We have enjoyed a lot about our time here so far. We've really taken advantage of being so close to the water and the fun things monterey has to offer. Growing up I LOVED weekend trips to the beach, but the beach was about 2 hours away. Not bad, but it was a day-Long commitment and required a lot of planning. I have loved being able to look outside, see the sun and say 'oh! Let's go to the beach!' And just hop in the car and go. We can pack food and toys and stay awhile or just go for half an hour - either way it's right there at our disposal. I love it!
I think, for me, the best part has been being close to Aunt Joy. I wish we could go up there every weekend but I'll settle for once a month or so. Spending time with her is truly a blessing and such a gift from God. He could have sent us anywhere in the world, but he sent us less than 2 hours from one of my dearest relatives. No coincidences.
We still have so much left to do, though. I know I talked about my California bucket list before tax season and we've been brainstorming. Here's what we have committed to so far(in no particular order):
1. Both bay baseball teams. A's game is coming up in July, giants will have to be soon after.
2. Texans vs 49ers in October (notice sports 'randomly' came out first...)
3. Vineyard. We've been to a few wine tasting rooms which are fun but we really want to go soak up a vineyard. Literally and figuratively :) it hasn't happened yet because I don't think it's quite the place for a 3 year old, but fingers crossed it may happen next week! There are a plethora right in our neck of the woods.
4. Ski trip to Tahoe! We are hoping for Christmas - we'll see. William can learn to ski, I can see if I remember (or shop) and Austin can fly down the slopes.
5. Another trip to San Diego. We love love loved our trip there in 2011 and we're only 8 hours Away...why not take advantage? I think we decided after driving through LA to get to Disney that we'd fly to San Diego though :) we like road trips, but LA sure wasn't my favorite place
6. Hollywood! Ok I know I said LA wasn't my favorite, but how can we be this close and NOT see the Hollywood sign?! Has to happen.
7. Disney (again). William is now 40 inches so we gotta go back and ride the rides he was too short for. Darn.
8. Stephanie Tanner. I mean the 'full house' house. I have already learned I'm terrified to drive in San Francisco though so Austin better do it.
9. Alcatraz. We've 'seen' it but we wanna see it for real.
10. Add more items to our bucket list.
Hopefully all of these items are marked off this time next year when I sit back and say, 'whoa! We've been here two years?!?!' And hopefully we've added plenty along the way like fun camping trips, new things to see locally or short trips to new places. Then we can start on a new list!
If I've learned anything about this never-permanent life it's that you have to take the good with the bad. We're not building our dream house. We're not hanging out with our best friends who have been our best friends and will be our best friends for decades. We're not meeting the parents of kids William will graduate from high school with. We're not even always sure what the word home means. But we get to be semi permanent tourists and see places from both perspectives. We can sink our feet a little deeper in the sand as we know we'll be awhile, but we can also live up every moment knowing our days are numbered. It's a blessing and a curse, this military life, and when you look at it under just the right light even the bad parts start to shimmer.
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