Day 1...kinda

Friends, this is it. Day one. I have officially begun my trip to California. This has been a long time coming. I write to you from the comfort of my parent's home in Knoxville, TN. This is where I will be for the next few days then on to Nashville.

I have promised many of you daily updates and I will try to do that. I am hopefully getting a video camera (to...um..."rent" till I take it back) tomorrow. Upon this acquisition I will begin posting regularly.

It's crazy to think that it's finally here. What in the world am I doing? I am going to drive across the country seeing old friends and making new ones. I will be visiting sites familiar and foreign alike. Then truly beginning the adventure of following a dream.

People ask me if I'm sad to leave Charlotte. Well the truth is I am sad to leave my friends. Charlotte is great but a city is no more than what you make of it. The friendships, however, are real. They are miraculous. They are memorable and they last.

One would be crazy to leave the deep, rich and profound friendships I have in Charlotte unless he knew he could. What I mean by this is that it takes a deep love to not hold on to what you've got. My friends are equally as excited about this next journey in my life as I am. They are the voices cheering and praying, even now. They are the ones who quite honestly make this trip possible.

What really makes a friend? Is it a mutually shared experience? Is it similar likes or dislikes? Is it intrigue because they are so different? Is it arranged or happenstance? How do some become friends that hurt to leave and others suffice with a hand shake? I can't trace all the steps, conversations, discussions/arguments, laughs, meals, coffees/teas, movies, trips and chance encounters that are the very fiber of my friendships. But I can feel the pain to walk away from something so great.

You know you can judge the size of a boat by the wake it leaves in it's path. I guess I'm a freaking barge with the amount of quality friendships and wonderful people I love.

To all my friends (new and old, alike) thank you simply for being honest with me and for supporting me. I pray God uses me however he sees fit. Please know He has used each of you in my life in varying ways and dimensions.

I love you and hope to see you in the not too, too distant future.

Let's stay in touch.