Looking back at my One Year Anniversary

So two days ago was my one year anniversary. I packed my stuff on May 29 2014 and trekked out here from Phoenix. I left behind a good job, good friends, and a comfortable house. When I packed up at Phoenix, it was 106. The AC in my house was acting funny so it was hot indoors and outdoors. I basically had one guy help me pack out and between me and Nick, we packed the whole house. In that horrid heat! Multiple times Nick said he was done. Multiple times we stopped, caught our breath and said to ourselves 'just a little bit more'. We were both exhausted. But we soldiered on and we packed that bitch up.

The drive up wasn't without its hiccups. The van's AC went out on the first night in Las Vegas. It was under warranty, but the warranty was in Phoenix. Too far and no time to turn around to get it fixed. Went through the most desolate stretch of highway in the US and went through all of Nevada with no AC. Twelve hours! The van was loaded with me, Bernie, the four kids, dog and cat, plus some bags for clothes, etc. Bernie was scared that the van would give out. There was NO cell phone reception. NO gas stations. Signs that stated next gas station was in 200 miles. What would we do if we ran into trouble? Nobody would be coming to our rescue, as we would have no way to contact anyone. Nothing to do but to soldier on.

We finally arrived after three days on the road. Drove through Idaho, Oregon and Washington to get to PA. A lot of mountain driving. A lot of beautiful country. We arrived to our new home. It was about 9:30, June 1. The sun was still out, but it was cold. Cool really, but we were freezing. Bernie had a freak out! Too many trees! Too cold! WHAT DID YOU GET ME INTO VICTOR?!

Jobs- my background is IT. There is NO IT on the peninsula; it's all across the sound in Seattle. I don't want to live in Seattle. All summer long I looked for work to no avail. Nothing for me here! I ended up landing a job in Seattle, but would have to stay with my niece in Everett, about 10 miles from my job. Took over 90 minutes to get there in crappy traffic. It wasn't worth it. I quit that job and looked again for a job close to home. I knew I had to find something on the peninsula, and I didn't care what job it was. ANY JOB. Everyone kept telling me it was very hard to find a job on the peninsula. Ended up turning down jobs at Walmart. As a security guard. At Costco. I couldn't find full time work, so I got two part time jobs; at Safeway and Home Depot. Also got Bernie a job at Safeway. Eventually I found a job in IT on the peninsula, so I quit my safeway and HD jobs.

Bonsai and clay - there are no pottery studios on the peninsula. There are no bonsai nurseries on the peninsula. There is a bonsai club, but they meet on the first Tuesday of the month in the day. I work, so I cannot attend. If I wanted bonsai and pottery, I'd have to make it myself. Started my growing projects anew. Bought a kiln.

Selling my stuff - first things first! I have everything I need to grow my own bonsai (to some degree) and create my own pottery. I just have to begin creating clay again. Soon. Once I do that, I'll probably be able to sell my stuff at local farmer's markets. Plus there are annual festivals. I'll have to get a new canopy eventually. With time I'll figure it out. For now I have time.

Flash forward to where I am now - I'm working in IT. I have most weekends off. I have my own kiln. I'm growing my bonsai. Bernie's working. Health wise, those jobs with Safeway and Home Depot helped me lose weight. When I got here, I weighed 247 lbs. I just weighed myself this morning. I'm at 215. I still have 15 lbs to lose to hit my goal. I have my growing projects, my clay projects, my resell projects. Overall I'm in much better shape than I was in Phoenix; physically, financially, emotionally.

If I had known it would be like this, would I have moved? Yes! Only sooner. Much sooner.