5 Things

A month ago, my boyfriend and I packed up our apartment and drove 300+ miles from our home in Modesto to start a new adventure in Santa Clarita. While it definitely feels as though we crash landed, with him starting work two days after we got here to me taking on a rather heavy workload as a long term substitute, this new life of ours also feels pretty great. Here's what I've learned so far:

1. I spent too much money on groceries before. When Eric and I were living in Modesto, we shopped separately. Because I was training for marathons (and also just love pasta), my diet was a lot more carb based than his non-running diet, so we bought and cooked our meals separately. One major issue with this scenario was that we were each spending around $250 a month on our food. Moving from the Central Valley where cost of living is cheap to Los Angeles where they charge you for just about everything except oxygen, we knew we'd have to change our crazy shopping habits. For the last month, we've been shopping and cooking together and have cut our grocery bills in half. Plus, we've really upped our cooking game:

Pozole!

Al Pastor Tacos with pineapple. Mmmm.

Enchiladas with homemade red sauce

2.  Letting go of material items is necessary. We used to live in a 2 bedroom/2 bath in Modesto, but moving to LA, we knew that we would need to downsize to a 1 bedroom apartment because, let's face it, being able to afford a 2 bedroom apartment here would mean getting involved in some illegal work. The idea of consolidating our "already small" apartment down to an even smaller living space gave me major anxiety. I'm an introvert who also happens to be an only child, so needless to say, I need my space.

We got rid of a lot of stuff to make this move, and it's funny because I've never felt better. Living in our new place has made me realize how big our last apartment was and also how much I didn't really enjoy being in there. We may have 200 less square feet now, but our apartment feels a lot bigger without all of the extra crap.

Our new living room

Our dining room

3. The rumors are true: people in LA drive like maniacs. Within the first 48 hours of being here, I must have gotten honked at by at least 5 different drivers for not driving fast enough or waiting one, yes one, second after the light turned green to start driving. I started sweating and also felt like sobbing. I still fear the horn, but I am getting better. Plus, I don't have to get on the 405, which definitely helps.

4. Not commuting is glorious. I've been a commuter for the last 10 years, driving at least 45 miles to get to work or school. Well, currently, I am subbing at a high school that is 10 minutes away from my house and that doesn't require me to get on any major freeway. Last week was actually my first time on the freeway in over a month, and it sucked. I'm glad I don't have to do that everyday. In fact, I have gotten so used to not commuting that I have been turning down jobs that may require me to get on the freeway.

5. Moving makes you and your partner closer. People kept telling me this one before we moved, and I am surprised by how right they were. Although Eric and I have a couple of friends in LA and my parents nearby, they are still about 45 miles away, so we've really learned how to spend more time together. We're both still insanely busy (even though I aspire to be less busy each day), but we also have weekends off so we can spend time together and explore our new area. Being together makes this new adventure a lot less terrifying.

I love it here so far, and I can't wait to see what the next month has in store for me. Thanks for reading.