I've been living in California for a month now and I've been enjoying it very much. The first few weeks were very busy getting a California driver's license and registering my car (which is from here), finding a good gym membership, and taking care of all those other little details. I've been volunteering with the San Diego Zoo and I just started a cool new job in horticulture.
My timing was good - Orange County Pride kicked off last week and they had a fully loaded schedule culminating in the all-night Laguna Beach Party. I've made lots of new friends and I'm looking forward to meeting more!
To be honest, I miss my family and the poms a lot, as well as my friends in Maine and Louisiana. Home is always where the heart is (so maybe I can get them to move out here, hehe). It was a difficult decision to leave, but a big part of me feels like I belong here. I often felt like a square peg in a round hole when I lived in Maine. SoCal values align much better with my own - health conscious people, environmental protection, and science and tech everywhere, not to mention it's so much easier to be a vegetarian here. And no snow! Each region of SoCal has its own subculture, but I'm quickly adapting to life in the OC.
I'm currently in the Caribbean with my family and a friend for a 12-night cruise on Royal Caribbean. I created a public Google Photos Album that I will update throughout my trip. We'll be stopping in for adventures on five different islands throughout the Caribbean and I've got my Canon DSLR, GoPro, 360 Cam, and some other cameras to record everything.