Surprises When You Move From California

I had to write a little post about the adjustment process of leaving California. Despite all the things about California that are frustrating, there is a lot to love too and having spent most of my adult life there, it's hard to say goodbye to the conveniences Los Angeles afforded! So here are a few things you don't think about when you leave California for a new life:

1) You can't buy shorts year-round in other places...WHAT?!

2) You can't just say "Hey I feel like going to Disneyland" any time you want, get in your car and be there in 40 minutes....Bummer.

3) Apparently fruit goes out of season in other states...honeycrisp apples "out of season"? why can you buy them in CA all the time?...Lame.

4) The farther you get from the coast the less flavor strawberries have and the faster they go bad...Sad.

5) In other states the same chain stores are smaller and carry less variety and merchandise...Tragedy!

6) Good luck finding restaurants that stay open past 9 or 10 pm - even on a Saturday....Had to start a list of places where we could actually get a meal after 10 with addressses.

7) In other states if a store doesn't have something you want you can't just head over to one of the other 10 locations within 30 minutes of your house....(One HomeGoods in the entire state? WAH...)

8) Things you take for granted, like beaches get really far away when you move inland....Bone dry.

9) Nail salons charged higher rates but then you don't pay a ton for every little $5 extra....More relaxing.

10) You can see the stars at night without all the glare of the city lights....Stellar!

Thankfully I committed myself to love all the great new things about our new home and treasure the things I appreciated about life in California. It's still a transition but committing to see the good and be positive has paid off daily!