We’ve been settled in Richmond for a month(!) now and life has returned to such a foreign state of calmness for me that I almost don’t know how to deal with it. With our lives in such disarray and so unsettled for the last five months of 2015, a quiet month of routine and this newfound stability is a treasure.
Sometimes the days lean towards boring, but I’m trying to enjoy them as much as I can because (hopefully) I’ll soon be employed and wishing for a day off to cook and clean and dance around the apartment as I do so.
I have missed California a lot lately, though. I miss our apartment specifically, and having the big sliding glass door open, the breeze blowing in year-round. I miss the palm trees and the dirt-covered mountains to the east, the ocean just twelve miles west. I miss Pieology pizza and Hawaiian bowls from Wahoo’s Fish Taco and DK Donuts and eating takeout from Pick Up Stix way too often. (We clearly ate very healthy in California.) I miss the map of Tustin and how I knew how to get anywhere, from our grocery store to the post office to the perfect place to park in Huntington…I don’t want to forget it. I don’t want to forget knowing which ramp to use to get onto the freeway to go to the Spectrum or the frustration of driving through the canyon trying to get to Laguna Beach. I don’t want to forget feeling like it was mine: my neighborhood, my Target, my favorite exit for less traffic to the beach. I just want California to always be a part of me, and while I know it always will, I don’t want to forget the little details that I know will fade with time. Now that I have lots of time to think about it, and a new city to discover and learn my way around, I’m once again mourning the loss of leaving a place I loved.
But with that loss comes so much excitement. My family and friends from my hometown and Roanoke can visit any time they like, and I can do the same! I’ve found a local artist collective here in Richmond that offers workshops and classes on all things print-related, from photography to typography to screen-printing, and I can’t wait to dive into some of those classes. I love exploring the city around me, from walking to Shockoe Slip to take photos of the architecture to driving up to Carytown to try a new restaurant for dinner. On a mission to do more freelance work, I’m taking on a marketing project for a cousin in an attempt to grow her business through social media…we’ll see how that goes and how I can possibly develop that service into my own business. I’m planning future travel, and working out how to save up the funds to do so. I’m writing and reading and cooking new things, blossoming into this new person who has so much potential for growth in any direction I’d like. The possibilities seem endless, and I’m thriving and overwhelmed with that thought. It’s incredible.
And as for this space…I have so many ideas. As I moved old projects and photos over to our external hard drive yesterday I came across so many memories. I found photos of past trips that I’d love to share on this blog (Miami! Switzerland!), as well as things I prepared from our time in New York. (I still have so much to share from that experience!) I want to explore Richmond and share a ton about this great city, from the murals that can be found everywhere to the great local dining and shopping scene. I also spontaneously accepted a ton of questions relating to adoption (as random as that seems for this space, though a huge part of my identity,) and I hope to do a series on my answers to those in some way soon. (Monthly? Twice monthly? What seems appropriate?) Where do I even start!? With all of it! The road ahead is wide open for me, and I’ve never felt so bold and ready to take it all on.
Today I’m letting myself sink into all of this nostalgia. It feels so good, and the future feels promising.