While the move to Texas largely feels like a detriment to my happiness, it was certainly the right decision for my career, as evidenced almost immediately. And call it fate or good fortune or what have you, but it was because I had changed my dating profile to the Fort Worth area that I met Sam. He was only planning to come to Texas for the solar eclipse, but had changed the location on his profile to Dallas. He was upfront that he lives in Sydney and would just be visiting, and I was suspicious of his intentions. We started messaging well before the eclipse, but it was our first video call that really won me over. We had been joking about how some people won't even drive 45 minutes for a date, but he was willing to take a 13 hour flight to see his potential love.
We didn't meet up until a couple days before the eclipse. We had two dates that week, both went brilliantly. I continued to date locally for a while, at Sam's encouragement. But as time went on, I liked the local guys less and liked Sam more. We planned a trip to the UK together and before we could even go, he came back to Texas to spend a week with me. Then we met up in LA for an air show and Disneyland. And at the end of the year, I met him in Tasmania and am now on his home turf in Sydney. There have been many ups and downs with him. We are two smart, confident people from other sides of the planet coming at the relationship from two different perspectives. But what's allowed us to make it this far is our agreement to always speak our minds when things are bothering us and to be honest and transparent. We've worked through a lot of differences and those hard journeys have probably made us stronger than if we hadn't had those differences. Time will tell if he'll be my forever love, but having him in my life has allowed me to go on adventures I wouldn't have done solo and seen things I wouldn't have seen without his insistence. It's been a blast dating him, and I hope it continues.
When people ask about my move to Texas, I am honest that I am really not happy with it. Again, it was the right move for my career, the cost of living is cheaper so that's helpful financially, and it led me indirectly to Sam, and for all those things I am grateful. But I hate the humidity of DFW, especially in the summer when it just feels punishing to me. And while I'm getting better at navigating the confusing freeway exits, they still confound me regularly. Bugs are a huge problem for me, also. Outside, for sure, but even in my house there seems to be a new bug every day, often of a different variety, so it's not like I have an isolated infestation that can just be wiped out. It's ongoing and constant but always changing, and that's the most frustrating part. I joke that I figured out the best way to live with the Dallas summer - leaving altogether. My escape to Scotland and London with Sam was the best part of my summer.
In my career, I hit some low points both in 2023 and in 2024, feeling like I'm stagnating and that my efforts are in vain. My boss is sharp, though, and recognizing my struggles, has brought opportunities for me to get more engaged, one of which culminated in a two-week trip to Milan which was phenomenal. The prospect of going back, and/or going to Greece, Japan or Australia for work in 2025 has excited me, and with some fresh new superstar employees on my team, I have found some reinvigoration.
