I closed on my first house today. The first house I ever bought, the first house I saw a future in, and the first house I've ever had to say goodbye to. I didn't even make it two years in that place, and looking back it's so bizarre to be able to pinpoint the moment I realized I wasn't going to be spending much longer in that house, and that was even before I'd lived in it for a year.

I grew so much in that house, even in the short span of 18 months. It's where I truly became comfortable in myself, happy to spend a weekend night in my living room, watching 20/20 and hanging with my dog. Where I realized the importance of a good front porch, a comfortable seating arrangement, and a good cup of coffee on a Saturday morning. I learned how to fix common plumbing problems (and some not so common), wire a chandelier, and weed whack.

Nothing is guaranteed in life, no matter how much you wish it were. Wanting to further my career at my former job, wanting to share that house with someone, none of it mattered because I had no control over any of it. Circumstances changed, people changed, and what once seemed so certain suddenly became unfathomable.

I also never imagined I'd finally make it to Los Angeles, complete with a job I'd been dreaming about since college. I sat in the Quail Springs theatre on December 3rd, watching a special screening of La La land, praying and hoping the entire time to get the job I had been dreaming about for the past month. To find myself dancing along Mt. Hollywood Dr, most likely by myself, in the most comfortable weather, or spend a Saturday hiking along the PCH. I wanted to insert myself in the movie as quickly as possible. I was able to see La La Land again tonight, but this time it was at a screening on the studio lot. I left my desk and walked a couple hundred feet to the screening theatre, settling into the plush seat.

18 months ago I never imagined I'd be leaving Oklahoma City and the life I had built over time. But in, what felt like, an instant, everything changed. At the time for the worse, only to ultimately be for the better in the end. I got emotional when I saw the sappy Instagram post of my home's new owner, my house featured in the background, but there was no better way to close the book on my Oklahoma life than by watching the sites of La La Land play out in front of my eyes, in more ways than one.

Now it's time for the next book.