We Moved to Washington!

In my last post, I briefly mentioned that we celebrated Paloma's birthday at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in San Diego. Then about a week later, my mom and stepdad took us to Disneyland! It was the children's first trip there. Have you seen a happier face on a child? Hunter was in heaven, and Paloma could take it or leave it.

Around that time, I was also reunited with my lovely, dear friend from NYU who had moved to CA from CT earlier in the year. We hadn't seen each other in EIGHT years! Our little ones are pretty much the exact same ages, so we were pregnant together over the phone both times! We spent time together at Stone Brewery in Escondido, at their hotel in Rancho Bernardo, and at the zoo. Such fun! I hope to have a girls weekend with her in Napa ASAP ;)

Then, shortly after that we purged, had a garage sale, donated a bunch of stuff, and said our goodbyes. It was so tough to say goodbye to San Diego. I miss my mom and sister so much. Thank goodness for video chat. Here is the background on our move to Washington...

One thing I didn't mention in my posts about our summer trip to Seattle and Montana is that as soon as we got home from that trip, Isaiah and I looked at each other and we were like, Let's move to Seattle! The craziest thing is that just a few months later, we made it happen. Isaiah and I had been thinking of leaving San Diego for a while, for various reasons. The cost of living is really high, job opportunities for him seemed low, and we just needed a fresh start. Over a 2-year period, Isaiah had applied to more than 50 jobs all over the U.S. and even a couple in Europe. He had phone interviews with Garmin in Kansas and Trek in Wisconsin, but nothing. Then, when we were in Seattle, something just clicked for us. The cost of living isn't any better than San Diego, the traffic is worse, but it just felt right. And we know it was the right decision because an awesome job opportunity came up pretty quickly with very little effort. 

We are actually not in Seattle proper but in what's considered the greater Seattle area. We are in a town called Bothell, which is in the same county, called King County. It is just lovely here. They don't call in the evergreen state for nothing. BUT, the move has been pretty hard for me. We moved at the worst time of year. We arrived in early November and it was grey or rainy the entire month. There is so much to see and do here -- it's a bit overwhelming. The cold, though, makes me not want to leave the house. 

In December, my mom came for a visit, and we celebrated Hunter's birthday! (In the photo below, he is reacting to the trick candles!) We also rode the Santa train, and the children got to see Santa. Then we took my mom out to the buffet at the casino for her birthday. The next day, I was very sad to see her go. The holidays were a great distraction, but now it's back to regular life. I am trying to find Hunter a school, and I have applied to a Montessori job. Fingers crossed! 

I have to say that the only thing that is keeping me sane is that we have friends here! Two families we knew from San Diego also moved up here last year, and another family that we met in Zurich also moved here almost 2 years ago (we stayed with them during our visit last summer). I also have a cousin who lives in Vancouver, WA, just outside of Portland, and we've already gone down there twice to visit with them. Plus, Isaiah has an aunt and uncle who live in the city (though they are moving 2 hours away later this year -- bummer), and we've visited with them a few times already as well. I feel it in my bones that 2017 is going to be awesome, now I just need to get off my butt and make it happen!