three hours and 130 miles...

For the last four years I have had a one-way commute of 1.3 miles. The two years prior it was a whopping mile (shorter if I walked). Tomorrow marks my one month anniversary of a 62-68 mile one-way commute. Some people think I'm crazy... some people have it worse. I feel like I've been spoiled the last six years and I needed to even out my road miles.

I see a lot of miserable faces when I tell people about the drive. When I tell people I'm commuting, the first question is always, "how long?"With no traffic (aka late at night) I can do it in a hour to hour and 15 minutes. I've been averaging closer to hour and a half other than the two hour Friday beach traffic trip and a four hour disaster morning when they closed one span of the bay bridge.

If I had a choice I would absolutely live closer. I suppose technically I have a choice, but I've chosen to pay my bills and in order to do that I need to live with my parents until my house sells. When I first accepted the new job I immediately began scouring the internet for places to live. I've never actually had the opportunity to apartment shop. When I first graduated, my apartment was essentially decided based on my employer. In grad school, my roommate was from Knoxville and picked out our place and in Fayetteville, my roommate was already living there and found us a place. All three apartments were just what I/we needed, but I was excited to pick out something on my own. I was pricing options and asking friends and taking virtual tours. And then I decided to stop looking.

I have no idea how long it's going to take to sell my house, and while I'm praying it's not long... the market is not ideal and the level of interest so far is not a good sign. I want to be content where I am and not constantly pine away for that place on my own. I also know I spent the last six years working at an incredibly high pace. I don't know how often I had three hours to myself and I've been craving a step back. So here I am driving 130ish miles a day and spending a solid three hours bonding with my car. I could be picky and ask God for three hours that didn't cost so much (I'm estimating I'm paying $400 a month on gas which is still cheaper than any apartment I could find close to work) but I think God knows what I need better than I do.

In the meantime, I'm catching up on my neglected 18 days of music on my iPod, listening to sermons, watching tv shows (only in traffic :), and occasionally catching up with friends when I have some spare minutes. Here's to making three hours productive and being content in the here and now! I also wouldn't mind if you'd join me in praying my house would sell... asap!