Well, I thought it was about time I updated you on the last four months of my life since you’ve so clearly been missing out on them. Wait…how do I blog again? Oh, I think I remember.

The last we spoke I told you how to deal with living alone being an extrovert. Remember in 2015 when I was losing my mind with that breakup and depression? Yeah. 2015 was probably not a good year for me EXCEPT the fact that I moved to Dallas. Save for that, 2015 was pretty shot. 2016 got a whole lot better when I started going to therapy and finally got on some happy pills. $6? Don’t mind if I do! I gave up dating, cut out toxic relationships and painted my house. For a hot second I thought about going to grad school for my MBA, but then scrapped it when I completely forgot about doing it. I threw myself a birthday party with all of my friends, since my big 25 kinda came and went. I made a list of things I wanted to learn and jobs I wanted to do. I adopted another dog, but you already knew that. I started working with Paws in the City as their Digital Pet Profile Coordinator, which is really just a fancy title for managing the volunteer writers. Recently, they asked me to help with their massive social media so I now run their Instagram and Twitter! Remember when I said two seconds ago I wrote a list of stuff I wanted to learn? Guess what was on there? Social media. BOOM, two weeks later Amy from PITC calls me to add me to their team. What’s funny is I started following them a year before I even moved to Dallas. I loved their mission and their work in the city and wondered what it’d be like to work with them. Well, now I do and I can say it’s pretty great.

In October, I went to a meeting my friend Josh was leading a community meeting to talk about LGBTQ youth homelessness in Dallas. I went just to learn, and came away a member of the Marketing/PR team. What a wacko night that was! Four months later we’ve launched an entire organization and I now run the entire Marketing/PR team with some pretty kickass talented people. What even is my life now? Oh, by the way? We’re Outlast Youth and we exist to reduce and prevent LGBTQ youth homelessness in Dallas and its surrounding counties by 2020 and you should totally join our Thunderclap awareness campaign. Also? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I’ll love you forever if you do it. Seriously.

I’m so excited to dive into this thing. Six months ago I had no idea LGBTQ youth homelessness was even a *thing* you know? But now, I’m like, fighting it. I’m interviewing transgender people and former homeless youth and meeting people I’d have had no contact with ever if it weren’t for Josh and this organization. It’s exciting and so, so fun.

Also last year, I quit dating altogether for about seven months. It was the happiest and most freeing seven months of my adult life, I think. I was so sick of constantly searching for someone and then feeling like no one out there could be what I wanted. I was a washing machine. I’d date someone for a bit and they’d get on my nerves and I’d spit them out. (Do washing machines do that? Whatever. You get it.) It felt so good to delete all of those self-centered dating apps and cut out the toxicity of constantly being sexualized. I think I finally remade my account the week of Thanksgiving. I went on a few dates with a guy but it just wasn’t right. When I finally met Paden, I don’t think I could delete my accounts again fast enough. Our beginning is kind of funny, but that’s a story for another day. For now, look at this photo of us and puke at how cute we are.

Yep. That’s us cuddling a puppy. I mean, come on.

The short of it is, I haven’t been this balanced and happy in a very long time. I’m stable for probably the very first time in my ENTIRE life and I can’t believe I lived so disjointed for 25 years. It hurt, but if that pain is what I needed to get me here I can deal with that. I’m doing things I can finally put my heart into. I’m learning new stuff every day and I have a boyfriend I have no anxiety or doubts about for the first time probably ever. I’ve been fighting and hurting for a long time.

Hello, happy. I like you.

xx