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Happy 2006!

So break is over, and I'm back in Cincinnati. I have a good feeling about this year. I don't know how it will turn out. But at the same time, I think it will turn out well overall.

Over the break, I spent plenty of time with my family, had a chance to talk to a couple of my friends that I grew up with. I also got a chance to talk to Nikolai a couple of times. It's funny...as I was getting off the phone with him on Christmas Eve, he actually asked me when I was making it back to town, and offered to come get me from the bus station. And I didn't even have to ask him. Of course that's not a huge deal, but at the same time, maybe I'm used to dealing with self-centered men.

So the year from hell is over, and it's the start of a better year believing in faith. I have seen just how amazing life is, and that good things can come from the most unexpected of places. I also have seen that sometimes we don't always see the big picture when we're in the middle of small situations, but when we do, it can be mindblowing.

I think that Nikolai and I are becoming better friends. I don't know if anything else will come out of it or not. But it's really, really cool. I ran into him earlier today. And we were talking, and I noticed that he was touching me. A lot. No, not in an overtly sexual manner, and definitely not inappropriately. But it was still noticeable. I don't know exactly what that means. I don't know if it's that he's into me or if it's a sign that he's more comfortable with me as a friend. And it's even harder to figure out b/c of the cultural difference. In any case, I was just fine with it, and I felt comfortable with it. Which is weird for me, a person who tends to tense up when people up and touch me unexpectedly. My goodness, I was even like that with Alex. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe I'm just weird.

I think I like Nikolai, but in a different way than I've been into anyone. I think that every friendship and every relationship in general is different. I think it's different because I don't feel like I have to impress him, or be someone that I'm not. Because he and I are friends, truly friends, I feel like I can truly be myself around him and be completely real with him. Also, because he is a relatively upbeat and positive person, I feel good when I'm around him and after being around him. I don't think I have a crush on him. But I do like him. And it truly doesn't matter what happens between us - what trajectory the friendship follows. I just feel blessed to have him in my life.