California Dreaming (Relocation 1 of 6)

When I met Gil he told me that he had dreamed of living in San Diego since he was a kid. You see, his next door neighbor moved to San Clemente and he spent a few summers with them here. Those summers made such an impact on him that he knew it was his destiny to live here.

For me, I never really thought much about the future. When people ask me about favorites or goals or ‘ultimate anything’ I tend to need some time to answer questions that I feel are so esoteric. They always seemed like things that were so far away, or too big of a thing to have an answer because aren’t the possibilities endless? Who can really have a concrete answer…certainly, not me.

So, when my life was moved from Lousiville, Kentucky to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to San Diego, California it was because something happened and I made a decision.

The Philadelphia move was hard, but I was young and in college; so it worked out. I had moved with the rest of my family, transferred schools and started fresh. The next move, to San Diego, was a little on a whim and was way harder than the previous one. It’s so much harder to align with others when your initial common ground is a work place.

Now, let’s fast forward 16 years. Both Gil and I moved here the same month of the same year, independently. (Crazy and cool, right?) Now we are married, have a pup, two outstanding kiddos and our lives are filled with more events than we can manage, the greatest friend group I could ever ask for and our kids feel the same.

All is magic and unicorns, right?

Absolutely. Until suddenly, the 750 sq. ft. condo of 2 bedrooms and 2 baths doesn’t quite feel as spacious as it did when two people moved in, excited to live in North Park. We love our home, don’t get me wrong; it’s been 11 years and I can’t even begin to describe the amount of memories this place holds. However, eventually as parents, you start to hear this:

“I need alone time from my brother!”
“My sister was on my bed!”
(They share a room.)

“Why don’t we live somewhere with stairs?”
“Can we live somewhere with stairs?”
(We do have stairs, they are outside — that’s not the same as inside!)

If you didn’t know, this stairs thing is huge for little kids. Comically, so.

THEN, your upstairs neighbor sells her condo that’s basically the same one you live in for about half-a-mil. SAY WHAT?!

Of course, after that Gil says one weekend morning, “I’ve been thinking about how Karen sold her condo so fast for such a high price.”

That conversation ended up in us deciding we need to relocate away from San Diego. I know it’s huge and kinda staggering to hear, but it’s happening. All of us are sad to leave, yet excited for what’s to come.

SO, that’s our big new and I’ve decided to do a series about this whole process, so come back here for more news. The possibilities are endless…

Photos from our last move! From Pacific Beach to North Park in 2008. Our first place together and Gil was a new homeowner!