OK, so...
This day was SO fun, but more on that in a minute. Not an incredible amount has happened since my last post in November. You know, just regular living. Getting used to a new place, new job, new life, etc. The holidays came and went. Miriam and I went and visited Glynnis in Hawaii then split off and she went to Pittsburgh and I went to Ann Arbor. We met back in LA on the 30th and drove to Santa Cruz together and spent New Year's there. Since then, we have been living and working and working and living. And it has been great.
But, it got SO much better when we found our new apartment. We found out that we had to move a few weeks ago and I stepped into high gear on Craig's List dragging poor Miriam from place to place around Santa Cruz. It's so competitive finding an apartment here. You show up at one place and there are four other couples there looking too. All jockeying for position. I hated it. We found a place we really liked and met all of our criteria, but I knew we lost it when we had to explain to the woman that we were a "couple". Ugh. The next place we looked at was perfect, just perfect! And it's where we are now. It's two levels, the first being a garage. In the garage, he made the space really nice, so it's not dirty and nasty, but kind of livable. He put built in cabinets and drawers and a desk. Plus there is laundry down there. The best part is that there is a garage door opener, so when I ride home from work, I just push the button and in I ride. Ahhh, a dream come true.
Upstairs is our real living space. There are tons of windows that bring so much delicious sunlight. With hardwood floors throughout the place, it feels so clean and dry and wonderful. Off of the kitchen is a great patio that is fenced and private. That also gets a lot of sun. In fact, Miriam burned her feet a little yesterday out there. Oops. There is one bathroom off the bedroom and vaulted ceilings, so even though the space is still small, it *feels* big.
Another great part is the location. The neighborhood is called Seabright and we are about 5 blocks to the ocean. In fact, the day we rode that roller coaster, Michelle, Matt, Miriam and I walked down to the beach saw the coaster and Michelle said "Let's do it!" So we walked. WALKED everywhere that day.
There are bars and cafes and restaurants and burger joints and just tons of places to walk to around here. Even grocery stores! We didn't have that at our old place and it's something we are so happy about.
It also cuts my commute down by about 15 minutes. Though my ride is a lot harder because of the route I choose, it only takes me about 20 minutes to get there. 15 minutes on the way home.
What else? My job at the university is going just fine and I've managed to make a few friends. We've gone out to happy hour a couple of times and these women are really awesome. They're all interested in things besides work and are smart and interesting and I feel so lucky to have met them. Plus, Battlestar Galactica is an interest of a few and I've found a place to watch it every Friday night, which is awesome!
Miriam is busy busy at work, though fortunately for us, the week we moved was her spring break. Sadly, she had to do a LOT of stuff for our move on her own and on the time she should have been chilling, but it was great for us. She really made it happen!! Now she's back at work and busy again. It'll be awesome when she is done this year and can relax and spend some time just living in this great new location.
We are both really happy and looking forward to visitors soon. Mike is threatening to come and Dana too, so we'll see. We'd love to have any of you, so please think about it!!
The two other pictures under the coaster: Miriam and her cowboy hat in our new apartment and the second is waiting for Michelle and Matt to arrive for burgers. I'll post more later.
Love to you all!
Neils
