2005/2006 California Girl

In August 2005, I packed my car with some clothes and drove to California to stay with Mrs. J and see if San Diego was the place for me. After deciding to stay, I found myself driving across Death Valley yet again with my friend CK in a hot moving van filled to the brim with my stuff. My first several months in SD were surprisingly harder than I expected. Finding a job seemed nearly impossible and there were many times that I was ready to pack up and leave. I hardly knew anyone and without a job, I was bored and lonely. California seemed crowded and overwhelming compared to the laid-back attitudes of Boulder. I was used to living in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood in suburbia, not surrounded by traffic and noise.

Shortly after I arrived in San Diego, a guy named Chris that I knew through friends from Boulder called proposing that we find an apartment together. He was moving to SD for grad school and hadn't had any success finding a roommate. We found a 2 bedroom, 2 bath place just outside of downtown and moved in, practically strangers. It was one of the best decisions that I made. We ended up becoming fast friends and that helped a lot with the adjustment to California. Our apartment was a great set-up for platonic girl/guy roommates and our only issue was the jackass who lived below us and complained semi-frequently about noise. Since we weren't having parties, the main noise was the two of us jus t walking around like normal. Here's a thought: if you don't want anyone making noise above you, don't live on the bottom floor of an apartment building. Ironically this same moron drove a fancy red corvette with an extremely sensitive alarm system prone to going off early on the weekends and had a dog that barked almost constantly when he wasn't home. Seriously?! And yet he felt the right to complain to us!

About a year after I moved to California, I met my future husband. We were introduced at a group gathering by Mrs. J and her hubby. Little did I know that a short year later we would be expecting a child. And now here we are all married and stuff. It's amazing how what once seemed like such an impulsive decision to move now makes so much sense. A place that once felt so foreign is now home and people that were practically strangers are now so dear to me. I give a lot of credit to Mrs. J for convincing me to move here and for helping me not to just pack up and leave when it was hard at first. You're a good friend, Mrs. J and I'm lucky to have you!