How the West Won My Heart... A Year in the Making

Today marks one year of Emily's San Francisco Adventure.

If you told me a year and a day ago

 that I'd be packing my bags

and moving out west,

I'd never believe it.

Even as I type this, I am shaking my head.

 

There is still a bit of disbelief lingering within this east coast gal's mind.

I am overwhelmed with emotion at this one year anniversary.

Honest to goodness, my heart is so full,

sometimes I think it might burst.

There are a whole heck of a lot of emotions bouncing around in there!

I have made this crazy city my home. 

Complete with all the idiosyncrasies

I never thought I'd allow myself to develop here.

But things are nestled in their proper places.

Books have been read, and meals prepared.

Trinkets have gathered dust, and then been polished.

Curtains hung and plants nurtured.

Tears cried, and smiles have sprung into belly laughs.

And guests. So many guests have visited

and stayed within these walls I now call home.

When wanderlust bit me in the behind,

I grappled with a move that felt so monumental.

Could I do this? Was I brave enough?

Just give it a year.

You can do anything, for a year.

That was the pledge I made with myself.

The pact I told my parents and sisters.

The promise I whispered to my friends.

And here it is...

Snuck up on me like the smell of lilacs in the breeze,

and salty spray on your lips from a boat on the bay,

and a crush that turns into accidental and unexpected love.

Snuck up on me like all those things that catch you by pleasant surprise. 

Moments that evoke instant nostalgia, even as they are occurring.

I don't know how long I'll be here.

But I'll know when it's time to go...

My gut will have a little check in with my heart.

I think that scale of measurement must be how the settlers knew when the west was won.

And so, many a' hearts were left in San Francisco...

xo

* all photos are my own; a one year glimpse at my California abode!