This week marks one year that I have lived in Selma.

It seems like just yesterday I was packing up my Scottsboro apartment and deciding what to put in storage and what to take with me and making the three-hour drive to probably the biggest living space I’ve ever independently lived in.

I remember people telling me I was crazy.

They told me I should stay where I was and that nothing good could come from this move.

I’ve never been one to act on other people’s opinions.

My parents can attest to that.

My gut feeling is something that guides me in my decisions and my gut was telling me that this move would be fine.

I was thrown into a whirlwind.

People often ask me how we find things to write about in Selma and Dallas County. I respond now that even though we are a small area of the state, there is always something going on.

It truly hasn’t been a dull moment since I got here.

From city council to school boards and everything in between, my news team has worked hard to turn this newsroom around as far as local coverage.

We still are.

I credit my news team, both the original team I started with and the team I have now, for their hard work and their continued hard work.

They make me proud.

I admit also that as I was preparing to move here, I was preparing for the worst and taking all the news reports to heart that this was all was here.

Instead, I was introduced to hard-working people who have so much faith that many groups collectively can fix the area of the problems we are facing now.

I’ve lived in numerous places including Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina during my adult life and I can say that I have never met harder working people as I have here.

The optimism is inspiring and is almost infectious.

I want to thank you all for accepting me into your community. My Leadership Selma-Dallas County class, you guys will be forever friends of mine with the bonds that we have formed. My fitness family at 910 Fitness, you are all great, and I thank you all for letting me be a coach and get stronger with all of you each day.

While this first year has been a whirlwind, I feel like I’m finally getting my footing.

Here’s to more time together.