for desparate measures Well, it is official. Come August, my family is moving.

Yes...moving. To Florida. Marco Island, FL (in with my grandaddy)

I have lived in the same house my entire life.
I've gone to the same church all of my life.
I was born here. I walked here. I laughed here.
I cried here. I loved someone here. I grew up here.
I got hurt here. I learned here. I played here.
My friends are here. My band is here. My life.
The list goes on and on and on and on and on....

BUT

Above everything (besides God), family is the most important thing in my life. Without family, we are nothing. My Grandaddy needs us, and we're going to be there for him. This isn't a permanent thing...We may only be down there for one year. It's for the good of the family that we're doing this. Yes, it's hard, because deep down, I know that I'm leaving my life. I mean, I have to admit, I am very comfortable right now. I have the most amazing house ever filled with memories. I have a lush and tree-covered yard which I've spent so much time in. I have Corning, filled with friends from West High, East High, Corning Christian Academy, North Baptist Church, Victory Highway, etc. I have my friends in Bath, which honestly, have almost become closer to me than a lot of my Corning friends. In Bath, there's Konnected, there's New Vine, there's the network/ministry people themselves, there's some NEW friends that I've just recently really gotten to know, and I want to know more. There's my friends in Wayland, seemingly so far away, yet so close to me. The band, Perilous Times...one of my other families. We're having so much fun with this band, and people seem to really like us. There's some of my friends that have moved away, cause they've already graduated, or I just don't get to see them very much. There's friends in Elmira, friends in Big Flats, friends in Addison, etc.

My LIFE is here. In Florida, I'm not going to know anybody. Nobody is going to know me. It's almost like starting back at the beginning... BUT, this entire thing is an adventure. You know me, I'm hardly ever a pessimist...ever. I'm actually really excited about this. I'm leaving everything I'm comfortable with and love and moving... I'll have my God, who is number 1, and my family, who is number 2, so I couldn't really ask for any more, could I? Besides, I'll still get to visit up North every once in awhile. And the thing that is really keeping me going, it that I know that I can go about this two ways. One is to fight against my parents and hate this situation and fuss about it and argue and hate it and think about everything I'm leaving. The other option is to accept the downsides and focus on all the adventurous wonders about this move. What if there is some HUGE opportunity waiting to happen or door waiting to be opened. What if my future is waiting to happen down in Florida. Someone I meet. Some place I go. Something wonderful happens.

I don't know what will happen, but I know that my family has my back, and I have theirs. We're all in this together, as anxious as we may be. Like I said, it's an adventure. Here we go.  ¶ 8:10:00 AM