It’s hard to believe. I am here. I am home. If you hadn’t caught the memo, I have moved back to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Kill Devil Hills to be exact. I am here.

If you had asked me mid-April where I would be in May, I would have said working my toosh off in Jonesboro, Arkansas making stuff happen at Pleth, volunteering with United Way, working with Arlton on tech conferences and doing the daily grind that had become so familiar to me. But doors opened and others closed… and here I am in the place I love most with the man of my dreams and a good pup who has taken quite well to the ocean.

I’ve learned many lessons these past few weeks. Lessons on love, on dedication, on sacrifice. Hard lessons in friendship, in loyalty, in dignity - all necessary and I don’t regret a minute of it.

I took a walk on the beach the other night. I had wind in my hair, sand between my toes and the unexpected splash of salt water against my legs. I did some thinking, some praying…some growing.

I realized that I want to live every day with a big heart. I want to give all of myself to everything I do, no matter what the outcome. I want to make a difference in the people who surround me. I want to do what I love, but even more than that…I want to LIVE it. 

I want to love.

I’m listening to John Mayer, he’s a pretty chill guy. I think I connect with him because he never pretended to be perfect and he’s always been misunderstood. I dig that. His definition of love is pretty wonderful:

Love ain’t a thing, love is a verb.