North Carolina life thus far

There were certainly expectations with regards to our relocation to North Carolina.  But, there's really only so much information you can absorb to try and get a feel for a potentially new landing place.  Average temperatures, check.  Job market, check.  Real estate market, check.  Certain things can't be quantified, however, especially general happiness.  Don't underestimate our love for the state of Ohio.  It's a wonderful place, as evidenced by my wife and I having lived there for nearly a combined 80 years.  Sometimes a place speaks to you and calls to you.  The University of Dayton campus was one of those places for me.  The day I visited for the first time, I instantly knew I wanted to attend UD.  North Carolina didn't have that immediate calling, but had more of an accumulating effect on me.  The more we visited, the more it drew us here.  Sure, visiting here last year gave us an inclination of what to expect, but now that we've moved here, it didn't take it long to really sink in, how huge of a leap we just took in our lives.  Are we exponentially more happy here in North Carolina?...it's a little too early to say that, but I can definitely say we are very excited to be here and are very eager to see, do, and experience all that NC has to offer.

With that said, I can tell you one very particular area where Ohio is far superior to that of North Carolina...and that is the DMV.  We knew it would be a bit of a hassle to transfer our driver's licenses, etc., over to NC, but could never imagine the time commitment it would take to simply switch over to a NC driver's license.  First off, the NC DMV doesn't print their new licenses on-site (which Ohio does in a matter of minutes, and on a much more durable surface/material).  Second, depending on the time of day you arrive, you can potentially spend multiple days there...yes, multiple.  We arrived early (the 2nd time we tried to get our licenses, as the wait was over 2.5 hrs on our 1st attempt), and still spent almost 2 hours at the DMV.  But, all is well, we have our new shiny (and surprisingly thin) driver's licenses.

NC DMV aside, we couldn't be happier with our decision to relocate to NC.  Depending on how well you know me, you may have noticed a transition for me occurring as I move towards a new career path for me in graphic design/illustration.  Ideally, I would have found this path for myself much earlier in life, but better late than never, right?!  It's been exciting and frustrating learning a lot of new software over the past couple of years, and there's simply only a certain amount of time I have to devote to learning a new craft away from my "day job" and my artwork.  But, thank JoBu for YouTube and the plethora of free tutorials out there that have helped me hone my Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign skills.  I'm not sure how long it will take to earn my first full-time gig in graphic design, but I am both hopeful and optimistic I will get an opportunity very soon.

With that in mind, just wanted to pass along some new designs (granted, small, so hopefully will limit any thieves from stealing them):
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I am sure I will be posting more on here as I refine my skills more and more, and hopefully before too long I will be able to keep you updated on my job search as I transition into a new phase of my life and career.  Thanks for dropping by folks.

I am also hoping to start doing some local art shows here in the Raleigh/Durham area, but I will keep you posted on that as best I can.  So, until next time.
- Jason
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