Ode to October

I love this month.

I cant put my finger on it, but it's fantastic. The weather is amazing. 70-80's by day, cooler at night. The leaves are turning colors, it rains occasionally. My A/C and water bills go down, my urge to cook and cuddle goes up. Bike rides aren't sweltering hot, and sunburns are (mostly) on hold 'til next year. And one of my favorite things is, almost everyone else feels the same way! (Yes, you, Lori!)

It seems like everyone's a little happier, even if they dont embrace winter, they embrace change. Halloween and the coming holidays create a buzz. And although I preach that you are as happy as you want to be, I'd be a liar if I said that we arent affected by the people around us too. Spring is supposedly the time of new beginnings, but honestly, for me, it's October. I feel optimistic & excited. The hot lull of summer is over and now it's time to get on with the good stuff.

So speaking of some good stuff...

I finally broke it to my parents that we're going to live abroad. The idea of living in New Zealand has been on the fringe of my mind since, well, the day we departed and came home after our honeymoon. But it's truly been on my mind all summer, and the biggest, scariest hurdle was telling my parents (aka: my mother). My mom cried so hard & resisted so much when I told her I was going to go to San Diego State that I was guiltified (yep, making up words) into going to St. Mary's College 30 minutes away instead. (And we saw how that panned out).

But it went amazing. So much support. Blessings, even. So now, truly, no excuses. It's time to get the process going.

Except, its hurry up and wait.

First thing on the long list of to-do's is taking an English test to prove I speak good English. (I guess I'll leave out 'guiltified' on that one.) And said English test is in January in San Fran. So, I suppose the true journey starts in 2012. Talk about a fresh start to a new year. But regardless, I'm excited!! New beginnings!

So thats the NZ update. (If you wanna sound like a local, you dont say "En Zee", you say "En Zed" for NZ. Kinda like Cali, I suppose. Although if you say that, you're a bit of a douche.)

Anyways, here's my short ode to October, and the beautiful place we live in.