There and Back Again (or, Our Year in Hell is Over)

After almost a year and a lot of discussions (and, let’s be honest, some of those discussions were loud), Scott and I are no longer residents of the state of South Carolina.

Hallelujah.

To all of those whose reactions to our initial move to the Charleston area were along the lines of, “Oh my God! I’m so jealous! I wanna live in Charleston!”

No. No, you do not.

Within a few months of crossing that state line, we were already contemplating how to get the heck out of there. Now, I could easily detail all the things I absolutely hated about the time we served there…but no one has that much time. Instead, I think this sums up my feelings on the subject nicely:

So…where did we go to escape the low country? Asheville!

For those unfamiliar, Scott and I attended college and lived in the Asheville area for several years. It’s where we originally met and began dating back in 2013. We left the mountains for the big city of Charlotte a year later.

It’s nice to be back, it’s nice to be somewhere familiar.

But it’s also a little bittersweet.

See, back when we first started making plans to leave Charleston, I was adamant that we move closer to the central part of North Carolina. It’s where I grew up and where almost my entire family still lives. If you read one of my previous posts where I talked about crying in a Toys ‘R Us, then you already know I’ve been struggling with all the moments with my family that I’ve missed out on the last several years.

When we talked about moving again, I decided that this was it…I wanted to go home.

But, obviously, we didn’t. Scott got a really great job offer. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t ask him to turn it down. I cried…a lot. I yelled…a lot. And in the end, we made the logical choice, even though it pretty much broke my heart.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I still love Asheville. It was home for almost six years. It’s familiar and we have friends here (and family in Scott’s fraternity brothers). There’s a lot to be happy about. Our favorite breweries are here. Our favorite disc golf course is here. There are amazing restaurants, awesome hiking trails and the humidity doesn’t suffocate you in the summer.

So, it isn’t exactly “home” but it’s pretty damn close.