Where We Are Planted: SoCal Summer

Hello again! It has been awhile, but I'm back at it! The last few months were crazy to say the least... a cross-country move, a family wedding, the start of Graduate school, and then a month-long vacation across the world. But alas, we are back and ready to share with you the happenings!

To back it up a bit, a lot of people have expressed confusion over where we live and what we are doing since moving from Spain. In a nutshell, we have declared this entire year a year of transition. When considering all the variables in moving to the US, we decided that it would make the most sense and felt the most comfortable for me to take this year off of teaching. Trying to find a job in Oregon (a state I have never lived in) would require a fast teaching license conversion (nearly impossible), job-searching from across the ocean, and committing to a school district I've never physically visited. Rather, it made more sense to take the year off of full-time teaching and use the time to start grad school and substitute teach in a couple of different districts after moving to Oregon to get to know the area a bit and decide what district I would be interested in teaching in the next year. Once we had that plan set, I began to dream about what else I wanted to accomplish in my year "off."

I began to view the year as a chance to do things I struggle to find time in life to do otherwise. The priorities began to fall into place, and at the top of that list was the goal to reconnect with friends that I hadn't seen or spent much time with in years. Anyone who knows me knows that my friendships are extremely important to me. For me, being far from loved ones was one of the biggest challenges of living abroad. When we would come back to the U.S. (each summer and two Christmases), we only had time to visit our families, and unfortunately, many of my friends are not in either of those locations! I wanted to take the time to go see my friends, see their homes, their lives and what I have missed out on while being away for so long! I declared it the "Tour D'Friends" as I traveled around the country seeing many dear ones!

The "tour" began in California, where I was able to see a handful of friends from a variety of seasons of life. I spent the first part of my trip in the area where I went to college. It was so surreal to be back and this time be seeing it all with such different eyes. I was fortunate that a few friends were willing to come see me while I was in the State. My friend Nicole drove up from Palm Springs to spend part of a day together. Nicole and I were both music majors and studied abroad together in Heidelberg. During our day together, we did a hike that was one of my old favorites and got chemical ice cream in downtown Pasadena.

Next, my lovely friend Megan came to Pasadena to meet me from LA. I have known Megan's sister for years, but Megan and I actually just met this past Spring. As soon as we did, it felt like I'd known her forever! We immediately clicked, and I was so excited to see her again. It was so fun chatting as we browsed the shops on Colorado Blvd and visited my favorite cafe in the area, Zephyr. I am so thankful that they were willing to drive to Pasadena (driving anywhere in California is never an easy task!) to spend a few hours together!

I stayed for three nights with my close friend Hillary, who took me on many new adventures! Hillary is also from Iowa City, but has been living in California for the last ten years. She planned a variety of activities for us to do together that were all things I didn't have time or money to do when I was a student! I loved seeing California as more of a tourist, it felt so different than the four years I lived there. We dined at a rooftop terrace in downtown LA while being serenaded by live music as the sun was setting. We visited a couple of different neighborhoods in LA including Echo Park and Los Feliz, admired the view from the Griffith Park Observatory, and Hillary even won us free tickets to see Coldplay at the Rose Bowl!

A warm evening on Colorado Blvd.

The Coldplay concert was quite the experience!

Our final day together was spent near the water. We rented turbo bikes and pedaled through the Venice canals, followed by an evening in Laguna beach (which somehow I had never been to before! Shame on me!) Hillary was an incredible host, and our time together was full of laughter and great conversation!

After my time with Hillary, I relocated to Orange County to stay with my friend Ashley. Ashley and I were close friends in college and knew each other from the music program. We always chose to be roommates on choir tours, and I spent Thanksgiving with her wonderful family my senior year. I have visited Ashley twice since college, but the last time was almost five years ago. It was so good to see her again. I was fortunate to be there when her band was performing, so I got to be in her fan club for the evening! I felt so proud of how hard she has worked, how authentic, positive, and extremely talented she is! One of the other highlights of our time was our visit to my beloved Disneyland! Ashley used to work for Disney, so she was able to sign me in as her guest. I think I was smiling every second we were there - it is impossible not to! I loved getting to meet Ashley's friends, bandmates, and see her side of sunny Socal!