Don’t Stop Believing

Born in Bay Ridge (Where Brooklyn at?) and raised between there and Staten Island. Never lived outside of New York City. Not even for one day. In 2013, when the opportunity arose for myself and my husband to make a one-way-no-looking-back cross country move to Houston, Texas, I was immediately TERRIFIED…yes, grown up Danielle, weeks away from hitting the big 3-0, was terrified. Everything scared me - leaving my family, leaving my job, leaving our apartment. Everything I’d known. Every ONE I had known. I had never been around unfamiliar territory for more than a quick vacation, but I always knew, I was going back HOME. What was this city girl going to do now all alone, in the south, with not so much as ONE SINGLE PERSON I knew other than my husband? How long would we be there? Were we EVER coming back? How would i even function?…. Everything will be so different. Now is when everything I had ever known and learned would be put to the test. No more training, no more preparation. It was go time. So, with nothing but blind faith and and a brand new engagement ring, I took the leap. The biggest and greatest leap of my lifetime…and as scared as I was, it felt great.

Living outside of your home state, especially when it’s New York, is so much more than just moving. It’s eye opening. It’s liberating. Refreshing. Scared as I was, I had no idea back then that it was just what I needed. I put all of my skills to the test and not only did we manage, but we did good. No, better than good. Landed great jobs, and I was handling my new title of fiancee’ quite nicely. Plus, all of my catering and party planning experience pad off because I successfully planned our entire wedding over the course of one year (with a bridal party that spanned the entire east coast) all the way from Texas. All by myself. 250 people. So many moving parts. It was a HUGE accomplishment for me. The three years we were down there, not only did we mature and grow, being away from home, but we really felt like adults. And we changed - A lot. This journey enabled us to evolve and into our new selves… the new and improved Chris & Danielle. Driven. Motivated. Success obsessed. We weren’t just twenty somethings with ideas, dreams, and plans anymore. We were putting them into motion. Once you do that, you have already succeeded and separated yourself from everyone else who just complains about the same things but never actually does anything about it. And it feels good, really good.

In those years, don’t get me wrong, we had our share of rises and pitfalls. We got married - in New York, like we (no, I) had wanted and dreamed of all along (nothing was going to change that), but together we used so much of our vacation time going back and forth to meet with our vendors for dress fittings / menu tastings / flowers / bridal shower etc… that we had no time left to even go on a honeymoon. We actually flew to Houston two days after our wedding just to get back to work. I think we took somewhere around 16 flights in one year. Not only were the trips exhausting, but at the time I was dealing with severe homesickness. The trips, although frequent, were never enough. Every time I was home, I was hoping time would slow down, and every time I was in Houston, I literally kept a day-by-day countdown on my calendar of the days until my next visit home. But, such is living away for the first time in your life.

Now, my husband and I are two completely different people…down to ice cream preference (me: chocolate, him: vanilla in case you were wondering). That being said, traveling for him was second nature. He did it so often that he enjoyed it. As far as I was concerned, I haven’t ventured far outside of your typical road trip and Disney vacations. I’m talking zero passport stamps (outside of the ones you get when you hop off the Cruise Ships to an Island here and there). Whereas with Chris, you can practically spin the globe and wherever you land, chances are he’s been there. I’ve always wanted so much more… and Texas was the first baby step in getting to where we are today. And we’re far from done yet!

What to take away from all of this? Life isn’t about the destination… where you end up… it’s about the journey. How you get there is what’s truly important and valuable. It’s what makes you who you are. It grows you up and matures you, and turns you into the kind of adult, mother, and wife that you’re going to be. You’ll have ups and downs, but remember to always appreciate the journey ♛