Another Drive Across Country & Pit Stop: TX

Well we did it again..My 4th time driving across country and Charlie's 5th.  It's so funny because every time we do it we say "we are never doing this again!" and yet...  This time we added a different dynamic by bringing along our dog.  It really wasn't much of a hassle other then worrying about if he was comfortable and cool (at least as much as he could be).

We decided we would try to do the drive in two 24 hours days and doing a few day stop in TX at Charlie's sister's house.  Well we must not be as young as we were when we did this before because it was a LOT harder then we remember it being!  We did do the straight drive though, stopping to eat and let Johnson run around some rest stops and what not.  At about 4:30 or 5 we were starting to loose it and decided to pull over at a rest stop and try to sleep...or so we thought.  I almost fell asleep immediately (neither of us were comfortable going to sleep while the other was driving) but as soon as that AC turned of Johnson began with the incessant panting.  Really making it difficult to sleep, so Charlie walked him around a bit and I slept for maybe twenty minutes.  Then he had a second wind and decided to drive.  He made it three hours before needing to switch.  Long story short we made it to Spring, TX (Once you cross into TX on the West by Juarez it is easily a 12 hour drive to the opposite side which is where is Jess lives).  By the time we got there it was probably 2 or 3pm and we had been up about 30 hours and believe it or not we actually stayed up! The kids were so excited so we didn't have the heart to just crash even though we could have slept right next to Pebbles (her dog) and been out like babies.  We made it to dinner at Papasito's (yum, worth staying up for) and after a 36 hour day went to bed around 8pm and slept for about 14 hours.  It was soooo good! The next few days were filled with pool sessions, good food and playtime.

Colt was loving this! 

And of course since Colt had a turn Olivia had to get her's in too. 

But she had a little more trouble balancing..

I love that she used his head..

Oh boy do these kids love their Uncle Chuck!

A little bit of Ipad play and TV time. 

These two had an opportunity to become friends.  Johnson took some time to warm up i think still coming down from nerves on the drive but Pebbles was so excited to have him around.  Towards the end of the trip they would play and it was pretty cute. 

We attempted a FaceTime with Grandma and Hannah one night and oh man was that a challenge.  Everyone is everywhere except in front of the IPad and then the are holding it and doing 360's with the screen.  Finally the smart Mom Jess just said I will hold it while you sit and talk..

Trying to get all three posing and looking at the camera for a picture.

This one was pretty good!

Sleepy dog pals. 

Ellie Bellie

These two were really good together and played a lot with each other! Didn't see this so much in NY so it was cute to catch them running off and playing something together. 

On our last night Jess brought out a bunch of Johnson baby pictures and we all just about died..Charlie and I decided that we were going to need a new puppy soon..hahaha..

It was sad to leave but we needed to finish the trip.  On our way to TX we were both worried a little bit about Johnson overheating so from TX to NY we kept 2 full ziploc bags of ice for him to lay down and within minutes he was passed out..Pretty cute. 

We ended up stopping at a motel in Tennessee and it was a good call. We got into NY late in the evening but Johnson was so stinking excited to see Kathy it was adorable.  He was jumping all around in circles and wouldn't stop licking her. 

That's it for now.  We've made it to NY and will see what happens next..

Quick night camping.

When visiting friends in Huntington Beach on our last weekend there before our big move, on a whim we decided to book one night of camping at San Onofre beach during the week.  We met Kyle and Matt a little after noon and brought a few longboards, wood, tents, and a cooler of necessities.

The weather was a little overcast and the waves were small but no one was discouraged.  We took the trek down the cliffs to the ocean and it turned out to be a lot of fun.  We were almost the only ones on the beach and in the water!  I didn't plan on surfing but the waves were so small and the water was so warm it was perfect for me.  Kyle happened to have an awesome phone case that is waterproof so of course we took that out and took videos.  I haven't had a video of me on a wave since high school i think so this was so cool for me (despite the minuscule size :)! This was also one of the few times I was actually surfing without a leash.  We had loads of fun.

We only had a few pictures and a couple of videos but I wanted to share them.


Needless to say they had these signs at every campsite and you could run up each one and eventually get to the cliffs where you can check the waves. We didn't obey the "stay back"..

After you run up those trails you get to a clearing kind of like this where you can see the ocean.  This was actually on our way walking down the trail. 

Boys & Boards

Here are a couple of videos of all of us surfing! 

HB Friends

Charlie and I were lucky to have some friends from New York living in Huntington Beach.  Oceanside is a great place but it is about 45 minutes away from our friends in San Diego and another 45 away from our friends up North, so when we wanted to go out with them we would usually have to do a bit of traveling.  It was great having his friends up in HB because it was a town that I wasn't really familiar with and now we are and we love it.  It is clean, new, somewhat expensive, and a typical southern California spot on the beach.  We always had a great time going up and visiting with them.  Just wanted to quickly say how much fun we (including Johnson) had with these guys..

Doing all kinds of fun things like getting fish tacos..

Having fires on the patio..

Or some good ol' fashion mini golf.

Will miss these HB weekends!

Saying Goodbye..

Saying goodbye to our first apartment turned out to be more emotional then I anticipated. Although we have been feeling positive and confident about our decision to leave we spent two years and eight months in that place and made so many memories.  We were lucky enough to have some great neighbors in our community and friends nearby.  We had our usual watering holes and many date nights that were walking distance.  We had some great memories walking to the pier watching the sunset or going to the Thursday morning farmers market.  I knew only little bit about the town of Oceanside but now Charlie and I are very happy to have spent some time in this area because it is a great little community with a lot to offer.  It is the end of an era for us and it is a bitter sweet parting. It is difficult to say goodbye to friends, neighbors and the whole place in general but it is the way things are and I feel lucky to have the experience and memories that I have.

I really had fun having our own apartment.  Charlie was so willing to let me put whatever up where ever I wanted too, never complaining that something was too girly or overcrowded.  We didn't spend a lot of money accumulating stuff but we did have a lot and I loved our apartment.  I do have to admit though getting rid of everything was a hassle and it felt really good to purge everything that we did (despite how much we got rid of it still felt like there was a lot we kept, about 9 nine boxes & a car load of things). I wanted to take some pictures to remember what our first place together looked like and also throughout the cleanup.

One of Johnson's favorite spots in the house..

And yet another..

I know a lot of stuff.

One of my favorite things in our house was the bookshelf.  Photo albums, school work, pictures, knick knacks, souvenirs, etc. 

It was not uncommon for me to walk into the bathroom and see this (freaked me out almost every time).

Oh boy did I love my plants.  The one on the right is a money tree that I've had for about 5 years.  I probably had a total of 20 plants indoor and outdoor and I am not bringing one with me!  Of all the things the plants were the hardest things to part with.  

Our bedroom view, so many sunsets. 

And then the cleanup began..

We did a garage sale the first weekend we came back from NY and it was very successful.  We sold all of our major furniture and ended up moving the bed to the living room to have something to sit on!  Our neighbors bought our couch so it was really convenient because moving them was so simple, but when we sold them we were like oh ya, now what do we sit on!?

This was our last day of cleanup!  We did a walk through with the landlord and she said everything looked good, just more cleaning.  But it was sort of surreal to see it as empty as it was, especially since we had every bit of wall space covered!

Not only did we love the place we were at but we really enjoyed the town as well.

This is our public library and right in front of the street there would be a farmers market every Thursday morning and in the evening a street fair. We went many times and enjoyed every trip. 

Many beach days..

And this was my view every time I was about to turn onto our street. Rows of palm trees with a view of the ocean.  We will be missing this view!

We were fortunate to make a few really good friends.  I met Kristen in my first semester at CSUSM and  we hit it off immediately! We sort of lost touch for a semester or two but then this last year and a half we reconnected and our men hit it off too!  This made for great double date partners a few times a week (at least) and it developed into a really great friendship. 

Charlie, Brian and Johnson got very close too. 

We will always have a special place in our heart's for Oceanside.  <3 p="">

A Big Decision..followed by a vacation

Recently Charlie and I have been contemplating what our next step should be (not talking about marriage so simmer down). I am (mentally at least) done with school other then two online classes I am registered for and work got so slow for Charlie that he was laid off.  This was almost a blessing in disguise for him because he was unhappy at this job but it was fairly consistent with reasonable pay so there wasn't a lot of motivation to leave.  After this happened we had to sit down and think ok...now what?  We had always contemplated moving back to NY for a few years to save money, maybe give Charlie and opportunity to go back to school or focus more on learning the trade at his Father's company.  We talked endlessly about if it was the right choice to go out there, we were and are both convinced that there is more opportunities out there for us, more connections and chances to network (later proved to be so true).  But then again we would give up our great little apartment where we can see the ocean and walk to the beach and the temperate oasis of San Diego for three months of brutally cold weather..You can see our dilemma! All and all we decided no risk, no reward, so before a vacation out to NY we decided that Charlie and I are going to sell almost all of our junk here in San Diego and move into Kathy and Rich's transformed basement apartment.  We went out there for ten days and brought four suitcases to leave.

At first people were like, why are you going out there to vacation if you are going to move? And my response was, the trip was planned before the move AND it just helped us to solidify everything.  It was another little blessing in disguise because we got to talk to his parents about it and make sure they were comfortable with it as well.  On top of that, i had five different people either offer me applications, interviews and openings for jobs, all somewhat related to my area of interest.  Is that coincidence? I think not.. :)

It was nice to do this vacation because we had been very stressed about everything and constantly dwelling on what was the right choice..which we now know we made.  It was so fun to play with all the children, eat a ton of pizza and bagels, and hang out at the beach.

Ellie Bellie and Baby Ezra.  Although he may not look entirely secure i assure you he is :)  She asked me if she could hold him. Ellie has such a great personality! She is so unphased by things that may upset other kids, she's fun, tough, and super lovable. 

Jake was worn out from being such a great Uncle..

What a classic scene at the Psillos house right? There was A LOT of swing time as usual.

The kids were really into this movie called "Wreck it Ralph" and you could always catch them doing the dance at the end of the video.  I was trying to get a good shot of Colt and Zeke jammin out.  They are going to make two ladies very happy later because they know how to have fun and aren't too shy to dance!

And the adorable Cora Mae.  This was my first time getting to see and play with her since she was born.  She has giant beautiful eyes and an aura of preciousness.  She was a little sick when we were there but that didn't stop her from roaming around and having some fun like the rest of the kids. 

She is such a sweetheart!

I think because I am not a parent, I always forget to capture moments.  My photos are always sporadic and whenever I may have a phone handy so I never get a lot of good ones but I still wanted to share the few that I got.

This trip really put us at ease with our decision to leave California for the time being.  Although I am leaving my hometown and parting from my family for a bit, I need to remind myself that I have another family on the East Coast that I am very grateful to be apart of :)  We have many friends we adore in NY and most of all the man of my dreams will be with me.  I guess growing up entails a lot of these "big decisions" but with one door closing their is another opening.  This is just our next chapter and we welcome it with open arms.