Cross Country Move!

In case you haven't heard the news yet, we are moving to Chesapeake, Virginia! On Saturday! 

In one sense it was a very fast decision, since Dan was offered a job in Chesapeake only one month ago. In another sense, this move has been coming for a decade, since we have hoped and prayed to live close to family for a long time. Dan's parents, brother, sister, and their families live in Williamsburg, VA which is 45 minutes away from Chesapeake. We are so very excited that we'll be close enough to be a consistent part of each others' lives!  

Dan will serve as Stonebridge School's Upper School Principal and will begin work in July to prepare for the upcoming school year.  One of the attractions of the position (besides the job itself and his family being nearby) was that it was only 10 miles away from my company's east coast office in Portsmouth, VA.  My boss was kind enough to allow me to transfer to our Portsmouth office, so I'll continue my part-time job as Marketing and Proposal Coordinator for Epsilon Systems Solutions - just from a distance.  God has been gracious to provide wonderful employment for us in our new city!

We are planning to rent when we first move there so we can get to know the area before purchasing a house.  We've gotten suggestions of family-friendly neighborhoods to look into, so we're searching for rental houses online and will spend our first few days looking for the right place to live.  We'll also need to find part-time childcare for Emma while I'm working.  But God is obviously opening the door for us to move, and we trust Him to provide everything we need when we get there.

In the meantime, we're making the most of our time left in San Diego! Here are some pictures of what we've been up to for the past month.

Lots and lots of packing! I was a little nervous about Emma being traumatized by all the changes around our house, but she's been super adaptable and happy through the transition.

We sold our bedroom set weeks ago on Craigslist and Emma helped Dan take apart the bed frame. :)

We had our very first yard sale, and sold a bunch of furniture, appliances, clothing, kitchenware, and other miscellaneous items to make our move across the country easier and cheaper.

We've also spent a lot of time with our San Diego friends, who we'll miss immensely.

We got to have lunch with Dan's coworker, Paul (left), their former coworker, Chris (middle), and their families. The guys are holding their three sweet princesses.

And a photo of me with Chris' wife, Adessa (left), and Paul's wife, Ann (middle). Their sons were too busy playing to stop for a photo. :)

We spent a beautiful morning at the beach with my friend from church, Jackie, and her daughter, Jemma.

Summer comes slowly in San Diego, but we had a few hot days in April 

Emma loved keeping cool with her water table and the hose

We spent an evening with our friends, Dave, Cynthia, and their daughters Olivia and Kailey.  They have chickens and Emma wore herself out terrorizing chasing them! 

They had a mini bounce house, too. Emma had a blast jumping in it with Olivia and Kailey!

And at the end of the evening, we roasted marshmallows. Emma was a little bit too excited about the fire for my comfort.

We met my former coworker, Kat, and her twins, Mateo and Alyssa for a library-sponsored kids' concert.

We visited Sea World on a hot day and saw the polar bears frolicking in the water.

 And Emma got hugs from some of her favorite guys. :)

Last Saturday, we spent a fun day at Disneyland with Dave, Cynthia, Olivia, and Kailey.

I'm not going to lie, we're going to miss this guy, too.

Holding the girls up high during the parade

This was the first time on the Dumbo ride for all three of us.

We had dinner last Sunday with our good friends, Judy, Chris, Ian, and Jon. I forgot to take a picture of them at their house, so this photo is from a couple of months ago when Emma and I ran into them at Sea World. 

And today, Emma and I joined a group of mommy and kid friends at the zoo

Left to right: Ann with her son Eli and daughter Eva, Emma and I, Stacy with her daughter Ellie and son Daniel (asleep in the stroller on the right), Jessica with her son Lucas, Sue (Emma's former babysitter) holding Jessica's daughter London, and Sue's daughter Brandy (standing)

It was my first time visiting the zoo with Emma, and we had a great time!  We'll definitely have to look into zoo passes in Virginia.

It's bittersweet to leave such amazing friends and the incredible city that we've loved for 10 years.  We moved here thinking we wouldn't be able to afford it for very long, but God provided great jobs and blessed us with a support system of friends who we love like family. Yet we feel strongly that this is the right time to move close to our own family and can't wait for Emma to get to know her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins better.  We're looking forward to our new adventure in Virginia!