Before we left, I also painted another surf board for our boss Blake. It kept me sane while we waiting for the date of when we were leaving.
As of yesterday, I finally unpacked the last box. All of the decorations and pictures aren't organized, and my painting supplies lie all over the spare bedroom and our files are still skidiwompas (mmm I'm convinced there's no real spelling for that word). BUT-- the main things are all in place and organized.
Since we left Hawaii on July 20th, we have been super busy. The first few days we stayed in Oceanside with Matt and Amanda (thank you). The first stop after getting off the plane was a good old Mexican breakfast burrito :) After a few days there, we traveled to St. George where the Smith family girls trip was taking place. We stopped in for a night and hung out with family we hadn't seen in quite a while, and were able to go see a play at Tuacon. After St. George, Lisa, Cole and I caravanned (sort of-- Lisa beat us by about an hour!) up to American Fork where we stayed with her, Logan and Addie for what was supposed to be 4 days, but turned into 8. Thanks Ken Garff of Orem. Although you suck a little, at least we got to stay in Utah longer! We bought a new truck to replace the truck we sold before leaving for Hawaii. His name is Atlas. We needed the truck in order to pack up all of our gear and head to California. More on the trailering situation later.
While in Utah we took advantage of each day. We spent time with as many people as we could. Of course we saw Lisa and Logan. Cole and I were introduced to my niece for the first time and spent some quality time getting more Mexican food with Leslie and Adam. Breakfast and a gun show with my whole crew which I will highlight with a photo. There were plenty of barbeques and dinners out with friends and family. I don't think I have a photo with my favs, the Huntington's :( I will regret that.
After the week long visit, it came time to leave. Our truck was finally ready and we'd rented a dolly and a uhaul in order to transport all of our belongings. The set up went like this: Me driving the new truck with the dolly hooked up behind towing the Maxima. Cole driving the uhaul and towing a 23 foot trailer. Yikes! It was 60 mph the whole way to Bakersfield. So big surprise when the first leg of the trip to St. George took over 6 hours. Ugh. Pent up anxiety had us running to pizza and breadsticks once we reached our hotel and I couldn't stop waking up in the middle of the night to make sure no one was messing with the whole of our earthly possessions outside. Morning began the remainder of the long journey to Bakersfield. We began with breakfast at Denny's and put off starting the drive for as long as we could justify the distraction. But eventually we began. Slow and steadily. Once we hit California, it was 55 mph, and for the last hour and a half we were mostly on a very small country highway. Yuck. When we came over the mountains though, I was surprised at how pretty the farmlands were compared to how I imagined this dry desert town. At least I could imagine us finding plenty of places to dirt bike. When we pulled into Bakersfield, we couldn't just go grab dinner and head to the hotel. We had to stow away all our crap and return the Uhaul. So we head to the storage unit. Watching Cole back that trailer up in to a long storage unit was super impressive. Such talent. So happy to be married to man who can get crap done! The day ended with Mexican food and sleep at our hotel (home for a week). We made it safely.
Well, I may have thought the driving was done at this point. Not so. That arrival began days more of driving around neighborhoods, to realtors offices, property management companies and rental properties. Exhausting! I finally found us a place that is perfect. It's a lot like our home in American Fork but with 3 bedrooms on the first floor and no basement. Ideal for moving in with only Cole and I carrying all of the furniture. For the past week and a half, we have been unpacking and organizing the house. Our last box was unpacked yesterday and Cole has begun to build temporary shelves in the garage. Surprised? He even has a spot for the trailer behind a locked gate on the side of the house. He's pretty happy with this house. The bathroom, kitchen and bedroom are huge, which makes me super happy. And for the first time since October, we are sleeping in our own bed. A real bed. Not just a memory foam pad on the floor. Surprisingly comfortable, but still not a real bed. It also feels nice and homey with a surf board painting of Hawaii.
Since we arrived, I have started job hunting. With each day, the search gets more and more serious. I need a job! Mostly just so that I don't go crazy. I stay busy every day, but if I'm not providing monetary value, I am not satisfied. Looking for a job is pretty tough. Each application can take so long, depending on the company, and a lot of positions require assessments and tests. My laptop and I are becoming good friends.
Cole's birthday was this past weekend, and it was full of adventure. We went down to Oceanside to stay with Matt and Amanda and were joined by Cole's parents and Adrienne and Tyler. Kids were all present as well. Cole was able to jet ski, which of course made me jealous! We went out to dinner with Matt and the kids the first night. Which ended with dessert that had sour cream for whip cream... what? Exactly. That only begins to tell the story of how terrible that server was that night. The next day was Sierra's birthday, ending with Olive Garden for everyone. Sunday, was Cole's birthday. I took him to get his favorite breakfast, banana crunch french toast at Beach Break.
He got a gun cleaning kit from me, as well as a bag of tasty treats. The rest of the day we hung out with family and let Mimi cook a delicious dinner finished off with homemade ice cream cake. Cole and I left the next morning, but not before he went jet skiing and we had Mexican breakfast burritos. Oh, and more cake!
The latest news is that Cole will be leaving for Maryland for a week to several weeks. We are heading to the house boat this weekend and then he might take a red eye out Sunday night, or head out on Monday. For the moment, Cole will manage the Maryland office until they can get a new OM out there. I plan on visiting over labor day for 5 days, but will mostly be staying here so that I can continue to search for a job, and also have access to a car and the gym. If I stayed locked up out there, I think I would be worse off than being lonely here. Hopefully Cole will be able to come back soon.
