The Road Goes On Forever...

Last week, we made our formal decision about moving to California. Over the past week, the reality of it is finally settling in! We are now wrapped up and innundated with details about the move, timing conflicts, selling our house, getting everything ready to be moved (and getting rid of junk that we don't need!), organizing our temporary housing, plane flights, shipping cars, selling one car and buying a new one, etc etc etc.... it's a never ending cycle of craziness! But it's worth it. We are really excited and I know that Justin is looking forward to getting there and starting his new job.

We are very sad to leave some things behind. These include:

• Our wonderful friends here in New England. Through work mostly, we have made truly great friends in the five years we've been here. Justin is very bittersweet about leaving Bose and I am so sad to leave my coworkers at CBRE as well. We've both worked really hard to build good professional and personal networks here, and while we know we will be able to do the same in Silicon Valley, it is very hard to leave those we love.
• Mountainside. I have always said that Jack goes to one of the best daycares in existence, hands down. Several of his teachers got teary-eyed when they found out Jack was leaving. I will be sad to take him out of such a wonderful environment where I know he is safe, happy, challenged, and truly cared for everyday. While I am excited about the prospect of spending more time with my sweet baby boy, I am also a bit nervous that I will not be able to provide him with this same level of stimulation and education every day at home.
• Our house. Sure, it has been the subject of much stress and sometimes I get frustrated and feel it's too small or too old. But it's our first home together, and it's the product of blood, sweat, and tears. It's where we spent months hoping and wishing for Jack and where we finally brought home our firstborn child. It's where we spent beautiful New England days walking the neighborhood, playing outside, planting things, and enjoying homeownership. I feel very nostalgic about it and I am sad that I will say to Jack one day, "remember our house in Massachusetts?" and he will say, "no Mom, not really."

Some things that we are looking forward to:

• NO SNOW!!! On the positive side, if you know me at all, you know that I hate/despise/detest winters in New England. They are too long, too cold, and too snowy! Everyone keeps saying "wait until it's summer all the time; you sure will miss New England winters!" I can honestly say that no, I will never ever miss the snow!!
• Lots of outdoor activities. In the same vein, Justin and I are both thrilled that we will be able to take Jack to parks, ride bikes, go to the beach, and go swimming many months out of the year. In fact so many things in California are "open air" that we will be spending lots of time outdoors! I know this is good for our physiques, our state of mind, and Jack's health.
• The excitement of living where it all started. Justin's a high-tech guy, and I am proud of my roots at Georgia Tech. I am thrilled to be moving to the technology center of the world! It really is neat to me (geek that I am) to be right in the middle of the headquarters of Apple, Cicso, Adobe, eBay, Facebook, Google, HP, Intel, Oracle, Symantec, and Yahoo...just to name a few!

We both have lots of mixed emotions right now but we are confident that this is a great move for our family. It will be the most stressful and crazy six weeks ever, but once we get out there enjoying the laid-back California lifestyle, it will all have been worth it! :)

I think he spent too much time with Gigi while we were in California.
Now whenever someone points a camera in his direction,
he smiles really big and says "cheese!!"



We don't have battles over food often. I try to be laid back but his
choices are crazy!! Tonight: chicken pot pie, mac n' cheese, and cherry
tomatoes, all dipped in hummus.



This boy looooves his puddles....