One day you’re sitting in your Volkswagen Jetta, listening to country music, drinking a Dr. Pepper, and driving back and forth the town of Price, America, talking with your best friend about your big dreams and where you see yourself in a year, and then a year later you’re laying in your bed at night in your 2-bedroom apartment in the big city by yourself realizing none of those dreams have happened. And you wonder why? You wonder what have you been doing for the past year? How have you managed to let a year go by and have so much change, but yet you’re still not where you pictured yourself to be? 

They say you have big moments in your life, and this whole past year has been the biggest moment of my life… at least for now. I graduated with my associate’s degree from a small junior college, and now I’m currently working on my bachelors at The University of Utah. I up and moved my life from a town with about 8,715 people to a huge city with 189,314 people. If that’s not a big adjustment, then I don’t know what is. In this year, I’ve learned that your best friend is the cure for everything, that boys are bound to break your heart… with no explanation whatsoever and that they will still manage to be in your life for reasons you’ll never understand, and that crying is okay (even if it’s on a daily basis), and that your 20s are the most crucial time of your life. These are the times where you find your strong points and your weak points. These are the times where you’re life is moving so incredibly fast and slow all at the same time, and you won’t know how to handle it all. And I’m learning that all of that is okay. These past 5 months have been the hardest for me to say the least. Because if you were to ask me a year ago where I thought I would be in life… this is not it. 

I mean, I always knew the U was where I wanted to be and I’ve always wanted to live in the city, because I’m not a small town girl anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I love those small town summer nights where at the spur of the moment you can drive up and go have a bonfire in the hills, but there just comes a time in life when you outgrow all of that.  
A year ago I saw myself living up here knowing exactly what I wanted to do with my life career wise, which was be a pharmacist.. that changed. Now I’m pursuing a degree in accounting and I still don’t even know if that’s what I want! I definitely did not see myself working at a craft store… yes I work at Michaels…. And yes, I’m the least craftiest person you’ll ever meet (biggest contradiction ever).  None of this is what I expected. I didn’t expect for certain people to let me down or give me false hope. I definitely didn’t expect to be sitting at home on a Saturday night contemplating all of this and deciding to write it all out, that’s for sure.

And all of this goes back to my question, what have I been doing for a year? Finding myself? Is that really what all of this is?
If so, then I guess I better hold on tight because I’m in for an exciting, bumpy ride. 


And so are the rest of you who decide to follow this, which I don’t see why you wouldn’t.. I mean come on… I’m Chantelle Bradley :)