happy love day

Ok ready? Set... go... Rach and I kept fighting and fighting so we decided on a split. We had two weeks left in the condo together and fought less but hung on to our decision. Two weeks were up and Rach's parents drove a car down so now she has her own car. Rachel moved in a friend of a friend in Jupiter and I moved in with my new good pal Chris, a girl from my job. I live in West Palm Beach and am now the world's fourth largest contributer to the process of warming our planet. I live with Chris and her boyfriend of five years Charlie. I love them dearly and think of them, especially Chris, as a blessing. I don't know what I would have done without them. After a few days of sleeping alone in my new bed I realized that my decision (as usual when I make big decisions), was the wrong one. At that time the standing of the relationship was not broken up, but barely seeing or talking so we could "figure things out". I realized after talking to some dear friends (christina and kate) that our lifestyle had made it impossible for Rachel and I to have time for establishing individual lives and were therefore, smothering eachother and the relationship which was now on its way to disappearing. I wasn't having it. I made Rach go on a date with me and took her to the beach and to see the rehabiliting sea turtles (which was awesome). I put on my most charming smile and explained what I believed had gone wrong and how we could fix it. After lots of charming smiles which I'm sure got pathetic after five minutes she started smiling back. Long story short, we love each other very much and are enjoying having date nights and re-establishing romance. (Charming smile gets em every time). Unfortunatly, my new home does not have internet and has seperated me from my blog. I'm sorry. This time it is not my fault. Rachel and I are sorting out plans at this point to move back in together (hopefully she can come live with me, gotta talk to Charlie) in March. We're staying another month and are deciding, unfortunatly, how to round up our adventures to a close. As fun as it is, the freedom of the road, we've learned, actually offers little freedom and we are starting to look at a "larger plan". One that involves careers, benifits, family and vacations. One that is going to start out of course with school, long hours and lots of of work. Right now we're probably heading back to NY in April, staying in Monroe for a month while we re-establish jobs in the city and decide on new degree paths. There is some talk of one last adventure to California but financially, this might not be the smartest decision. We will see how things go. Rachel's chef Eddie is opening a restaurant on the Jersey Shore over the summer and has been relentless in asking us to there promising we will make more money than we ever will any summer of our lives. This is also an idea we're throwing around. I'll try to visit my local Panera Bread more often and update you more. I know I say that all the time. When all is said and done at the end of this "break", it was the best thing for us that we could have done. We're very happy and have a renewed appreciation for eachother and a new respect for our relationship. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. Think about everyone you love today and ask yourself if you've been taking it for granted. -lj