has it already been a year??

The Mister and I arrived in San Diego approximately one year ago, and my mind is blown. We found a fantastic place to live, we met great people who've turned into close friends, we explored our city, and I kept going with my photography. I feel so incredibly lucky that this is my life.

I put together this little video yesterday as a two minute visual reminder of what this past year has been like. It's (nearly) every single photo I've taken since I arrived here, complete with iPhone photos, 35mm film photos, and DSLR photos.

the first year from Lisa Kimberly on Vimeo.

When I watch this, it occurs to me that the reason I obsessively document my life is pretty simple: to help me remember. I can barely remember things from my childhood, or even college for that matter, unless I'm looking through a photo album that shows those periods of my life. So all these silly photos I take, day in and day out, it makes up my own digital family album. And that is a precious thing to me.

Photography aside, I'd also like to list my unofficial San Diego Pros and Cons.

Pros:

1. My neighborhood. Downtown La Mesa is my jam. From my house, I can walk to the grocery store, the post office, the library, the farmer's market, Friday food trucks, the trolley, antique shops, coffee shops, and a bunch of bars and restaurants. If I didn't like the rest of San Diego so much, I'd never drive.

2. If you've never been a great parallel parker, this city will whip you into shape quick. I'm pretty sure I do more parallel parking here than I ever did in Spain. And not to brag, but even with my boat of a station wagon, my method is now flawless.

3. Sun. Lots of it. Sometimes this is a con though (see below). It's like Spain all over again, except most people speak English and I can shop on Sundays. 

4. All the different neighborhoods. As much as I love La Mesa, it can't fulfill all my needs all the time. So maybe I'll pop over to North Park and people-watch the hipsters as I eat at a vegan Mexican place. Or maybe I'll take the trolley to downtown to get that urban city feel. Ocean Beach has perfected that 70's beach town vibe, and if I wanna feel really poor, I can wander through affluent neighborhoods like La Jolla and Del Mar (this is all tongue-in-cheek though, I love all these places).

5. San Diego is amazingly dog-friendly. I'm not sure why I'm listing this, since I don't have a dog, but it's still really nice to see. I always see people with their dogs sitting on patios of local eateries, and a lot of places will put out food and water bowls for them. And tons of dog parks everywhere. It's basically dog-topia.

6. Living in San Diego and not liking beer is like living in Antarctica and not liking ice. Okay, maybe not, but I do love the local beer selection here. And if you're one of those people that has never liked the taste of beer, come visit me, and I will prove that you just haven't tasted enough beers to make that statement.

7. I'm about a two hour drive from all my favorite people on television. If I ever decide to stalk Jon Hamm, it'd be totally easy right?

8. Mexican food. That is all.

Cons:

1. Sun. Lots of it. It gets a bit much at times. Even more so since I live inland. Sometimes I just want three cloudy or rainy days in a row in the middle of summer. Is that too much to ask?

2. It's true, I do miss the change of seasons that I got while living on the east coast. I totally took it for granted.

3. Old house = No AC = Not super fun times. August and September were brutal. Anything over 80 degrees outside was like Satan's armpit in my house. 

4. Honestly, I can't think of any more cons. Just writing those three above makes me feel slightly whiny and ungrateful. Which I'm not. I feel incredibly lucky to be living here.

So here's to year two! :)