florida girl?

i REALLY like my friends here in Florida. i have met some freakin' awesome people.

with that said, because that MUST be said, i will say something else.

i have been here since january 7, 2004. that is over a year and a half now. THAT is CRAZY... it feels like i've been here years... it feels like i've been here days. it's an amazing the way i've lost track of time since leaving maryland. i've lost track of time before, but not the way i have in florida.
i am totally 100% still myself, but it feels like another life.

when i left baltimore i was in a strange place. probably the worst place i'd ever been in. a change was offerring itself & i took it, but not without a safety net, which was my promise to my friends & myself that i'd be back.
i brought with me my car, some clothes, and some cd's & left 90% of my belongings behind. again... promising to return to them.
today i can say that 100% of my belongings... my pictures, furniture, childhood art, everything is in the state of florida. and now everyone in my immediate family lives... here. it doesn't FEEL right, but i don't think it will ever feel right again, even if we all went "home" and all moved back to where i grew up. too much had changed, altered, and been removed.
i am NOT a florida girl. i've never dreamed of moving to the sunshine state. never. i still don't.
getting into USF was the decided factor in my staying & i got in - and now i am stuck here for AT LEAST another year, if not more. i shouldn't say "stuck here", but if i reallllllly wanted to leave i wouldn't because i want my damn degree!
so, i am already thinking about where i want to go once i graduate. obviously i REALLY want to go to NYC, but considering the living costs i doubt that will happen. London is even more expensive (but, damn i want to live there for at least a year of my life!). So, I think it might end up being Chicago. I am a yankee city girl. I miss Baltimore. I've been home sick recently. It sucks.
BUT, Florida has given me SO MUCH & i cannot be ungrateful. And I will return OFTEN because my family lives here now. That's what will make it SUPER hard to leave! (and my kick-ass friends!)
*all of this is subject to change at any moment... i may end up barefoot and pregnant & just settle the hell down, but i doubt it. ;)