5 years in NJ

Yesterday as I was walking the dogs I realized I have been living in NJ for 5 years! Moving to and living in NJ was never in my plans and getting out asap was always in the plans. Mark and I got engaged in early May of 2004 while we were in Madeira, Portugal. Mark was just graduating from business school at Wake Forest and we had been planning to move to Plano, TX a couple weeks later where he would work at Frito Lay headquarters. On the flight home from Portugal we got stuck in Newark and had to stay there over night. As we were flying out the next day, one of us said "At least we don't have to move to NJ!" Well, be careful what you say right? A couple days later, Mark got a call and Frito Lay wanted him to work at a regional office in Somerset, NJ instead.

I knew very little about NJ. I had been to Newark airport and had visited there when I was young but didn't remember it. I thought my life as an outdoor athlete was over. No more biking outside. No more nice places to run. I will just have to become a swimmer. We told ourselves, it will just be for 2 years or so, then he will get moved elsewhere.

It turned out there were some great places to run and bike! Nice parks with trails and biking on country roads with hills and horse farms! Who would have thought. I did turn into a swimmer here, or more of one, but only because I got tired of sucking at swimming.

First thing, we had no idea where we were going to live. Talk about sticker shock after living in NC. It was $600 for a 2 bedroom apartment in NC, a good one. The real estate agent showed us several places ranging from $1000/mo to over $2000 a month. We needed a place that would allow a dog, because that was next on my to do list. The $1000 one was in Raritan and I laugh every time I see it. We didn't even go in. We pulled into the driveway and Mark was like "Yeah, NO, were not even going in to look at this place." Another place with a nice yard, which left A LOT to be desired in terms of the house. A nice house in the country by a stream and a house from like 1800 something that was literally falling apart. "No! The stream is nice, but not living here!" I said. We finally found 2 acceptable options, the most expensive of course, two town homes in The Hills. We took the less expensive one and then began the search for the dog.Here is Super Cooper at Halloween in the old townhouse in the Hills.

After meeting several dogs--a crazy sheltie, a cute dog named Barnabas that had seizures, a white doggie named max that was given to a family--a small black lab mix by the name of Scooter brought over from NYC came available at the Somerset Regional Shelter. We took him for a test run, literally to see if he would make a good running dog, tested him to see how well he played. He must have known to be on his best behavior. So, we took him and renamed him Cooper.Here's Coopy in the early days soon after he broke the no dogs on the bed or couch rule.

Mark was working a lot and I only worked part time then. Cooper was my best buddy. I didn't know anyone here. Cooper and I went to the dog park, we went swimming at River Road Park, we went running, we went for walks. Cooper had it made!
Cooper was one of the regulars at the Bedminster dog park. He's at a dog Bentley's 2nd birthday party in these pictures. Yeah, I know...

I can't believe how quickly 5 years have passed. Cooper is still at my side. Not as much of a running dog anymore, but still as energetic and ready to play as ever. In the 5 years, I have been here I-- got a dog, planned a wedding, got married, bought my first home, redecorated my first home, got another dog, changed careers, passed 3 actuarial exams, got divorced, and most importantly grew into myself. If you told me when I got on the plane in NC what the next 5 years of my life would be like, not sure what I would have done. I would not have expected to get divorced or stay in NJ and actually like living here or not have kids by now or really deviate from a "perfect" plan. But I have learned there is no perfect plan. I have grown up and really become me during the time that I have been here and NJ really feels like home now. But it also brought a lot of hard times. Those hard times are part of what has made me, all part of my life here.Frito keeping watch for squirrels and birds in our new home.

That 24 year old girl that left NC with so many hopes and dreams for her future, moved to NJ for someone else. And that in itself was perhaps a big mistake on my part, that I was following someone else and didn't truly know what I wanted. But, even though it is cliche, I suppose everything happens for a reason. And it turns out I actually really enjoy it here. Sure I don't like the heavy traffic or my long commute and some other things, but there are many things I do like! And it just feels like home.