I live 9:15 miles away from the place I consider home. The drive from Corbett Oregon to Billings Montana took me about 14 hours of driving, with a six hour nap and 4 gas/potty breaks. Tomorrow I will move into my own studio apartment, and will bet he only resident. I have no family and few friends in my new city, but still am happy to be here. I moved to Montana because I got a job that I like. Working as a youth pastor is infinitely better than holding down two minimum wage jobs just to pay off student loans and get by in life. Now I make a little bit more money than I did, work about half the hours, and actually enjoy what I do, which consists of hanging out with kids and talking about Jesus. Not a bad deal. Moving so far away from the ocean and so absurdly high in elevation (3.5k ft.) is a big step for me. I'm the kind of person who considered his family his best friends, especially my siblings. They all live either in LA or around Portland Oregon where we all grew up (actually we grew up in the country east of Portland, but no one knows where Corbett is so saying "around Portland" usually gives a better picture of where I'm talking about). The distance between what is familiar and where I am is nearing the greatest its ever been, and is beyond the point of my comfort. If you've not realized it, there are a lot of things which I am unsure about, and even more that I miss. the countering balance to these drawbacks is that I believe I am supposed to be here. The place I have arrived at is one which will allow me to improve the quality of other people's lives, all the while bring able to work on my personal insecurities , foibles, and general improvement. I also will be able to spend time writing and reading, the two most time destroying addictions of my life. That is all to say, I am scared, anxious, excited for, and content with where I am at in life. I expect to see myself grow and make some changes I have been hoping hoping for. One of those being updating my blog more often, so you can look forward to more of my rambling insight on things that maybe I only care about, but probably not. As always, I appreciate feedback, and more is to come. - "Pastor" (I'm highly amused by the title) Jed