This was one of the hardest moves I have ever had to deal with in the physical sense (I will spare you the details of my being violently ill the night before/morning we had to pack the truck, which rendered me near useless), and we never would have gotten everything done if it wasn't for our friends and family in both San Diego and Santa Barbara helping us. Literally, that truck would've never gotten packed or unpacked so efficiently, our last place would've never gotten so clean, and I would've brought up a lot of stuff I didn't really need anymore.
Most stuff is unpacked and in its proper place (again, thanks to some good friends of ours; I was especially thankful to have my kitchen clean and organized by the end of move-in day). The bedroom is still a disaster with bags of clothes and other random odds and ends strewn everywhere, but we just haven't had the time or energy to tackle it yet. We were so physically drained at the end of the move and we've hit the ground running ever since. When we woke up the morning after the move, Stuart thought I was dead for a moment and checked to see if I was still breathing (true story). I don't remember the last time I was so physically exhausted that I couldn't even move. And the funny thing is, once I had recovered from that, with all the walking we've been doing (in clunky walking shoes I haven't worn since my retail days), I ended up with shin splints and knee issues (splints are gone, and knees are thankfully slowly getting better).
Physical ailments aside, I'm so glad to finally be back in Santa Barbara. I think it's beginning to sink in that, oh, we're not on an extended vacation, we're home. Like, actually and truly home. A year ago I would have thought living up here was just a pipe dream. But things are slowly working themselves out. We have jobs, we have a roof over our head, we can buy food... and we get to do life in Santa Barbara.
I walked the UCSB commencement stage five years ago. Leaving Santa Barbara after college was one of the hardest things I had to do. I never imagined I'd get to come back. I mean, look at this:
I get to live here again? It wasn't just a once-in-a-lifetime, only-for-college thing? Is this real life?
I'm also incredibly thankful that we have some dear friends that still live in the area. I don't know how we could've handled the move and life in general these last couple of weeks without them. Something I'm noticing, though, now that we're away from the friends and network we had in San Diego, is that I will, in fact, have to go out and make new friends. And since I work from home, and church community group is on hold until fall, I'm actually going to have to go out of my way to meet people--which, if you know me, is not exactly one of my strongest traits. So that's a challenge on my immediate horizon. I've got my eyes and ears open for opportunities to connect with people; I just hope I have the courage to get out of my comfort zone and put myself out there.
Copper still seems a little anxious. I think it's going to take her a while to get used to our new home, and I'm hoping against hope that she'll eventually NOT bark every time someone walks by our door or talks within earshot of our window. But that's something she did at our old place, so we'll see.
Something I'd like to get once finances are more settled is a bike. Not a road bike, but just something to get me around town or the beach and up the occasional hill without inducing a heart attack. I feel like once I have a bike (and a bike lock), getting around will be SO much easier. We're trying to minimize our use of the car (for lots of reasons), and Santa Barbara is very pedestrian- and bike-friendly. Places that take me a while to get to on foot will be much more accessible by bike.
Stuart and I are both really excited about this next phase of our lives. I'll be sure to post about our adventures (and Copper's adventures, too!).
Anyway, my brain is shutting down on me, so I better leave it there. Goodnight!
