The Big Move

Okay, here's what I'm doing. I'm moving to San Luis Obispo on April 5th (if all goes as planned). I found a room in a really cute, albeit Willa-Wonkafied house, with two friends--my German woman lover, Bianca, and her husband, Jesse.

As soon as I get there, I'm going to try my damndest to find a full-time job (or two part-time jobs). My dad will be supporting me for a bit until I get on my feet, but it's "my job to find a job." And I desperately want to be self-sufficient.

I'll also be studying for and taking my CBEST (reading, math, and English SAT-like test to get my teaching credential) and 4 English CSET tests (which scare the shit outta me). I visited Cal Poly when I was in SLO this past week and talked to a couple of the people I needed to talk to, who laid out the whole program and everything I needed to do before I could enter the teaching program. There's a lot. There's a health education course online I have to take, a US Constitution test at Cal Poly that I have to test out of, a technology course and two english classes that I have to take as prerequisites during the fall, 45 hours of early field experience in a classroom (or tutoring), and of course, the whole application process of recommendation letters, an interview, a few short essays, my transcript, and my passed tests. Plus CPR training and live scan. All that set-up stuff is expensive and stressful, and I can't wait to check them off my list one by one. At least I have until the winter quarter to have all that stuff figured out. This is one of the reasons I want to move there now--so I can find a job and get settled in before the school stuff starts. I realize this is a really boring paragraph, but a few people have asked for details, so...here they are!

Now for a more interesting paragraph:

I love SLO. My family has lived in the area since I was a kid, and I always loved going, but I never really realized what a great, beautiful, well-rounded city it is. There's ocean (the rocky, epic kind), mountains (the green rolling kind), lots of wild brush and wildlife. It's got the college town thing going for it, which means cool coffee shops, clubs, pubs, restaurants, and things like Thursday night Farmer's Markets Downtown. It also has a hippie-like, health food store, yoga-loving sector. My friend Rocky teaches yoga, and is the only teacher I've ever had who made me really enjoy the yoga experience. He is fantastic and I can't wait to get a membership at his studio and take from him all the time. Anyway, it's not just hippies and college bros and hoes. There are a lot of families there, and actually, a pretty large churchy, right-wing kind of demographic. So, it's an eclectic population in SLO and beyond.

All of this and more make me feel like SLO is the place for me to be right now. Kiyoko, one of my best friends, has been so welcoming to me, and visiting with her has really made me want to be around her lots! Her friends are amazing, and are becoming my friends, too! It will be great to be around some positive, like-minded people. I really need that right now.

I really hope everything smooths over with my family, but I don't feel like there is much I can do about that right now.

Oh, and I get to bring Shelby! Woooooo!

Anywho, I can't wait for new friends and old friends and window dancing and gin water and teaching credentials and new job(s) and yoga and vegetable gardens and Farmers Markets and vegan feasting and trying to learn to be outdoorsy, since it's such a beautiful place. I finally have something to look forward to, and I couldn't be happier! Nevermind the nervous energy that keeps me from sleeping and makes me want to make a thousand to-do lists...I can't wait!