The Blog is Back!... 2 Years Later

Hello there! It’s been a while. Sorry yall, I got busy!

After a two year hiatus from the blog & a couple requests to bring it back, I figured it was time to update yall what I’ve been up to.

Well, let’s see… I moved across the country, got engaged, got a new job, got my car stolen, bought a new car, got a dog, had an epic bachelorette party, and last but not least, I got married!!!

It’s crazy to think that my last blog post was when I was living with my sister in Morganfield, KY during the heart of the Covid 19 pandemic. Looking back at that time, if you would have told me how my life was going to soon unfold, I wouldn’t have believed you. There were a lot of twists & turns but somehow everything found a way of coming together how it should!

Before I take a look down memory lane, let’s start with the present.

My husband Ben & I live in Walnut Creek, CA, a suburban city right outside of San Francisco. It’s a cute town, great weather, just a little bigger than Owensboro, but about 10x more expensive (sigh). I still haven’t gotten used to that, but I can’t complain too much, because the location is pretty incredible. We’re about 30 mins from San Francisco, 45 mins from Napa Valley wine country, two hours from Big Sur & three hours from Lake Tahoe.

We have a one year old Mini Australian Shepherd named Willow. Ben works for the Coast Guard and I work for Meta, aka Facebook and Instagram. Alright, now that you’re caught up, let’s look back at how I got here!

Moving to California

For those who don’t know Ben & I are middle school sweethearts. We started dating way back in 8th grade, dated long distance as I was at Duke and he was in NY at the Merchant Marine Academy, went our separate ways for a bit after college, then the pandemic slowly brought us back together. He was planning to enter into the Coast Guard & I was working remotely so we both moved back to Kentucky temporarily & long story short ended up back together. I knew then we were going to get married eventually, so I decided to follow him wherever he got stationed.

He got a list of 10 potential locations ranging from San Francisco to Detroit to Puerto Rico. Me being me, made a full PowerPoint presentation ranking the locations from 1-10 and comparing the pros & cons of each place. SF made it to the top thanks to negotiation skills and my compelling pros list (“Job Market, Beach, Cool, Fun”). I sold Ben on the idea & we ended up getting San Francisco! Let’s Go!

Cross Country Road Trip

Now I just had to find a way to get there. I was subleasing an AirBnb at the time in Owensboro & all I had to my name was my clothes, a laptop & a car, no furniture. So I decided to pack everything I own in my Toyota Highlander aka Ole Bess & convince my mom to take a 10 day cross-country road trip with me. It took some convincing, but with a little negotiation per usual, she caved. I picked her up in Atlanta & we took off in February 2021 with Ole Bess FULLY loaded down. You couldn’t even open the trunk or everything would fall out. There was absolutely no room, except justtt enough space for a jumbo Peanut Butter pretzels jar within reaching distance which came in CLUTCH. We even managed to fit a disassembled office chair. Excessive? Probably, but I still use it to this day so it was totally worth it.

We went from Atlanta to Dallas, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, AZ, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park in Utah, Las Vegas, Carmel, Ca and San Francisco. 3,000 miles, 10 states, 8 bang energies & 2 tubs of Peanut Butter Pretzels later, we made it to Cali safely. It was truly a trip of a lifetime & if you ever have a chance to take a cross-country road trip, I highly encourage you do it!

Got Engaged

While I was expecting an engagement within a year of being in California, Ben had other things in mind. The FIRST weekend of living in California, he popped the question. Here’s how it went down. We decided to stay in and cook a fancy steak dinner and eat on the back porch.

He said we should get dressed up, which was the first suspect move, because that’s totally unlike him. “Ehh no, I’m good” was my response as I cooked in my t-shirt, leggings & slippers. He insisted I change, so I finally caved and went to swap the t-shirt for a sweater (but kept the leggings & slippers of course). When I came back from changing, I looked out the kitchen window & noticed a table set up outside with a white table cloth, champagne & a vase of white roses. Hmm….suspect move #2.

I always said when we got engaged all I cared about was having white roses, so that’s when I knew. We went outside, he popped the question, I blacked out a little bit, said yes & the rest is history! It was then I finally agreed to change out of the slippers for a post engagement selfie.

Got a New Job

When I moved to Cali, I knew I was officially done with basketball. It took me 2+ years to come to terms with it, but I had given it all I had and it was out of my control at that point. As much as I wanted to make it to the WNBA, I had to listen to my body and it was obvious it was time to finally throw in the towel. After 6 knee surgeries and 1 back surgery, my body just couldn't handle the rigors of basketball anymore. While it was a tough decision to swallow, it was 100% the right call, and I’ve finally accepted it & been able to embrace new passions in my life.

Prior to making the move I was doing some freelance marketing work for a handfu