I know, I know... it's been almost 3 weeks since we left Utah. So, why haven't we put up any photos yet? Well, I have a few excuses: 1. We didn't have internet for the first week and a half. 2. As you will see, we've been unpacking and so all of the photos would just be of boxes and stuff lying around. We are making great progress. And, if you are friends with us on Facebook, I'm sure you've seen some of the things we've posted there.
Anyway, here is the beginning of a new adventure...
A NEW CHAPTER
13 March 2012, 8:00 AM: The alarm goes off and we wake up knowing the movers are coming any moment. The phone rings and it is the driver saying he is running behind because his truck was in the shop. They show up about 10:30 AM and within just a few hours our apartment is completely empty. Watching these guys carry the boxes out of the apartment was amazing. They easily carried 3 boxes down 3 flights of stairs and into the truck. I tried it and didn't do so hot (with empty boxes so I didn't break anything). Once they are gone we finish up some cleaning and jump in the car and head to Provo to see my friend Dan and his fiance, then finish the days drive to St. George.
14 March 2012, time unknown: Leave it to us to find an abandoned water park in the middle of nowhere. I've seen it before as I've driven to and from CA on trips in the past, but never stopped. As we go by we contemplate turning around. Not knowing when we'll be making a return trip by car we flip around at the next exit and head back to make a little detour.
14 March 2012, late afternoon: We pull in to Aliso Viejo, California... our new home awaits. Good thing we brought clothes and an air mattress with us because our stuff wasn't going to show up for another 2 days. Regardless, welcome to 25K... the new Gasser pad!
16 March 2012, 10:00 AM: The movers show up and just as quickly as they removed everything from our old apartment, the place it in the new one. The unpacking (and 2nd dejunking of the move) begins. We quickly unpack the most essential things, and get lost in all the boxes and materials. We decide to save many of the boxes as we are sure we'll be moving again as we don't want to live in an apartment forever.
19 March 2012, 8:45 AM: We walk into the DealerSocket offices in San Clemente, as that will be our place of employment for a while. Adri was offered a contracted position to work on a rather large and difficult project, so we get to commute to and from work together every day. We actually really enjoy it as in the past I was on the road so much that we didn't get that kind of time to talk. Adri has really come to love the company, and although her job isn't the most exciting thing, she comes to like where we work and who we work with more and more every day. Twice a day we go on a walk around the block. It is a mile all the way around and takes us about 15 minutes or so depending on our speed. Lots of people at the office do either that, or go on runs or something during lunch. It's great to see all these active people all the time and be allowed to take those kinds of breaks and such.
One Wednesday we head to the beach in San Clemente for lunch. We couldn't do this in Utah. We may make it a weekly tradition, weather permitting. Speaking of the weather, it has always been warm, but we've had 3 rain storms since being here... so it isn't always perfect. But, we like it however it is.
The more time we spend in San Clemente the more we come to love the area as a whole, and the more we see that San Clemente is where we would love to end up when we eventually buy a home (that will take longer than originally planned here). In fact, Adri told me the other day, "I think want to stay here!" and how much she loves it. Works for me!
We've also done a little exploring of the area around where we live. We can walk to the grocery store, theater, a ton of restaurants, home improvement stores and just about anything we need. We are 30 minutes from Disneyland (we've already been there). About an hour from San Diego (not sure because we haven't been there yet), and 15 minutes from Aliso Beach (to name one of the many). We went down there today and enjoyed the tide coming in with 8 ft waves, if not bigger. We watched a couple get over taken by a wave that crashed off the beach (it didn't wash them into the ocean, just got them really wet). And then it rushed up the beach and we frantically tried to move our stuff but it ended up moving it for us. This was after already moving 2 other times higher up the beach.
Anyway, here is a picture of Aliso Beach and 1 of many seagulls that just sat watching the mesmerizing pattern of the waves with us.
(I didn't take this picture. This is low, calm tide.)
We are super happy to be where we are, ready for the adventure, and excited for whatever happens now. And of course, we are excited to share that with anyone who decides we are somewhat interesting enough to read our blog.
