A Totally Different Life in One Year

It feels like 10 years have passed since I lived in San Diego, but we had our "North Carolina-versary" in late July.

A year has already gone by since we packed up our lives for the second time in two years and drove across the country to start all over again.

Chad packs like a Tetris pro:

Here's a shot of me letting Ziggy out to pee in 100 degree heat in Arizona. I had to dump water on him to cool him off.

Here's what we did in less than a year:

We went from living in a 270 square foot apartment to living in a bigger (old as fuck, no AC) apartment to buying a new house we love.

This beautiful lake is only a mile away from our house!

Our new house was truly love at first sight for me. It has air conditioning (insert choir of angels singing), a washer and dryer and a real yard! It's eerily quiet.

I love living in the middle of nowhere, but still close to Asheville. If we really wanted to, we could rent out our guest room, which has an en suite bathroom. We're really loving our own place.

I quickly built up my dance business AGAIN in record time. Prior or our big move in July 2015, I was already making connections online for several months, so as soon as we arrived, I was double and triple booked through September 2015.

I finally quit teaching and performing and modeling in December 2015, due to extreme burn out. This was a decision that took 2 years to make. I still dance, but only for myself, Youtube and Steemit.

I got my "work from home" writing job (based in San Diego) back, and I quit 4 months later. I earn more money working for myself, and I'm a way cooler boss. ;) Plus, I value freedom above all else.

We had to say goodbye to our best friend, Ziggy in February 2016. I still can't believe it every time I talk about or or type it out. I just cried about it again. He was the sweetest dog.

This was Ziggy at 14, living like a rock star in San Diego:

I believe he is still with me in spirit. I visit the lake where we spread his ashes almost every day. He taught me so much in the 5 years we had him. He was 15 years old and will always be my best friend.

Here is a photo of 15 year old Ziggy:

I turned my greatest pain into joy by starting a pet sitting business in Asheville. Business is booming. I still miss Ziggy and cry about him when my pet sitting clients leave (let's face it, I'm sure I always will) but it feels great to take care of animals again.

This is me with Ziggy's albino doppelganger, Roo, an Italian Greyhound I pet sat for a few weeks ago. She even smelled like him!

It took me almost a year, but I can finally say that I love living here in North Carolina (and FYI, we still plan to move to Hawaii).

There are mountains and waterfalls surrounding me, just like in Hawaii.
Who knew they had all this in NC?

It took me this long to get rooted because I was always on the go for the first 6 months...and because at first I blamed Ziggy's declining health on our cross country move/road trip. Denial is a real thing. Having a Psych degree doesn't protect you from it!

Chad started another band. It took him almost a year to find a bass player. In my opinion, he should have stuck with our band that he considers a joke, The Loverfaces.

My husband Chad can proudly say he grows most of our own vegetables. (Want to feel like a total lucky bitch? Grow a garden! Free healthy food and beautiful greenery!)

Proud to say this is my husband:

We ate the remaining hydroponic lettuce last week. Yes, Chad has a dedicated closet for winter gardening.

There's plenty of cucumbers, kale, chard, and okra (fried okra is so delicious!) and more from the outside garden. We eat fried green tomatoes and okra for dinner several times a week. I could eat it every day.

We have a few more trips loosely planned for the near future (San Diego, Colorado and Las Vegas when one of my best friends gets married in September) and not so near future (Hawaii next year)....

I miss the beach so much! Here's a pic of me trying to combine my talents of art and dance on the beach last year in San Diego.

I would LOVE to go cuddle with sloths in Costa Rica, hang out with monkeys in Bali, and see the northern lights from an igloo in Iceland...So I'm using that as motivation--as if this recovering workaholic needs motivation--to fuel my money making, saving & traveling endeavors.

If you have the itch to travel too, here's a $30 credit for Air B N B.

I'll share my San Diego travel journals in the near future. Thanks for reading,