California Bound

Well, as you may have seen on my Instagram or Facebook, my husband and I have decided to pick up and move from our native land, Dallas, Texas to the lovely Santa Barbara, California.

I wanted to let you all know our plan and why we decided to do this. If that does not sound interesting to you, then I warn you, do not read the rest of this post! It is very long and detailed. But, to those of you who are interested, I hope I answer all the questions that may be floating around in your head.

The biggest question... Why?

Some of you may think we are crazy (especially our close friends and family) for making this HUGE change in our lives and may be wondering "why?!". The honest answer is.... because we want to! Neither of us have any special job opportunity, we're not planning on going to any special school there, we don't have a ton of friends there waiting for us... it is just something we really, REALLY want to do. We have both visited California many times, and every single time, we never want to leave! The weather is FANTASTIC, the vibe is very "us", the ocean is so close by... we just really love it there.

We would always joke, "Oh, let's just move to California!" and kind of laugh it off, even though inside, we both wished it could be a reality. We started talking more about it, and the yearn to want to move there became stronger every time we brought it up. Matt went to Beverly Hills on a big piano move ( he is a salesman and part time piano mover at Metroplex Pianos in Dallas ), and he said that is when it really hit him. He felt at home there, and wanted to just tell me to pack up my stuff and come out there! When he got back home, we decided... Okay! We're doing this, FOR REAL! That is when we started planning this huge adventure.

Working full time from home makes it obviously very easy for me to pick up and move my job where ever I want. Matt, although loving what he does now, isn't really tied down to this job, and it is not what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. We do not have kids and are not planning on THAT for AWHILE. So we decided, if not now, when? Financially, it will NEVER be the "right" time. If we waited until we were totally financially ready to pick up and move, it would never happen. So our mindset is to just take this ginormous leap of faith and see what God does with us in a new place. If we just ignored this desire for travel and adventure we have and decided not to move, we would always regret it and wonder "what if". That is just something we DO NOT want... ever.

A little feel of what we will be doing there and where...

Matt's uncle lives in Santa Barbara, about a 5 minute or less drive from the beach (YAY!). Him and his family have a guest house, which is where we will be staying when we first get there. We plan on staying there for a few months while we dip our toes in the water (pun intended) and get situated in California. We will begin searching for our own apartment once we figure out our way around over there.

Right now, Matt is a full time piano salesman and mover, and a part time photographer. Photography is his passion, so he will be pursuing that career once we arrive. Since it will take him a little while to establish a full photography company in a new place, he will get another job as well for the first few months. I can (thankfully) take my Etsy business anywhere I go. I will continue to do that, and to make some extra money, I plan on finding a job at some kind of bakery or restaurant. (I used to be a cake decorator at an awesome little bakery in Dallas, Society Bakery. I very much enjoyed using my art skills on pastries!) I am also going to pursue acting. (Oh, you think I am crazy for doing that? Well, you're right, I am.) I have always wanted to be an actress, and I have been doing small acting gigs here and there for many years now. So, I will be starting off with some acting classes in California and just see where that road takes me! :)

The biggest problem people say we will have is the expenses. Moving from Texas to California... things are so much more expensive there. We know. We have thought it through. The worst thing that could happen is we run out of money, and we have to come back to Texas. If that is the worst thing that can happen, that is DEFINITELY not going to stop us from moving.

The only thing that could have stopped us from pursuing this dream is our family and friends. My parents and sister and nephews are here in Dallas... Matt's mother, grandmother, aunt and cousins are here in Dallas... our BEST FRIENDS that we have had since 7th grade (and a select few I have had since KINDERGARTEN) are here in Dallas... This is by far the toughest thing weighing on our hearts about this move. But, the relationships with the true friends we have, and of course the family, we will never lose. It will be hard, but God will help us get through it. Plus! We will of course be back to visit from time to time, AND anyone can come visit us ANY TIME they want to.

 

 We are leaving Dallas on Thursday, January 9th, and doing an awesome week long road trip to arrive in Santa Barbara on Thursday, January 16th. Trust me... there will be multiple blog posts about the road trip. One place we will be stopping... The Grand Canyon. I have never been, and I am SO pumped to finally experience it with Matt. And that's only ONE of many places we will be stopping along the way! [ ooo man, I am already excited for all those pictures :) ] Since we will be on the road for a week, I will not be able to blog all the pictures right away. So keep up with me and our road trip on my instagram :)

We feel this is something God has really blessed us to be able to do. And we feel know this is His plan for us. We are not sure if it will be six months, one year, 10 years or permanent. We are just taking this leap of faith, knowing God is guiding our steps the entire way.

If you have any questions for me I did not answer, please ask! And if you have something to tell me, a story for me, advice/tips/tricks for a road trip, or even a quick prayer for us, I would LOVE to hear from you. Contact me at any time friends.

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