California, here we are!

It has been a very eventful couple of weeks. We left Rolla on June 14th and had one last sushi lunch and spent the night with my parents in Lebanon. We officially headed out on Tuesday and stayed the night in Amarillo, TX. The next day we got to Flagstaff, AZ. On Thursday we headed up to the Grand Canyon, and we learned that it costs $25 to stare at the hole for one hour or 7 days. Rip off. But it's one of those things you have to see. We also found out on the way to the canyon that we were, in fact, not getting the puppy we were promised. So, I was quite possibly the only person crying at the Grand Canyon, but that's a rant for another day.

The pain lessened with some In-N-Out. We stopped at the first one we saw on the way into Phoenix. It was excellent. We also went to the Mills in Phoenix for some retail therapy and I got my big ass california sunglasses.

This day I was also very excited to big "cactuses" (I know it's wrong, but it's much more fun to say). They are one of those things you see in movies, but you don't really expect to see them all eight feet tall and big arms just like in Wile E. Coyote or something. It's one of the few you see as a kid that is true to life. Moral of the story: I'm easily impressed. And very tired (as you can see from the picture, adding two hours in one day is a bitch)

Friday was our shortest  day of driving, but it seemed to take the longest. Mostly we were getting a little sick of each other. I guess this is normal when you are pretty much within three feet of someone for 5 days. We did get along surprisingly well, but I think that's because we knew the prize that awaited at the end. Ahhh California.

We took a deserted (no pun intended) shortcut out of Phoenix (one I was convinced was plagued by mexican gangsters/pirates...I have no idea why) and then took "the 8" (yeah, I do that now) all the way to San Diego. We hugged the Mexico/US border most of the way, literally you could see the fence. We also went through three border patrol checkpoints, luckily they weren't at all interested in the amount of crap we were hauling and waved us through. I saw the sand dunes as soon as we got into CA, then it quickly turned into a series of mountains. Under normal circumstances it's probably a pretty cool drive, but I have to say that El Cajon has never looked more beautiful.

We've been puppysitting and housesitting in San Diego while Tim's parents are on vacation, but that time is almost up. We are moving into our apartment on Thursday. We've mostly been shopping for furniture and things for the apartment. I guess we are finally adults since we bought a TV and a mattress with an actual bed frame.

Today we went up to Fullerton because Tim had a job interview, then jetted over to San Bernardino to check out our place. It's a bit smaller than what we had in Rolla for double the price, but still not terrible for CA. We're about a mile or so from CSUSB which will be nice, but Tim will have about an hour-ish commute if he gets this job.

We also went to Ontario/Rancho Cucamonga to do some shopping. We are both pretty excited that shopping no longer has to be an "event" like when we made day trips up to St. Louis. We can just jet over to the Ontario Mills (the biggest one story mall this side of the Mississippi), Target, Ikea, Costco, etc. in about 15 minutes. This is a very new thing for me since everywhere I've ever lived has hosted Wal-Mart as a main attraction. On that note, it has now been three weeks since we have been in a Wal-Mart.

We are going to be enjoying a bit of San Diego before we head out later this week, going to a casino tomorrow (mostly for a kickass free buffet) then to a Padres game on Wednesday afternoon and sushi afterwards. It's still a little hard to comprehend that we don't have to get on a plane and fly back to Missouri at the end of the week. I'm actually adjusting to Pacific time (otherwise I would totally be asleep by then). We're also pretty excited to finally be embarking on the last leg of our journey to San Bernardino. It seemed like it was so far away, and then all of a sudden we're here making a brand new start.

I'm hoping to keep up with this (hopefully in smaller installments), but I guess I need to also be looking for a car and a job. Nonetheless, that's what's up. I apologize for the blog vomit. Thanks for reading.

Thanks for the memories.

Tim and I were getting in the car to go to Napoli's for lunch with some friends before we leave. It was one of those perfect timing moments. The song "Thnks fr th Mmrs" (Thanks for the memories - for all you people who use vowels out there) was on the radio.

To me, this pretty much blew my mind. For one, this song hasn't been popular since my freshman year of college. At the time I first heard it, it meant something so much different than it does now. Granted, the meaning of the song is something completely different from what I was interpreting in this moment. The lyrics "one night and one more time, thanks for the memories even though they weren't so great" couldn't have been any more perfect for us on our last night here in Rolla.

I was a big fall out boy fan back in the day, but now they bring back their songs just make me remember a very complicated time of my life. But who hasn't been 18 and a little disillusioned? This moment really made me realize that as much as things change, you can always remember where you've been.

So in honor of my last few hours in rolla, I want to take the time to remember a few memories from my time here.

- First and foremost, meeting Tim. When I first met him in class, he was a long haired smelly kid fresh out of football practice. My mind changed when he got a haircut and a shower and he brought me cheesecake after I busted my face and got a concussion at cheerleading practice. The next day he left me captain and a dr. pepper in his locker when we went to decorate for the game. He picked me up outside the locker rooms and we went on our first date to the park, then to Wendy's, and then back to his trailer. We watched grandma's boy but talked through the whole thing. He took me back to my car when I asked him to. He thought he blew it, but he totally didn't. I knew he was the one for me when I got back to my apartment. In some crazy aligning of the planets, three guys I had been head over heels for at some point or another in the past year or so were hanging around the hot tub of my apartment complex. None of them were even somewhat appealing to me anymore. Tim and I have been inseperable ever since.

- hanging out with sass, standing up guy, beans, fink, and even dosh at the shack. Mostly drinking and playing guitar hero and coming up with some ridiculous inside jokes about furry mouse tits and brownies. They always included me even though I was a leeching teenager. I always had fun and I am very happy to have met some actual nice guys that weren't out to always get me into trouble. I also owe them a decent amount of alcohol.

- this brings me to my girlfriends. the ridiculous things that we got into. We never got into trouble, but we were definitely always asking for it. Drinking in barns, rooftops, and various pools. Float trips, halloween parties, and beer pong marathons at quigleys or sigma chi. We stayed up all night and talked philosophy, then went sex toy shopping. They put up with my Ryan Adams obsession and the string of sketchy guys I always seemed to scrounge up. Things change and we drift apart, but sometimes friendships are explosive like that. No one can live like we did forever, but I'm glad we had the time that we did.

- cheerleading. we had a love and hate relationship. Deciding to quit was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, but school had to come first. part of me wishes I could have done that last year, but it wouldn't have been worth my sanity, and I ended with very pleasant memories. Remembering nailing that final routine and that last game of the tournament where there were only about 6 of us, and we lost, but we had so much fun. I wish it could have been like that all the time. I wish there had never been any of the bruises, tears, or blood. I wish it could have always felt like it did at the end. But for someone who never expected to cheer again, I'm glad I had for the experience. Because looking back, all the bad times eventually led up to something pleasant to remember.

 So as we get ready to hit the road tomorrow, I believe FOB said it best.
"say a prayer, but let the good times roll."

California, here we come.

One Week

It's starting to dawn on me that this is my last week in Missouri. I'm having conflicted feelings about this. I of course feel nostalgic,  but not in a bad way. In more of a "that was fine, but let's do something different now". This move really signifies us becoming adults, which is weird since I've been trying to be an adult since I was, like, 12. Now ten years later it's actually happening. Granted, I've been in transition for the past few years, but this is much more like the real deal.

My parents have been really good about this as well, and that has helped more than I can say to have their support, even when I'm doing something they wouldn't necessarily choose for me. They know they have to let me go do what I need and want to do, and it's a good feeling.

Because I am excited. Truly, deeply excited. After all the tests, applications, waiting, decisions, blood, sweat and tears to get to this point, I finally get to sit back and enjoy the adventure. I am done planning for now. I am done setting and meeting deadlines, I'm done worrying about my future, and I'm done struggling with deciding what is best for me.

___________________________

In other news, I accomplished two things today. I found our three-legged puppy to adopt and I fixed my keyboard. The keyboard is boring, but I'm still excited that I was finally able to dislodge the battery stuck in my sweet wireless keyboard. I had been using a shitty corded one for the past couple of months, so it's nice to be untethered. As for the puppy, I'm not completely sure if we will be able to get him. We will need a little time in San Berdoo to figure out how much time we are really going to be able to dedicate to taking care of the little guy. He's been through enough already and he deserves to be with a family who can give him all the love and attention he needs, I just really hope that family can be ours. I've been dying to have a dog for so long and this one seems just made for us, so I really hope it will work out.

That's progress for now. I've been lazy and haven't done much packing. Just waiting waiting waiting until we get out of here.

Not Homeless!

We mailed our reservation for our apartment today, so we now have a California address! My parents are planning their trip and thankfully decided to come a week later than the day we have to move so we can have some time to get settled...and buy some furniture I guess. As we get closer I'm getting pretty excited for our road trip, and our two weeks in San Diego. It will be a well-deserved vacation (well, for Tim).

I've pretty much stuck to my routine of not doing a whole lot the past few weeks. Just cleaning house, doing laundry and dishes, packing and getting rid of crap, oh, and napping and dicking around on the internet. Babysitting too, but that hardly counts as doing much. All this kid wants to do is watch cartoons and take an occasional trip to the park. Ta-Da! Much easier than when I had an actual job.

I'm still doing some freelance design work, it's a little slow, but it's something to do. Still gaining some experience and hopefully I will at some point get to where I can make more than a few bucks per design.

Tim's dad might have found us a puppy, we should be getting pictures later tonight. I'm really excited, I just hope it's cute and doesn't already belong to someone else since it was found wandering the streets.
edit: someone else took the puppy. :(

That's our progress for today. Time for a beer. Happy Friday! (not that it matters to my lazy ass anymore)

Ahh, moving.

June is upon us, only a couple short weeks before we are out of here. I'm doing my best to be productive and *gulp* patient, but alas, I'm pretty much hopeless in both categories. Nonetheless, I am trying. Tim is still working full time so I'm trying to shoulder most of the load of getting us ready to move while he is out making bacon...or sushi, something like that. I've been babysitting a few nights a week just for some extra scratch as well.

But the past couple days I've been focusing on cleaning, trashing, donating, and selling the stuff we aren't taking with us. Luckily, most of our furniture is sold after only being in the classifieds for a day. That's one thing rednecks like is cheap shit. And we have tons of it.

Our air conditioning is broken in the apartment, so that has made the past few days pretty toasty, but I guess it will be good training for desert living. On the good side, the loud kids upstairs and in the neighborhood have been pretty quiet, so that has made being here a bit more bearable.

My to-do list is getting shorter but my anxiousness to leave keeps getting stronger, but I always get like this before I leave anywhere. I am probably one of the least patient people in the world. Once I know I'm going somewhere, all of my efforts are focused on getting there. I've been pretty good with this move so far, but in these last two weeks I guess it is good that I actually have some motivation to get something done.

I just need to relax and come to terms with life being a little messier than usual for the next couple of weeks, because no matter what, this time in two weeks we will be on our way out of here.