It's official

I'm a resident of Uptown!! Yay!! Ever since my mom moved our family to Eagain in October of 2003, I've wanted to move back to Minneapolis and now I'm back.

When I was born and until I was 4 years old, we lived in a triplex on 31st and Elliot. Then, from ages 5-6 we lived in an apartment building (part of a twin highrise) on the edge of downtown Minneapolis. Then, at age 6 or 7 we moved back to a house on 31st and Elliot across the street from our original dwelling. We lived there for 14 years and then had to move to Eagan. The mortgage company was forclosing on my folk's house and we were unable to find any suitable place in the city. My mom had wanted to move away from the crime of the cities for a while and when she found an apartment in Eagan, she was thrilled. I wasn't. Don't get me wrong, the suburbs aren't bad. Plus, where we moved, everything we needed was within about three miles, except our respective churches. My mom goes to Bethlehem Baptist on the edge of downtown (ironically right across the street from our old apartment building) and I go to church at The Rock in Uptown (a mile or so from where I live now).

I made the best of things, but deep down was missing the city. And, not so deep down because I'd often talked about wanting to move back. So, the opportunity arose to move in with my oldest sister, Tina, in West Saint Paul. Granted, it wasn't Minneapolis, but it was a bit closer and I'd be away from my dad (we don't get along when we're living under the same roof).

I moved in with my sister about a month or so ago. It was a little quicker by bus to get to church (quicker by about an hour), but it still wasn't right. Add to that not living with anyone who believes in Christ as Savior, I wasn't all that thrilled. I mean, I was seeing my two nieces a lot more, but even they were starting to get on my nerves.

I began spending every weekend with three women from my church, partly because I really like them and enjoy spending time with them, but I was also going to a recovery group that meets a mile or so away. Inevitably, though, after group I'd come back over, hang out, and end up spending the night again. That was usually because one of the women and I would go to a cafe in Maple Grove to see a mutual friend of ours ('nother story). We'd get back late, I'd spend the night, and normally meet up with my mom at her church on Sunday.

These women had been looking for another roommate for a while, but it wasn't until I moved to my sister's that I realized moving in with them could become a very real possibility. I began looking for a job near their place (which involved more nights spent at their house) and.................................

Here I am!! A lot of prayer and a lot of job hunting later (with a lot more prayer thrown in), I live in Uptown with three of the coolest chicks I've known. It feels rather weird, though. Even though I've taken a step towards adulthood, I still feel like a kid in a lot of ways. Also, the next couple of months will be interesting. June will be spent sort of getting used to living here. In July another girl is moving in, so we'll have 5 girls here for that month. Then in August, one of the original roommates is moving out. So, we'll have just 4 girls again, but we'll be moving to the other side of this house (it's like a duplex but split down the middle so there's an upstairs and downstairs on both sides of the house), there'll be shuffling of rooms, moving the belongings of 4 girls, etc.

But, right now, I'm just enjoying my new life as a single, independent woman....one who doesn't live with her relatives. :)

Yay for God!! Yay for roommates!! Yay for God-loving roommates!!!!!