foot of snow on the cold, cold ground. We weren't able to do much of the sight seeing we wanted to do (other than diners and malls, to keep warm). And before we left, I had a horrible fight with my Mother. We made up before we left, but that was just something I didn't need. On our way home, it took us longer than it needed to (I missed a road and we had to go about 45 minutes or so out of our way). Power came back on about 45 minutes after we left, which I was happy about for my Mom. By the time we got home, we were just annoyed and badly in need of showers.
We continued to stress out about things through the end of Autumn, and into Winter. But we had a wonderful Christmas! I did manage to register for school (which I hadn't even been really thinking about much, until the car). I've been sculpting more in the past several months, too. It's been a lot of fun and I've made some cool things so far. The divorce went through in mid-December (YAY!). I'm not allowed to be friends with my ex anymore because his girlfriend is a bit insecure, but I am glad he's happy AND that he is taking her feelings into account first (Hey, he DID learn something after all!). I am truly happy for him and, perhaps, we can be friends again someday.
But the most important part is that, in spite of the all the stress and worrying and bad stuff, I am still completely in love with my J. I'm also just as sure as I was last year that he is the love and light of my life, and that I am happier than I've ever been with him. Throughout all of the Clark Griswold nonsense, the stress, and the annoyance, I've never once doubted my decision to come here, or even remotely questioned my absolute love for him. That feeling of utter serenity, of absolute certainty, and of pure happiness, is something I cherish each day.
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