3 Things That Changed My Life in 2020

1. Moving in with my girlfriend

I totally did not expect this to happen in 2020.

We talked about it at a minimum being a year out… and then she bought a house!

It all happened so quickly: it went on the market, we were the first to look at it, she put in the offer immediately and literally driving home she asked, “So would you want to move in together?”

A month later we were in the new house…

We had been together for just over a year, gone through quarantine and hurdled some other obstacles so all signs pointed to living together being a positive *but you neverrrr know.

It’s been amazing.

And life-changing.

2. Getting a(nother) dog

Madison already had one dog, Gumbo.

But because we moved into the new house, Gumbo had lost his friends, a few other dogs that used to live downstairs.

We could tell he was lonely.

Madison had always talked about getting another one but it was theoretically a while out.

But one day she signed up to foster and that broke the seal.

She had very specific criteria for the dog: a girl, submissive and small.

Shortly after that, she found a dog on Craigslist.

We kind of talked about it for a week and I just didn’t think it was the move, though she was pretty sold on her.

Soon we were driving out to Killeen, an hour and a half away, to go look at her.

Just. Looking.

Madison was leaving town the next week so it didn’t make sense to get her immediately. If we liked her, we would come back after her trip.

The lady brought her out to the front yard on a leash and we were kind of playing with her, but I wasn’t really sold. It wasn’t one of those immediate, “Oh my god, we need her moments.”

But then we went to the back yard and took her off the leash and the “Oh my god, we need her” moment happened.

She was so cute and playful and just perfect.

We left with her that day.

Her name is Roux and she’s precious. I’ve totally fallen for her and I love her so much. She’s super cuddly and playful and has undoubtedly changed my life.

She’s made me a more loving person, undoubtedly. I didn’t know that I could level up on love so quickly.

3. Turning 30

Basically the first month of Covid I turned 30.

I didn’t really think this would be such a momentous landmark but turns out it has been.

I’m a believer in the flow of life, that things happen as they need to.

I kind of always figured things would fall into place, that I would find my person at the right time, that I a new chapter would begin as it needed to.

And it did, pretty much right on the dot of a new decade.

Some of the things I used to want, I don’t really want anymore.

Goals I previously had just don’t seem that important, replaced by other more meaningful ones.

First the first time in my life, I have a timeline, a vision of the next few years, which is the start of a lot of years.

I don’t think it has so much to do with turning 30, but the turning of the page to a new chapter.

It just happened.

I’m excited about the new direction and not too sad about leaving the old one.

This has really become clear in the last two months. For a while, I was a bit torn, straddling two lives.

I still wanted to travel, to take risks, to be unbridled...

But now those desires have kind of tempered down.

Deep down, I knew at some point they would. I knew the flow of life would change and that I wouldn’t, at a soulful level, crave those stimuli.

And sure enough, the flow changed.

Or should I say, it’s changing… and I’m here for it.