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!

Racing, Reflecting, and Celebrating

We had a great Mother's Day weekend.  We spent Saturday at Disneyland, and on Sunday morning, I ran the Tinker Bell Half Marathon on behalf of Alex's Lemonade Stand.

Emma had been to Disneyland twice before, but was too young to know what was going on.  This visit was completely different, and we had the best time watching her light up with excitement!  Thanks to her grandparents, she has Mickey, Minnie, and Disney princess dolls at home, so she recognized them all on sight.  She seemed a little afraid of the rides and gave a vehement "No!" when we asked if she wanted to ride any of them. So we spent the majority of the day meeting the characters and watching shows and the parade. All three of us had a great time!

My wake up call on Sunday morning was at 4:30 since the race began at 5:30 and I had to get ready and then walk about a mile from our hotel to the starting point.  There were plenty of other racers walking the same direction, so I chatted with them along the way.  I was slotted for the very last runner's corral because I signed up with Alex's Lemonade Stand after the race had sold out.  I knew that last corral would be full of walkers, and I wasn't looking forward to running through an obstacle course of people trying to get past them.  So I snuck into an earlier corral (I did have to sneak, since there were race personnel weeding out people who were trying to do the same thing!) and it was absolutely worth it!  Only the fastest racers got to start at 5:30, while the rest of us were packed like cattle waiting for our turn.  I passed the time chatting with my neighbors and admiring everyone's Disney-themed costumes (about 10,000 people dressed up like Tinker Bell, but there were a few other costumes, too), and my group finally got to cross the starting line at 6:05.  The corral I chose was full of slow runners, so it was the perfect pace for me.

The first 5.5 miles of the course ran through the California Adventure and Disneyland theme parks, which was so much fun!  We passed all the iconic rides and scenes while they played music and had characters out to cheer you on.  There were some bottlenecks and tight corners to turn, so at some points everyone had to slow to a walk.  Plus, you could stop and wait in line to have your photo taken with the Disney characters throughout the park, so it definitely wasn't structured to be a fast-paced race. Once we left the parks, the fun was over. (ha!) The rest of the course ran through the streets of Anaheim, and although they had high school bands and cheerleaders at the major street corners, they couldn't compare to the entertainment inside the parks.  But we did get the opportunity to pick up our pace since the roads were straight and flat.  The longest distance I ran while training was 10 miles, and my knees typically begin to hurt around mile 8, so I fully expected to walk the last few miles.  But God answers prayers, and He kept all my joints feeling good the entire 13.1 miles! I was so thankful!

I want to thank everyone who donated and helped me raise funds for Alex's Lemonade Stand!  Together, we raised almost $1,500 to benefit childhood cancer research!  I am amazed by everyone's generosity, and it meant so much to have your support.  I was running in memory of my brother, Paul, who passed away last October, and I know it would've meant the world to him, too.  I have missed him so much, and thought of him every time I was struggling through a long training run and during the race.  He was the best example of having a graceful attitude during hard times.

Here are some pictures from our weekend.

Emma has no fear of the characters. She ran straight into their arms every time!

She was overcome by shyness when she met the princesses, though. Snow White was the first princess she met up close, and we couldn't get her to lift her head for a picture.

Don't let the solemn face fool you - she was having the time of her life!

Belle held her like this for the longest time and got Emma to tell her all about the other princesses she had met that day. It was the sweetest thing in the world!

After we left, Emma kept talking about how beautiful Belle was.

She was enthralled by the Disneyland Parade, where she saw all her favorite characters.

The photographer told us to make crazy faces. Emma is apparently too cool for that. :)

Dan took a shot of me right after I finished the race.

Emma was not thrilled about getting close to her sweaty, smelly mom! Heh!

Running through California Adventure

Running through Disneyland

We took advantage of a Mother's Day photo shoot at our neighborhood pier, and the photographer captured Emma's sweet smile.  We don't see it often in pictures, so this was an awesome Mother's Day gift!

New York, New York!

Last month, Dan had a two week Spring Break.  He spent the first five days chaperoning an 8th grade trip to Williamsburg, VA and Washington, DC.  He had a great time and got to see his family in Williamsburg for a short time, too!  

When he returned home, we left the following day to visit New York for four days. The timing of the trip was primarily to watch the New York Islanders play at the old Nassau Coliseum before they move to a nicer arena in Brooklyn next year.  Dan's been talking about going to one of the last home games for two years, so we made it a priority!

After two days on Long Island, Dad and Mom Jester joined us and we all stayed a couple of nights in downtown Manhattan.  That was an amazing experience that I never thought I'd have!  Dad and Mom generously offered their timeshare points to book our rooms, and we absolutely loved being just a few blocks from Central Park, Times Square, and other New York attractions.  We only had one full day to see a few sights, but we had a great time!

Dan was thrilled to take Emma to an Islanders home game!

Emma was less than thrilled about the weather, though.  It was in the low 30s, windy, and snowing!  Her face pretty much sums up her misery during the short walk from the car to the Coliseum.

 Once inside, she seemed to enjoy all the noise and action during the game

Until half time, then she was done with the game and just wanted to climb up and down the stairs again and again

The Islanders lost, but we still had a great time!

No trip to Long Island is complete without a stop at the house where Dan grew up. We also visited a church on Sunday where several attendees had known Dan since his youth. After the service, we visited with Dan's former youth pastor, Gregg, and his wife, Joyce. It was great to catch up with them!

The weather was much nicer once Dad and Mom joined us.  We were thankful that we could enjoy walking around the city.

We took Emma to FAO Schwartz, a three-story mega toy store.  She was in toddler heaven!

So many toys to try out, so little time!

Family picture 

Picture with Grandpa and Grandma

 She couldn't keep her eyes open afterwards!

After lunch when she woke up, we walked through Central Park and stopped at a playground 

Strolling through Central Park

I took her for a ride on the carousel.  She lasted about 30 seconds on this horse, and then wanted off, so we sat in one of the non-moving cars instead.

Next stop was the Museum of Natural History!

Our little monkey

They had a cool kids' section with hands-on activities and exhibits

My favorite photo of the day

 And this is now one of my favorite videos of all time!  Guess which area of the museum made the biggest impression on Emma?

We loved our whirlwind trip, and it was even better to get to spend part of it with Dan's parents!