On the past months…

The past months have been some of the busiest of my life, filled with many great changes and challenges…

In the spring, we prepared for moving from California–both mentally and physically–and by the end of July, Lisa finished her long graduate school journey and finished her Ph.D.  I am so proud of everything she has accomplished and for working tirelessly to achieve her goals.

In June we went our 7th Tai Chi camp with Lenzie.  By this point in June we were both exhausted and going to camp was a wonderful way to rejuvenate ourselves. We worked hard in camp and had a wonderful time in the company of friends. It was bittersweet knowing it would be our last camp as locals but knowing we’ll always have opportunities to see our friends at future camps is a great comfort. It will be great to see how much we have all grown in Tai Chi and life when we all meet next year.

At the end of July, Lisa and I stopped by Vancouver before heading to Rochester for a small break and delayed honeymoon.  The weather was sweltering when we first got there and we were both extremely exhausted from little sleep in the last days we were in Berkeley.  We managed to get a good amount of rest in Vancouver as well as had a chance to explore the wonderful city. One of the highlights for me was walking around Stanley Park; it was exhausting at the time but it was a beautiful walk and I feel better off for it.  We had some nice meals and enjoyed the city very much.

After Vancouver we arrived in Rochester.  We stayed the first night here with Holly and Melina, which was wonderful to see such warm friends after leaving California.  Afterwards we stayed in our new apartment a couple days until our movers came and we set up our apartment.  The first week was full with getting situated. Purchasing a car was of high importance for living in this city and so for the first time in 9 years we bought a car!  A very different change in living.  Luckily we do not live too far from many things, but just far enough to require a car, so we do not have to drive much at all.

Since then we have slowly gotten settled in.  The first month and a half here was still extremely busy. Lisa moved very quickly from being a student to being a professor, having to plan courses and then teach them.  For me, life was still very busy as my job work was full-steam with everyone working on the new release and I had a writing obligation that took up my free time.  We took Labor Day weekend off to drive to Toronto and spend the weekend just relaxing (though I still had to spend time writing that weekend, which was a bit of a damper). We had a lovely omakase dinner at Hiro Sushi and took some nice walks in the city. It was nice to be in Canada…

A couple weeks ago, I was very happy that the release at my company went out and my writing obligation was finished. Since then it has been mostly a great decompression on many levels and now it feels like I can breathe and relax for the first time in a long time.  We are still getting things together in our apartment and still adjusting to life here, but I think we’ll be fine.  There is much we miss from California, but the people are quite nice and the landscape very lush with trees, a lovely sight as they are beginning to hint at turning colors for Autumn.  It will be nice to experience seasons once again, and it will be interesting to see how life unfolds here.