One month- already? I still can’t believe it. The rumors are true… marriage is AWESOME. What’s even more awesome is how much closer I feel to my husband. I didn’t think that was possible, but it’s a whole new adventure and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Sometimes in the morning when we are standing in the bathroom brushing our teeth, I smile inside because it’s just so cool to do life with someone else, even if it’s putting toothpaste on a brush.

We have had our share of mini adventures here and Southern California is just as beautiful as when I left it 12 years ago. Now that I have a beautiful surfboard that’s perfect for me, we have been surfing a lot. There’s about a million places to hike within a 20 minute radius (like real mountains and trails- so crazy)! I just feel really blessed to experience God’s creation every day in such a natural way. I feel cleansed and can feel his calming presence everywhere.

Our church is REALLY amazing. The environment and people are so genuine and welcoming. As much as I miss our old home, I can’t help but feel this is where God wants us right now.

My desk is full of lots of little reminders of my other home in Virginia, including a Nicaragua map and the start of my senior pictures collection. I miss these beautiful ladies SO MUCH. Being able to see their faces every day allows me to really pray over them and what this next year will hold for them.

The greatest thing about Southern California is that there’s a million different things going on in any given day of the week. We chose to go to a Corgi Halloween Meet-up, which was flooded with hundreds of dressed up Corgis.

Zack and I are sharing my Jeep, so he’s still riding his bike around a lot. We are living with his parents while we look for a house to buy. It was a weird feeling putting all of our wedding gifts and most of our belongings  in a storage unit until we find something, but I know it will feel like Christmas morning when we finally get to use everything that everyone so generously gave us.

I would say California is treating us just right. My birthday is on Monday and we are taking a trip with friends down to Mexico on that day. I really hope Zack gets me a piñata when we pass through Tijuana, but I’m not going to put all my eggs in a basket.

Now that I’ve had a couple of weeks to settle in here, I’m excited to keep blogging. I’ll be putting out a couple more posts in the next 5 days. AND, since I’m no longer planning a wedding, I’m getting back to writing my book. YAY!

Thank you all for following this amazing journey. Remember that it’s ok if you don’t know what the next 5 years of your life looks like- focus on right now and what God is  calling you to in this moment.

xoxo

Ashley