Life as I know it, is about to drastically slow down. I thank God. After 6 months of arduous persuasion( first Troy, then the 'rents), research, and booking, it's quite surreal to have a REALIZED LIFE GOAL around the corner, knocking at my door. For the past month, my drained attention span has been peppered with anxiety, planning, excitement, fear, longing, giddiness, cold-feet-ish regret, worry, and, today, for the first time ( in a VERY long time) relief. Most days I march hurriedly past the quaint bakeries and florists lining our streets, through crisp dawn/dusk air, completely oblivious to the beautiful city I live in, my blessings, my life. Rushing to get somewhere, do something. This evening was the first in a very long time, I hastened my pace to a pleasureable stroll, while looking, listening and absorbing the life around me. Lush green peaks speckled with pastel houses are the backdrop for my cozy, suburban-like city street. The Cherry Blossom trees ( my favorite by the way) on my street were blanketed in the richest lavender this evening, see the photo. Was it always this beautiful? How many other things have I missed in my rush?

Granted, in the same crazed, passionate five years, I've lived in South Beach, and San Francisco, studied for and taken the LSAT, recorded a CD with my incredible band members, started my CCNA certification, completed a marathon, made some money, taken vacations all over the place, and now I will travel the world. Of course, I don't regret anything, however, I am tired!

I definitely thank my stars for my life, however, I do know this type of lifestyle was slowly eating away my ability to be happy. It's not possible to be more certain of my decision, even if I did have cold-feet for a day or two. It was just the right thing to do. Now I need to hurry up, and slow down ;-)