Our Move To Tampa, Florida

 

And off we go!

Ray and I decided that moving out of state where properties are less expensive and cost of living all around is less is the best option for us in order to have a less stressful life and set ourselves up for retirement in the near future.  We chose the Tampa, Florida area for a couple of reasons. 1) We have good friends that live in Florida and more that may join us in the not to distant future. 2) Our church has good membership in the area and a Temple is going to be built soon. 3) Tampa has many of the attractions we loved going to in San Diego, such as a zoo, museums, beaches, and Disney is only an hour and a half away.  4) It doesn't snow and the weather although hotter and more humid than San Diego is probably as close to San Diego as one can get. 5) The cost of a fairly new 4 bed 3 bath home on a 1/4 to 1/3 of an acre is a million dollars less than what one will find in California. 

 

PODS

After much research regarding the best and least expensive option for moving our stuff, we decided to go with the PODS company.  We got two pods and filled each one to capacity.  The pods are hanging out in San Diego until we buy our house in Tampa. Here is a fun little tip if you ever move a long distance, place an AirTag in with your stuff, and you will be able to see where the pod or moving truck is.

 

 

 

Watching the PODS workers unload and then reload each pod on the driveway and truck was really interesting.   Technology is amazing!

Until We Meet Again

Our wonderful neighbors, Susan, Ryan, (Rowen who is camera shy), Dierdre, and Natalie. This family has been such a blessing to me and my family since moving in with my mom and after her passing.  We love them and miss them.

If you are looking for a friend for yourself and your child, I highly recommend going to a park in your neighborhood and starting up a conversation with those around you.  That is how Hope and I met Mina and her son, Sami.  Sami and Hope are about the same age and both LOVE dinosaurs.  We have been incredibly blessed to have this family as our dearest friends and have enjoyed many moments of laughter together.  We know that there are more times of fun and laughter to be had with this wonderful family. Mina and I are already talking about taking our next family vacation together.

 

The Ying Yang Brothers (They are not really brothers).

Clark and Hope being the silly little monkeys they are.  We love this little guy and his mom and miss them terribly.  Thankfully they are Disney fans, so I'm sure we will be seeing them again in Florida for some DisneyWorld fun.

 

Norman and Hope having some fun at the San Diego Zoo. We really lucked out when we moved back to my parent's home.  There are some many great families living nearby with awesome children around Hope's age.  Norman and his mom, Pam are two of those.  We loved meeting at the park or the zoo for playgroup or just having fun in the backyard.  We love this family and hope they will come out to Florida to see us.

 

 

 

Hope's Library

Ray built this neighborhood library for Hope after we moved in with my mom.  It is a library dedicated to supplying the kids in the neighborhood with children's books.  Hope loved going out to see if there were any new books inside that she could take and read with me.  If you are ever walking passed the house, take a look and see if there are any good books inside for your children or grandchildren. 

Swimming in the hot tub at the hotel next to the LA airport the afternoon before our flight to Tampa the following morning. 

Hope's first time in an airplane.  She did great!  I had loads of activities for her to do on the plane.  She loved watching movies on the airplane TV and looking out the window at take-off.

Looking out the window at take-off.

Coloring

Having lunch while watching a show.

Little girl stayed on her nap schedule and slept for about an hour and a half in my arms. 

We have arrived in Florida!