After I decided to stay in Tuscaloosa rather than attend UCLA I lost my focus on moving away. Perhaps it was because I was so caught up in my relationship and “playing house.” Perhaps it was because I was now facing the battles of early adulthood which included working long hours, attending my first College Classes, learning to be 100% self-sufficient, and struggling just to pay the bills. My dream of moving across the country seemed more and more unrealistic. It was so far away from everything I knew. It would be unbelievably expensive…. there was just no way. Yet I still always knew I wouldn’t be in Alabama forever, I just wasn’t sure where my next move would be.

Atlanta was the big city to those of us from Tuscaloosa. It was where we would go on class field trips, it was where you went when you wanted to go shopping for anything from the newest tennis shoes, the trendiest clothes, to getting your own (gold) grill. As I became an adult we would occasionally take weekend trips here. It was THE party city. I had always been so caught up my Cali dreams that I never really considered Atlanta as a potential city to relocate to; although many of my peers did. Nearly everyone I knew wanted to move to Atlanta, some people even had done so….although most of them returned to our small town after only a short period of time.

By 2007 I was doing fairly well for myself. I had a good job, decent apartment, had learned the ins and outs of being a grown up. Yet I was still miserable. There was too much baggage sitting at my door step, too much history in this small town, always a negative energy that I just couldn’t shake off. Towards the end of the year, my then fiancé’s cousin came to visit the family. He had made the moved to Atlanta and absolutely loved his new-found life. I was sold instantly. Perhaps it was because this dream seemed like a feasible one, or maybe it was because this was a plan my fiancé was on board with. Regardless of why I decided on Atlanta, I had made a decision, and now it was time to execute my plan.

I started working like crazy, saving as much money as I possibly could. The fact that I was now working towards achieving a goal, rather than just surviving day-to-day, truly motivated me. It made life more bearable. My relationship however was worse than ever. We parted ways and I moved into my own tiny studio apartment. It was a hard time in my life, everything seemed to keep going wrong, yet I found solace in the fact that I was executing my plan. That I wouldn’t be stuck in this life forever.

Even though my fiancé and I were on a break and were no longer living together, we were still close. I still felt like he was all I had. I was ready to go and leave everything behind, except for him. Throughout this entire process he never truly believed I was going to leave. Even when he accompanied me on a weekend trip to look at apartments in Atlanta, he didn’t think I was serious about this move. I called him early one Friday and asked him to go with me to pick up my U-Haul. I don’t think it was until we drove that truck off the lot that he realized I was really going through with this. I asked him if he wanted to come with me and he agreed (one of the biggest mistakes of my life). And that was it…. we were on our way to a new life in Atlanta. I had a rather ghetto apartment lined up. I had paid the deposit and first months rent. I had sent the money to have the utilities connected. I had a piece of shit car (that the 2 of us were going to share), no job lined up, and about $1000 in the bank.

After about 3 days of unpacking and getting settled in I knew I had to start generating an income. I had left a pretty decent job in Tuscaloosa and expected to have found something similar in Atlanta before I even made the move, but the lack of call backs or fact that I hadn’t received a single interview offer didn’t hinder my move. On day 4 as an Atlanta resident I drove around to a handful of restaurants and bars until finally one hired me on the spot. About 2 weeks later I spent my 21st birthday at a job fair where I was hired to work front desk at a Hotel. I started working nonstop… 2 full-time jobs, 90 hour work weeks, sometimes even doing a straight 24 hours of work with no sleep. My fiancé was never as motivated as I was. He gave up after the first month of not being able to find work. He missed his friends and family in Alabama, the local celebrity status he held in that small town. So he left, shortly after the first disconnect notice arrived at our door

I found myself all alone, in a new city, where I didn’t know a soul… no friends or family. I was working at least two times as hard as I had had to in Tuscaloosa and yet making less money, while my rent had nearly tripled in cost. Every month was a struggle just to pay the rent. My feet would hurt so bad from standing up at work all day that I would use my breaks to go in the bathroom and stuff toilet paper in my tennis shoes for more cushion. Aside from vending machine snacks I would eat one meal a day, usually a hot dog or peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I would get home for the night and literally pass out immediately, thankful I was going to get 4 hours of sleep tonight. I would have cried myself to sleep every night but there was no time or energy left for tears. Through it all I never regretted my decision, I never thought about going back to Alabama. I understood why so many people before me had packed up and gone back home but even with all the struggle and pain, I was happier in Atlanta than I had ever been in Tuscaloosa.

I moved to Atlanta on August 8, 2008. On June 1, 2009 I started a job that would forever change my life….. $50,000 a year salary before I turned 22, $70,000 before 25. My dream house, filled with brand new nice furniture that I had chosen rather than the used pieces I had struggled for before. My dream car, my dream vacation, all obtained on my own. The man who had previously abandoned me during my hardest times came back. Stupidly, I allowed him to enjoy these new-found pleasures with me. The things that I alone had worked to obtain became Ours…. and eventually I began to plan my Dream wedding.