Moving To A New City - Part 1 - Flashes of Delight

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

It’s been a little over a year and 6 months since we moved from San Diego to the Bay Area. A part of me feels like we’ve been here longer than that and the other part feels like we just arrived a week ago. We really didn’t know anyone in San Jose. No family. No friends. The closest relative I knew lived 2 hours North of us. We moved here because of a great career opportunity for Rowell that came at a time where we were both craving much needed change in our professional life.

We contemplated the move, a lot. Like A LOT, A LOT. We weighed all the pros and cons. The biggest con was that we would leave behind all our family and friends and that our kids would grow up not seeing their grandparents that often. That’s the part we struggled with the most. But we promised there would be lots of visits since San Diego is a short flight away and a doable 7-hour drive. The biggest pro was the opportunity to advance in our careers and grow together as a family through new experiences.

Making the decision to move was the hardest decision Rowell and I have ever had to make together as a husband and wife. We had sold our house in Chula Vista months before the job opportunity came up and had plans of moving to a different neighborhood in San Diego. We had put an offer on a house and were already in escrow when Rowell got the news that he got the job! I remember this like it was yesterday…we had until Sunday to pull our offer from escrow or we would lose our earnest money. Rowell received his job offer one day before!

Holy crap this was the most stressful and nail biting week for us. I had to show up for work everyday going about my business knowing that I may or may not be moving in a few weeks and would have to resign. Rowell had to do the same. And, the most exciting yet terrifying thing was leaving a city we already love and where our family and friends reside in.

It was such a huge risk to leave the comfort of what we know, what has been so good to us and what has been routine for something COMPLETELY UNKNOWN AND NEW.

Well, we are risk takers.

Throughout my life I’ve always lived by this quote, “In the end, we only regret chances we didn’t take.” It has always served me well in life and although not everything has worked out as planned, I never once have looked back and said to myself, I wish I didn’t take that chance. There’s always a life lesson in there somewhere.

We pulled out of escrow, submitted our notices at our current employers, and started packing. It was the most liberating feeling to know that there was this whole other life out there waiting for us. And yet sad and terrifying at the same time.

Soon after we moved out here, I got pregnant with Emilia which was planned but happened way sooner than we expected. I really enjoyed relaxing during this pregnancy which I was fortunate to do this time around.

We traveled a bit as a family, played tourists in our own backyard and eventually got used to the slower pace of my life which was a HUGE shift from what it was prior to the move.

I spent the latter of 2015 getting adjusted to our new home, getting to know our new surroundings, and getting prepared for the baby. I even achieved two major goals I had which was to obtain my PHR (Professional Human Resources) Certification and become a U.S. Citizen.

Then 2016 came. The baby was born on January 25th and to be honest, its all been kind of a blur since. Looking back at this year, I cannot believe its October right now and Emilia is 9 months old! This year has flown by so fast!

Soon we will be celebrating the holidays and this time with the sweetest addition to our little family. I can honestly say that since we moved, it has been the hardest, most challenging time in our lives but at the same time we’ve had the most rewarding, exciting, and happiest moments together as a family.

I’m excited to see what the future has in store for us.

In Part 2, I will go over the lessons that I’ve learned from my experience of moving to a new city.