I have been here for a month now and have my feelings changed about being in WA?!? Not sure what I've said before (lol) but if you ask me now this is what i would say...i don't love it, i don't like it, i tolerate it, and even then those days are few. Nolen has been home for the past 2 weeks, i guess since they spent 10 months in Iraq they thought they could use a break haha. My poor husband has heard his fair share of whining and complaining...from me! More often than not i vocally express my distaste for where we live. For his sake i am trying to suppress my feelings, but am not very successful at it. Every time i meet someone new they ask me where I'm from. When i say SO CAL they look at me with wide eyes, impressed but confused as to why i moved HERE, all i have to do is say one word, MILITARY and they eyes go back to their normal size as they say.... "Ohhhhhhh". They continue to explain that their summers are sometimes nice and warm, but still nothing like CA. But that's not the problem. Rainy weather doesn't bother me one bit (well wait to get a better update of that during winter, i hear its supposed to be brutal this year) I tell them this and again they look confused. I explain to them i feel very isolated. Some agree, but most look at me like im crazy, they definitely stick up for WA saying, "there are tons to do, you have the mountains not far and the beach is only 2hrs away!!" NO WAY, ONLY 2 HRS AWAY?!?! Ummmmmmm thanks, but i grew up with the beach being 15 min away thanks...PS i hear the water here can give you hypothermia in minutes if your not properly prepared! but heck thanks, NOW i feel at home hahahaha. (I'm really not rude to them i promise) But from a CA's point of view there is nothing around me. Its forest, seriously, i never knew so many trees existed. And you know what trees and forest mean....little creatures! yuck! You can not drive 1 mile without seeing a new freshly hit/splattered on the ground road kill! I shiver and gag every time one lies in my path.....ITS SOOOOO GROSS! and you think that's bad, get this....Target (my favorite store) - about 20 min away! Costco - 25-30 min away! The nearest mall - 25-30 min away! Khols - 40 min away! So let me say this again...ISOLATED!
During a conversation with a ward member (from church) she expressed her love for WA. She swore to me that there were things to do here you just have to search them out. So she invited us to go down to Seattle with her and her husband to the famous World Market. We spent almost the entire day down there and had fun.
I decided i didn't mind WA as much if we could do something big every once in a while, and if you read on you will see we get that opportunity......
Every month Nolen and I get an envelope in the mail. Inside that exciting envelope is a check. Before i left for WA my aunt took me out to dinner and said that moving to somewhere new isn't easy. She wanted to help make it more enjoyable and that she has. She sends us a check every month and calls it "MAD MONEY". There is one rule to how we spend the money...her instructions included: "spend this money on something that will introduce you to where you are living. EX: The Space Needle. Find something that this state might be known for, and something about this state that isn't well known." It has been a blast.
This past Wednesday Nolen and I drove up to Seattle for the baseball game. It was the Mariners vs the Angels. How perfect, a piece of my home town in the new town. I had a great time. I consider this our first real date since he has been home.
On Tuesday we were told about the Northwest Trek Wild Life Park so yesterday we decided to take a drive and check it out.
It was so neat. They have a "FREE ROAMING" area for the plant eaters that you can take a tram through. Because it is free roaming they are "free" to go where they please, so for us on the tram it is a hit and miss for the animals you might see, but it also means the opposite...we had a few animals come right up to the window-less tram and, they were right there. haha
Once you have done the tram tour there are other things to see. They have bears, wolves, foxes, owls, beavers, and so many others. This Wild Life Park is NOT a zoo, meaning the animals are not in cages. They have acres and acres of free land to explore, but because the dangerous animals are not "tram tour" friendly they are REALLY hit and miss on seeing them. The wolves came very close to where we were which was awesome.
Once Nolen goes back to work and i get a job i think i will have less time to think about how much i dislike my surroundings here in WA. At least I'm hoping! lol I'm excited for our next month's "Mad Money" adventure! Stay tuned!!
I'm so glad that you have a little extra moolah to keep you from going MAD in WA! Doing all those fun things without effecting your day to day finances is nice!!
ReplyDeleteI miss you sugar muffin and I hop married life is every bit as wonderful as you hoped it would be!
PS. You look gorgeous in those pics! <3.
Tara and Alex <3.
Woo Hoo!! New stuff to read from you!! Sorry it's been a hard adjustment for you up there. Everyone I know that came from WA, loved it. So there must be some good stuff there! Just different good stuff than here. It will help to be busy. And what an awesome aunt!! You're so lucky to be part of such a great family. Hope you find some fun soon!! Love you!
ReplyDeleteDont worry, it WILL get better and you WILL feel less isolated. When we first moved to Rexburg, I was in a similar situation. I went from living at home with my family, to living in Idaho with my husband, knowing NO ONE but him and having no job. I was SOOOOO homesick. I missed my family and friends and california and I cried almost every night for weeks. But, you as you make friends and become more established there, it really will get better. Of course you will always miss you home and family, but you will learn to like Washington...heck, I learned to like Idaho and lets face it, WA is WAY better than freakin ID!!!! Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh Lauren!! You hit the nail on the head of what I feel!! I don't know if you know but I am in Portland! So I have every single thing you're thinking EXCEPT the mall problem- I can walk to the mall from where I live haha. But, the weather, and the beach?! Seriously, don't bother trying to go, other than to see the beautiful ocean. I love the ocean in general. But it's something different when you look at it when you're NOT at home. But, we had a "beach day" (which looked like we were going camping- every where we go looks like we're camping, as I refer to it) and we happened to go on the hottest day of the year so far- it was boiling! So we thought it would be perfect. um no. We got there and there are SO many bugs and the sand is so damp, it soaks through your towel. then you're laying out and get so hot (which happens at home and then you go swimming, cool down and then lay out more. Oh man I am making myself home sick) and here if you go to get in, it's exactly what you said- I mean, hello it's alaskan water. Not ok with me. So it's miserable because the water is too cold but the shore is too hot. So I have concluded that while in OR, the pool is better than a beach day. The beach here is just the shore.
ReplyDeleteAND I AM SO SICK OF SEEING SQUISHED ANIMALS! ON my short one mile run I see about 3 every day. No exaggeration!
Oregon will NEVER be CA and I will ALWAYS be a California girl, but I AM getting better at trying to make the most of it here. I sure wish we had Mad Money because when trying to be positive, since day one, I have made a list of things I thought would be neat to explore, to appease myself, but we just can't afford them. So although I know you already were, be grateful because I do think that makes a difference.
I moved here in May, just in time for their record breaking rainy June. ah! I can handle it in the winter, but when it's Summer and you're still wearing pants and rain jackets? ah!
Where in WA are you!?