A little over a month ago, I wrote my most recent post, where I shared that I would be moving to California. I made it out here two weeks ago, this past Friday. The past three weeks of my life have been an absolute whirlwind, but things are finally settling down, and I am getting back into the daily grind.
On June 10th, I flew out of Cincinnatti and landed in Denver, where my beautiful girlfriend greeted me. We shared a long embrace at the airport, knowing that the long-distance stage of our relationship had come and gone. All I had with me was a suitcase and a carry-on full of clothes, and hope and love in my heart.
We spent the next few days in Denver packing up her apartment. We took our time packing things up, going through old yearbooks, and playing games she had packed up along the way. We made a rather tedious situation fun and joyous. We spent time with her family as well. We went out with her sister and brother-in-law for drinks, went to a going away party with just her immediate family, and got thoroughly beaten in Scrabble by her father.
We left Colorado on Wednesday, June 15th, and started our 1,300-mile journey to a new life together. We drove her Jeep Wrangler, and her parents drove the Uhaul with all her belongings. We split up the trip pretty evenly; from Denver, we drove about 450 miles to Albuquerque; from there, we drove another 450 miles to Tuscon, her hometown, and on the final day, we drove the remaining 400 miles to our new home. The drive was easy and not to mention quite beautiful.
Making the trip in three days allowed us to make an adventure of it. We stayed in Airbnbs in Albuquerque and Tuscon. We tried two fantastic vegan restaurants in both cities. In Tuscon, Liz gave me a tour of where she grew up. I saw her childhood homes, elementary schools, and the park where she broke her wrist when she was eight. I got to know her even better being in her hometown with her. Being in a place where you spent a lot of time but haven’t been to in a while brings back a flood of memories. Those memories were shared with me left and right as we traversed the streets of Tuscon. I loved every minute of it.
On Friday the 17th, we arrived in San Diego. We got here at around 3:00 pm PST and started unloading the Uhaul. After three hours, everything was inside the apartment, and everything started to become all the more real. I was doing this. We were doing this.
The next day we went to Ikea and started looking for furniture. I kept getting bombarded with moments like that in which it kept hitting me that this was my life. Just eight days earlier, I was a midwest boy driving past corn and soy fields everywhere I went, and all of a sudden, now I am on the west coast looking at palm trees everywhere with the most beautiful woman in the world at my side.
We’ve had an eventful first two weeks here in San Diego. We pretty much have our entire apartment set up. I’ve started my new job, and Liz is preparing to begin law school in the fall. There is still quite a bit for us to get done, but having each other makes everything much less overwhelming.
With my new job, it will be hard to commit to posting on the blog as much as I had before moving, but I will try to get a new post put up reasonably regularly. The podcast is on hold temporarily as well for the same reason. Speaking of my job, I have started working with SunRun, the biggest Residential Solar Company in the United States. I will be a sales representative for them here in the San Diego area. I’m incredibly blessed and honored to be a part of the SunRun team, and I’m looking forward to my career as a SunRunner.
We have two weeks down, and who knows how long to go. This chapter of my life is going to be the best one yet. I want to make every day an adventure and try to improve upon who I was the day before. Follow the blog for updates on life here in California and tips about health, fitness, sales, and life along the way. Have a happy and safe Fourth of July, everyone.
Footy Foster 