Life of Reilly: You've Got Every Right To a Beautiful Life.

Current Location: Dunn, North Carolina

I made it! I feel like I've slid into home base, scraped up knees, tired eyes and just the base amount of sanity left. I cannot believe that I'm actually here!! I actually traveled from the Pacific ocean to the Atlantic ocean, all in my little car, and all alone. And now that I'm here, I feel like the whole world has opened up even more, just for my picking, for my exploration. I could literally choose whatever I wanted, wherever I wanted, I can do exactly what I want, be who I want to be - the real me, what's been itching to come out for so long.

I have been liberated.

Theres a saying, "the world is your oyster" and I never really understood what that meant until this trip. To me, it means that when the oyster opens up to reveal the radiant pearls, you see, that the pearls are there for you. It's the same with life. This life and our world is like the oyster, open and ready for the taking. We just have to open our eyes to see the beauty and reach in and grab it. It's there for us. Too many people lose sight of how many opportunities this life really does offer us, and how possible it really is to acheiev them.
I remember the first time this really clicked in my heart, it was about a year ago, and my cousin Steph and I were at dinner, talking about what we wanted to do that night, when, we both got a twinkle in our eyes and said almost simultaneously, "let's go to San Francisco!" (I'd never been to San Francisco before that), neither of us really had any money, all we had was a desire and a car. So off we went! And I remember distintively sitting there, in the passenger seat thinking, were really doing this...and on the surface, it looked impossible for us to pull off a trip like that, at such short notice and with no money, but we did it. we made it happen. and it was the first time I really remember having that feeling of, "these things that we desire, we can do."

The drive here from Crossville, Tennessee was kinda scary, but gorgeous at the same time. It was raining the whole time, and I drove over/through the Smoky Mountains. I felt like I was driving through the rainforest! It was so cool! It took about 9 hours to get here so I was tired! Also, I forgot to mention yesterday that on my way to Crossville, Tennessee, I passed through Illinois then into Kentucky, and got to see alot of the flood. It was pretty interesting, I felt bad for the people that are dealing with the damage from it. The water was literally on each side of the road I was on, it just didn't look natural. And I didn't even see the worst of it.

North Carolina isn't what I thought it was gonna be either. I thought it was going to be dry and dusty and with sort of a light brown tint. It's not like that at all, it's sooo pretty here, you know the rainforest I told you about eralier? Well it didnt stop, the only thing that changed was theres more farm land here, then in the mountains I passed through.
And being here, with my cousin Mykel and her family, her husband Rusty, and their kids Noah, Luke and Sariah are so great. They are all so fun, and nice, and I really enjoy being around them. I'm so excited to see Mykel again, I havent seen her in years : )