I know I missed April and May and I think by reading the recap for June you will know why. June 2018 may go down as one of the busiest, most life-altering months of our lives. Let's jump in.

RECAP OF THE MONTH

There's so much to recap that I don't think I'll do it justice in this normal monthly recap. I'll cut to the chase at the top and say that I'm currently writing this June recap in mid-July from our New York City apartment in the Upper West Site. At the time of this writing, both Jenn and I have quit our old jobs and have started new ones. The mere fact we were able to pull this off astounds me every morning. I'm not even sure it has really sunk in yet. But let's back up a bit.

The month started out with us arriving back from Brussels, Belgium after an incredible trip. While in Europe for our French Open trip (which the recaps are up for) we had found out that I had an interview in New York the day after we were set to arrive back from Brussels. So instead of flying to LAX and then flying back to New York I changed my flight to take me straight to New York (JFK) while Jenn took a separate flight home to LAX. It was easily the worst international flight either of us has taken. It's really boring to be by yourself on a small cramped plane for 8 or 11 hours.

I arrived back from New York a few days later. We made the decision in early June that we were going to move to New York. We had gone out to New York right before our French Open trip for a couple days of apartment searching. We went all over Manhattan and Brooklyn to find a place. When I look back at our appointments we went to nearly two dozen different places in three days. It was both exhilarating and exhausting. And so it was time to let the world know that we'd be moving from our Newport Beach apartment to Manhattan.

It was sort of serendipitous that the first weekend back from our trip/NYC was E3 week. It was nice to be able to relax, unwind, and not think too heavily about the huge decision we had just made and enjoy some video game conferences. That didn't last long because we had lots of decisions to make and packing to do. We had to find movers, decide on an apartment, decide what to take with us and what not to take with us, and how to break the news to everyone. On June 7th we signed a lease on an apartment on the Upper West Side.

From there it was a full court press to pack our stuff and get ready for the move. We spent most nights packing at least a box or two. Unlike the other five moves we had done, packing for a cross-country trip requires a lot more planning and a lot more caution. We wanted to make sure our stuff arrived in New York in one piece. We also knew we had to consolidate going from 1,000 square feet to 700.

As you might expect with us moving to the other coast we spent a lot of time with family. We almost spent all of our weekends doing family activities with celebration dinners, Fathers Day and my Grandma's birthday. On the 23rd of June, the movers (aptly named Move East) picked our stuff up from our Newport Beach apartment to take over 3,000 miles to Manhattan. At the same time as the movers arrived Jake and Ryan came with another moving truck to take some of the stuff, we weren't taking with us.

And then the last week of June arrived. We had nothing left in Newport Beach but two blow up beds, and a couple suitcases. We had our last days at our current jobs, sold both of our cars to CarMax, and on July 27th after Jenn had dropped off her badge in Carlsbad took an Uber to Los Angeles to stay at the Westin before flying off to New York the following morning.

We arrived in New York on June 28th at a little after 4 PM and checked into the Conrad a beautiful hotel near the World Trade Center. The following morning (June 29th) I started my new job. Just like that. We literally were just in our old Newport Beach apartment, not more than 30 hours prior and our new lives had already began. We spent much of the time after my first-day furniture shopping and prepping to move into our new place on July 1st.

I'd be remiss if I wasn't honest and say that Jenn and I had major trepidation about picking up and moving. Me more than her. We had some not too easy conversations about what we wanted for our lives and what this meant for both of us. But with all the stress, all the trepidation there was also a heavy dose of humility. I can't even begin to describe how insanely grateful we are to have been able to even have the option to do this. The fact that we both have jobs, we have an amazing apartment, and that the start of this adventure has gone as smoothly as it has is a blessing that I don't think we will ever be able to fully comprehend.

I also feel like I'm to close to this to be able to fully understand the magnitude of everything. I'm hoping by the time the crystal ball drops in Times Square a mile or so from our apartment that I'll be able to better describe everything. For now, let me say we are happy, safe, and beginning to get our groove here in Manhattan, and for that, we are both so dang grateful.

TV WE WATCHED

With how busy we were in June we didn't have a ton of time to watch a lot of TV. Most nights after we got done watching a quick episode of The Daily Show, Opposition, Last Week Tonight and Bill Maher we had other things we had to do. We did make a few minutes throughout the month for finishing the first amazing season of Queer Eye on Netflix, getting through a couple of slow episodes of season two of Westworld, and finishing the first season of Barry on HBO.

We also gave up on Will & Grace and have instead started 30 Rock and are enjoying that a lot more.

BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)

After finishing Words of Radiance a 50+ hour fantasy book I went through three smaller books. The highlight of the three was Dark Matter a book that I really enjoyed. Yes We Can written by Dan Pfeiffer a former Obama staffer and current Pod Save America host was an interesting look at the Obama years and how we correct course for our country. It wasn't overly insightful but a good read nonetheless.

MOVIES WE WATCHED

Our last movie in Orange County was Ocean's 8 which we saw at the brand new theaters in Fashion Island, The Lot. It was quite the nice experience, it's too bad that neither of us really enjoyed Ocean's 8. It was such a lifeless, heartless movie. A pale comparison to the other Ocean's movies.

GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING

With the trip and move in June, I didn't get a ton of time to play games in June. When I did I was looking for quick hits of sports games and even Far Cry 5. The highlight was probably FIFA 18's new World Cup mode.

2018 GOAL TRACKING

I'm modifying this section. Instead of talking about the various stats I'm collecting I thought it would be more useful for me to track how I'm doing to the goals I set out for the year. So here we go:

Goal #1: Read 32 Books: I've read 16 books and am currently on track to hit my goal. Sadly though without my daily 45-60 minute commute, I might struggle to hit my annual goal.

Goal #2: 250 Days of Perfect Performance on Habitify: 131 days of perfect performance. Behind schedule due to an insanely busy year.

Goal #3: Run 300 Times: I've run 148 days so far in 2018. At the halfway point of 2018, I'm slightly behind on this goal.

Goal #4: Keep Weight Under 140: I've yet to go over 140lbs

Goal #5: Write 12 Chef Joel & Jenn: I've written 2 so far. Very off track and unlikely to catch up.

Goal #6: Complete Travel Photo Books: I've completed one but have a lot more to do. The furthest behind on this one.

A Look Back - June 2018