Bloggers are REAL PEOPLE

Two weekends ago I traveled up I-95 to the little southern town of Savannah, GA. I’ve never been there      before and people told me it was similar to St. Augustine, FL (which is where I live). Which actually is VERY TRUE except Savannah is more Frenchy and St. Augustine is more Spanishy. No joke the same trolley company and ghost tours run in both towns!

But this wasn’t a history or site-seeing trip. I was off to meet some of the other girls from the Not Alone Series Link-up! There was 8 of us that went and we had a FABULOUS TIME. You see these blogs that we read every day are written by REAL PEOPLE. They are also READ by REAL PEOPLE. People that are searching for answers and sometimes with our wonderful words they find them.

I’ve been to blogging conferences and blog meetups before but this one was different. We all had something in common that is actually hard to find in the blogging community. We’re all single. Which duh if you’ve read my blog and this series before you already knew that. Going into the weekend I really wasn’t sure what to expect. Other than a few girls on twitter I had no idea who was going or how many were going. Other than being single and Catholic I really didn’t know much about some of them (as not everyone blogged).

What I received was a weekend that I needed. A weekend away from family and the everyday stresses of “life.” A weekend away from job searching. A weekend with FRIENDS. You see we wrote about community a few months ago. I was actually out of town when that post went up but even if I was home I probably wouldn’t have participated because I have NO community except the one that exists online through this blog and social media. And the more I’ve thought of it it has nothing to do with moving to a city I know no one. Even when I moved back to the city I grew up after college I struggled to find community. But that is another post for another day.

So this weekend in Savannah was just what I needed. Girls to talk with that weren’t related to me. Girls that were about the same age as me (trying to get 60 year olds to understand online dating is complicated). Girls that UNDERSTOOD what I was struggling with.

In 2014 dating with catholic morals is HARD. Heck LIVING with Catholic Morals is hard. Every time I go to a job interview and they ask the, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” question I never know how to answer because my first reaction is, “Married with kids and not working full-time.” And that isn’t an answer an employer wants to hear. It’s not the “career answer” that will help grow their company. It’s not the answer society wants me to say so that I will become the next VP in some thriving 30 under 30 list in some fancy magazine.

But being with these women and being able to talk about these issues was SO HELPFUL for me. These are things my mom just doesn’t understand. Some of my siblings and cousins that are my age don’t even understand them.

We were able to attend mass together at the Cathedral. And then got kicked out because of an incoming wedding HA! Go figure single girls running into a wedding. 

The love and support (along with this beautiful bracelet) we received from Cindy at Veil of Chastity was amazing. I had no idea how much she loved us or prayed for us or talks about us like we are her own daughters. The love and support from her and everyone in the series and on the internet means more to me than anything else in the world.

I learned about new music. I wrote about it in my 7 Quick Takes last week but You Are Not Alone and 6’2 by Marie Miller are my two favorite songs right now.

This in between stage of my life is hard and no one knows how to prepare you for it but I’m glad to have the girls from the Not Alone Series to build community with and glad to call them online and in real life friends.

Thanks for Jen and Morgan for hosting!