Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Happy Cinco de Mayo x Rancho Cocoa

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Five years ago today, Missy picked me up from the BUS STATION in downtown Athens. My sister, Cynthia, had a free flight to Jacksonville, Florida, which she kindly gave to me. I flew from Southern California into Jacksonville and then boarded a GREYHOUND BUS for Athens. I was visiting Missy for a little over a week, trying to decide whether or not I really wanted to move to Georgia or not. It was a recurring topic in our long-distance conversations. After that visit in May of 2005, I would return to Athens again during the summer while touring as the trumpet-playing member of RED PONY CLOCK. I had a lot of time on that month-long tour of the U.S. to make up my mind. In October, I cashed out what little money I had in my 401K, packed up my little Ford Focus, and headed east. I arrived back in Athens a couple of days shy of Halloween...

...Exactly two years after I arrived at the bus station on Cinco de Mayo, Missy and I moved into the house we just bought. We closed on the house on May 1st, 2007 and moved in on the 5th. We christened the house "RANCHO COCOA", partly as a nod to the Mexican holiday, but also because of the ranch-style architecture of our new home. For us, buying the house represented two things: first and foremost, it was a big middle finger to all the sketchy roommates and even sketchier landlords we've had to deal with - good riddance! Secondly, it marked a time in our lives when we realized that we were ready to "settle down" and "grow up" a little bit (just a little)...we finally had a little corner of the world that we could call and make our own...

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4 comments:

Ernessa T. Carter said...

I adore that story and I love your rancho cocoa. Happy Cinco de Mayo!

sweetie pie press said...

awww. you guys are a match made in cutiepie heaven. and speaking of the ranch...we might be stopping by if you'll have us. i'll send a more private message about that.

love,

becky

RANCHO COCOA said...

Thanks, Ernessa! Thanks, Becky! We feel very lucky that we have each other...

Becky, let us know A.S.A.P. when you're planning on coming down, because there's gonna be a couple of spots between now and the end of summer when we're gonna be out of town...let's schedule!

R A O U L Z

Church of Craft Athens said...

Thank you, Ernessa and Becky so much!

I think from now on I am telling everyone that Raoul and I met at the bus station and I picked him up and never let him go after that. :)