So I moved to Madison, Wisconsin. Remember how I said I was going to do that? Well I did that! Also I turned 22 recently, so that's another thing I did. LOOK AT ME GO!

Anyway, I keep getting asked how I'm doing, and I guess I don't blame anyone because I haven't really given any update whatsoever on how this whole transition is playing out. My bad. Well here it is!

I moved a little over month ago, and I still feel like I'm in the "settling in" phase. I actually wasn't expecting it to take so long, but it's like, I'm still hanging photos up on my walls and figuring out how to pay my bills, so I'm not quite there yet.

Madison is really quite a lovely town. I'm not sure what I was expecting it to be, but it's a very cute and cozy place. (Also Peter from the Bachelorette lives here and I'm on a quest to find him).

I'm finding out that summer is a really big deal here since the winter is so harsh *nervous laughter*, so every weekend the downtown area is straight POPPIN. The biggest thing to do here is the Saturday morning Farmers Market around the Capitol building. It's a square mile full of foods, plants, and PEOPLE. On top of the Farmers Market though, there are always different events going on in the downtown area. For instance, this last weekend every single store on State Street (that's the go-to street) was having a massive sale. You already KNOW I hit up Urban Outfitters and snatched me some $5 shirts. Yes--you read that right. $5 SHIRTS FROM URBAN OUTFITTERS.

There are SO many cute restaurants down on State Street, and this last weekend, I had the best Elote I have ever encountered, which is weird because I lived in Texas for 4 years? My mouth is literally watering just thinking about it. But apparently there is a different event going on every weekend, so I'm definitely excited to be checking them out as the summer goes on! There is also a Corn Festival in August and I am high-key pumped for that.

So yes, Madison is a very cute town and I like it a lot. The next question is usually "Are you making friends?"

First of all, I really stinking love my job and everyone that works here. It's been a blast getting to know people and I'm already making some great connections. Like, I am singing Bruno Mars in the house-band for our employee Summer party, guys. Outside of work, it's been more of a struggle. Let me just say that I thought once I got a 9-5 job that I would have all this free time in the evening to do things. But now all I want to do is watch TV, do a light workout, and go to bed, haha. Why did I just go from 21 to 45 years old in a month?!

Madison is also a very different culture than Dallas. Shocking, I know. But hey, for a Christian kid that grew up in the Bible Belt of America, it's totally strange. Soooo naturally I've really been looking for a new Church home to find community in. For me, the 4th Church I visited was the charm! I'm going to a Newcomers Luncheon this Saturday and I'm super pumped to get involved on the Worship Team sometime soon after. But I will say that in the other Churches I visited (and even some in the Church I will be attending), I felt like I had stepped back about 10 years. Just the style of music, preaching, congregations involvement, and general layout of the service in this area is preeeettty far from the whole Hillsong environment that most people are leaning towards nowadays. So yeah, like I said, totally different culture.

To me though, it's pretty exciting. I think that sometimes in America we can get stuck thinking that we're all generally the same because we live in the same country. But don't forget that Texas itself is larger than a LOT of entire countries! There are a ton of different cultures in just America alone, and it's exciting for me to be able to explore something other than the Midwest lollll.

So to answer the questions "Have you made friends?" (I know, I got off track), the answer is, a few :) I'm hoping to meet more people in my new church body and continue to grow the relationships I have already made!

As far as my music is going, I am continuing to produce content on my SoundCloud (www.soundcloud.com/samanthaminor). I have a dope new ProTools set up and I'm just gradually trying to improve my skillllz. I'm still doing some contract work with Worship Initiative in Dallas too, which is always fun, and I'm hoping to do some songwriting contract work here soon as well. Right now, I'm feeling like I'm in a pretty good place. I can do what I love while just continuing to learn learn learn about this insane music industry I want to be in (for some reason lol).

SO YEAH! That's a very condensed update on my life for the past month if you were wanting to know. Thanks for always supporting me and I hope you'll continue to keep me in your prayers as I keep on truckinnn through this transition.

Much love,

Samantha