If you walked in on your high school sweetheart and husband of ten years in a compromising position with your best friend, what would you do? Would you kick him out, serve him divorce papers, and leave the small town in North Carolina where you grew up, taking his dog with you just to spite him?

Because that’s what I did.

I have no idea why I chose Santa Monica as the place of my rebirth, but here I am, in the land of earthquakes, mudslides, and wildfires, starting over when most women my age are just starting out.

When I come across the bucket list my mother scratched out before she died, I decide this may just be the kick in the pants I need to figure out who I am and where I’m meant to be. Stepping outside my comfort zone, I set out to accomplish everything she always wanted to do but never got the chance.

But falling in love was never on that list.