The date was July 1, 2005.  The cohort in crime was Jeff Myers.  The act was moving into a newly leased apartment on Winamac Lake at Indian Lakes Apartments in Mishawaka, IN.  It was the first step I'd taken into a life of my own.  I was still in college, but no longer on campus.  I was still getting help footing the bill, but no longer from my parents.  I was growing up, and that apartment would have a lot to do with it.

That year was possibly the best year of my life, to that point.  Nights went late, movies were watched, music was listened to, the occasional stogie was sparked, and songs were sung referring to the sheer awkwardness that accompanied life.  Granted, there was a short spell during which I had nightmares about someone breaking into the place, but that ended with an interesting and hilarious event involving me, a girl standing no taller than 5'2", and a near-death experience with a 3-iron.  Those days couldn't last forever, though.

The next year was spent on the other side of Winamac Lake.  I'd moved out of my first apartment and into a modified single, with a huge living room, so that my family would all have a space to stay when they came up to see me play for my 5th year at Notre Dame.  My parents would take my room, my brother would take a futon, and I'd grab the couch.  It was perfect, because they'd booked tickets for every home game.  The only problem was, my dad didn't make it to the first game.  I spent a year in that oversized apartment dealing with the feeling of being very alone.  The last few months though, the Lord provided for that lack of fellowship I'd been experiencing.

The final two months on Winamac Lake were spent with a new roommate, who lived on a futon in the back half of the living room.  Ryan and I met through some mutual friends and just hit it off.  We actually leased a two bedroom place on the other side of Indian Lakes.  We had moved into a place on Osage Lake (which isn't much of a lake at all...it looks like someone left the hose on for a few hours).  The past year has been spent doing very little but sleeping in that apartment.  Ryan and I get up, go to work, come back home, and go to bed.  Occasionally we'll have a group of friends over for a BBQ, and sometimes I'll come home and he and his girlfriend will be eating dinner, but the majority of our time is spent elsewhere.  That said, the times we've had in the apartment, while both awake...and coherent, have been a blast.  But we've reached another turning point, as our lease ends in just over two weeks.

We'll be parting ways, Ryan and I, but I've gotten used to yearly changes in roomming situations.  The big change for me is living somewhere other than Indian Lakes.  I've grown accustomed to how things are done, how situations are handled, and how the people around me interact.  It will be another new experience for me, moving to another location (to be revealed next week). 

It excites me though, to be pushed out of my comfort zone.  While my comfort allows me to do a lot, I wonder what it holds me back from doing.  Maybe, just maybe this move will push my limits in other areas of life as well.  So I ask you, are you comfortable?  Maybe a little bit too comfortable?