Out with the old, in with the new.

Well the time finally came for me to register my car with the NC DMV and despite having lived in North Carolina for almost five months now, taking that Utah plate off the back off my car made me feel like I was officially closing a chapter on Utah.

Although I lived in South Africa for two years, I never really considered that country a permanent place of residence. Instead, Ogden was always the place I called home. It was where family, friends and community were and living in South Africa didn't really change any of that.

Since arriving in Charlotte, I've been driving around the city using my Utah plate. I think, in the back of my mind, it meant that if things weren't going the way I imagined them, I could always just set the GPS for Salt Lake City and two-thousand miles later I would be back home. Where everything would be the way it was when I left it. So, taking the Utah plate of my car meant more than just removing the last legal connection I had to the State; it was a sign that I was here to stay.

At last I'm finally becoming familiar with the city. I no longer need the GPS to get around and I am quickly finding new favorite radio stations, restaurants and places to visit. I don't think it will be much longer before North Carolina fits in with my idea of home. And with this gradual slowing of my speech along with the fact that last week I think I might have slipped a "y'all" into one of my conversations, I don't think it will be much longer before I fit in with North Carolina.

Yep, the lines are just as long at the DMV in NC as they are in UT.