Spring Break

I’m on something like spring break right now. It’s not the kind at the beach with salty skin and sandy hair, ear-splitting music or late nights out, but still a break. And there was a bit of a road trip involved.

Georgia, you’ve certainly been on my mind

In the middle of March I put away the camera, microphone and notepad and stepped away from my position as an investigative reporter in Fort Myers. My parents drove down on a Friday, we loaded up my car on Saturday, and hit the road before the sun rose that Sunday to come back to Georgia. Just like that, one of the most formative chapters of my life came to a close.

One last walk through Downtown Fort Myers

The sweetest card from my team

In all the chaos, I managed to have a few goodbye celebrations with some of my favorite people.

It still feels kind of surreal. For the last five years my life has been about work, hustle, honing my craft and getting ready for the next step in my career. Between live shots, story tips and early mornings and late nights on the anchor desk, I planned. When I had my first drink after successfully finishing Dry January for the first time, I remembered feeling so calm and resolved about my journey. It was a simple plan: work until my contract expired in November and then jump to another great opportunity in news. Maybe that would mean working the holidays, or maybe I would start fresh in 2025 and spend Christmas at home. Either way, it was a plan. My plan.

I’ve been spending more quality time with my plants and they’ve been thriving under my parents’ care the last few months!

I sipped that daiquiri filled with determination to make the best of my time in Southwest Florida with my friends and family and to tell the best stories I could at work. I was mentally preparing for hurricane season, brush fire season, volunteering, digging my heels into the ground and being as rooted to the community as I could reasonably be.

Nothing prepared me for the possibility and eventual reality that I would have to pack up my life so abruptly, shove it box by box into a tiny storage unit and eventually make the journey home so early. I thought I was mentally and emotionally prepared to go from a hotel to one house to the next every few weeks, taking only what I could fit in a few suitcases. I was wrong. It was rough.

Obviously, there’s a story and I’ll share more when I find the right words. The good news is the hard part is over. I’ve been blessed to have had soft places to land for the last few months and I’ve landed in the best one— right at home.

Not my actual house, but I plan to spend a LOT of time on this couch in this cozy cafe/bookstore

So, what’s next? I’m not sure. Two weeks out and so far I’ve done a lot of sleeping, mindful eating and cooking, errands here and there. I went to Philadelphia to see family and get a quick blast of wet, cold weather just to spend it hiding away in cafes with warm drinks and a dog in my lap (my furry nephew Scruffy was a wonderful host).

These two showed me a wonderful time in Philly!

Scruffy also inherited my sweet tooth and Little Treat habit

Now I’m back in Georgia with all its sunshine and pollen, still with family, and still taking things a day at a time. Eventually I’ll jump back into news because I’m incapable of sitting still for too long. I’ll find the right opportunity to tell stories again, pack up another moving truck, and this time I’ll really put down roots in the community. I’ll be in it for the long haul.

For now though, I’m off to bake muffins with my mom and grandma.