When we arrived in California, the relocation company through John’s new job set us up in temporary housing, which is a two bedroom apartment in a pretty swanky complex in San Jose. (Seriously, it’s landscaped almost as much as Disney World.) We were kind of bummed at the location, as it’s in a seemingly dead zone around Milpitas, with not much around here, but honestly, it’s been great and we have been able to bop around wherever we need to go. Here’s what our apartment looks like:

When we first walked around the complex, we felt like we were in a dream. It was so bizarre! It felt like the Truman Show. The sky was so unnaturally blue ALL THE TIME and nothing seemed a hair out of place. Even the temperature was perfect, no humidity, no mosquitoes with well mannered dogs all around us. It didn’t feel real! (It’s so empty in the photos because this was the first day when I woke up crazy early from being on Indiana time.)

Then I walked into Starbucks and the Barista went crazy over Stamp AND they gave me a free drink. I immediately felt so welcomed! (Of course dogs aren’t really allowed in Starbucks, I just got lucky on my first day attempting to walk in with her.)

Not only did Starbucks seem to roll out the red carpet, but the apartment complex had a free carnival for the kids on OUR FIRST DAY THERE. I mean, it was starting to be ridiculous how perfect it was all feeling.

They had an airbrush tattoo artist. How cool is that?

The next day we met our friends and one of John’s co-workers at Apple for lunch. Their kids welcomed us with flowers and chocolates. So precious! The kids hit it off right away.

Living in an apartment means lots of walking and our place is like Fort Knox the way you have to unlock a million doors to get through the various gates and doors throughout the complex. So that can be a bit nutty from time to time (ahem, bringing up groceries, oy vey!) but I have to admit that the complex is beautiful. The pools, meditaion room and fireside grilling areas are beautiful. We have been very spoiled.

We only had one car the first two weeks we were here, so I took advantage of the technological advances here in Silicon Valley and signed up for all sorts of home delivery shopping services. I ordered groceries at 9 PM one night and had them delivered at 11 PM. (Hello Ben & Jerry’s midnight snack!) Google Shopping express (free next day delivery from Target, Costco, Walgreens, etc. for the next six months!) has been AMAZZZZZING.

All of these changes, not to mention the time change at first, kicked my energy level to the curb. I’ve been allowing myself time to nap when I can’t process any more changes. For me, change plus helping kids through change has sapped so much of my energy. Some days I’m great, but others, the homesickness and the missing of our regular life schedule gets to me. When it does, the kids get screen time and I take a nap with my pug.

There have been ups and downs, but at first, it was ALL UP. We got here and it was like a non-stop party and sight seeing. We ran into this gorgeous rose garden next to a library we found one day. We walked around in amazement that a place like that existed. You don’t buy tickets to view it, it’s just a park completely full of roses. There were people having picnics and even a yoga class in one corner of the garden. Wow.

We brought NO books for the kids because they got packed before we got a chance to grab some, so hitting the library was essential. We checked out sixty six books in our first visit!

Our kids have really banded together through this adventure. We’ve had our lows (that’s yet to come in the blog) but they’ve really surprised us at how close they have gotten as well.

We have tried to keep bedtime rituals the same, but other than that, our schedule is pretty out of wack. I can’t wait to get that back on track. That’s been the hardest part for me, is not having a set rhythm to life yet. House hunting really messed that up at first. We were jetting off all over Silicon Valley at a moments notice for two weeks straight to see houses. It meant we got to find cute new playgrounds and restaurants, but man, it was draining too. The kids went to EVERY house viewing with us. Bless them! They were amazing through that whole process. They would fall in love with a cute little cubby hole in one town house or backyard in one house and then something else wouldn’t be right and they would have to be ok with moving on to another house. I will forever be impressed with their resiliency through all of this. (Spoiler Alert: We found a great house to rent! That’s coming soon on the blog.)

When we drive around our new world, it’s the foothills all over that keep taking my breath away and reminding me that I’m across the country. From the backseat, Joss excitedly yells, “Foot hills!” when she see’s them and I often wonder if she’ll ever remember a life without them. Will she remember the cornfields and never ending suburban yards of her life in Indiana? Will those years that were so carefully tended by our Fort Wayne world be just a seed in her soul for the rest of her memories to grow? Oh I hope she remembers Fort Wayne, for as beautiful as this place is, and as much as we intend to make a wonderful life here, I don’t want to forget where we came from.