For my first blog post, I’ll start by describing the absolute madness and excitement surrounding a move from one coast filled with all the friends and family we’ve ever known, to a coast full of new opportunities and adventure. It’s been almost 5 months since I’ve been here, 6 for my other half. So how did we get here?

That other half I mentioned, happens to play soccer for a profession, so it was only a matter of time before it lead us somewhere new. Within 48 hours of receiving an offer, he was off- on an airplane, gone. [Sidenote: we happened to had just moved into a newer apartment in Pasadena, CA a short 3 weeks BEFORE this call-literally just got settled, as in all the art and pictures up on the wall, boxes unpacked and tossed away kinda thing, so  yea, to say that move was short-lived wouldn’t be enough.]  So here I was, just having finished a move and headed straight into another one, solo. Luckily for me, I didn’t feel all that alone and had PLENTY of help! It took me the entire 3 weeks to get everything settled and organized with what would stay behind in storage (aka the Smith family and Franco family residencies), what would be packed in my car and later shipped to Miami, and what would fit in 2 large suitcases (I’ll be honest, one suitcase was basically most of my shoes), and one carry on backpack. For those of you who realize you can take 2 carry ons on a plane, you’re right, but my second carry on happened to be my darling baby kitten, who actually fared better on the flight than I did.

So three weeks literally seemed like FOREVER. I think due to the combination of being away from him for so long and the never-ending nights of getting off work to spend another 8 hours going back to work packing our apartment. But we did it and now we are so so so happy here in Florida! So now, I just want to take the time to shout out some of the people who kept me sane and helped in ways we will never be able to repay.

First, our families. Holy cow. What a burden they took on. As previously mentioned 6 weeks before I left California, they had already helped us move, and then bam! Deja vu! To my family- driving an hour and a half 3 days in a row and packing three cars full of boxes to store in the garage, THANK YOU. For three days while my mom cleaned my kitchen, bathroom, living room, and bedroom, my dad, sister, and I walked things back and forth from apartment to cars- heavy things too, like my bed, dresser, kitchen appliances, etc AND THEN my dad got home to unload it all by himself. He’s Super Man for sure. Special thank you to my sister who slept on the floor with me multiple nights before my big send off, and for keeping majority of my things warm because without a doubt she’s wearing the clothes and shoes I left behind. My family is amazing for not only helping with the move, but for supporting our move ever since. Same goes for the other half of my family. Thank you to his mom, dad, aunts, and uncles for coming with a moving truck and loading up couches, dressers, and bookshelves (all things impossible for this girl to carry, let alone move!) And again, mom and dad for storing our things at your house 🙂 Without our families there is just no way we would have been able to handle this move. I am grateful everyday for not only their physical help during those weeks, but for their emotional guidance and support to this day. Just thinking about how much they do for us, makes me cry. I cannot tell them enough how grateful and appreciative I am of everything they do for us. Mom, dad, Amilee, Deanna, and Jeff, you guys are absolutely AMAZING, thank you.

We love you.

To our friends, the support you’ve given us has always been amazing and was just SUPER SIZED with this particular announcement. I’ll try to be brief here with some particular people (only using their first names). To Katie,  the girl standing by my side (literally) the moment I knew we were moving to Florida. What did I do? I fell to the ground. What did she do? Immediately respond with excitement and happiness, thank you for your constant support and positivity and for teaching me how to sell my things 🙂  Cynthia, no one made me laugh harder during my weaker/stressed out moments than her. When I called her freaking out about my sister’s pretty awful reaction, she laughed with me and assured me that everything would work out and be fine with time. Thank you always for your advice and help, even if it’s just quoting ‘The Office’ with me 🙂 Vanessa, I  thank you for my sanity. And let me mind you, she kept MY sanity and she was the pregnant one! You made the whole move seem so easy and effortless to me and I needed that. Natalie, for continuing to check on my family while I’m far away and for taking me to Disneyland when you knew I was about to have a nervous breakdown. Stephanie, for your love and for reminding me that if I’m afraid of something, I should absolutely do it, you constantly make me feel like I can do anything, you make this 5’2″ girl feel 10 feet tall. Kristy, thank you for the nonstop alligator updates and pictures that always make me laugh.  To everyone else who has thought of us and prayed for us, THANK YOU!

Lastly, the love of my life! There is no-one on the planet I would rather take this journey  of life with than him. For every moment I was stressed and afraid, it was only because I was left in California without him for so long trying to manage. Had I not had to overcome that obstacle, the entire process would have been a breeze, probably because he would have done all the heavy lifting 🙂 And now here we are, in our new little piece of heaven, with nothing but sunshine in our pocket.

With love,

Amanda