California

According to Wikipedia, there are 86 songs titled "California." With probably hundreds or maybe a thousand other songs written about California.

So now that I live here, i'm starting to understand why it has attracted so much attention.

The weather really is that nice. (keep in mind, I am in the Bay Area, so it is different than the typical California weather everyone is probably imagining).

It really is that memorable: the views, the traffic, the food, the expense- it all seems to stand out (either good or bad).

Similarly, the traffic really is that bad: Don't plan on getting anywhere quickly...that's for sure. If google maps says 30 minutes, double it. At least. It may even be quicker to walk there.

It really is that diverse: i've never felt so boring in my life, but I suppose boring has to fit somewhere on that diversity scale too.

Food really is that yummy (and diverse): I've never seen so many countries represented down one road. Not only that, you have extreme variation for each country as well. For example, there isn't just Korean food, there is Korean noodles, Korean BBQ, Korean desserts, Korean etc... you get the picture.

Some Bay Area (Berkeley) people really are that liberal: the bathroom stalls are not etched with writing about lost boyfriends or name calling of girls, it is etched with hate-rid of plastic water bottles and unused compost.

People, although diverse, are quite accepting: no one seems to care that i'm a white, mormon girl. I'm just another person along their path of life and I quite enjoy that. People are all just people right? (But, like in all States, I have run into the occasional loony...)


Well that's about it for now, I mean, I have only been a California girl for a month.
So far so good though (other than missing my Utah people like crazy, of course).

Let my love open the door

Big things are happening in this little Pierce household.

But let's be honest here for a second, none of these big things are the things we expected. Shocker right? Isn't that just how life works?

My life goal has been to work my hardest to keep all of my doors open, then let the divine force take me from there. I have come to learn that if I do my part, the rest will fall into place. No matter if that place is where I expected it to be or not.

So that is just what Jonathan and I did. We kept all of our doors of possibilities open, and we now find ourselves about to walk through one we never could have expected.

I applied to two PhD schools as simply a way to keep that door open, even just slightly open. I aimed high to schools I was too fearful to apply to, but applied anyway,  not expecting to get in at all. Jonathan and I waited for months as many other doors we worked to keep open seemed to be slamming shut in front of us.

It left us frustrated
and sad
and discouraged.

Why were these doors we've worked so hard for, shutting before we even got a chance to peek through?

But, as life seems to do, the one door we forgot about, the one that was barely held open by what seemed to be sheer luck, is the one that remains open.

And in a few short months we may be committing ourselves to 5 years of a PhD school.

I applied to UC Berkeley because I felt like I owed it to everyone who has helped me in my education thus far.
But now I guess I applied because I owed it to myself, our little family, and hopefully those that I will encounter along the way.

I would be honored to go there,
scared out of my mind as well,

but doors stay open for a reason.