So long DC...

I moved to DC more than a year and a half ago as a post-college adventure and my big chance to move out of Minnesota. When I drove out with a friend and his dad who happened to be going to Baltimore, I left with an offer for a job I wasn't too sure about, a second interview lined up for the job I wanted, and a bed in someone else's parents' basement - somehow knowing that I wouldn't be moving in with my own folks made it seem better. But I was lucky & got my preferred job only 2 days after moving out and was soon settled down in my new home.

There are things that I loved and things I hated about DC, but overall I would never want to trade my time there for anything. Highlights:

• 804!! My house was a blessing in that it brought me together with one of my best friends in DC, but it also was the location of many many frustrations. If we weren't dealing with contractors in the basement, Comcast was screwing up our bill, a bird was in the kitchen, or there was housemate drama. Not to mention the monster $700 gas bill we got the first winter we lived there. But Laura & I made the best of it & at least we had each other to lean on when we were ready to walk straight out of the house & never come back. And I have enough happy memories of chatting in the kitchen, spying on the neighbors, or having the girls over for dinner before we went out to last me some years.

• The DC Dance Scene. The first house I lived in was shared with 3 professional dancers, which I think really helped push me to get back into dance class. Spring 2007 was crazy as I started workstudying at one of the Joy of Motion studios, took at least 2 to 3 classes a week and was rehearsing for 2 shows at different times. I'm proud to say that I was able to get by on my natural talents & perform in semi-professional shows. Knowing that, I finally listened to my aching joints & nagging back pain and cut way back on my classes & stopped performing. I don't think I'll ever stop dancing, but I just couldn't keep up the way I was.

• Worky Worky. While looking for a job in DC, I kept my sights on doing something with a nonprofit, & only hoped I might find something housing-related. I was lucky enough to do just that and even got to combine it with a subject area that I felt was often overlooked: rural issues. I learned a lot about rural housing, got to attend hearings on the Hill, and met some great people as well. While so many of my friends were floundering in jobs that had nothing to do with their interests, I felt lucky to be working in the field I hope I might continue on in someday.

• Weekend trips to New York City. I can almost maneuver the system without a map and I only accidentally ended up in Harlem at 1am alone by accident once & didn't die. I'd still really like to live there, but only for a little while before the city would swallow me whole.

• Good company. There isn't much to say, my friends rock.
  

Flying out of DC on Monday, I finally got the view I wanted. Somehow on previous flights I was always on the wrong side of the plane or we took off in the other direction, or I was flying out of Dulles. But on Monday as the plan lifted up off the ground I was able to take in the full view of the Mall and downtown DC before we ascended into the clouds and it was gone. I know I'll be back, but I'll never know the city as well as I did when I lived there.