Yoga Pants

Moving from Hanford to Huntington Beach has been a bit of a culture shock. Having spent my entire life in the Central Valley, I knew to expect some major changes. Although I've only been here for 2 weeks, here are a few of my observations.

#1: Traffic.
Major Traffic. No longer is everything in town 5 minutes away. I can't look at the # of miles on google maps and estimate the amount of time it would take to get there. I am beginning to learn not to leave the house without first checking the freeway traffic report. Also, aren't all streets supposed to run North/South or East/West? Hanford was a perfect grid of streets. Here in Huntington Beach, I am perpetually directionally confused. Somebody buy me a compass!

#2: The Great Outdoors.
Just in Huntington Beach alone, there are 71 parks equaling 752 acres of playgrounds and fun. All this in addition to being less than 5 miles away from the beach. The kids are loving it. Time to stock up on sunscreen!

#3: Mom Attire.
While spending a big chunk of our vacation time at the previously mentioned parks, I have realized that my standard wardrobe of jeans and flip flops is not adequate. Every time I have gone to the park, I have been the only mom not wearing yoga pants. EVERY TIME. THE ONLY ONE. Note to self: buy more yoga pants, do more squats.

#4: Cash Only.
Laundry, parking, toll roads. I am a person who never carries cash...ever. I only carry an emergency $20 and Mia keeps my wallet completely free of change. I have found myself scrounging for change everywhere...couch cushions, under the car seats, Jason's pockets. We need quarters for everything! P.S. Yoga pants don't have pockets for change.

#5: Options.
Too many options. In Hanford, we had a very limited amount of options for shopping, dining etc. A few more options if you wanted to travel to Visalia or Fresno. My head has been spinning with the sheer volume of stores and restaurants. It's overwhelming. I told Jason, my goal is to never eat at the same place twice. I think we could go on forever. (I better double up on the squats so I can fit into my yoga pants.)

Today is our last day of spring break. Tomorrow reality begins. Mia goes back to school and I get back to working on Maddox's programs and getting our household in order. Tomorrow we will really begin to see what Orange County has to offer us. Let the adventures begin!

The Move...

Well, we did it! Our family made the leap to Southern California!

Can you believe it???

Neither can I. I’m still in shock!

Let me tell you how it all happened…

When Jason and I met, he was living in Anaheim and I was living in Hanford. We met at a time when I was mid-semester at Fresno State and tied into a new mortgage. It was impossible for me to relocate. So after 6 months of a long-distance relationship, Jason made the sacrifice and moved to Hanford so we could be together. We agreed to spend 5 years in Hanford and 5 years wherever Jason wanted to go. Our whirlwind courtship spun even faster as we decided to quickly marry and 6 weeks later found out Mia would be joining our family. Two and a half years later Maddox came along. As he grew a little older and we began down the path of discovering his autism and seeking out treatment, our 5 year mark came and went and the plan of moving to SoCal was pushed aside.

Whenever we talked about relocating, I would look at our finances and insist that it was impossible given our debt. So a few years ago we started Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. We began a debt snowball and started paying off excess bills. We were making pretty good progress until I was laid off in March of last year. Then the idea of moving to a place more expensive seemed even more out of reach. With Maddox’s intense program, it was impossible for me to get another full time job so I began working part time from home and we eventually decided to move in with my parents for 6 months to save a little $ and pay off our last few bills.

After Christmas, Jason and I started looking around town for a small house or an apartment to rent and nothing really caught our eye. Then one day in January, Jason sat me down and told me that he wanted to discuss moving again and wanted to plan it in the next 2 or 3 years. Very much to my surprise, I blurted out, “Let’s look into doing it this summer.” I still don’t even know where that came from! We talked about the possibilities of making it happen and agreed to begin praying about it.

Not known for his patience, my husband called his old employer the very next day and had a job interview by that Friday. This is where I began to panic! “We agreed to start praying about it, not job searching!” I argued. But Jason just responded that we were not going to get anywhere unless we started taking steps.  After a major panic attack, I decided to put aside my budgets and spreadsheets, forget about MY plans and time lines and just got on my knees. I prayed for God’s provision and guidance in making this major decision. When I was finally still, I realized that I just felt peace.

My one misgiving that remained was Maddox’s program. We had such a great program in place and I hated to disrupt him. It literally all fell apart that same week. We completely lost all of our services the same week that Jason was offered a job. I asked God to make the path clear and He certainly did! So, we decided to step forward in faith and Jason took the job. Even though I was on board with the move, the kids and I couldn’t pick up and go immediately. Fortunately, wonderful family and friends provided couches for Jason to sleep on until we could find an apartment and my parents helped me keep my sanity.

It was several stressful weeks until we were able to reunite our family. There was a lot to take care of before we could move, but God carried me through it all. I witnessed His hand time after time as each matter was resolved at the perfect moment. I was so overwhelmed with appointments and paperwork to file, but managed to remain peaceful and calm through it all. We received several financial blessings during this time as well that carried us through the move and will continue to enable me to stay at home with the children for a while. We found a great apartment in Huntington Beach and are excited about our new adventure.

What a lesson learned! For the past 6 years, I have tried to plan to make this move possible and it never came to pass. I budgeted and planned and re-budgeted and saved and it always fell apart. On paper, it was just impossible. I couldn’t make it work. I finally got out of the way and let God take over and he made it all happen in less than 2 months.

Thank you Lord for your provision and for this amazing opportunity for my family. I am continually amazed how you remove the impossible and make the paths clear. Thank you for removing my doubts and fears and for your gift of peace that passes all understanding. I pray for your continued guidance as we seek out your will for our lives and for our children.

Thank you friends and family for all of your support and helping hands. We love you all so much and although we are a little farther away from some of you now, we will be back to visit soon!

More blogging and pictures to come soon!!!