Hello from Palm Springs, California! It took me a whole week, but I’m finally feeling settled, in the groove, like my normal self again. Transitioning out of vacation mode is hard. We made it though.
It’s been a rollercoaster of a summer between figuring out our next move, getting to spend lots of time with family and friends in the process, receiving an assignment in Hawaii, having that project fall through, undergoing fertility testing and first round of treatment, getting another exciting assignment in Californina, once again finding out that we're not pregnant, and then finally making our way back across the country to southern California where we are now. WHEW! It’s been a lot. Let’s unpack.
We started the summer in Arizona, where we spent a few weeks visiting Shawn’s parents. We finally got some down time together after some tough work months for Shawn, got back to some hiking including a trip to the Grand Canyon, and started our fertility testing in Scottsdale. After a couple months of being quarantined in a small apartment in Wyoming, it was nice to change up the scenery, get some warm weather, and see family again.
In early July, we packed up our bags and few boxes once again, and traveled by car (yes, 28 hours of driving in separate vehicles), all the way back to Georgia to visit my family and our friends back East. It was a wonderful couple of months reconnecting with everyone. I got to reunite with my college roomies, spent lots of time with niece, had an entire sister weekend with my favorite sis, got to see my brother and nephew, revisited my old gym, met up with old friends from Kennesaw, and so much more. It was glorious. We also continued our fertility treatment in Atlanta at a new facility. I plan to go into the details of what we’ve done so far in my next post, since it's a lot.
Originally, Shawn had received a really great offer from a company he used to work for to do a job out in Hawaii for several months. That’s the freaking dream right? We had been wanting to vacation in Hawaii this year before Covid hit anyways, now we were getting to go live there for several months. There were a few logistics concerns including how to get Tucker there, what the living situation would look like, how we would be able to continue fertility stuff in a more remote location, etc, but we were ready to tackle it. I mean, it was freaking Hawaii! And then…the project fell through.
The next few weeks were a little rough, because we had been jobless for almost 3 months, and we were feeling the pressure to make moves. Then the opportunity for a project in California came up. I honestly could not dream up a better alternative. We didn’t have to worry about any of the hang ups we had with the Hawaii job: we’re close enough to LA and San Diego that we can make day trips for treatment if we need to, we both made it out here with virtually zero issues (with Tucker in tow, of course), and I am SO excited for no snow this winter. I love you Wyoming friends, but I won't miss your weather.
So that brings us to the present. We are currently living in the Palm Springs area in Southern California. Unfortunately, most gyms here are still closed due to state mandate, so it doesn’t look like I’ll be coaching again anytime soon. In the meantime, I'll be finishing up my nutrition certification, revamping the blog, working on new recipes and workouts, and planning all the hikes for weekends. In fact, we got our first hike in yesterday. It's amazing because we live within about 30 minutes to an hour from TONS of great hikes. We have so much to explore over the next few months.
It is HOT here. Like stupid hot. The kind of hot where I laid out to tan on the back patio for a grand total of 3 minutes before I was drenched with sweat, kind of hot. One extreme to the other I guess? If I’m being honest though, I’d take hot and sweaty over cold and shivering ANY day. I hate being cold.
We are living in the middle of a country club. In fact, this entire area is nothing but country clubs. I asked Shawn if he thought there were country club rivalries and drama. He didn’t respond. I'm interested though. Someone spill the tea so I can be in the know.
When we drove through the neighborhood on the first day, my eyes got so wide and I thought, “I’m HOME.” I belong here! But I also don’t haha. It’s crazy. Everyone here owns tricked out golf carts and plays tennis or golf on the daily. There are LITERAL swans swimming in the pond in my backyard. I’m sure the residents' daily activities used to include visiting the fitness center and spa before Covid hit and shut that shit down along with all the other wonderful things we once enjoyed. Ugh. Anyways, minus the golfing, this is a lifestyle I can get behind. Sign me up.
Also good news: there is a Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Target, Ulta, and LULULEMON here. I'm basically in heaven. Unfortunately, the gyms are still closed here, so I plan to continue on with my home workouts. My home gym is growing as I come across available equipment here and there. I just bought a Rogue Echo Bike and I LOVE IT. The one thing that has stayed entirely consistent throughout Covid has been my workouts. To tell you the truth, I’ve actually really fallen in love with working out at home. Sure, I miss working out in a group and being motivated by others. Getting to spend a month as a member at Havasu CrossFit back in Arizona reminded me of that. However, in such uncertain times, its been really comforting to plan my own workouts everyday, get to workout with Shawn, and use my own equipment in a safe, clean place. Plus, if I’m ever in a position where I can’t leave my house again, I at least know that I have the tools to maintain my fitness.
Currently, I'm most excited for Fall! Although California hasn’t received the memo: it’s still topping out around 115 degrees here. Whatever. It's not going to stop me from picking up a pumpkin iced coffee from Starbucks or baking Fall-inspired treats. Fall is the best. I’m ready for leaves on the ground (well, maybe I’ll look at pictures online since we live in the desert), all pumpkin everything, Halloween decorations, and Fall TV shows (hello Grey’s Anatomy, The Bachelorette, Big Brother, A Million Little Things, and more). I’m working on Fall recipes and planning ahead for the holiday season. Despite all the shitty parts of this year, I am determined to make the last few months of 2020 great. What are you guys looking forward to this season?? Do you love Fall as much as I do?
For those interested in my fertility journey, I’ll have a post up tomorrow with details on all of that. I was hoping to do this once we were successful, but since it hasn’t happened yet, I’m going to give you the run down so far and share our potential plan moving forward. We’re hanging in there and we’re going to make this thing happen. Stay positive, friends. Talk soon.
