Coming out

Ran through the park today; beautiful!

Well, plenty to talk about!  First of all, I'm going to come out and say it ... I've definitely gained back some weight :(  Not a LOT, but definitely at least 10 lbs.  My most favorite of the jeans I bought on my slim down aren't really fitting right now.  I mean ... I squeezed myself into them.  And then I took them off for fear of busting a seam.  So ... I've made a deal with myself.  If I can wear them again by Nov 1, good for me!  If I can't, it's picture posting time here on the blog again!

Today I ran 6 miles.  Super sore in my hips right now, but feet feel good woo hoo!  Oh!  And I got baptized today :)  That is something I have had a desire to do for about a year now, but it just never seemed to work out.  Obviously, God had other plans for me and TODAY was the right day for it!  It actually is a hard thing to do when your desire to step away from the limelight is strong.  As a kid/teen I wanted to be the center of attention ALL the time.  Now, I'm perfectly content to step back and allow the kiddo to fill that roll.  So, I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to be washed away of my sins, and now I'm looking for the opportunity to get in some volunteer work, hopefully with the church.  I'm serious about changing my life.

I've had my first official full week of work, and fortunately I feel like I'm swimming.  Not just treading water, or even worse, drowning.  It's actually quite difficult.  VERY detail oriented, and foreign to my eyes, but I think I'm doing ok.  The girls are so nice to me and tell me I'm doing so awesome, especially for it only being my first week, but the last thing I want to do is be cocky about it.  I'm glad they think I'm doing well, it just motivates me to do even better and carry my own weight.  David also has had HIS first week, and he is kicking butt and taking names!  He's adapted quickly to the job and is competent enough to work on his own.  My husband is such a smart cookie, he could do anything he wants; it's just so difficult here in CA to find jobs.  There's so many people searching that every single little puny little job requires a license, or a certification of some sort, it's ridiculous!  Hopefully we don't have to worry about that any more, I have no plans to leave my job any time soon, and I don't think David is planning to change either:)

My sister in law is coming up next week and I'm SO excited!  I'm so blessed and fortunate that I get along with my in-laws every bit as great as I do my immediate family.  I look forward to spending time with my SIL just like I would my actual sister.  She will be here for almost a week, and it works out that we will get to spend plenty of time together:)  She's flying into the Sac airport which is not far at all.  It's a great airport.  David and I both job hunted there, but couldn't find anything.

I got up super early all last week to do T25 before work, and I will do so again this week.  I'm getting in the exercise, I just have to get my eating back under control.  I've fallen into the "sweet cereal" trap for dessert, and I'm eating way too late at night.  We do dinner around 7ish usually, but I'm then eating a bowl of cereal around 10 and that's what's causing my weight gain.  That and the 20 Ritz crackers I sneak in during the day.  I just have to slap myself mentally upside the head and not sabotage all the hard work I did last year.  Accountability!  Like I said, giving myself 3 weeks to get it together before I go back to posting "fat" pictures on the blog, so hopefully y'all won't be subjected to that again!  Hope everyone has a good week, I'm planning to :)

We're here!!

Metropolis, home of Superman!

Viva Las Vegas!  This is all 6 of us:)

Somewhere in a desert ...

Home, sweet home!

It is hard to believe I'm officially LIVING in the big, beautiful state of California!  The days have been sunny and blue, the weather has been DIVINE, and amazingly enough, I'm loving apartment living.  I really was unsure whether or not I would like it.  Lack of privacy, lots of noise, living somewhere other people had lived previously ... it just seemed like a great big step backwards from owning a house.  But ... it's pretty cool.  First of all, the place was SPOTLESS when we moved in.  Not a blemish on a wall, not a cobweb to be seen, sparkling bathrooms ... when we rented a house years ago right after I got married, it was GROSS.  I mean, we were cleaning while we were trying to move in, and it was AWFUL.  Now, here we were trying to stuff 10lbs of mud in a 3lb bag, but at least we weren't having to paint/dust/fix stuff while we were at it!

The good thing is I got rid of a LOT of stuff.  I mean, we threw away tons of crap before we even left, and as I was unpacking here, threw away MORE crap:)  When we started loading up the moving van, the hubs was seriously worried everything wouldn't fit.  Like, he was really freaking out about it!  But, because he is a wizard at the game of Tetris, it all fit, and we made our way west!  What an experience.  My in-laws went with us and drove our truck.  We pulled the car behind the moving van.  Little dog rode in the van, big hairy dog rode tethered in the back of the truck.  She did GREAT until we hit Nevada with the literal 121 degree temps.  At that point, we pulled her big, furry butt into the truck with us, and squeezed her into the floorboards with all of us 4 people and all our stuff.  It was NUTS how cramped we were the entire time!  But we made it happen:):)

I was honestly surprised that the Vegas heat didn't go away at night.  I truly thought the temps would go down to the 60's or so.  Not there!  It got down to around 95.  Wow.  I have never experienced that kind of heat, and I don't care to experience it again!  Next time we head there, it will NOT be in the dead of summer.  Rifle, Colorado was a little hidden treasure that I would LOVE to see again.  It's just outside of Vail, and is so raw and beautiful, but not as touristy as some of the other places.  Gorgeous!  The Rockies would have been fun to drive had it NOT been for that danged moving van.  That thing was affected by the altitude, and the weight.  It was driving so badly, David had to unload the car, and I had to drive the car through the mountains.  We STILL had to chug along at about 30 mph, but at least we didn't blow an engine, phew!  Speaking of blowing an engine, I was definitely worried about tires.  God was with us, though, and we actually made it 2800 miles with OUT blowing any tires.  Thanks to the hub's vigilance, though, we ALMOST did blow 2 on the trailer.  We had stopped in St. Louis Missouri to sightsee at the arch, and he glanced down at the back trailer tires.  Both back tires were in seriously bad shape.  One had a huge flat spot, and the other seemed to be separating, so we called Penske, they sent a mobile repair unit within an hour, and they were quickly and with no hassle replaced.  Even though the van was loud, cumbersome, and had a crap engine when it came to "pulling the mountains", I would recommend the company again.  Great price, great customer service!  We took time to stop at all the rest areas in each state to get pictures with Piney the pine cone, as well as some cool family pics.  We never plan to make that trek again, so we had to document for sure!  It was exhausting, it was stressful, but at times it was pretty cool.

It's now Thursday, we REALLY began to unload boxes last Saturday.  We arrived late Tuesday evening, unloaded the van, then returned the van Wednesday morning.  We then took day trips to the Avenue of the Giants, Lake Tahoe, and San Francisco.  The in-laws had never been west of Alabama before, so we tried to squeeze in as MUCH as possible on this trip!  It was exhausting to drive 5 hours one way after we'd spent 5 days driving across the country, but hindsight is 20/20.  In the end, I think it was worth it!  It was great to see the sights again, and to witness the in-laws' shock and awe.  Saturday morning, we took them to the airport, and then came back home and began to demolish the towering stack of boxes.  AND to put back together every little dinky piece of furniture we'd had to take apart.  Wow.  What a task!  I'm proud though, by Monday things were a little less chaotic, and by today things are 100% done, finished.  All that's left to do is hang a few more pictures here and there, but it's ALL DONE.  And I'm happy!  The apartment in many ways is nicer than my house was.  WAY cleaner (guess that's my fault!).  Nicer counter tops.  Better walls.  Crown moulding.  Better (and cleaner!  and no holes in it) carpet.  Better tub.  Bigger bathrooms.  Bigger 2nd bedroom.  Better washer/dryer.  WAY worse fridge though, that's a bummer:(  I loved my double door/ice and water in the door combo and we traded that for an el cheapo basic model.  Oh well, I will get over that!  We have de-junked so much that everything feels so much cleaner and fresher.  We tend towards clutter, so trying to get away from that.  We HAVE to with our limited space!

I will post some more stuff later.  This is already a novel!  I only just now today turned on my computer for the first time which is why you're seeing this blog post:)  I will get back into the swing of things, it just takes time!  Trying out having no cable TV for the first time ever ... we bought an antennae, and will be using Hulu and Net Flix.  I will let y'all know how that works for us.  So far so good ... Just grateful and thankful we're here!  Not sure why yet, but I know this is where we're supposed to be.  We will go enjoy the pool/hot tub after dinner and say our thanks as we fall into bed:)  This is an exciting adventure so far, I will keep y'all posted.  Night night you east coasters!!

Epic Awesomeness

I want to talk about this whole moving thing for a moment.  I'm not going to lie.  Since around ... Halloween of last year maybe, I've been in a weird place emotionally.  I don't know why.  Hormones?  Dissatisfaction with my life?  Depression?  I don't know.  I have NEVER been unhappy in my marriage.  Unhappy with finances, yes.  It's hard to make a living as an independent contractor when you don't work 24/7 at your business.  I have no desire to live, eat, breath, and make my job my entire life.  When I come home to my family ... I want to come home to my family!  So in the last few years, business has really dropped off and it's been impossible to pay my bills on time.  I HATE that.  It's stressful, and has probably built up and built up to the point that I snapped, I guess you could say.  My weird emotional place was not helped by a huge blow out with someone that was one of my best friends, and I just started to feel sorry for myself, feeling in general unloved, unappreciated, and just burnt out.  Even with my own PARENTS ... we had a huge fight at Thanksgiving, what the HECK was going on?

The hubs and I went on our west coast trip last Spring Break, and it was the Best Time Ever.  We enjoyed it more than anything we've done!  It was so wonderful.  Around January, after all the fights with friends and family ... and the struggling to make ends meet ... we began to talk about actually moving to the West Coast. I've tried multiple times over the past few years to pick up a part time job in addition to my teaching to try and supplement our income, but it was impossible with my schedule.  And just to QUIT, to walk away from Joyce, and my teaching job I've had for 10 years with all my amazing clients ... seemed wrong.  And in a weird way, I began to feel "trapped" in my life.  On one hand, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my life.  Great hours, great kids, doing what I love.  But on the other hand, there was stress and uncertainty not only with money concerns, but with keeping my job in general!  People have NO idea the roller coaster I've ridden over the time I've done what I do, and I'm just ready to get off, really.  So, I am!  Go big or go home, that's always been my motto.  If I'm going to take the step to walk away from a life I've built for myself, a business that even though was dwindling, was filled with LOYAL and long time clients, and my first home that I've even owned ... I am going to do it in a BIG way.  My husband and I are so excited to turn this page, and to basically start over in a completely new place, on the other side of the country.  Is it crazy?  YES!  But everything is falling into place.  God works in such mysterious ways, and he put this seed in our minds to plant, and water, and now to watch it grow.  I need to be a CA resident for a year before I'm considered a resident, so I plan to enroll in UC Davis next year and go to nursing school.  I'm planning to work as a pharmacy tech starting out, that's one of the jobs I've tried to get over the years, but it's never worked out.  I do NOT plan to teach right now.  MAYBE the opportunity will arise again to get back into it; but STRICTLY on a part time basis.  An extra money type of thing, if you will.  I refuse to count on contracting out in any way to pay my bills ever again.  "Real", steady, and non 1099 jobs pay the bills better.  They may pay a little bit less initially, but the steady never changing income and the tax refund makes it all worth it!

So, there it is.  The "WHY?".  Lots of people have asked, genuinely trying to understand.  It's so hard to explain, I hope I've done an ok job of it.  At the end of the day, this is absolutely a walk of faith.  I am trusting in God to guide this path we're taking, and I believe this will further strengthen my marriage and relieve some of the stress because I believe with ALL my heart and soul our job situation is going to be amazing.  What they will end up being in the long run, I don't know, but I believe our life is going to improve beyond even OUR wildest dreams!

Back to reality

Well.  Once again, we had a completely amazing trip to the West Coast.  We left Thursday a week ago, and flew into McCarren airport, which is in Las Vegas.  We stayed in the New York New York casino, which was pretty cool.  The shower head was AWFUL, but the room was nice:)  We went out that evening after dinner, and in the interest of walking off our dinner trekked about 6 miles down the strip!  My poor hubby; he's not used to all that walking:)  We went into the MGM Grand/Venitian/Ceasar's Palace/Bellagio/Mirage. We went through a bunch of the shops/malls this time and got to walk through a Peter Lik art gallery, which was AWESOME!

Upon waking, we hopped in the car and drove Southwest to Carlsbad, CA.  Carlsbad is about 30 mins north of San Diego.  We stayed in a resort right across the street from the ocean called the Tamarack.  It too had a sucky shower head, agh!  Lol.  We had dinner right there next door, then went out once again to walk in downtown Carlsbad, which is a really cool little beach town.  Everyone ... and I mean, EVERYONE was either running, or riding a bike:)  The Ironman triathalon was in town for the following day, so we got out of there Saturday and headed to downtown San Diego.  We walked through the city (which was a MUCH bigger city than I'd anticipated), and had lunch outside at a place called Nicky Rottens, which was neat.  I had my very first chili burger; I cut it in half and ONLY ate half of it;)  We purchased a few souveniers for family members, then went back to Carlsbad.  We again walked into town, had dinner at an italian restaurant, then headed out to the beach to walk in the Pacific Ocean.  Let me tell y'all; it was NOT warm.  The entire time, I had been wearing jeans, a long sleeved T, and a light jacket and was perfectly comfortable.    The water was ALMOST cold enough to make my legs numb, but not quite:)

Sunday morning we began to trek up towards San Francisco.  The goal was to hit the Pacific Coast Hwy (Hwy 1) so we could enjoy the breathtaking views.  Of course, that means tight, twisty turns following along the craggy, cliff lined coast so after driving something like 6 hours, we began to look for a hotel.  If you've ever traveled along the Hwy 1 ... you will know that in many places there is NOTHING.  Nothing other than big green hills, and the ocean.  No gas stations, no restaurants, no nothing.  We used our trusty iPhones to figure out what was around us, and booked a B & B in Carmel.  Carmel is right on the ocean, old, tiny, and twisty.  None of the places in Carmel have actual ADDRESSES.  Everything is "At the corner of A and B".  So with a small bit of difficulty, we were able to locate the Wayfarer Inn.  I admit, I was a little nervous because I'd read some reviews of the place after we'd booked it, and not all of them were favorable.  What we found, though, was charming!  Great wifi, HUGE room with a fireplace, HUGE windows, big comfortable bed.  Loved it!  Since Sunday was Easter, many of the eateries and shops were closed in Carmel, so we walked to one of the only open restaurants and had to eat inside because of a light rain.  It was dark after dinner, so we went straight back to our room and hung out (Carmel has no street lights).

Left pretty early and had breakfast at the Hollywood Cafe in San Francisco.  We ate there last year and it was FAB!  Parked and spent a little over an hour at Pier 39.  We saw all the Sea Lions, did some shopping, and basically walked off our breakfast:)  After leaving there, we headed north to the Sacramento area. We spent quite a bit of time walking around and driving around the area, just getting a feel for it.  Tuesday morning, we drove 2 1/2 hours north to Redding, where we went to the park at Turtle Bay, and walked over the Sundial bridge which is SO beautiful.  It was FINALLY beginning to warm up, and I was able to toss my jacket in the back seat and not worry about it:)  After lunch, we headed south again back to Sacramento proper, and drove around the city a little bit.  Just like San Diego, it was NOTHING like I'd expected.  Sac is a LOT like Savannah, GA.  Very quiet, coastal feel to it, low rise buildings, clean.  It is a beautiful little city.  Much less traffic and people than San Fran.  We spent the night in Woodland, which is just lovely:)

Wednesday, we headed back to Lake Tahoe!  We drove through the Tahoe National Forest last year by accident, and just fell in love, so we came in a different way this time and went through the El Dorado National Forest in LT on purpose.  At one point, we parked and walked down a STEEP non-trail down to the lake.  It is so clear, in some places you can see literally 67 feet down.  We took a ton of pictures and just soaked up the atmosphere.  Lovely place.  We came over into Carson City, NV (and was totally unimpressed), then drove south ... back to Las Vegas.  We actually didn't expect to do that.  We had 2 FULL days now in Vegas and I was a little concerned we'd be bored.  Haha, I needn't have worried!  Thursday morning we headed up to Red Rock Canyon ... Gorgeous!  Spent a few hours there, then went and visited Las Vegas Motor Speedway (did I mention hubby and I are NASCAR fans?).  Drove back up to the strip and parked at New York New York and had dinner at the same restaurant we'd eaten at a week earlier, then went back out and walked the strip again.  We just did a LOT less walking this time!  Friday, we found another vegas gem, the Valley of Fire State Park.  WOW!  Amazingly beautiful place.  Valley of Fire was a little further out than Red Rock Canyon, but it was worth the drive.   We got out and hiked one of the trails, doing a little "off roading" over some rocks.  Headed over to Hoover Dam and walked over a bridge with a great view of the dam.  We actually did the dam tour last year, so this time we just stayed afar and enjoyed the views.  Turned our car back into the airport, then bunked down in our hotel room the rest of the evening.  We had to get up at 4:00 the next morning in order to make our 6:15 flight back to Atl, so we repacked and prepared to return to reality.

GREAT trip, LOVE the left coast.  It was so relaxing to have no agenda, no schedule ... and dare I say, no child.  He stayed home with his grandparents.  This was literally the first time since our HONEYMOON nearly 14 years ago that it was just hubby and I.  No kid, no dogs, no inlaws, no friends.  Just us.  It was great!  Can't wait to get back!