A Rolling Stone- Gather’s No Moss

Even though we have been officially residents of Santa Barbara for about two months now, I am still a little in denial. My time in San Diego didn’t feel quiet complete- from the moment I knew we were moving; I knew that I wasn’t ready. But then, just with any major move in life are we ever truly ready? There will never be a perfect time for anything; it’s just moving forward on the path we’ve created for ourselves.

As much as I fought it for all those weeks, the last day finally arrived. As expected, it was an emotional week at work. I’m no good with goodbyes and throw some kids into the mix and I’m a mess. Crying, hugs and emotions completely overwhelmed me. It wasn’t like we were going someplace horrible- Santa Barbara is quiet lovely. However, I just didn’t feel ready.

The dark clouds rolled over the Pacific Ocean as the waves continued to crash into Pacific Beach. Dave and I were having one last night in our first home together. In the morning our life as we knew it would once again begin again.

We had known for a few months that this move was coming but it snuck up on both of us much too quickly. Our first apartment would soon no longer be ours. I was heart broken to be leaving San Diego; I loved our first apartment and the city we first lived together in. I loved my jobs, my kids, my friends, the beach, everything. I loved San Diego and I desperately was trying to hold onto those last moments.

We loaded up the U-Haul and our vehicles, cleaned our first apartment one last time and finally pulled the door shut- locking our keys inside. The sun was just starting to rise over the mountaintops as we made our way onto Interstate-5 North. I was in my beloved Jetta, following behind Dave and the U-Haul. My mind was processing everything. Lately, life it seems has flown by at a minimum of 100mph. It felt like I had just packed all my belongings and moved down the coast from Seattle and suddenly before I could even blink, here I was moving back up the coast. Still, I knew it was the right thing for us- a rolling stone, gathers no moss. Or, so they say.

A few weeks previous, I had made this drive alone. We had visited Santa Barbara only once prior to moving. That weekend, the rain poured down the entire time so I wasn’t convinced it was quite as beautiful as everyone claimed. I was surprised how much I resisted the change. I am usually one always up for an adventure. I had always known I have wanted to travel and move around but something about this move just wasn’t settling as well as I had wished it would. I kept reminding myself, this was good for us.

Veering off the 5 slightly in Orange County, we stopped to pick up our good friend and helping hand, Jeff. He was going to help us with our move for the weekend. It was lucky for us to have an extra set of arms. Despite our apartment only being one set of stairs, the up and down hauling once we made it to Santa Barbara was exhausting. With three of us though, we had everything moved in and set up within a few hours of starting.

Settled and ready to explore our new home, I anxiously yet semi patiently look forward to this new adventure that laid ahead of us. Santa Barbara, our new home for the next few years. Like it or not we were here for adventure which we were ready to get started on right away!