5:2012

Our things, our things! I thought I was pretty unattached to stuff until I realized how easy it would be for something to go awry with the storage box in transit. Then I was thinking, "But I love my bike! And that quilt Gramma Jo made me and...and my mattress!". Luckily, everything arrived in good shape and the rest of the day was spent scrubbing and laundering to ensure no mold was introduced into the storage unit. I know that for the average couple in the U.S. in their mid-twenties, this is probably not a lot of stuff but I have serious plans to keep paring down. 

Not the prettiest picture, but I am pretty proud of how well Z and I got everything loaded and unloaded (with serious time constraints on both coasts). 

Goodbye for Now

I came to California a few days before my twenty-third birthday. Packing my suitcases, donating most of my clothes, and getting dropped off at the airport to take the longest flight of my adult life in order to move to a city I'd never seen felt like the biggest risk I'd taken. It probably was- not because it was particularly risky but because I wasn't in the habit of taking chances. And moving cross-country without visiting your new home first seemed pretty chancy to me.

I'm leaving today, a few years older and with even less of an idea of what the future holds. I couldn't have foreseen a lot of what happened here but if I had, I still would have gotten on that plane. I am a much better person for it. The way my life has unfolded is wildly different from anything I planned, but I do love it, even the difficult bits. All I can do is keep living in a way that feels right to me. Luckily, I have a phenomenal partner to support me and keep me entertained on all of life's long walks.

I have to say goodbye to San Diego, to California, and to my beloved Pacific Ocean but I don't want to say goodbye to all of the wonderful people I met here. I feel like we were just starting to get to know each other. So this is just goodbye for now, because I know our paths will cross again (they'd better!).

Z's first introduction to the Pacific.

Moving

A few snapshots of the moving process. We walked through Famosa Slough to get to Home Depot for some moving boxes. Then walked back carrying five boxes each...this is exactly as much fun as it sounds but the Slough is so beautiful. Then we packed three boxes of books and had to figure out how to mail them. Laundry cart! When you're using a Kryptonite bike lock to secure your laundry cart to a bike rack outside the post office, you just have to laugh at how ridiculous moving can be when you have no car. But we would have been in serious trouble without that cart. Don't know about you, but I do not want to carry a 38 pound box for over a mile.

We had a somewhat successful yard sale. Made some money, got rid of some things, made a little girl very happy by selling her mom all my embroidery supplies. Neighbor cat came for a visit. Most importantly, we entertained ourselves by playing apartment in our driveway.