Hey Chile!! 👋🏽 I done went back down memory lane. A picture of Billy’s nail shop popped up on my phone and instantly I was like, dang, good ole 29 Palms. If you know, you know I love getting my nails done. And no matter where I travel to or live in this world, I’m going to find me a good ole nail shop Chile. My friend Angela told me exactly where to go and I spent my three years at Billy’s nail shop. Good people! California was a vibe! Like it was so many simple pleasures living in the dessert. If we had to stay there three more years, I really do think I could have. Twenty-nine palms for me is a quiet, quaint place. It had everything that I needed at hand exactly when I needed it. No traffic. No hustle and bustle. Just love and life. My regular spots were Starbucks, Arteaga’s (this tasty Mexican spot,) the nail shop, Cold Stone, McDonalds, and Dollar General. Life was so simple.
We also traveled a lot while we lived there. Palm Springs was definitely a regular place to be for us. I used to shop like crazy when I lived in California. Now looking back, whew Chile. We went to Vegas like three or four times. If I count when my parents got picked up from the airport than, six times. We went to L.A., San Diego, and Camp Pendleton a few times. #goodtimes
I use to love walking around the neighborhoods. That was a regular thang for me. I would walk alone, with Naomi in the stroller and when I was pregnant with Elle’. Wow. Time really does fly. It’s times when ‘T’ (Tara), Angela, and me would walk the neighborhoods at night when the husbands had to the kids and we had our free time. Fun times. #GirlTalk The sunrises and sunsets are out of this world in the desert. 🌵
Me and T would go walking/climbing in Joshua Tree. We stayed up to something. Whether it would be random or planned. She’s super adventurous and she put me on to a lot of out doorsy thangs I have never done before. I remember we climbed up these big rocks for hours only to come down for me to realize that I had left my phone on one all the way up top. Chile! We had to go back up. 😆
But forreal though, Cali was definitely a different type of vibe for me. Not the whole Cali vibe that most people think of. I lived in the dessert where most people wouldn’t want to be, especially when they think of California. But that’s why I loved it. 29 Palms was a turn on some DVSN, Alina Baraz, Anita Baker, etc. With the windows rolled down, riding to the breeze and the beat, just feeling the feels of experiencing life in another new place. The desert was like a music video to me in certain instances. Whether it be thoughts I would day dream about randomly or thangs that are now memories. The desert will always be a feeling for me. 😌🎶
Everywhere I’ve been since I left Virginia has been a feeling for me. Real experiences in different capacities. An experience, a moment, a time in my life. A story to be told.
My life is so laid back and chill. I’m so out the way. I mean, yeah it’s moments when thangs get hectic. I’m a wife and mom. (tee-hee.🤣) However, I’m just riding the waves of gratitude, peace, and love. I want to soak up every single thang. Even the hardest parts. The parts that make me sad and uncomfortable. And I’ve experienced all of that. Traveling the world is a means of me finding myself in a way. Experiencing the unknown every few years has become normal to me which has given me strengths I really didn’t even know I had.
When I look back at the California days, and who I was and who I wanted to be, and now recognizing the now me, I just tearfully smile. It’s hard to put into words honestly.
When I first got to California my head was spinning! For multiple reasons. I really missed Ohio for one. I had become so used to a place that was at one time so foreign to me and then boom, we moved. And I was ready to move until we moved. And within a year I was in love! I’ve met so many great people along the way. People that are definitely part of my story. My life. My growth and my change. It’s been a helluva wild journey and I love it! I really do. (Sigh.)
Now, it is many, many words, quotes, and saying that I could use to give insight on my life. My time in California. But three words that come to me instantly is, trust, patience, and tenacity.
So yeah, California was good living. I met some good people. I met greats friends who I still navigate through life with today. None of us live in California now. So it’s cool to go back down memory lane with each other.
I currently live in Japan. Making new memories. Experiencing new people and new thangs. Chile, it’s an adventure! #love&life
Talk soon.💋
2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith and not by sight.
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I’ll see you there! 😌