🍾WELCOME BACK🍾

Ahh… why not. Today feels as good as any to finally share some life updates. We begrudgingly moved back to California because of my husband’s job and the mandatory return to office thingy but not without heavy reconsideration. We had to weigh the fact that our daughter was finally settled in a school that gave her consistency after COVID. She had friends. We had playdates. I was even in a mom group chat. On top of that, she was about to enter fifth grade...her final year of elementary school. Florence does something I never experienced growing up. As part of graduation prep, the fifth graders go on an overnight bonding trip to reflect on their elementary years. Kids, many of whom have known each other since kindergarten, get one night to just be kids together, outside of the school setting. For a child who has constantly moved, changed schools, been homeschooled, and finally found real connection at a school she’d attend two years in a row, I wanted her to experience that. But she didn’t. We also had to consider that I had been accepted into the nursing program. Forsyth Tech offered evening classes and weekend clinicals so I could continue to work my fulltime job. I had worked relentlessly, studying during lunch breaks and after work, just to get there. I could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel, working toward a goal I wanted for myself. I attended nursing orientation feeling so overjoyed. The instructor shared that only 56 of us were accepted out of 600+ applicants. I felt accomplished. Proud. Thrilled. But I couldn't take the offer.
Then there was our living situation. We had just renewed our lease in March because we loved that house so much. The kids had a fenced backyard to play in. A playroom just for their toys. A music room full of instruments. A home gym. My husband had his own office. I had a jacuzzi tub and space to breathe. It was expensive but it was our home. We were settled. Or so we thought.
Instead, we left all of that and returned to California. I was resentful for hella long..borderline delusional, honestly. When we first got back, it was great seeing family and friends we hadn’t seen in almost three years, but it felt like a vacation with an expiration date. I kept thinking, Okay, we saw everyone. Now it’s time to go. Let’s go. LET’S FUCKING GO. But we couldn’t. This was it.
This is our new normal. I know I became insufferable to be around, so I stopped mentioning my time in North Carolina altogether. I know Amara will eventually forget it, and I’m sure Jrue already has.
So here we are, 2026, and we’re still here. Trying to make the most of it. Time with friends and family isn’t guaranteed, so it’s best to celebrate the time you have with the people you love.