As One Chapter Ends, Another Begins.

Taxes are done, and what a relief to finally put everything involving our house, behind us. What an experience to go through, but hey that's the hand we were dealt and we played it. I wish things would have worked out differently with our first house, but unfortunately we were put in a bad spot when the market crashed. We probably could have played it a little differently, but we were feeling a little trapped its been 3 years since we decided to sell the house and it's still worth $60,000 less then we paid for it. We would have been in our 40s by the time our investment broke even.  

A while back I had a friend who was always down and out, complaining about how life dealt him a shitty hand. I used to tell him that "If you are unhappy where you are in life , but do nothing to change it, you have no one to blame but yourself. " Well, I don't like to be a hypocrite so I had to follow my own advice and try to sell the house. 3 years later here we are ready to put the past behind us (as far as the house is concerned).

So, as of this tax season we don't owe any property taxes, we don't owe our lender for a massive upside down mortgage. We are officially debt free (for the most part, ;-D). Our credit is going to need a little TLC, but luckily there is some compassion out there for people that where put in our position and although it won't be easy I would rather build from this point rather then throwing my money into an upside down mortgage for the next 5-10 years, I know a lot of people would have handled the situation differently, and I don't think they would be wrong. We just did what we had to. There will be a time for us to own our own home again, but for now we are content renting, where we can move around freely and if something breaks in the rental we are not responsible. We have a lower monthly payment which gives us breathing room to save up for future endeavors

we certainly have a long way to go in life, many things we want to accomplish,  and having $100,000 in lost equity to make up is something that will no longer be holding us back. Was it the right move? Did we make a mistake? Did we open up doors to new possibilities? You can drive yourself crazy worrying about this stuff, but we did the best we could with what we had and at the end of the day we did what we believed in and that's all that matters. 

One Year Since Moving To California!!!

Its been a year since Colleen and I picked up our lives from New Jersey and moved to California. I should have been updating this blog over the past year but I haven't, things have been crazy yes, and a lot has happened, and sure I've prob got a lot to say... but lets just call this one for laziness.

Last I left you here we moved out to California looking for something more. Unemployed heads held high we began our fight to remain self sustaining here. After working at a temporary job for about 2 weeks or so at a sign shop, I finally got in at a place I had been talking to from Jersey. Although every place has its ups and downs I was able to get a decent job to pay the bills and make a little more then I was making in Jersey. The biggest thing for me was learning. I had been stuck doing the same stuff at my old job and just needed a challenge. (For those who don't know, I work in the graphics field as a production designer.) I have learned so much in the past year that I can't even put it into words. So many good talented people that I work with have taught me way more then I ever learned at school. Just the education alone was worth it.

Side rant. I can't tell you how many times at my previous employer I was made to feel that I was lucky to be working. That there was nothing special about my work that separated me from others. It was important for me to be able to move on to another company on my own merits and prove to myself that even in a shitty economy I could find work in a state that isn't know for having a surplus budget. I have a job not because I'm lucky but because I'm skilled at what I do.  One of the things that enticed me about Southern California was that I saw a lot of competition in my field and I knew that I would have a good shot here.







Anyway, I got a job and its paying bills. When we first moved here we moved to a city called La Habra. Not because there was something there that drew us in or because of it's excellent location, but more because it was difficult to find a place from the other side of the country that I knew would be in a decent neighborhood and would be affordable for two people with no job. Long story short we outgrew La Habra and before long we where looking to move out of our tiny little 500 sq ft apartment and find something a little more permanent. Not to mention that we only have 1 car now because I had to sell mine to help with moving expenses and blah, blah, blah. We finally settled on Long Beach, CA. Now don't get me wrong like any city there are some bad parts just like good parts The area we settled in is literally across the street form the beach and is a wonderful area that is within waling distance from anything you could need. It is easy to get a haircut or buy groceries without ever getting into a car. We can ride bikes on the beach or take a boat trip to Catalina. We can see the legendary Queen Mary ship from our sidewalk. Needless to say we really like this area, it's got a lot to offer and there are a lot of people our age in the area.

Once we moved to Long Beach all of our efforts moved to finding Colleen some work. Now up until now we had been able to get by on just my salary alone but in this day and age if you want a little comfort you need to have that second income. so After 3,000 miles and 12 months We are both now working and a mere week away from having an income comparable to what we had in Jersey and bills that are close to half of what they where (at least rent compared to our mortgage). It seems we are nearing a position that we can really start to enjoy life a bit and some of the many things sunny southern California has to offer.





Now before I let this blog lay, I know that It may not be clear why I left. Why I just uprooted myself. This is a tough question. There are so many reasons for both Colleen and I. Only speaking for myself, What I can say is that it was a combination of things. Perhaps feeling a little alone, losing friends close to me, not being satisfied professionally, loosing in the housing market, but perhaps most of all I needed to show myself... show myself that I had the guts to go out and start over in a new place without the comfort of my friends and family being so close, which is what I've grown so used to being able to lean on. Show myself that I could start over and be happy doing what I loved to do.

I leave you with some pics of where I live.

This is across the street from our place:

This is a shot from the Queen Mary of our City:

This is a shot of the Ink n Iron Festival that takes place in Long Beach from the Queen Mary: