Bye Bye, Bham!

What better thing to do when you move from Bellingham, WA to Los Angeles, CA than start a blog about it? I can think of few things: get your car smog-checked (Let's just say the Mercury Sable didn't pass), read the CA Driver's Pamphlet (because we'll have to take a test when we get our new driver’s licenses next week), figure out the gosh-darn confusing LA freeway/highway system (more on this later). Is it just me or does my list of “better things to do” consist only of vehicle/driving related items?

Here is a quick breakdown of my new blog:

Audience: family and friends

Purpose: to update them on our latest endeavors in California

I adore my family. And I’m typically a terrible long-distance friend. I hope this blog will be a bridge between me and the people I care about. I can’t promise to post often,always make sense, use perfect grammar (I’m not the ripe, young English major I once was), or entertain. Not knowing what my future levels of busy-ness will look like, I can only promise to do my best.You have no idea how curious I am to see if I can actually stick with this!

The update

Not everyone reading this may know my latest news. (It’s a true blessing when you have more friends in your life than you have time to update) Here’s a brief timeline:

June 1, 2011

Graduate from WWU

August 2011

Get a fantastic “first real job” at Mt. Baker Imaging/Northwest Radiologists along with an equally fantastic (but tiny) studio apartment in Bellingham, WA

June 17, 2012

Get engaged to my best friend, Zach Stratton*

October 6, 2012

Become a married woman! Go to Maui on our honeymoon! (Zach, miraculously, moves into the tiny studio apartment. We both downsize our belongings. It’s good to purge!)

January 2013

Get my wisdom teeth out (okay, so not a critical detail. But I think my first surgery is timeline-worthy.)

March 2013

Get the news that Zach was accepted into the film program he applied to in 2012! We’re moving to LA! (don’t worry, we really did spend a lot of time and prayer on this decision)

May 6-10, 2013

Zach (a WWU Psychology major) says goodbye to his career in social work and heads to LA to find us a new apartment. Meanwhile, I get quite sick and have to miss some of my last days of work!

May 20, 2013

I say goodbye to my wonderful job, company and coworkers (with the plan to continue working for them remotely).

May 22-23, 2013

Zach, Zach’s dad (the fearless U-Haul master), and I drive 20+ hours from Bellingham, WA to Glendale, CA.

May 30-June 2, 2013

Zach’s film program begins! I settle in/look for a permanent job (prayers appreciated!)

*Note: my best friend is also the biggest film enthusiast I have met. This comes into play later in the timeline. Stay tuned.

So, that’s the story! We’re here in Glendale, CA starting a brand new chapter of life!

The credits

I believe that every story needs a credits section (not just for the movies). Here’s mine. I will forget to mention people. Sorry in advance. I won’t use last names. You know who you are.

Kindly and generously answered my questions about LA living Mary

Gave me a secure, cozy place to live these past (almost) two years. Didn't allow me to My adorable studio apartment in Bham

accumulate too much stuff. I love you as much as someone can love an apartment.

Showed support, gave advice and prayed for us. Even if you thought we were crazy! ;) Our p's,sib's, gp's, a's and u's 

Came to see us from Sequim and Leavenworth. Loved sharing a great dinner together! Josh, Cortland and Libby

Took me to a shooting range/taught me how to shoot a gun during my last month at work Whose boss does that? Mine

Braved the apartment search with Zach (I love it!) Cortland

Drove from Seattle to spend the night Natalie

Attempted to see me in Bham (so sorry I was too sick to hang out!) Theresa

Called, texted, and chatted often during this transition. Megan

Provided thought-provoking and moving lyrics as I contemplated this next step in my life Bob Seger

Spent lunchtime walks with me. I appreciated them during the (sometimes) stressful end. Elaine, Davielle, Monika

Moved out of state “first”.... and gave encouragement along the way Monika

Was a great friend and  Admin Assistant buddy in my last couple months at MBI/NWR Davielle

Spent a fun evening at Brandywine Kitchen. Thanks for talking about movies with Zach. ;) Davielle, Sarah, Ben, David, Teal

Gave me a great farewell and a delicious lunch at "Guiseppes" Admin

Sent me off with a hilarious card, encouraging words and a lot of laughs The CT Pod (plus one :) )

Gave me the cushy, well-liked chairs that sat in Admin’s lobby My boss, again

Told us about some churches in the Glendale area (we’ve already checked out one of them!) Our Bham neighbor

Prayed for us, encouraged us and cared for us Our Hillcrest small group

Surprised me with a great last 412 small group at boulevard. I love you gals! Squalicum HS small group

Shared life, food, family and a beer with us on our last Sunday in Bham (we love you guys!) The Scellicks

Came to see me in the midst of my packing for a lovely goodbye Gayle

Fearlessly helped us pack the U-Haul. And drove it! We are forever in your debt. Tim (Zach’s dad)

Texted me the phone number for Fiamma Pizza on our last night in Bellingham (when Internet Teal

was disconnected and 411 continued to fail).

Chose to collapse the day after we drove over you... Skagit Bridge

Spent a long time on the phone with me while I drove through the barren parts of I-5 Nicole and Mom and Dad

Helped me keep up with the crazy rush-hour traffic in LA Nissan Altima

“Recalculated” when I missed my exit for Glendale GPS

Welcomed us with friendly “hello’s” and kindly keep quiet after 10 pm each night The neighbors in our new complex

(no earplugs needed here! Praise Jesus!)

Fixed the oven in our new apartment today (this is a big deal to me!) Caesar, the maintenance guy

The pictures

Ever wonder why I have an infatuation with children’s books? It’s because pictures rock. Another thing I can’t promise: My pictures won’t be professional. I’m working with a Samsung Galaxy S2 here. I also lack in the “taking a photo of every moment” department. Maybe when I have kids I’ll get my act together. No guarantees.

Had to say "goodbye" to WWU. (You're looking at my favorite look-out spot on campus).

Arntzen 100. Long live CCF. 

My favorite dorm. Brings back memories of some great friends. :)

Ah, The Mosquito (is that what everyone else called it?)

Eating one last dinner out in Bellingham. We picked The Cliffhouse. The whiskey crab soup did not fail to impress. We ate here right before Zach proposed to me last year. 

Packing up our earthly belongings. I like that this picture features two of my favorite things I own: My dutch oven and my red clock. 

On the way to CA! Hello, Goodbye, Seattle!

I have this thing with I-5. It's my literal road of memories. 

So, I took pictures of signs that mean something to me. 

You may not be able to read them in the pictures. I was driving, after all!

"Glendale"........Oregon. Psych! You thought you could get to Glendale that fast? Think again! 

Oh, I-5. Why must you taunt me?

"Weed"

Steinbeck Country! Mentioned in Of Mice and Men

"Chico"

"San Francisco"

"Modesto"

I like how this is ~Central California. But it looks like Central/Eastern Washington!

So, I stopped taking pictures after this one because, in a few hours, traffic got thick! I am proud that I remained quite calm through the unfortunate rush hour traffic on I-5. It's not easy following a U-Haul, hoping and praying that the driver won't hit anyone as they (and you) attempt to cross 5 lanes of fast-moving cars. The whole time I was driving through this, I thought "This isn't too bad. I could do this on a daily basis." That thought was a fleeting memory when, at the last minute, I needed to take my exit but didn't make it in time. I panicked a bit but made the time to wave "goodbye" to Zach's Dad and Zach, who successfully made the exit. Praise the Good Lord for GPS! I was rerouted to another exit that got me to our apartment complex quicker than my traveling companions. Whew!  

Return of the curls. This is how I know it's summer. Out with the blow dryer. In with the Au Naturalle. 

The Americana shopping mall in Glendale. We can walk here from our apartment. Neither of us are huge Mexican food fans (especially at restaurants). Not until we ate at a place here called Frida.

We'll be back. 

I made French onion soup as dinner #3 in Glendale. Not sure why. The weather here does not encourage soup. Unfortunately, the soup was a failure. So much of a failure that....

we walked to In-N-Out. 

And now for pics of our new apartment. 

I'm thankful for this lovely, LARGE kitchen. Some may look at this kitchen and think "What's the big deal?" The big deal, my friends, is that I love to cook. And my little studio apartment in Bellingham didn't quite foster this love of cooking. It was minuscule. The fact that the pictured kitchen has counter space on EITHER SIDE of the oven is great news!

Bathroom!

Living Room. Note: These are the chairs I was given by my work. (they were eventually going to get rid of them anyway) I sat in one of these chairs when I got interviewed at the company. Never thought they'd be sitting in my future apartment in California. Never say never, friends! 

I have my own vanity (in the bathroom). Fancy!

Storage. Wonderful, glorious storage. (Is this excitement exaggerated? Only slightly) 

Bedroom. My bookcase isn't used as a room divider anymore. And the weather is so warm, that our old bedspread is too heavy! Sad for the bedspread, but happy that I'm finally thawing out from Bellingham's cold weather. 

More living room. 

Well, thanks for reading through this first blog post! If I haven't bored you to death yet, check back for more next week!

Potential scenes from the next episode: Carly and Zach become California citizens, Zach dives into his rigorous studies........hooked? I bet you are!