I’ve always wanted to live in California. Several of my friends moved here after college but I really didn’t feel like I should. I was hoping that if I waited for the right opportunity, I could move with a job waiting for me. I wanted to live in California but I didn’t want to be broke while I did it!

When my current job became available I was so excited. It seemed like a good fit and since I knew people in the company already, I felt like I had a chance at getting hired. Doing this type of job was my dream job in college but I’m fully aware now that I wouldn’t have been able to hack it back then. It took me a few years worth of experiences to get me to the point that I could do it. Living here has been everything I had dreamed. Seriously. It’s so beautiful, warm and sunny (most of the time!) and I’ve been able to take part in things that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to in other areas of the country. Or world, for that matter. And despite the fact that it took years to get here, I’m grateful that I waited. The timing was perfect, everything fell into place and we’ve had some pretty great experiences.

I’ve met several people over the years who had lived in California but moved away. I never understood why. They’d normally say something about the people or traffic but I still didn’t get it. California was always paradise in my mind! Well, it’s taken me two years but I’m finally starting to see that California, more specifically Southern California, isn’t for everyone. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to everyone I know. Haha. The cost of living is quite high — I can’t imagine purchasing a house here. SO expensive! Matt hasn’t been shocked by the climate (because Grand Junction, CO is a desert) but it’s been kinda weird for me to get used to. Pasadena was hot and dry, the beach is a Mediterranean climate. It’s nice but still so different than what I’m used to. While the growing season here can’t be beat, I miss some of the lush greenness found in other regions. There are also so many people crammed into such a small space. We are so lucky to have great neighbors in the front house, an empty house on one side and a couple of girls on the other side. It is awkward hearing them use the restroom sometimes and I’m pretty sure they don’t appreciate hearing us. Haha.

All this to say that I’m loving where we are right now but having achieved this dream brings into question my goals for the future. What do I really want to accomplish? Where do I want to settle? Where do we want to raise our little Lloyds? I always want to have things planned well in advance but this is all new territory — we found ourselves here well before I thought we would. Yay! And whoa! Thankfully I’ve got pretty things to look at while I contemplate my future. LOL!

I used the picture above on a previous post [here] but thought the processing by Instamatic was way cooler.

I didn’t want the Dodger’s fans to feel left out — so here is a picture of the stadium. The thing I love about Dodgers is that you feel like you are in the hills. You don’t see the city all around you. We’ve been to one game there and had a great time. Matt was cheering for the Rockies the whole time and never had anyone act crazy about it. I’m not a baseball fan but it is still fun to watch occasionally. It’s just so American!

One of the cool parts of my job is that I get media credentials and can go pretty much anywhere in the stadiums. Angel Stadium is my favorite baseball stadium because everyone seems to be more laid back (compared to Dodgers), it’s closer to my house and getting in and out is easy. As I walked on the field and snapped this shot, one of the girls told me to be careful of getting hit by a baseball because the players will sometimes overthrow to hit chicks that walk by. Nice. :/

Baseball season is great for my work life. The work load drops significantly so that I can breathe and work normal business hours. Yeah!