Absence makes the heart more appreciative

For most of my middle school/high school life, I did not like living in Ellijay. The closer I got to college, the more I disliked it, and the more anxious I was to leave it. I was so excited to finally get out and be someplace else, but the more I am away from Ellijay, the more I realize how much I actually love it.
When I was little, Ellijay was very, very tiny. Before all the stores popped up along 515, the first glimpses of Ellijay you could see were the Ingles grocery store sign and the KFC bucket. It was the best feeling in the world when, after a long journey away, those two signs came into view. I knew I was home.
Now, when I travel down 52, I get the same feelings of elation when the "Keep Gilmer Beautiful" and apple houses slowly appear along the roadside. All the stress from school melts away, and I know that I am home where I can forget to be responsible, lay on the couch, hang out around town, and have my mom fix dinner for me.
Sometimes, I miss my hometown. Probably because there I get to shirk all my responsibilities for however long I stay there, my parents are there to take care of me, and my pets are there to entertain me. Truth be told, the more I travel and spend time away from Ellijay, the more appreciative I am of the experiences of my life there. I love Ellijay and am so glad I can call it my hometown no matter how small and boring it may seem to the outside observer. It will always feel like home to me.

My first blog

So, I'm finally becoming blogger. I've been hearing about how important blogs are for journalists, and since so far I have done nothing to further my dreams, I decided maybe it was time to become proactive with this whole "future" thing. Which leads me to ask, why blog? To keep people informed of your life? To ponder the infinite questions of life and the universe? To give opinions on world events? While all of these things are true about why other people blog, it was necessary for me to ask myself why I, in fact, was taking the plunge into blogging. Mostly to get a job (*shameless plug: please hire me!). But really I feel like any of these reasons could pertain to my reason for blogging. Because honestly, I have no idea what I am doing. But isn't that a part of life? Trying new things, succeeding, failing, trying other things when you fail...so here I go. 3...2...1...jump (or in my case, POST!)