Midwest Manners, California Idealism and New York Passion

Seven Moves in 10 Years

Noah and I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary. We spent the weekend of June 19th touring all of our favorite wedding and honeymoon destinations in California. It was fun to stare in awe off the coast of Big Sur (where we got married) and to visit our favorite honeymoon vineyard (Duckhorn) in Napa. Driving from Hwy 1 on the central coast all the way to the North Bay is a gorgeous way to spend the day. It’s on the bucket list for so many people, and we’ve been fortunate enough to do it annually for the past decade.

It was a beautiful closure to our decade spent on the west coast.

Both Noah and I come from Southeast Missouri. We met at Southeast Missouri State University. Our parents and our childhood neighborhoods were similar. Christian…Conservative…Well-Mannered…Respectful.

It’s a simpler life, a beautiful life. But, both Noah and I knew that we were out-of-place there. We started our journey in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, but soon moved to University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana (house #1 and #2).

We lasted a year in Champaign, Illinois before we realized that we were still trying to find our Home.

When we moved to California, we thrived on the diversity, the competition, the activity, and the opportunities. We loved the adventures, the scenery, the mountains, and our careers. Silicon Valley propelled us in ways we never even imagined! We were excited to be around more like-minded individuals, who idealized what “could be” instead of simply accepting what is.

We were able to explore a lot of the Bay Area through our various moves. We lived in the middle of everything in Santa Clara and downtown San Jose (house #3 and #4). Then, we moved to the suburbs – Morgan Hill – where we enjoyed one home near the mountains and another one in the middle of the small, but vibrant downtown (house #5 and #6).

But, we were still looking for Home…

New Home – New Life – New York

Who, except a couple of crazy people, would sell three cars, liquidate a business, downsize their entire life, and sell a house in the middle of a pandemic and economic collapse? No one. I’ve decided that we are absolutely out of our minds. But, that’s exactly what we’ve done.

Did we lose money? Yes.

Did we lose sleep? Yes.

Did we lose our minds? Likely.

Did we lose each other? No. 😉😁

We are currently living like squatters in our New York apartment (house #7). Complete with two mattresses on the floor, one as a bed and the other as a couch. We packed a projector in our suitcase so that we can pretend we have a television, and I packed a kettle for tea and coffee. Our kitchen counter works surprisingly well as an office. We don’t have baking ware or a microwave, but we’ve found a skillet that allows us to heat up basic items – like leftover New York pizza – and our plastic plates and utensils take care of the rest.

We are reliving our broke college days until our movers arrive, which will hopefully be next week. Until then, this dorm-life/glamping/squatting continues. I wouldn’t change it for the memories we are making.

Our two bratty cats have adjusted well. They enjoy seeing the people on the street from 16 stories up in the air. And, they have already scouted their napping location, which is naturally in the prime real estate shelf of our closet. But, we will give it up for them. (That’s probably why they are bratty cats.)

Noah is adjusting to his new work schedule of 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., and I will be relaunching Music As Language this week. It’s an exciting time!

We’ll keep you posted as we move along and learn more, but I will say that we have loved our midnight strolls, the daily rains, our little residential neighborhood on 2nd Avenue, and the conversation with everyone we have met so far.

Maybe we are finally Home.

Toasting the moon from a different coast tonight.

See you soon!

Cheers,

Noah and Majhon

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