I'm Back, Back, in Cali, Cali...Back in Cali!

We made it to Cali!

We now live with two more dogs, three cats, and three humans.  Lol.

More to come, and a completion to the rest of our travel story...

Arizona is Warm.

Well, we made it to Arizona; me and the doggies!
We spent a delightful day in Kansas with my cousin Mandy, and then had two days of driving.

Day Three of the trip was a 14-hour driving day. LONG. TIRING. Otis is not as good in a car as he used to be. He pants most of the time and can't relax. Taz, on the other hand, sleeps the entire time. But, she then wants to play when we stop.
We spent the night of Day Three in the ClubHouse Inn and Suites, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Nice hotel, with a good, hot breakfast. Taz pooped in the hallway.  :-/

Day Four was the final drive to Phoenix, where we would then get the rest for almost a week-and where we are now.
We're staying with my good friend Brittany, and her two dogs... It's rather crazy. Her dogs are both very little; Taz looks like a giant!
Friday (Day Four) night, after arriving, we went to downtown Phoenix, for First Friday. Sort of an outdoor art festival, with a great picture of people. I was like a zombie walking through the crowd; so tired.

The next day, Day Five, was a good one. We took the dogs for a walk, ate some delicious In-N-Out, and went to a movie ('Looper'). Otis is still a bit anxious; not enjoying being left alone. Taz is being her usual, puppy self.
Little monster chewed through another computer power cord. I'll say it again, thank goodness she's cute!
On Day Six (today) we went and watched the Vikings game, got Sprinkles cupcakes, and watched a Redbox ('The 5-Year Engagement'-Not Good, btw).
Now, I've got the next four days in Phoenix; time to start looking for a job for when I get to CA!

Talk Soon,
Jenn

Visiting with the cactus in Phoenix.

In-N-Out!

The little devil and the evidence.

A Sprinkles treat!

On the Road!

We (me and the dogs) made it through our first day of driving!
We left MN a little after 1pm, and finally got to Manhattan, KS around 12:30am.
LONG DAY.

I have a cousin in Manhattan, KS; which is why I decided to stop there after the first day.

Of course, before we got on the road, there was some last minute trailer drama...
I took my car to my mechanic on Saturday (09/29), and, after discussing the trailer with him, he asked to come by and check out the tires.
He said he didn't think I'd make it out of Minnesota.  :(  Sad face.
So, decided to make an online reservation for a U-Haul. I was freaking out about whether or not I would have enough space in the purchased trailer, and there's the added insurance/security protection that comes with the U-haul. I did some more packing on Sunday, ran a couple errands, and had dinner with my family.

On Monday morning, I was up bright and early to go get the trailer. I was driving to get gas, and I got a call about my reservation. All good. I get to the location...no one's there.  Huh? Called U-Haul, and set up pick-up for a different location a couple hours later. That was uneventful-thank goodness.

I went to my last therapy appointment on Monday, as well. I cried. Moving is tough, even if it's to make a positive change in your life. I am going to miss my mother, terribly. We fight, we bicker, but she is the most important person to me. If I could take care of everything and fix anything that's going wrong for her, I would. I have been going back-and-forth at being sad, and being mad. My anxiety has been ridiculous. I had a panic attack on Friday; the first I've had in years. I mumbled a bunch of stuff at my mother, and made a break for the gym. Running a couple of miles on the treadmill helped.


Things to keep in mind...
Focus on the "hellos," not the "goodbyes." All of the people I am going to see and meet and hug. All of the people that are excited to see me, again. Make a gratitude list every day. (Something I should already be doing...)

Today (10/02), I got to spend the day with my cousin, Mandy. I haven't seen her in over 5 years. We walked the dogs, had some food, ran some errands, and just relaxed. Today was a good day.

Tomorrow is our longest day of driving; about 700 miles. Going to go to bed soon, and hopefully be on the road Early!

Ps. The dogs are doing well; Taz wins the best canine car rider award-she just sleeps the whole time. Otis is doing ok, too. We gets a little anxious, but has been eating and playing, like normal.

I am tired. But, I am doing what I set out to do. I am actively working towards my goals. 

I am on my way.

Talk Soon,
Jenn

Finishing up at Work

I have been training in my replacement at work, this week.

It's amazing. I didn't realize how much I did, until I started showing someone else. Makes me feel pretty good; I feel like I've done an OK job here.

Over the weekend I participated in my 9th ALS Walk. ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a degenerative muscle disease, where the muscles basically just atrophy away. My father passed away from ALS in 1992, when he was thirty-eight. I had the largest turnout of friends, ever. Becky and her daughter Amelia, Michelle and her kids Teresa and Owen, my Aunt Rita, my friend Emily, and my dogs Otis and Taz. It was a windy day, but the sun came out and made our three mile walk a delight. As I was saying goodbye to my friends, I had to hold back tears-and I didn't do a very good job. For most of the people that were there, I won't see them until I come back for a visit.

Back at home, I backed some cookies to prepare for the Kivel Family Picnic, later in the day. Aunt Rita stayed for a bit, but I was crying again when she left. After my dad passed away, it was difficult to stay in touch with his side of the family. They lived several hours away, and it would have been up to my mom to drive us there. One of my regrets in life is that I haven't been closer to them. Aunt Rita and I got a little closer after I moved back to MN, but she and I both struggle with depression; so we hide from people, when we should be reaching out. I am going to miss her terribly. 

The yearly Kivel Family Picnic was held at Ken and Tracey's, this year. Kenny is one of my cousins; I am one of 18 first cousins. The picnic was fun and relaxing. We had food and talked and just hung out. Since I don't think I will be home for Christmas this year, I just soaked up all of the togetherness. I met my newest 2nd cousin, baby Charlie, who was just 1 week old. We now have 26 2nd cousins, or great-grandchildren. Wow. And, if you give me 2 minutes, I could probably name all of them, lol!

The following day, Sunday, I babysat for one of my nanny families. The girls were very difficult to put down for a nap, and I gave up on trying to get the youngest down, after an hour. But, I did get to spend about 30 mins laying with Sabina, and just cuddling. When I first started with this family, Eva was about 6mos. old, and now she's 2 1/2. I used to lay next to Sabina, who is now 4, and I'd rub her head while I sang 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.' As Eva got older, I got to lay by Sabina less and less, since Eva was more difficult to get down for a nap. It was really nice to lay next to Sabina, this last time babysitting, and just rub her head like I used to.

The family made me dinner and dessert, and got me some gifts. Eva picked our flowers, Bina (Sabina) got me a Dog Dream Light, and Dale picked out some food for my trip-a Bunch of Peppermint Stick Luna Bars, my favorite!

When I was finally making my way to my car, I was, again, holding back the tears. I love this family and I love those kids. I actually realized, before I'd even driven away, that I left Taz' food dish in the house (she was with me). But, I couldn't go back in, because I knew I'd lose it!

I drove away crying.

Sigh.

13 Days...And Now 11...

Let me start my saying, blogging is a big commitment. It was the main reason why I didn't start blogging before; it just seems like so much work.

Sure, I'll spend 2 hours on facebook/Pinterest; but writing for 20 minutes? Hard work.

My step-dad has been fixing up the trailer for me. He's painted it, and added locks to it. I have actually packed four (4!) boxes. That seemed like good progress, so I made popcorn and watched a movie, last night. ('Cabin in The Woods,' pretty good.)

I am realizing that I have too much stuff. Tonight I am going to attempt to purge my closest, even more so than I did a couple months ago. I got rid of a carload full of clothes and shoes. I still have too much stuff.

I am on over packer. I'm the person that needs to have 6 outfit choices... for a weekend trip. I'm working on downsizing; my wardrobe and my life, in general. Moving will definitely help that.

I had a Going Away "Party" over the weekend. It was dinner/food with friends and my parents. Both of the families that I nanny for, came. All six of the kids I watch all together in the same room, for the first time. I was pretty awesome. I am going to miss those kids.

As usual, about half of the people who said they were going to attend, didn't. One of the suckiest things about moving. Your friends and family say they don't want you to leave; but then they do absolutely nothing out of their way to see you before you go. It was tough when I first moved from MN, back in 2004. It's easier now; but it still sucks. The worst ones are the friends who say, every day, how much they're going to miss you. That, why am I not seeing you?

I still had fun at my "party," and had some really good laughs.

Now I'm in the final countdown, less than two weeks, left!

I've made half of my travel arrangements, and am slowly getting more organized.

It's a stress ball at home. My mom doesn't want me to leave, so she's picking fights with me over everything. I do my best to walk away, but sometimes I fall short. I wish she could try and enjoy the time we have together, because right now it's just making me want to leave faster! The biggest argument is my dog, Otis. My mom wants me to leave him with her, and I'm not going to. Granted, it would be a lot easier with only one dog. But, I'm not going to give my 1st dog away just because I got a 2nd dog; she wasn't meant to replace Otis.

Ps. It took me two days to finish this post... Oh boy.

Five of the six kids I nanny for.

My First Post (and most unique title, ever)

I am less than three weeks away from moving from MN back to CA.

Born-and-raised in MN, I lived in CA for about 5 years before moving back to the frozen tundra.

I've been back for 3 1/2 years-and I've had enough. Enough of the cold, and the snow, and the lack of sun. When you suffer from anxiety and depression, a state like MN tends to not be the best place for you.  (Well, not the best place for me.)

My first move out west included both of my parents, and my step-dad's truck.

This time it will just be me, my Toyota Matrix, a 4x8 trailer, and my two dogs. Up until about 8 weeks ago, I only had one dog. And then I fell in love with a Poodle-Pomeranian puppy, who I named Taz. 

Sometimes I like to make my life more difficult than it needs to be. Because, it's Definitely not going to make finding an apartment more difficult, now that I have two dogs. (Ps. It Is going to make it more difficult.)

What can I say? I think that little fluffball chose me. She's the sweetest, kindest puppy. She just loves everyone. But, beach balls terrify her. She's delightful. Otis (my other dog) is still warming up to her.

My therapist suggested I blog about my upcoming adventure.

So, here I am.

I bought a used 4'x8' trailer last Friday night. I bought it off of craigslist, and it ended up being a 2-hour process. I drove to the parking lot of a Target store, to view the trailer. I liked it. It was good sized, light, and seemed to be pretty well taken care of.

*It should be noted that I know nothing about trailers. My step-dad was originally going to be with me to look at the trailer, but that didn't work out.*

Rocky (the man selling me the trailer) goes to put the trailer on my ball hitch. I drove with a trailer on my car when I came back to MN. The hitch/ball has not been taken off. My ball was 2" and his was 1 7/8." Apparently that's not a match?

I end up following him to his place, where the plan was for him to replace his ball onto my hitch. Too rusted to remove. He ended up cutting the ball off from my hitch and completely replacing it. And, he went to the hardware store Twice, as he got the wrong size shaft for the ball the first time.

It was very difficult for me not to giggle when ball and shaft were being thrown about. I have a very dirty and perverted mind. Giggle, giggle.

Almost two hours later, I was able to take my trailer home.

My step-dad (the fabulous King Kenty), is currently fixing it up for me. My life will be what I can fit into my car and that trailer. 

I have 18 days. And I haven't started packing...

Yikes!

Jenn

The fluffball who captured my heart, Taz.