How life can change in a month!

So there are some MAJOR changes that have changed in the last month since my road trip! 

I stayed in San Diego for a couple weeks with my friend, I am so incredibly lucky that he let me do that!!! I fell in love with San Diego and decided I wanted to stay.

I looked around on different websites to see what I could afford. I tried a roommate finder, no luck there. It was either places wayyyy out of my price range or college age kids looking to share a ROOM for damn near $1000. NOPE! So I kept looking and contacted at least 15 different places on Craigslist (which is how I’ve found the majority of my apartments in the past). I got a few responses but most of them didn’t allow cats. I found a place near Poway, California (but still in San Diego). That looked too good to be true. I decided to check it out and took my friend with me - you can never be too careful! 

My jaw nearly hit the floor when I saw how gorgeous the house was. Beautifully finished garage (with washer and dryer), stone tiled floors and walls, open kitchen with a large island, a room dedicated to playing pool, a full bar! (And fully stocked), and an amazing outdoor space that has an outdoor bar, patio area, full weight bench, and seating. I also have my own bathroom :) My mom did a background check on them and I was good to go :) Needless to say, I signed the lease the next day and put down my first month’s rent and security deposit.

The day after signing my lease (August 29th), I left for Washington, DC. I had gotten a scholarship for a 1 day conference out there. The conference paid for my round trip flight from San Diego to DC and 2 nights in a hotel. There was no way I could afford a 1 day conference without that scholarship (The total cost was at least $1000). The conference was great and I met some amazing people. Coincidentally, there was an addiction/recovery conference happening at the same time. I met a few of them while we were vaping outside. I got to talk to them about what I do for work and they shared their stories of recovery and addiction. It was truly moving getting to spend time with them. 

The conference was PACKED with sessions because it’s normally a 2 day conference that they crammed in 1 day for the first time. The topic was using plain language in the medical field. They had some really big names there and it was fascinating to hear some of them speak. But I was exhausted from traveling pretty much the entire day before. I took breaks as I needed them and went outside to warm up <— they had the AC on full blast and we were sitting most of the day. The day was so filled that they didn’t even schedule in time for bathroom breaks between sessions. When I had to use the restroom, that meant walking into a session at least 5-10 minutes late because the bathrooms were in the farthest corners from the event rooms. At the end of the day they had a cocktail hour (drinks were free) so I enjoyed a glass of wine while talking with new people I met that day. I had an amazing conversation with this one woman about goal setting and a journal that she has - they’re really popular and I can’t think of what they’re called. But it’s for goal setting and tracking - and how I should said “I Will” when it comes to the things I want to accomplish, rather than “I want to” or “I’m going to try to”. I Will. How simple a concept but it’s truly life changing to look at it that way. 

The next morning (Aug 31st) I packed up my things and went out on the terrace I had used the night before to vape before getting in an uber to the airport. While I was out there, someone locked the doors. I couldn’t get back inside. I called down to the front desk. Turns out, the 13th floor terrace is for the Presidential Suite only. Security showed up within about 10 minutes and let me back in. She was wonderful and apologized for the wait. She explained that there had recently been some work done on the suite (something electrical), and the workers must have left the door unlocked. We laughed about how lucky I was that I had my cell phone because there isn’t currently a phone out there. She said she was going to talk to the hotel manager about that...due to potential liability issues. 

My return flight had a layover in Chicago, so I hopped on a bus back to Milwaukee ($30) and started packing my things! I got rid of everything that I could part with and I’m storing childhood memory things at my mom’s house. I sold a ton of stuff because I didn’t bring any furniture (the room came with a bed, built in desk with GIANT bookcase over it, and 3 dressers). Small tip for people moving across the country, use BusFreighter to ship your stuff - just no liquid or perishable things. I spent just under $350 to ship 18 boxes of stuff from Milwaukee to San Diego. Anywhere else I checked out, was at least 4x that amount. Granted, I did have to drop my boxes off at the Greyhound bus station in Milwaukee and pick them up from the bus station in San Diego. It was WELL worth the price. I was super lucky and my stepsister let me weigh my packages at her work (which meant getting a better overall price by knowing what it weighed). 

After I had everything packed and mostly sold, I donated the rest. Some I gave away to family and friends. I also donated some things to the Humane Society because I couldn’t bring all of my cat stuff with me (and there were toys they hadn’t played with in a long time). I spent the weekend with my friends and family. My closest friends came to dinner and had a few drinks at one of my favorite spots in Milwaukee - The County Clare. Great food, awesome atmosphere (not super loud so we could actually hear each other and talk), and it’s an authentic Irish bar with a sister bar in Ireland. 

Sunday was reserved for family time :) We went out to brunch together in town and had a delicious meal. Afterwards, I went to my younger brother’s house to watch the Packer game (until halftime). My soon-to-be sister in law, asked me to stand up in their wedding with a beautiful Pinterest-worthy box filled with chocolates, a personalized cup, and a card that said “Soon you’ll be my sister, but until then, will you be my bridesmaid?”. It was so sweet and of course I said yes!! They’re getting married next summer after being together for nearly a decade. After that, I went over to my stepsister’s place and dropped of a mirror for her as a way to thank her for letting me weight my packages. Then I spent time with my sisters and stepmom at the house I grew up in. It was wonderful getting to see everyone :) The night before I left, my mom, brothers, future SIL, and I had dinner one more time at another restaurant in town.

I have 2 cats, so flying across the country with them required 2 people (because they fly right at your feet). I decided to bring my mom with me and paid for her flight as a way to thank her for helping me move and for letting me stay with her for just over 2 months. 

As you can imagine, my body was SCREAMING at me from all of this. I had packed all the boxes and moved all of them by myself. Lots of stairs because my bedroom was on the second floor and I was packing everything in the basement...and then taking it out to the garage when it was ready for taping and wrapping in the package wrap stuff (because Greyhound tends to be a little rough on packages). 

We had leave for the airport around 3am so I didn’t sleep. I finished packing the last few things in my suitcase, showered, and started preparing my cats for our cross country move. They refused to take the sleeping meds from the vet so I decided not to force them. I won’t bore you with the details of the flights but I will tell you the kitties did really well! They were both quiet on the flights and Kita only meowed a little while we were walking. 

We finally arrived in San Diego :) Took an Uber to pick up my car and we drove to my new place.  My mom stayed in town until Saturday night and we went and did some discovering :) Definitely felt like a tourist haha. 

Overview of our touristing: We found some cute little places to eat together, went on the SEALS (bus that is also a boat), walked on the beach at Imperial Beach, discovered Coronado, and went to the shops in Old Towne. 

Quite a bit has happened since my move here (it's been almost a month) so I'll make sure to add an update as soon as I can :) Thanks for reading <3 

**Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email EDSZebraPOTS@gmail.com**