Every day we make changes. We change our underwear, we change the oil in our cars, we change our minds. Change is everywhere, every day.
If you think about it, the only real constant in life is change, and I'm okay with that. Change invigorates the soul, it keeps life exciting and relevant. I find comfort in making peace with a new situation; I actually thrive on the challenge. Of course that's easy to say when it's a change I ask for, something I wanted. Like the other day when I changed my drink order at In-N Out Burger from a Diet Coke to a Strawberry shake. See...change is good!
But change is also ridiculously scary. Right? I think back to my first day of 7th grade. No one knew my name or let alone how to pronounce it..."No, no it's Del Key-are-o." I lost sleep deciding what to wear, where to sit in science class and how to get Ryan Price to notice me. I knew all those things in the 6th grade...but junior high was a whole new world. I spent the next two years attempting to acclimate to the change. Then- whaddya know? As soon as I think I've got it figured out, more change. It's time to do it all over again in high school. Sheesh, not again!!
The truth is, that our finest moments occur when we are feeling like this- awkward and uncomfortable. You force yourself to step up, be brave and stay the course. That's why I believe, to get something you never had you've got to do something you never did. Hence the change from Alexis DelChiaro, Fox 10 News to Alexis DelChiaro, KUSI News. I'm no longer an 85050 gal, now I'm living in the 92101. No more 602 for me, now it's 619. And with the decision to make a change, I packed up my 29 years in brown boxes, said goodbye to some of the dearest people I'll ever know and wiped a tear away as the Valley of the Sun grew smaller and smaller in my rearview mirror.
So that's how I ended up here in sunny San Diego, back in my home state and close to the beach. I made a huge change in my life so I could grow and thrive, but a piece of my heart will always be in Arizona. I will never forget the view from the top of Camelback on a warm Spring morning, or watching the sun light up the early evening skies like a fireball or the smell of fresh winter rain rolling across the desert. Yes, a piece of my heart will always be in Arizona, and that is something that my friends, will never change.
Check AZFoothills.com every month for the latest stories of desert gal Alexis DelChiaro and her adventures on the shores of San Diego.
Alexis’ hair by Giselle Von Schell
Photography by Martin Mann
