Remembering Pasadena

We have arrived in St. Paul, MN. Can't say that we've "settled in" here given that our stuff will not be arriving for a few more days yet. Nevertheless we've been able to see the cities, start to find our way around, and have already met some fun people.

The free time that we've had this week has given me (Aaron) a chance to reflect on our two years in Pasadena, CA. It's easy now to look back and think about how wonderful everything was. I certainly have the "rose colored glasses" thanks to our current state of transition and confusion; however I will be as honest as possible.

Many of the things I miss are not unique to Pasadena, but rather the things we all miss when we move away. I miss knowing where everything was (hours of bike riding around the city helped with that), the beautiful gardens and houses in certain areas of town, the amazing restaurants, our "secret" free parking spot downtown, etc. Of course there are some Pasadena-specific things I will miss: running around the Rose Bowl, the Mexican restaurant around the corner where we would get margaritas, the beautiful buildings such as City Hall, being close to the ocean and (attempting) to surf, going to Fuller (did I really just say that?), community keg parties, and hiking in the mountains just north of our apartment.

Of course I have to keep reminding myself that there were some frustrating parts too: the noisy apartment complex and irresponsible neighbors, the dangerous neighborhood where we lived, traffic, smog, going to Fuller (!), having to carefully navigate our dog around all the trash and food scraps along the sidewalks, 120 degree summer days, Lindsey's stressful job, being so far away from family, etc.

The hardest part of leaving was saying goodbye to the new friends we had made there. There were some people who I lost touch with towards the end of my time there and I regret taking their friendship for granted. Others I grew closer to in the last few months than I ever could have imagined. Making new friends is usually the hardest part about moving but I think we're both ready to meet that challenge head-on. We both know that new friends here in Minnesota will never take the place of the friends from Pasadena, Valpo, Madison, and Ohio. Nevertheless we are excited to meet new people here and be shaped by them.