one year in the bay

last week we celebrated our 

one year mark 

of living in the bay!

after getting married last june, we moved to los angeles for the summer {and loved it}...then, mid-august we moved up to the bay and now a year has gone by! to say we've loved it would be an understatement. moving away right after getting married was scary, but so worth it. we have loved this adventure and we know we're right where we are supposed to be. that is a pretty good feeling! the bay area fits us pretty well, and here are some of our favorite things about our little life here:

weather: january in the bay vs. january in salt lake city...enough said. ha but really, i've never experienced a place that is so temperate... it really is always the perfect weather! when it's a freezing tundra in salt lake all winter, it's warm here and we can go to the beach. then, when it's a hot desert in SLC all summer, it's a breezy 75 degrees here. i don't get it. it's so perfect! we did miss the snow last december and loved coming home for a white christmas, but the rest of the winter we were happy campers with our palm trees & sunshine :)


opportunity: 
you can create opportunity anywhere you go, but the bay area {and especially silicon valley} seems to be brimming with so many amazing things that we are interested in. in just this year we have both taught with teach for america, we became apartment managers, {free rent!!} met amazing people, and chase got hired at google. i think it's a good place for us to be right now.




the beach: do i need to explain this one?

endless things to do: the bay is such a unique blend of areas: all around us we have the most amazing city {san francisco}, great beaches {half moon bay, santa cruz, monterey, carmel-by-the-sea}, hikes, trails, mountains, and charming towns. i love how balanced it is and how in one weekend we can be in the city and on the beach. it will never compare to the utah mountains, but it does pretty well.

outdoors:
coming from utah, we are used to living somewhere where people enjoy the outdoors. they definitely do here! it's such a fit area with lots of active people.

california: we are big fans of CA... we have both been coming here and vacationing here our entire lives growing up, so it's fun to live here!








friends: we have lucked out with the best friends out here. it was hard to move away from all of our friends and family, and we didn't know who we would meet out here. now, one year later, we have some of the best friends of our LIFE who we are so grateful for. they are part of the reason why we know we were supposed to move here!







work culture: compared to when we both lived back east in DC, the work culture here is unreal. we are big fans. instead of the rat race, 8-6 day in and day out with a commute on the metro, here you have companies who offer all three meals, give you time for exercise, have flexible hours, vacation, and try to make their employees happy. people work just as hard here, but they also enjoy life..and it's refreshing.







being in the center of it all: sometimes i forget that we are living in a place where so many amazing things are happening. then i see the google self-driving car go by on the freeway, glimpse the golden gate bridge, drive past apple//amazon//ebay//google//groupon//facebook offices and i remember. :)






inspiration: chase and i always say that when you walk into a room here, you are the dumbest one...and that's a good thing! what we mean by that is that there are so many impressive, ambitious people here doing amazing things. the first week we moved here we met a friend who worked at apple and we COULD NOT GET OVER IT! we asked him a million questions and we were so intrigued. now, it is normal to us that lots of our friends work at apple and know about new products 3 years in advance..pretty much every person you meet has some amazing project or start up or company they are involved in, and it's so inspiring!



our own little world: aside from the actual place we live, we just love that we have our own little world together away from everything. even thought we realllllly miss our family & friends from home, there is something so special about having our own life together out here. it has made our marriage stronger and we are better teammates because of it. we get to do whatever we want, no pressure, and just play together and have adventures. it's a dream!




the ocean: nothing like smelling the salty ocean all the time! it's my very favorite to go running next to it.







knowing a new place like home: "home is wherever i'm with you"...truer words were never spoken! we will always love our salt lake home {and plan on ending up there one day} but it's really fun to now know the bay as our current home!




food: always included as a reason i like places :) we have some of our favorite places to eat around here, and the TREATS are the very best! think: ghirardelli, pie shakes, custard tarts in chinatown, twirl & dip, food trucks, the ferry building farmers market, the list goes on and on!!! but, i do have to say--i do miss lots of SLC restaurants! they are just as good with shorter wait times :)





sports: having an NFL team and MLB team makes us sports fans happy...take me out to the ball game!





visitors: the only part that makes being away from friends & family okay is when they come to VISIT!!







adventure: we both have always wanted to live away when we got married, and we are so glad that we're lucky enough to be having this fun experience!

of course i'm not saying california is perfect, 

haha just saying some reasons we love it!

now for a few reasons it's not as perfect...

big city probs: we realized we weren't in utah anymore when a) our bike got stolen right in front of our gym on a lit street, and b) our window got smashed while we were at the SF ballet and chase's laptop was stolen :( better be careful!
traffic: not as bad with our commutes, {and chase getting to take the google shuttle} but it can get crowded!  
taxes: our "salaries" look a lot different after the CA taxes have been taken out!
expensive!: we paid the famous sky-high rent here for the first 6 months, then we figured out how to be apartment managers and get free rent! smartest decision ever, but it does take work! the cost of living here is higher in general, movies cost almost twice what they do in salt lake! oh well..it's worth it for that weather, right? :)

missing friends & family: this is the biggest con of all. why can't we apparate/teleport instantly to be with loved ones? facetime helps, but family is the reason we will probably eventually come back. 

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^^ signing our lease this time last year! ^^

we love you, CA.

thanks for putting up with us for a whole year,

and here's to a few more with you! 

xo