Our New Home in Capitola

11.19.08: We’ve been in our new, temporary home in Capitola for almost a month now. Because we returned with no jobs, we didn’t want to go through the credit process of a traditional leased house. So we are in a month-to-month vacation rental for the time being. We came here during a great time of the year. Not only because of the beautiful weather, but because the summer season has already passed and many vacation rental owners were looking for winter renters. The house is fully furnished. We didn’t want to go through the hassle/cost of having our storage containers shipped here, just to move everything again in a few months. Because of this, we are still living with what we had in our luggage, plus the boxes of stuff we shipped “home” along our journeys, plus what we put in our cars when we left. Of course, two of our surfboards were easily accessible when we landed here in CA! On one hand, it is nice to still be living “minimally”. On the other hand, it is killing us not to have some things. I know Sean would LOVE to get started on shaping his next surf board, but all his tools are locked up in storage. I have had to purchase a few things that I’d otherwise be able to get in storage, like some office supplies, a printer (to print out resumes) and some other small household items.

Overall, I am happy that we spent a few more bucks to get something more comfortable to live in than “just a box near the beach”. We LOVE the “Jewel Box” neighborhood in Capitola, where our house is located: small tree-lined streets and cute little well-maintained houses with mature landscaping. We’re about three streets down from the bluff that overlooks the Capitola pier and village, and you can see the entire Monterey Bay if it’s clear. From there, you can walk right down to the village. And on a big swell, we walked down with a board and surfed the jetty while Kai happily played on the sand. On other surf days, it’s about 1/2 to 1 mile to The Hook and Pleasure Point breaks. We do have to drive there, but are working on getting some cruiser bicycles instead.

Unfortunately, we are still unemployed and feeling the pinch. Right off the bat, I came across a couple opportunities that I would have loved. But, they came and went quickly. Since then, I haven’t seen as much. And to be honest, it’s hard to concentrate on a job hunt because I’ve still been in “culture shock” being back here. The wonderful spring-like weather has not helped either! Instead, I’ve been occasionally catching some waves, discovered a new yoga class, and have been looking around for pre-schools that Kai can eventually attend. We also celebrated Kailani’s third birthday with a small gathering here at the house. Sean also sent his resume to a couple places with no luck. His previous employer has no problem re-hiring him again. But, it would mean a harsh commute. So, it would probably be just until he can find something closer. In the past couple of weeks, a couple of our friends have also joined our ranks. (They were laid-off.) Coming back to US soil when the economy fell apart was a bit harsh. But, at least we were able to be back to vote and hope that everything will slowly pick-up now. We are still hopeful that it will just take a little bit of time. Overall, life is good! :-)