New beginnings!

I left Seattle on July 31st.  Left my chiropractic practice, my friends and community.  I knew that Seattle wasn't the place for me in the long run for various reasons but, it was still REALLY hard to leave a place that I had worked so hard to build a community in.  Despite my challenges with the weather and the hipsters I felt very sad to leave and definitely shed a few tears as I drove out of town.  My Seattle experience was defined by my fantastic and supportive friends, my amazing patients and my inspiring yoga students.  I will never forget you all and I'm so thankful for all the lessons I learned in Seattle!

Seattle skyline from my deck

Mt. Rainier from Madrona Park on Lake Washington

my old hood

ye olde space needle

That being said, after I shed those tears I felt liberated!  I felt as if I had escaped from a place that was not a good fit for me.   Owning my own business turned out to be more responsibility and stress than I had bargained for and I was consistently longing for the free and easy salad days of being an employee.  I absolutely love being a chiropractor but I have learned that I am not so into the business end.   As one gets older and gains more responsibilities in life it isn't as easy to simply up and move, right???  Through a stroke of fate at a conference in April I had found out that a colleague was looking for a chiropractor to staff an office in Rome.  My first gut reaction was an immediate  "I'll do it!".  I was half joking but, after thinking about it for a bit and finding out more I applied for the job.  Lucky me, I got it!

So, over the past few months I have been prepping for a move.  My only communication with my future employer has been through email which has required a lot of trust on my part and there have been a multitude of details and changes.  I am the type that usually has to have things planned out and dialed in; this transition has been a good test for me.

After departing from Seatown I drove, with my cat Circe, down to California, specifically the eastern Sierras near Mammoth Lakes to visit my best friends and go backpacking.  We had a fabulous time and managed to climb 2 14,000 ft. peaks on our trip!

three wolf one moon mission

Crabtree basin

I then cruised east to Minnesota, a 30 hour drive, cat still on board.  She only meowed about... half the time.  I managed this drive with only once locking the keys in the car, once running out of gas and just one warning for speeding (was also informed that my tabs had recently expired).  :)

checking out the scene

yeah... there was a load of stuff in the car

I dropped my beloved kitty off with my mom and spent several days in MN catching up with friends and fam.  Then, it was on to the final leg of my road trip to visit my dad and step-mom in Springfield IL.  I managed to drive away from a gas station with my wallet on top of the car at one point and luckily found a trucker inspecting it on the side of the highway.  He was happy to return it, thank goodness I have been storing up good karma for ages (and will continue to do so!).  After a run of good luck on the road trip I'm more than happy to give up car driving for a while.

Here I've been in Springfield repacking, turning my car over to my dad, going waterskiing (harder as an adult than in youth) and tying up any remaining loose ends.  I leave in a day!

I've never been to Italy but everyone who has been seems to have absolutely loved it so...  I'm happy to go with that!!

More to come!