We Left California For Good: Saying our goodbyes and moving on

Andrew has the week off this week as we are meant to drive into Lexington, Kentucky. This means we have to hit the ground running to unload everything, head to Costco for a new mattress and bed frame, and groceries. We have an array of long term decisions to make in his first week off before starting his new job at the University hospital. 

I am on the I-4OE highway as this is being typed in between Arkansas and Memphis. For several hundred miles, there have been cargo trucks and semis absolutely dominating the roads and break stops. ‘Baby don’t hurt me’ was playing on the radio until an alert played on the radio. I forgot to mention we have been driving in a lightning storm since it has been dark. Which has been a few hours now. 

Our goal was to stop driving at sunset. Since it is a little bit brighter earlier in this part of the country, we have to fight our body’s resting times to get up and cover land as much as we can. Driving at night is tumultuous with tons of roadkill and we do not have a grill barrier on this $7,000+ Penske truck. 

The journey is pretty easy considering I get to binge watch my favourite downloaded shows, documentaries, and try out new programs I never heard of. Reading is more my speed these days than writing lately too. Thank goodness for The Rake. Vogue is tiring with all its predictable advertising. Marketing materials used to be creative, but its own creative direction has taken an incestuous route with its own self indulgent past ploys. 

Nevertheless. I look forward to landing. Our new home. New life. Andrew makes me so happy as we do not fight. We simply laugh things off. When we bicker, it is because he is cursing at other drivers not being considerate and I tell him to lower his heart rate, because it is not worth being upset. We have so much to look forward to and I have not felt this lightweight in a long time. 

There are so many ways I thinking of being industrious in our new state. Real estate license studying, helping Andrew launder and steam his beautiful clothes, cooking, clean the home, and blogging. I vowed to Andrew how I plan to be up early daily to prepare myself with my hair, makeup, and getting dressed every single day, because I do not ever want to let myself go. He smiled at the idea. In a coy manner. Anyway, I aim to do so, and it is not a difficult thing to do. It is simply a matter of consistency and doing what I say. 

I told him it is because I do not only not want to let myself go, but I will never hold myself to the low standard of not being available, ready for the best opportunities that land in my lap, and do not want to sink to the level of being basic. This might sound rough. But my days off not working — or working too hard editing — look rough. I forego showering and do not take care of myself very well. I want to set an example for our future children, and show my husband I appreciate him by always keeping my locks and putting in effort. It is the least I can do. He should have something beautiful to look at, and I want to stay in the same shape as I was when I first met him or better! 

Cashmere is such a good, kind, and patient cat who loves to play. He is so sweet wanting to be held and play games. He falls asleep almost instantly in the car with the soothing carrier movement. Sometimes I worry if it is a bit bumpy, so I hold the carrier steady or put my fingers in the spaces of the lattice openings. He puts both of his paws on my hand and holds it like a girl in a comfy pair of wool socks holding a hot chocolate by the fire. Every hour I look into his eyes and blink slowly. A cat’s smile. 

Andrew and I discuss baby names, jokes, and the picturesque nature around us. Kings and queens. That one German joke everyone knows. Arkansas’s comparability to Western Norway. The different trees, residual and evergreen. How humid it suddenly became. A thousand little things while struggling to listen to the latest news infiltrating society’s main pages. 

Horses are something I so look forward to riding. The smell of cattle penetrate the vents. We saw eagles and their unearthed wingspans of white. I played ‘American’ by Dvorak. It felt exactly how the symphony sounded. As if I stepped, or driven, into a new world. 

We have to drive a bit slower, because the truck with the trailer attachment says to not exceed 55 miles per hour. The Tesla on the back worries me when we ride over bumps. It moved a couple inches we found out when observing the car’s placement after driving the day’s average 12 hours. 

Semi trucks fly by, because they have to make money by either driving a long way or driving quickly. I think there is a cargo dock in Memphis. These enormous trucks are absolutely floating by at the speed of Mercury the messenger. This includes the trucks towing 8 or more automobiles on top. There are also tons of truckers stopped on the side sleeping on their break to crack at it and drive again. 

My body is swelling from sitting down for so long, not stretching, big breakfasts, and being idle. I cannot wait to walk around Lexington to discover it with my husband, and even roller skate during the day. Doing my makeup, dressing up, and not showering in a motel will make me feel like myself again. Having a home together — even if it is only for a year — is so exciting. Then building our new home from scratch is a whole other level of life we will be living!

Discussing plans and all the visible future is so close to us. Mr. Dixon has to hit the DMV to exchange his California license for a Kentucky one as do I. I think I might have to take the driving test. We will see. Notwithstanding, I am thrilled. Just a little bit of paperwork. I am even thinking of taking the big step to changing my name legally. It is a ton of painstaking paperwork, but from what we researched lightly, it seems so much easier in Kentucky versus California haha. Everything is ridiculously arduous in the golden state. So much unnecessary red tape that I am laughing at right now. 

Country music is mellifluous and disco gets us by, because we’re millennials haha. I cannot wait to unload this truck and all its contents. I want to be settled in and slowly get rid of all my stuff over time. It has to be quick and easy. Like a bandaid. We will not have a bed to rest on. We also have to get a shower curtain. 

Furnishing and decorating is one of my favourite parts of making a home! It will be so fun organising and placing everything. We past by a Palestine. Earlier there was a London. It felt like we have driven that much distance. But I have so much to look forward to with my wonderful husband! He is going to have a great job, excellent quality of living, and so much legacy to leave behind.

Passing Oklahoma earlier, we saw so many beautiful houses. He mentioned how his roommate in West Hollywood came to work in finance, but was from Oklahoma. His dad visited and met Andrew. They shared a photo of their house: a beautiful mansion with six bedrooms. He was a factory manager in charge of directing plastic parts. This is America. The land of freedom and opportunity. You can work and reap what you sew in a land so vast that little goes a long way. The land here is plentiful, with kind loving people who have the utmost hospitality, and work hard. 

So many ladies we passed were so thoughtful, with manners, and smiling. Not doing the entitled LA/NY scowl. There was a lightness and joy to them. People were kind and said ‘excuse me’. If you say this phrase in Los Angeles people either do not move or look at you funny. The Great Plains are a sign of relief. I can let my guard down and a smile goes a long way putting everyone at ease instantly. It warms my heart to have it reciprocated too. It’s friendlier. 

My life has already changed simply by the kindness of people. How calm and relaxed there are. How when I smile with my regular default happy face, they go about their day with a little warmness in their step. It is definitely a different caliber of of life here. 

There is so much competition at the Keller Williams Greater Lexington I looked at. I still need to do more research and find the high selling real estate individuals with the top firms. I need to pave my own way through and show them I mean what I say and put my shoulder to the wheel. I need to shadow someone in the luxury market who is brilliant and I get along with. I have to like who I work with, because it is my new career. THe money I will rake in too, from the horse capital of the USA with 50 acre lots worth $10 million and up will be a major elevation. 

I noticed when ladies work their way up to the top are ruthless. When gentlemen work their way up to the top, they are kind and have strong social skills.