Since beginning my new life in San Diego I have suddenly rediscovered the urge to blog. There are so many new sights and thoughts and things to share about. On the downside, we don't have internet at our house (except for the ocassional 5 minute spurt of catching the one very weak unprotected signal here and there). We are looking at sharing internet with our neighbors however, and if this should happen I believe a new blog may emerge - a joint authorship between my husband and myself. For the time being, and in the spirit of taking advantage of free library internet, I thought an update might be in order.
A lot has happened in the last 2 months (wait, no, 3 months, has it really been 3 months since we graduated?!). So many life changes rolled up into one. Graduating and getting married have already been covered with their own brief picture posts so I will begin the update where the last post left off.
After a fantastic wedding Michael and I spent the night in Portland and then headed to Kauai for a week long honeymoon in his parent's time share on the island. I so wish I had pictures of this beautiful week to share with you all, but alas our camera was caught by a sneaker wave and killed and we haven't been able to acess the pictures from it yet.
Next came a week long stay at my parents house where my sister, adorable nephew, brother, and brother-in-law were all present. It was again, a terrific week, beautiful to spend this time with my nearest and dearest. I treasured every moment with my nephew and sister. It was sad to leave.
But leave we did, our little green echo packed to the gills, ready to start our new Californian life. Despite a certain aversion to California that I think all Oregonians might be genetically endowed with, I knew the Lord was calling us to San Diego, and it was exciting to see what this new chapter held. We drove through the incredible Redwoods, along the coast, and finally though the desolate Central Valley before landing in Temecula, at Michael's parent's house.
We arrived in So Cal just 2 days before Michael's new job began. This time held a bit of anxiety as it involved: frantically looking for a job, Michael commuting into San Diego most days (though it's only an hour, not too bad) and us spending the night at our friend's Chaz and Rebeccas 1 or 2 nights a week. We never knew from one week to the next where we would be living or what I would be doing. It was like someone pressed the pause button right at the most suspenseful part of the movie...
...And then they hit play and everything whirred back into lightning speed. The commuting lasted about three weeks before we had an opportunity to house sit just South of the city. On the same day that the house sitting option became available I was called in for an interview. The next day I was hired. The job is not exactly what I had in mind, but I hear that finding exactly what one had in mind is quite rare. The funny part is that this job is the exact same job that Michael has - volunteer coordinating for a refugee resettlement organization through Americorps funding. (Only I'm a Vista and he's a State and National VIP, which means nothing to anyone unless they've done americorps).
My job has not started yet. I was origionally told it would start mid August, but due to annoying funding issues I won't start until the end of August.
The day I was hired for this job I switched my Craigslist search from job postings to appartment postings. There sitting in the ads was our ideal home at our ideal rental price. We went out to look at it the next day and signed the contract on the spot.
It is the most adorable little one bedroom duplex with a real life yard all to ourselves! I was hoping to post pictures here today, but I grabbed the wrong cord on the way out the door, so they are trapped inside my camera. The yard and cuteness of our home are only icing on the cake, however, in comparison to the incredible neighborhood we are in and the proximity of the house to both of our jobs (well, one of Michael's anyway, as he splits his time between two).
The nieghborhood is called City Heights, it is the neighborhood where most refugees who come into the city resettle and also has a very high Latino population. We have heard that it is supposed to be one of the more run down and "dangerous" neighborhoods in the city, however, so far I've found nothing but love for this incredibly diverse and beautiful community. I have so much more to say about it, that will have to be a post of it's own.
So that's where we are now, and life is rolling by. I suppose it feels a little like someone hit pause again as I wait for my job to start, but it's more of an intermission. Time to refocus and come back to earth before launching off again. Michael is enjoying his job. I'm getting the house all in order. We're involved with a great little Christian "intentional community" a couple neighborhoods away, and slowly but surely we're getting to know our neighbors.
And that is enough detail for one library session.
love,
Pamela
