Full Circle

I've decided that sunsets will always make me smile. So will the beach and the coincidences (or whatever you want to call it) that make up my life.

The photo to the right represents my reality. It was taken a 30 second walk from my apartment.

Not visible in the photo is the house I spent my school breaks in as a child and the flowers I played "forget me not" with as I walked to the beach. Unseen are my fondest childhood memories and the laughter emanating from my grandmother's house. This photo was taken in Redondo Beach and to the left of the photo is Palos Verdes.

For as long as I can remember I've wanted to live in Palos Verdes or Redondo Beach. My family sold the house my mother grew up in years ago but my attachment to the area never died. Maybe it was the fact that I grew up in a farm town and Palos Verdes was completely different from the place I called home. Maybe it was the relaxed beach vibe or the amazing breakfast place called "Eat at Joes." Who knows. All I do know is that I moved away from Southern California in 2007 with no desire to return to LA, but with a yearning to one day be able to afford to live in Palos Verdes.

Fast forward a few years and here I am, living in Redondo Beach (5 minutes from Palos Verdes)! After applying to jobs and internships around the world, I got hired as the Housing Director at an international school in Redondo Beach! Somehow, I've come full circle. I've been here 4.5 months and I still have moments in which I can't believe I live here. I truly appreciate where I live; I ride my bike on the weekends, try to catch the sunset over the Pacific as often as I can, and smile when I think about how wonderful it would be if my grandmother were still alive and I could go to her house for dinner. What's great is that I'm not the only one who appreciates the beautiful place. Daily, I see people watching the sunset. I love the fact that people appreciate where they live. Maybe I'm sensitive to this because the only other time I had a similar feeling was when I lived in New York.

Although I appreciate where I live, my job is stressful and I spend the week doing everything I can to stay sane. On the weekends I try my best to make the most of the location and my current life situation. I've also finally started working on my Masters capstone (thesis). It's a slow process but by next November I should have my Masters degree in International Education!

While this blog is boring in comparison to some of my others, I thought it was time I updated this site with where I'm at and what I'm doing. I wish I could share my most recent travels but I don't have anything to share. For the first time in my life my travels are limited to a small amount of vacation days and I no longer have the freedom to jet off on an adventure whenever I have the urge. I guess I've finally joined the real world. Luckily, my real world consists of being surrounded by international students, the pacific ocean, majestic sunsets, and the clean ocean air that my mother never failed to mention during my childhood visits to Palos Verdes and Redondo Beach.