What an adventure it's been too. I look back on when we made the decision to take this journey and I say to myself, what were we thinking??!! But, it's been a great experience on so many different levels.
Trying to recap this journey could go on forever but I think of it on 3 levels: Things we learned, things we'll miss and things we can't wait to leave behind. :)
Things we learned:
- I learned what an amazing man and father Greg is. I had a lot of work travel while out here and Greg was amazing at being the stay-at-home dad w/ no friends or family to rely on. I see such a special bond between him and Carson. It truly is amazing to see this between a father and his child.
- I learned that our marriage could become even stronger.We had to rely on each other, every single day - during good times, bad times, happy times and sad times.
- I learned that we can raise a child on our own! Carson was just 5 months old when we moved and now he's a non-stop, crazy, wild, talking, running everywhere 2 yr old!
- I learned how to cook. With no friends or family and a little one that goes to bed at 8pm, we found ourselves in the kitchen, experimenting with new recipes! Open a bottle of wine and thow on some good tunes - that's what many of our Friday and Saturday nights turned into...and it was so much fun!
- I learned we need to be outside more. Of course it's easier to do here w/ the great weather but we have sworn to do a better job of being outside....even if it's turning off the tv for the evening to sit on the patio and watching Carson play or walking to the grocery store for those few items versus driving less than a mile to get there.
- We learned to travel with a little one! Had we not made the trip out here, I just know we would have never gotten on a plane or taken a trip w/ Carson. This forced us to and I'm so glad we did...we can go anywhere now! Well, as long as it's within a few hours of a plane ride.
- I learned it's hard to work in an office with 2 people. I'm a social person and like being around a lot of people. I learned that you have to work twice as hard to stay in touch w/ your coworkers back in Dallas - believe it or not, they are not all sitting around hoping that I'm doing ok out here. I learned it's really hard to make cold calls for a year but when you do get that meeting booked or that new client, it's time to celebrate!
Things we'll miss:
- The thing I'm going to miss the most is our Saturday and Sunday walks to breakfast. We love going to The Yellow Vase to have breakfast on the patio - a vanilla latte for me, caramel latte for Greg and a waffle w/ whipped cream and strawberries for Carson! After breakfast, we head to the beach for a walk and either stop to play at the park or play in the sand on the beach for awhile.
- We'll miss the amazing weather. Average temps in the 70s, no humidity...yes please! Although, I do look forward to having 4 seasons again. Well...I could do without the 100+ degree temps during the Dallas summers.
- I will miss seeing the ocean everyday. On the flip side, I will also miss seeing the mountains too. What an amazing view we have from our house....to the left the ocean and to the right the mountains.
- Rude people. Don't get me wrong, not everyone out here is rude but there is definitely a large population of rudies (not sure if that's a word but I like it). For example, they don't say hi when you walk by them (doesn't matter where....hallway at work, on the street, in a coffee shop), they don't hold elevator doors, even when you make eye contact and ask them to hold it, they honk in less than half a second after the light turns green....I think you get the idea. It is definitely a "me me me" mentality. After awhile my theory was, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. That's when Greg would refer to me as "LA Bonney"!
- No air condition in the house. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have some fresh air blow through the house from time to time but on those rare days when it got in the upper 80s or 90s...holy cow. We would have given anything to turn on the AC.
