Apartment hunting

We woke Tuesday morning and were off to look at more apartments. We looked at this Green living complex. It was beautiful and the building was built from recycled materials. The rugs were made from recycled bottles and so on. The rent was really reasonable and parking was available for a reasonable fee. The windows spanned from the floor to the vaulted celling. The only catch is there was a waiting list and as aposed to to checking your credit they just wanted proof of you having a job and making more than double your rent a month. So we added that to the once we get jobs to apply for. I one day want to live there badly.

We then looked at a few more places and none were as cute nor as cozy as the first one we looked at the day before. Either they didn't have parking, or were to pricy, or seemed dirty or just flat out not happy.

It turns out we showed up a week late for most of the great deals since back to school was in full effect and most of the apartments had been rented. Boo. Sad panda.

With that we headed back to the first apartment we looked at and filled out the application to be considered for renting. I explained to the woman that if they run my credit report some things still haven't been updated but I have a million pay off letters since I have been working hard to fix my credit and trying to wrong my mistakes from when I was younger. She asked me to bring in the the pay off notices the next day with a $90 application fee. So we left to gather up papers and go about our day.

We headed back to the house and dug thru boxes to find every paper needed. Just then my phone rang it was an associate at A place applied to, in response to me submitting my resume. Turns out they wanted to interview me at 5 pm on the other side of town. So a quick dumping out of suitcases in search of clothing to wear for an interview and out the door I went.

The interview was different than any other I had ever been on. It was a group interview. Step 1 they sat About 10 of us in a room with a supervisor and told us to make small talk. Step two was a computer test of all kinds of techy questions. Part 3 was a group role playing test where there were 4 supervisors in the room with the group. For some reason the guy leading the group kept looking at me and calling on me. It was a weird interview. They said they wanted to see if we could relate to the situation and see how we handled the call. It was difficult cause they didn't give us the solution and we didn't know what our boundaries were to offer help.

At the end of the interview I was handed papers to read and was told I would hear back from them within a week. Oh joy the waiting game.

I left the building back to my car and surprisingly found my way back from Beaverton without a GPS. Go me.

Once back at the house I ate dinner and started fiddling with my phone and discovered that there is a blogger app that would let me blog and upload photos and links to my blog. Why didn't someone tell me about this before.

So I began updating where I left off so you all could enjoy our adventure to a new beginning.

The next day I awoke to a yummy donut from voodoo donut in Portland waiting for me. My jelly donut was shaped and decorated like a voodoo doll all the way down to the pretzel stick spike in my donuts heart and raspberry jelly inside the donut. Picture attached below. Feel free to check out voodoo donuts website. Their donuts are unique and so much better than dunkin donuts. what a great way to start the day.

Shortly after enjoying a super good donut We were off to fax some papers, run errands and Drop off pay off notices and application fee to the lady at the apartment we want. After that was done we went back to the house to take naps so we could have enough energy to celebrate shawns birthday at Alabama Black Snakes show at the tiger bar down town. What a wonderful and crazy night. We met alot of new awesome people and hung out with good friends. I was the designated driver so the boys enjoyed their drinks. We got in later than expected. But had an amazing night.

Thank you for reading I will update more later

Welcome to Portland. Hoping to find a home.

The first day in Portland we woke up to rain. Go figure. We Started our day with breakfast and happy birthday wishes to Danielle. I told her I was going to try to move here by her birthday. Well guess what I made it on her birthday.

I'm beyond thankful that Danielle and her amazing fiancé Shawn are letting us stay with them. Danielle is currently 4 months pregnant. And the two of them live in an adorable house. They are also allowing us to store all of our stuff in their garage and basement.
Words can not thank them enough.

Even tho it was danielle's birthday she was kind enough to take us around and show us the different neighborhoods and drove us by a few of the apartments we had on a list that I found on craigslist that were for rent. Alot of them didn't have assigned parking and after living in California and racking up parking tickets, parking included with the apartment is very important to me.

After driving around for a while we started to realize that getting an apartment on the South East side of town may be better for Brian cause there seems to be alot more close by and it would probally be easier for him to learn the grid and get around on foot and bicycle.

After driving around for a bit we went back to danielle's house to regroup, relax and get ready to go out to danielle's birthday party / last day at work.

When we got back the boys from Alabama Black Snake were gathered in the driveway getting ready for band practice.

After practice we all headed over to meet up with D. She seemed happy and seemed to be having a good time. We ordered up some beers and Brian and I went to hang out on the bars patio next to the fireplace.

It was a fun night even tho we got home late. It was nice to get to hang out with Greg, Shawn, Adam, and Danielle.
We went back to the house and passed out.

When we woke the next morning to our surprise it was sunny and absolutely beautiful.
Shawn had gone off to work and we had to find a uhaul place. Danielle took us to a little second hand shop that to my surprise was also a uhaul pick up location. We filled out a few papers and were off to forward air's docks to pick up our life.

I can't believe how quickly you can get to places out here. With in minutes we were at the dock. I signed some paper work and was instructed to take the uhaul around back and my pallets should be out in 5 minutes.

All I could think was I hope our stuff made it here in one piece. And our pallets will fit in this uhaul with out taking anything apart.

The door opened and out came a fork lift with pallet one. Into the truck with no problems and still in tact. But when pallet two came out we realized it wasn't going into the truck with out the top two layers of boxes coming off. This so did not make us happy. Last but not least out came the box spring. We loaded the truck and off we went back to Danielle and shawn's. While driving back my phone rang from an unknown number it was a sweet lady about an apartment we wanted to see. I was driving the uhaul and asked if I could call her back. When we pulled in the driveway. Danielle was on the phone with the same lady who just called me. She set up a time for us to go see the apartment.

We unloaded the truck and I ran the uhaul back to the place. I rushed back to take a shower and get ready to go see the place. The apartment was on the SE side across the st from a super market, gas station and near a cute little shopping district. It was small with hardwood floors and was vintage like it was built in the 1970's. But cute and for some reason felt like home. It had a front door and a back door. A bedroom, bathroom, kitchen with a funky baby blue stove, a living room and a mini dining room. This place even came with a parking spot and extra storage at no extra cost. Bike parking, washer and dryer in the basement, a community garden, and a little area by our back door where we can keep potted plants too. It seemed like such a happy little place. We decided to leave and spend the night thinking about it. It is a little small and may not have enough closet or cabinet space but wait we don't own furniture so maybe we can figure out how to make this work.
But in the mean time maybe we should look at other places too.

We left and headed to yoga class with our friends. Brian only agreed to go to yoga cause there was another guy attending.

We entered a really nice building up an elevator and were asked to take our socks and shoes off and to grab a yoga matt. Our instructor was beyond fit. She started us out with a few basic poses and then they got harder and harder. It was funny to look over at Brian who thought yoga was easy and BS. But It is one heck of a work out. An hour later class came to an end and Brian said to me that he thought he was in shape but that class made him realize he wasn't as fit as he thought.

Back off to the house and Brian and I were scouring both craigslist and padmapper.com for other rentals with in our price range in areas we wanted to live in.

I also uploaded my resume and started sending it out to everywhere I thought I had enough experience for.

This whole moving 3000 miles away thing isn't as easy as I remembered it from 2002. I must say as much as I am loving Portland I still miss my family.

But for the moment I will leave the rest for me to share tomorrow. Thank you for reading.

California to Portland Oregon

What a nerve racking time we had repalletizeing our life for pick up by the shipping company. Talk about waiting to do things last minute. we woke up and started trying to play tetris with our life. Then off to find boxes to build a box big enough to fit our box spring in. As i pulled back in with boxes the truck arrived early. A hurry to get everything ready left me shaking. We shrink wrapped the pallets and labeled them. Upon the company loading one pallet onto the truck everything started to shift and we grabbed it just in the nick of time. nothing like watching your whole life ALMOST tumble off a truck. the guys assured us they would secure it and band it when they got back to the docks.

Next mission was to figure out how to roll our 10 inch think memory foam mattress up like a burrito so it would fit in the car. this took 3 people but successfully was done. this must have looked so funny as it was being done.

Next mission was to fit everything else left behind into the car. We really should have shipped more. It was a mission but we managed to use every cubic inch the matrix had to offer and fit everything in but were not able to see out the back window and had an uncomfortable box between us for the drive up.

After Loading the car up we gathered up everyone that lived in the Livermore house and we piled into Ed's truck and headed to Oakland for Goodbye drinks at our friend Keli's Bar car Eli's Mile High Club.
I had the keys so i didn't indulge in the spirits but everyone laughed and drank and had a good time. Around 11pm we headed Back to Livermore for a good nights sleep.

We woke around 8am and did a dummy check of the house and realized we couldn't fit our brand new pillows into the car nor could we fit a few other items in the car. This made me sad to leave brand new things behind that we spent our hard earned money on. We also realized that we had no way to bring all of our frozen food up either. There goes about $75 in food.

We Handed in our keys and out the door and off to Jack in the box for $1 breakfast sandwiches and off we went.

It was a pretty dull drive for the first few hours. A whole lot of nothing to look at besides dead dry tan hills just waiting to go up in flames. We passed over a $5 toll bridge and off to the 5 freeway.

A few hours north we got our first glimpse of Mount Shasta. What an amazing mountain. The whole top of this mountain was snow covered as the bottom where we were was about 100 degrees out. we stopped at a small town called Redding to grab out last bite of IN & OUT Burger. Yum. We even grabbed some of their spread packets for my friend danielle who has been craving IN & OUT.

After getting our bite to eat we got back onto the free way and started getting closer to Mount Shasta. A few exits later we pulled off the freeway for a better view of shasta and to get gas. Brian was complaining that he saw a gas station that had regular for $4.05 a gallon. I ended up going to a different one that was $4.06 a gallon. as i exited my car to fill my tank i noticed a young girl holding an infant and a coat hanger next to a car by the gas pump next to me. The gas station was full of people yet this young woman looked so helpless. just then her phone rang and i over heard her asking the person on the phone if they knew anyone who knew how to slim jim a car to get her keys out. i heard panic in her voice. So i finished filling my tank and moved my car to a parking space. I walked over and asked her if she needed help. she told me she had locked her keys in her car an hour ago and cant figure out how to get them out. She said she didn't have triple A but did have road side coverage on her insurance but the card and # were in her car. I kindly asked for the coat hanger and brian pulled the door open enough for me to get the hanger in the door. as we were trying to get the hanger to touch the button or the handle a guy walked up and looked in her window and asked her for a cigarette. we explained that that wasn't happening cause the keys were locked in the car. he seemed angry that he wasn't getting a cigarette and then started putting his two sense in on how i could get the door open. All i could think was really buddy you see two young ladies trying to get into a car at a gas pump and one is holding a child and all you have is suggestions. Just then two other guys pulled up at the gas pump and asked if we locked keys in the car. UM No buddy we just stick coat angers in car doors at gas pumps for fun around here with infants. So then he started telling us he used to work for AAA. Brian pipped in just then with "Hey buddy then why dont you show us how it is done". he replied ah that sounds like work. This made me mad and more determined to get in her car. The man started laughing so i told him i bet you cant do any better. The man came over and within two minutes got the door open. The girl came up to me and hugged me and thanked us for being the only two people who even offered let along helped her in the hour she had been there trying to get in her car while holding an infant.

It was almost like we were ment to be there. But back on the road for us.

A little ways up the road we saw Cop cars speeding down the freeway and cops on the side of the road with spike strips ready to be thrown out. With this we decided to pull off at a rest area. Brian and i both went to use the rest room then went to the information center to see if they had any cool maps. we started chatting with the woman working the information center and may i add she was full of great information. she explained to us that most of the lakes there in northern california used to be volcanos that blew their tops off and filled with rain water and melted snow over the years, she told us we were in the ring of fire, AKA volcano alley. we absorbed her great information and chatted about hiking and the PCT and Mount Shasta. After a while of chatting we realized the time had flown by and we needed to get going. as we walked out there was a helicopter pulling up out of a hidden river looking for someone. This was scary. It turns out the cops stopped the car they were looking for and the guy jumped out of the car into the river. We decided we should probably get back on the road and away from this area.
Upon pulling out of the lot there were cops galore. All looking for someone in the river. as we slowly pulled by a group of cops with our window open we heard them say there were disturbed reeds on the other side of the river and the guy went up the hill. Just then the helicopter came by and flew up and over the hill. We past the cops and took off. I still wonder what the person did to have such an intense chase.

Within 15 minutes we started to go up in elevation and into some beautiful mountains. Next thing i see to the right of me is a HUGE OREGON WELCOMES YOU sign. Brian and i were filled with excitement. We saw the exit for Crater Lake and decided we only live once and are right here why not pull off and go check out this natural beauty. Brian wanted to get a Motel 6 right off the freeway and i googled what else was down the road it showed alot more motels so we pushed on. We came upon a town called Shady Cove and Pulled into a motel we dont remember the name of. I went in to inquire about a room and their prices were a little high for our budget. The man at the desk suggested we go farther down the road to a place called The Royal Coachman. So we did. We were told this motel had a very rustic decor. We pulled and and went into the office and were greeted by the Friendliest Man in the world. He was happy and his motel rates were amazing. He set us up in room two which was a cute little cabin like room with wood and brick walls. This place was so cozy. We went back to the office to inquire about places to eat and places to grab a drink. He suggested we go across the street to the Pub and told us they had the best hamburgers in town. Off we went only to discover they were out of hamburgers. We ordered up a beer and decided to split a chicken finger basket with fries. Upon sitting there people starting coming over to us making small talk. I love meeting local people in small towns. We chatted and ate and finished up our drinks and paid our tab and wandered back across the street to call it a night at our cozy room.

When we woke in the morning we did our morning routine and stepped outside to smoke a cigarette and were approached by the nice man that ran the hotel and his wife. the four of us started chatting about our travels about the town. They suggested we grab breakfast next door so we decided why the heck not.

We walked into the dinner and were greeted by a mother , a daughter and were seated quickly. We ordered u eggs, hash browns, and bacon. The daughter started chatting with us about where we were from and what brought us this way. we shared our story with her her 7 year old daughter brought us water. she was adorable. Just then bell rang and the biggest breakfast plate was presented to us. Ah Heaven. we finished up our breakfast and walked back over to the motel. Once again we were greeted by the lovely couple that ran the motel. They explained to us that they were in the process of trying to find a younger couple to run the motel for a while for them. It would be free room and board but no pay. We would just have to do some renovations and keep the place tidy and be friendly and check people in and out. All i thought was wow if there was pay involved i would be all about this. But then brian and i said to each other that if things didn't quickly work out for us in portland maybe this would be a good back up plan. we exchanged info and got the grand tour and were introduced to everyone that worked and lived there. Every one we met were super friendly and beyond pleasant. they all gave us advise on places to stop and roads to take.

It was about 10am when we finally left and headed to crater lake. What an amazing drive. The road followed the Rogue River and was lined with beautiful trees and mountains. a few miles up we crossed the PCT once again brian had to get out of the car and run down it like a puppy who had been cooped up in a cage for two long. Once he returned to the car we drove for a little and arrived at the Crater Lake entrance. We paid our $10 and off we went. a few more miles up the road we got our first glimpse of the crystal blue waters of crater lake. We parked at the Gift shop and went in and picked up some post cards that many of you will be receiving soon. After that we wandered up a hill to get the full view of the lake. Crater Lake is one of those volcanos that i mentioned earlier that blew its top and filled with rain and snow melt off. We walked a few miles around the lake and took pictures and videos to share in the side bar of this blog.

After our little walk we returned to the car and decided to drive the road that hugs the lake. What beautiful Views. Words, Pictures, Nor Video can capture the beauty of this National Park.
On our drive around the lake we say smoke coming from the mountain. WOW a forrest fire how sad. Just then we crossed the PCT and with huge trail closed signs stating the trail is closed due to wild fires. Brian was in Awe he had never seen a forrest fire before. Its so sad.

Farther down the road we exited the park and went back to the 5 freeway. From this moment on the drive became strictly business and we were on a mission to get to portland before it got too late. The closer we got to portland it began drizzling. Ah yes the much expected weather. Off in the distance we saw the lights of the city and the amount of turns on our directions were almost over. The excitement of This new city flowed thru us. a few short minutes later we arrived at Danielle and Shawn's house. We went to pull in the drive way and were met by another car trying to pull in the driveway. They motioned us to pull in first so we did. Just then Shawn came running up and greeted us. It was amazing to finally meet him. We pulled our car into the back yard and They locked the gate behind us. We said our hellos to Shawn and Isaiah and then we were showed to the guest room and were invited to come out and see Their band ALABAMA BLACK SNAKE Play at a local bar. They took off to go set up their show and we decided to stay behind and wait for Danielle. Danielle messaged me stating she was going to be a little while and that we should go check out a bar called Vendetta around the corner. So we cleaned ourselves up a little and walked down to Vendetta. About 30 minutes later Danielle walked thru the door and the three of us went off to check out ALABAMA BLACK SNAKES show. we got there just as they were beginning their set. All i can say is they were amazing. Good times Songs with a great stage show. It was by far a great night so far. After the show Shawn, Danielle, Brian and I headed over to a pizza place called SIZZLE PIE. Hands down some of the best pizza outside of NYC or NJ. After Pizza we headed back to the house and called it a night after all we did just have a very eventful fun filled two day drive from Livermore California to Portland Oregon. We already feel at home here but I am going to end todays Post for now. Stay tuned for my next update coming at you tomorrow. Thank you again for your patience and Thank you for following our blog.

Long Over Due Update. YOSEMITE!!!

Sorry for the delay in update but a lot has been going on.

We recently packed up everything in Livermore California. our life is 100% back in boxes.

We decided since Yosemite National Park was originally on our list of places to stop on our way to our new home maybe we should visit it before we leave town and head north to Portland.

So we packed up the car on September 13th and took the 3 hour drive to Yosemite National Park. we left Livermore around 11 am. Since it is still a popular season there we couldn't get an advanced campsite reservation. The drive to Yosemite was interesting. There isn't much heading east from Livermore. Lots of Big Dry hills waiting to catch fire. A little farther down  the road was nothing but Farms of every sort. Artichoke farms, Tomato farms, Corn Farms, Almond , Peach, and even Avocado Farms.   I think we even past a Rock Farm. Farther down the road we had to go up huge mountains of dry grass and no trees which were a little scary. California does not believe in guard rails but loves building roads hugging the tall mountains with huge drop off and tight sharp curves. After going up the mountain we finally started seeing huge ever green trees and lots of granite. We pulled up to the Main entrance off 120 into the park. We paid our $20 entrance fee and off to the rangers station. upon walking in the ranger was telling a young european couple there were no campsites available in the valley. they walked away bummed out. So i walked up and asked if there were any campsites available anywhere else. She smiled and said there was an open campsite across from the main entrance in the park. I said sold. we just wanted to stay in the park. We paid an additional $20 for the site and off we went. We got to the site at about 4pm and set up our tent and made friends with a 7 year old child who was protecting his families camp from ninja squirrels . The 7yr old was very social and wanted to be our friend. upon chatting with the child we put all of our food and smelly good stuff like chap stick and bubble gum and sun screen and other goodies into the ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A BEAR BOX. This time i was able to figure out the bear box. Score 1 for me score 0 for the bears. Soon after the sound of Thunder rang thru out the park and dark clouds started moving in. We still had to drive 8 miles to get fire wood from the general store before 5 PM. On our drive i past the general store turn off by mistake and stumbled upon a great view of Half Dome off in the distance. The lighting show off in the distance started to get intense then came the rain. Talk about having my parade rained on. Back to the car and in a rush in the pouring rain to get our fire wood. To our surprise The general store was reasonable priced and $8.00 got us a huge cardboard box of fire wood and kindling. Back off to the campsite as the rain started to let up. Upon getting back to camp the little boy was in his tent with his family and we saw a old man looking around in the empty campsite next to us. All tent sites here were on a hill. He seemed disappointed but we started chatting with him. he decided to stay and we became friends. He was a retired senior citizen who was traveling to quite a few national parks across the country with the golden age park pass. He shared stories of his favorite parks and told us how he was from Ohio and was sad that his grand children were all grown up and couldn't travel with him anymore. We enjoyed hours of amazing conversation with him. he shared chicken wings with us and we shared our fire with him. Some time around 11pm we all decided it was bed time and we were sick of being drizzled on. So off to our tents we went.

The next morning we woke to nicer weather and packed up camp. we said our good byes to our new friend and off we went to explore and see all the sights Yosemite had to offer. The first sight we drove to was Bridalvail Falls , Then we got an amazing view of El Capitian. The idea of people climbing the face of that giant mass of granite is Crazy to me. But they do. Farther down the road we got a glimpse of a different view of half dome, Yosemite Falls, The three brothers and many other amazing landmarks that the park has to offer. we took a few small hikes from the road to the different view points. some a mile some 2 and some just 0.5 miles. but i enjoyed every second of being with brian at this stunning national park. We headed over to The Ahwahnee Lodge and the Yosemite Lodge near Yosemite Lower Falls. We Grabbed Lunch in the Valley and enjoyed wandering around curry village. I highly enjoyed our visit to the Ansel Adams Gallery in the Park. As well as the Serria Clubs Library  I must say it was an amazing Photo filled day. Just then we were considering leaving the park but realized there was still a whole other half of yosemite that we had yet to explore. So we headed back to where the road teed past the sad sad fire damaged forrest back to the junction. And up in elevation we went. Heading towards the PCT and the John Muir Trail. The views left me speechless and even my camera did it no justice. I took some video that i will post once i get a minute to upload it. Some pictures will appear in the side box slide show. if you click on it you can pick and choose which pictures enlarge for your viewing enjoyment. Once we reached the PCT Trail Head the sky opened up and the rain came down. On our drive back we saw a very confused hiker so i pulled over and asked if he needed help. He said he was looking for a bite to eat and had been hiking the john muir trail. I told him to hop in our car and get out of the rain and i proceeded to give him a ride to the general store at upper Yosemite. He seemed beyond grateful. Upon dropping him off we began our drive back thru the park towards the exit and due to the rain there were mini waterfalls coming off the giant rocks and across the road it was a bit scary. But we survived. It was a sad moment when we left the park cause you really need a few days at this park to enjoy it to its fullest And we noticed we were low on gas and Regular Gas was priced at $4.75 a gallon. But that aside Yosemite is by far is one of my favorite parks And i am grateful to both John Muir and Ansel Adams for starting the movement to preserve its beauty. Im beyond excited that i was able to share the beauty and experience of this park with Brian. I hope to return here one day soon again.



Due to the price of gas we pushed the car as far as possible and finally found a gas station that was under $4 a gallon. We fueled up and off we went back to livermore to Build our life back into pallets to get shipped north.


The drive home was Quiet due to the anticipation of the insanity of moving again.  But that story is for another day. Thank you for reading. Expect another update tomorrow Of our Adventure From the bay area north to Crater lake and up to portland. 

Update.

Update.

Sorry for the lack of posts but we have been packing to leave California. We also took a few day trip to Yosemite. We are focusing on enjoying our time traveling together right now before we find a place n settle down for a while. I promise a picture and fun filled blog as soon as we get to Portland. But for now Brian myself and our cameras are driving north and exploring national and state parks. Spending time in small towns meeting amazing people. And learning more than I could have ever dreamed of. As of Friday September 16th the red dot on the blog map will begin moving again as i have cell reception and as we drive north up I-5 . I'm sorry for the delay and thank you for your paitence.

Sent from my iPhone

Remembering NYC and 9/11

Remembering NYC and 9/11

I'm sorry for not updating the past 2days but between packing visiting friends to say good bye and many other things I haven't been able to put my all into this blog.

But today is the 10th anniversary of the horror we remember as 9/11.
Instead of focusing on the bad things that happened 10 years ago today I want to share a happy memory of NYC. And where I was on 9/11/01

When I was a little girl my aunt worked in the financial district in NYC. She worked at merrill lynch and used to take me to work with her for bring your daughter to work day. Now my aunt was one of the coolest aunts a kid could ask for. On bring your daughter to work day we would take the train into NYC as she did every day. We would take the train to the WTC. We would stop and look at the news stands and come up into the lobby and it was so fancy and full of people scurrying around on their way to work, school, or just touristing around. We would exit onto the street where I remember being so small and looking up at the big buildings known as the twin towers. We would walk the city blocks to her job in my fancy little kids business suit that was bought originally for my grandparents anniversary party. We would get to her job and I got to help her at work and look out the windows at the twin towers in awe.

At the end of the day we would grab a bite to eat and then head back to the WTC path trains to head back to NJ.

That is one of my happiest memories of NYC and the twin towers.

On 9/11/01 when the planes struck the towers my first fear was that my aunt was there. But due to the fact that my cousin D had just got married a few days before my aunt had taken the day off work to take her and her husband to the airport for their honeymoon. Due to all airplanes being grounded their flight was delayed. But I am thankful that my cousin D and her husband kept my aunt from going to work and that she is still here with us.

My heart goes out to those who lost friends and family that day. And yes NYC will never be the same. But I don't understand why the news insists on making us relive that day by re-airing the footage. I understand NEVER FORGET. But I assure you 99% of America never will but must we throw salt in people's wounds?

I remember playing hookie from college on 9/11/01 . I remember getting home late from a party in the city. My mom had gone to work n I was showering and the phones kept ringing in the house. Upon getting out of the shower I answered the phone and it was my mom frantic.she was realived I was at home and not still in NYC. She yelled at me to turn on the tv and right before my eyes the second plane hit. I was in shock and called dad to make sure my aunt was ok. He informed me she didn't go to work.

My next reaction was to grab my camera and go get Shannon. It was a day of disbelief, anger, and curiosity. I truly thought it was the end of the world.

I still own the NY Times front page from the next day. I will never forget the sound of sirens and alarms that rang thru the air from across the hudson and the smell of jet fuel that filled your nose and made you dizzy.
You could see and smell the smoke and dust from my roof.

I remember feeling helpless and wanting to help people. This was a horrible feeling.

And now 10 years later I woke at 5am west coast time and the memory is with me like it was yesterday. I can't bring myself to watch anymore news. The reading of the names of the lives lost brought tears to my eyes. And the infinity pools the put In place of the towers are beautiful.

The only happy moment of the news this morning was hearing the most heart warming story that only took 10years to be aired on the news.

It was a story of how the coast guard put out a call to all boats to come pick up people from the waters edge to help evacuate NYC and hundreds of privately owned boats , tub boats and charters came to the rescue. In under 9 hours they evacuated a half a million people from NYC. Alot of the boat owners told their stories and it touched my heart. I wish it didn't take 10 years for their stories to be told.

Today is national pay it forward day. Tho I feel every day should be I plan on trying to do random acts of kindness for complete strangers today. I don't expect anything in return. I just want to make people happy. People of NYC, NJ and other parts of the counrty came together to help each other in a time of crisis why can't we keep that unity going every day of the year.

Ok enough rambling off to enjoy the day and the find people to do nice things for. Hope you have a good day. And try to focus on more of the positive things in life and less on the negative.

9/11 Trust me we will NEVER FORGET!!!!!

Sent from my iPhone

Back to square one.

Back to square one but with a new direction in life.

So I'm sure everyone wants to know how the new job is going. Well I thought it was going ok for the 3 days I worked, but I guess I wasn't a good fit to say the least. I feel a store should be clean and not have dust bunnies on the floor. I was taught to keep a spotless shop. I was there to work not to make best friends. I would have also preferred more hours but was willing to take anything offered. On my 3rd day I was cut first due to lack of customers and too many girls on shift. I got home and received an email to call the owner. From the phone call I got the feeling she was looking for me to give my resignation . I'm taking it as a sign that it is time to move on. Literally.

I sent a response email the next day and very politely gave my resignation and requested my pay be directly deposited in my account. I know there are better things and jobs that await me in life.

After figureing out that there was no more pay check holding us here, Brian and I have decided to start packing our stuff up to get ready for what ever may be next.

We can't keep walking circles in this house we are like caged animals. We are on the virge of losing our sanity.

Our room mates Ed n dawn are still in Detroit. Creepy time Eric is still here but Is too anti social to hang with, trust us we keep trying to be social with him n he runs n hides. And the other room mate who is pretty chill tho has been hiding in his room for the past three days. I think he's playing world of war craft in there.

We have had time to reflect on past decisions that probally should have been thought out better. We are beginning to see thru fronts and see true colors of many people n things Our eyes truly are being opened to alot of truths we didn't see before. This has been a huge learning experience for both of us. Merlin the wizard back in new hope PA once told me that Brian and I are going to grow up alot together and I now see this. We are both becoming extremely grateful to have each other. And I'm still learning that I can not save the world as much as I may want to.

Ok now to figure out what is next. Portland Oregon was the original plan but we lost sight of that when we were promised rainbows n sunshine n all that fun jazz here in Livermore. Maybe we need to go back to the original plan. Which was we wanted to move to Portland Oregon.

After making a phone call to our amazing and sweet friend Danielle in Oregon, a plan started taking form.

Brian and I have been doing research on rental rates in different areas of California and Oregon. It seems that if we stay in California we are going to either need to depend on having room mates and never get to experience a place of our own. We would also need to work strictly to afford the roof over our head. And even still there isn't enough mass transportation for Brian to get around. Then we did the math and realized, If we move to Portland Oregon it seems a lot more reasonable as well as affordable. The transportation system is easy to figure out and takes you everywhere. We have a handful of great friends in Portland, there are mountains for Brian. An art scene for me, as well as industry and city.

So Portland it is. And it has to be soon so we have the funds to do so and we have to give the landlord notice of us leaving before rent is due. Thank god for month to month leases.

Now to figure out how we are going to do this. One liscense a car and a uhaul. I can't win. A quick call to mom And it seems more cost friendly to pay to ship our stuff thru one of the long haul companies she works with.

Brian keeps telling me to hurry up and come up with a plan. Not as easy as it sounds but a miracle happened and we figured one out.

We decided to ship our stuff out on a Friday so since we can't go mia till after Ed n dawn get home this saturday the 10th of september. We have plans to spend time with my friend brandon on 9/11 for the 10th anniversary of that heart breaking disaster. We also need to head into Oakland to say bye to my old room mate n some good friends.

But its offically in stone September 16th is the last day we will be in Livermore. I dont know the times n legistics yet, but will figure it out in the next 8 days.

Sorry everyone but we need to do what is best for us. I'm excited to drive the 5 north to land I have yet to explore. I can't wait to see what is north of San fran. I also get to add crater lake in Oregon to my places I have been.

We also decided since the original plan of driving cross country included a stop at Yosemite. Tuesday it's a date. We will be Yosemite bound to see the sights, escape from mobile media as well as be in nature again and clear our minds.

Now that we have a plan once again it's time to escape this house for a lil. Brian called a sweet lady we were introduced to named cayman. She was heading down town for a drink or two so we figured why not let's escape the house. We went to a place called palomonies cute lil dive bar with cheap drinks and your allowed to smoke at the bar too. I had two mini bloody marys and figured since I had to drive that was enough for me but we hung out well past my two drinks. We were introduced to a lovely lady named jess who cayman is friends with. We chit chatted all night. It was actually really awesome to hang out with other intelligent independent ladies who I had a bit in common with. It felt good to laugh and smile again. It sucks that we met them as we are leaving town. But even they said we should do what is best for the two of us. And I have to agree.

I must say I'm super excited to finally be able to apartment shop with my husband and the thought of unpacking , decorating, and having our own space to call home excites me.

Ok enough rambling for now and I'm sorry if I type in circles.

I would like to say one more thing tho.

Recently I was asked if there was anything I haven't done in life.
I'm sure there is plenty but what comes to mind right now is I have yet to write a book. I have yet to live in my own space with my husband. I have yet to go to Many national parks. I have yet had the chance to set foot in Alaska, Hawaii , and North Dakota. and many other things but the ones listed above I plan on checking off my list in the very near future.

Oh and one quick question. Should I continue my mileage count from where my odometer is from the start of this road trip or should I reset it and start from scratch? I will also be posting budget again so you can get an idea of how much has been added in gas, post cards, and national park fees since we will be adding about 1000 more miles onto this trip due to the short notice change of plans and move.

Till tomorrow hope your having a great day. Expect daily updates again.

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September 2 , 2011

So it is official I have a job. I didn't want to speak too soon. But I just got the email that I start work tomorrow. I will be working retail at a cute second hand store in a close by town. The owner is amazingly sweet and my manager is younger than I but seems cool. The staff seems like fun social group of people. I'm excited. I get to work with fashion again. There is a chance I will be buying for the store soon too. It's a god send that this job came along cause I was about to lose hope. My pay is reasonable and the hours are easy to digest. I will probally be working weekends but the more hours the better in my mind.

On another note

Dear California
Why all of a sudden am I allergic to you. Maybe if it's just this town and the dusty dry hills. My eyes feel like waterfalls have moved in and are crying tears of nothingness. It's not making me happy. I wish the evil allergies would go away so I can wear make up for my first day at work. I wish I could take allergy meds. But I'm sort of against putting such chemicals into my body.

It's starting to get lonely in this house filled with other people stuff.
Our room mates Ed and dawn left yesterday for a 10 day trip back to Michigan where they both grew up. It's weird here with out them. Our other two room mates are still here but they hide in their rooms for the most part.

Last night for the first time in forever Brian and I curled up on the couch and watched a movie. We rented true grit. Great movie and I adore the maturity vocabulary and determination of the little girl in that movie.

I feel bad for our house cat Loki who is so confused on where his mommy n daddy went and why he was left here with us. He's a cute cat but not very affectionate. Sad panda I want kitty cuddles. but atleast he's amusing. And I'm sure he's happy we let him out of his room.

We almost ended up with a pet dog last night. Yes here is another example of how random pets find me. We were sitting on our front porch around 9pm and a shadow walked by, Brian asked if there's a puma in our yard and I stood up and a beautiful yellow lab came running up. It was cute n friendly and very well groomed. I knew it had to have a home.
We walked the dog up and down the streets till we found someone who knew where the puppy lived. I was sad I wish we could have kept the puppy.

Well it's time for bed. I will update more later. Till then good night

Sent from my iPhone

Trip to HB

Trip to HB and hurricane Irene hits NJ

Well our trip to huntington beach was an eye opener. Not only cause while we were there hurricane Irene was flooding and redecorating New Jersey. But because we realized rent down in orange county sky rocketed. we spent 3 days driving in circles collecting and calling phone numbers off for rent signs. I swear we spent all 3 days in the car. It was a god sent that we had a place to stay when the sun went down. My friend Jennifer had left town for a weekend get away to sequoia and was kind enough to leave us keys to house sit and to hang out with her adorable kitty cat. Thank you Jenn.

The best part about the trip south was that I got to enjoy comforts of home that I missed while living in the OC.

I got Vietnamese iced coffee from lees sandwiches. $1 tacos from the taco place on 3rd in long beach. And I had a pike burger from the pike bar and grill in long beach.
I also got to see my friend Kevin and his sweet mom Doreen. We also took a trip to the bar I used to work at and discorved business had taken a huge dive. I did get to enjoy swimming in the pacific ocean at sunset beach. Which may I add was amazing.

It's sad for a studio apartment in huntington beach or long beach in a good area they wanted $900 for a room as big as my bathroom. $1200 n up for a 1 bedroom and anywhere from $1500 to $2000 and up for a 2 bedroom. And for a 3 bedroom forget it.

I guess to sum it up this weekend opened my eyes to the whole reality vs fantasy. Well reality would be if I want to live in the sunshine by the beach in OC I would basically be struggling working my butt off just to have a roof over my head. And I don't even have a job down that way yet.

There would be no rebuilding our savings. There would be no traveling $$ left over. It would be struggling to pay rent all over again.

So back to Livermore a little disappointed. I guess I should be grateful that I have a roof over my head and a bed to sleep in for the time being and hope I find a job soon even if it is part time I just need a bit of income to get by and so we don't drain our savings dry.

Hopefully something works out.

I keep getting calls from family n friends back in NJ telling me I escaped NJ just in the nick of time. The earth is mad at NJ. I leave and they have a 5.6 earth quake. Then hurricane Irene.

If I was still at NANs during the Hurricane I probally would have lost my car. The storm took down a huge tree next to the driveway that fell right in my parking spot.

My fathers basement became a pool and his sewage line collapsed and still has no running water and can't use the toilet in the house.

My moms lower lot became a lake and all her firewood got washed away.

And many other people had seconds to escape their homes only to watch them get washed away in huge masses of water that used to be little pretty lakes.

Even the town of cranford where I ran a skate shop flooded and all the shops filled with water and destroyed all their merch.

My heart and prayers go out to everyone back home dealing with the aftermath of Irene.

And to those in LA and the OC that I didn't get to see or spend time with I'm sorry the trip south was strictly business and I will be back to see you soon.

For now it's time to find a job and Finnish filling out the rest of these post cards to mail to wonderful people back home and hopefully make them smile knowing I was thinking about them.

I apologize for the rant in my previous post. I was just very discouraged cause things weren't working out in our favor and being a little stubborn. I will update more later in the week and am adding more photos to the photobucket slide show in the side bar of this blog. Please enjoy.

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