Never have I ever… Thought I’d be living in Indiana. To be honest, I didn’t even really know where Indiana was until things got serious between Andrew and I. But, here I am, my first year out of college, living in the good ol’ Midwest – and yes, there is much more here other than corn.

When you build a life with someone – it doesn’t matter where you are – it’s only natural to think you’ll miss it. Although my time here was cut short, here is a list of things I’ll miss most about living in Indianapolis:

The people.

I usually have a hard time making friends – mainly because I’m both shy and sarcastic, and most of the time people translate my sarcasm into me being a bitch. But here, I made some good friends. Sure, they were all Andrew’s friends from college, but I got along with them and will miss them. I will especially miss Thirsty Thirsdays with my girl, Candice, which became a weekly spectacle.

I also had some pretty awesome coworkers. I didn’t especially love my job, but I appreciated it. I had a wonderful and caring boss – probably the best boss I’ll ever have – Shoutout to you Beth, you traveling yogi. I befriended chefs who cooked me things daily, and people who understood and appreciated my sarcasm. I worked with people who made a boring job fun.

Living on the canal.

We absolutely scored an amazing first apartment together. The complex itself was new and pretty, but its location was spot on. We lived steps away from Indy’s iconic canal, which was perfect for walking Chipper. It wasn’t until we got our perfect pup that we started to spend a lot of time on the canal. I’ll never forget our family snow day either.

Living in a walking city.

Sure, I’ll be moving back to Hawaii (awesome), but I’ll be working in downtown which is full of traffic and hard-to-find parking. I never really appreciated Indy being an easy walking city until now (easy until it’s winter, that is).

Mass Ave.

I looooved hanging out on Mass Ave. Pretty much all of my favorite things in one place: Bru Burger, Flying Cupcake, Starbucks, lots of food joints, and fun places for Thirsty Thirsdays.

Summer concerts.

I’m leaving Indy at the worst time: Summer. People keep telling me that I should move back to Hawaii in the winter, and they’re right. But omg, Indy’s summer concerts. Ugh. I’m still upset that I’ll be missing so many rad performances. Andrew and I already had to give up our Ed Sheeran AND Lollapalooza tickets *I’m still crying about it* Luckily, I got to see Grimes and Lana Del Rey (with my boss), Father John Misty and Alabama Shakes before I left.

Having a place that’s just ours.

After being in a LDR for 4 years, it was fucking glorious to finally be WITH Andrew. We were lucky enough to be able to start a life together. Even though we’ve had our ups and downs, we were finally able to get through everything together.

Food truck Fridays.

Thanks to Chef T., Andrew, Chipper, and I were able to make Food Truck Fridays a thing. We attended the first one together and had a great time checking out the different trucks and trying everything we could handle. Then, we were able to go again when my mom was in town and show her a delicious time. One of the best parts was that it was within walking distance from our apartment, so we were able to get Chipper’s walk in too.

Being able to drive anywhere.

I wish we took advantage of this blessing. Another reason why timing for our move was off – it’s baseball season and Andrew and I planned to go to a couple of games! Oh well, we are trading it for the beach and perfect weather year round. I am grateful for the road trip adventures we were able to do while we were there.

What could have been.

If you’re been reading my blog for a while now (and I thank you for that), you might remember a post about me going to journalism grad school. I decided not to go and I still can’t help but wonder what could have been if I had decided to go. When we got to Indy, our goal was to move to Chicago (reasons include: better job opportunities, grad school, fantastic city, and friends). So when I got into grad school, it felt as if I got our ticket into Chicago. I felt like I finally accomplished something for us and I started to picture me and my little family living in a tiny posh apartment in one of the greatest cities in the world. Then my financial award (or lack thereof) letter came in the mail suggesting that I take out $60,000 in loans just for the first year. There was no way I could do it. Only about 35% of me wanted to say “YOLO” and commit to being in debt forever, but I opted out at the last minute.

Who knows, maybe we’ll end up in Chicago one day or find someplace even better?

I’m forever grateful for our time in Indy. I’ll miss it a lot but I’m also excited for our future in Hawaii.

Thanks for the memories, Indy.