California Love

First of all, I want to thank all of the faithful people who prayed for us as we went through this difficult time of waiting on God. We had a feeling that He would keep us guessing until the 11th hour, and we were right! Jason flew out to CA on Saturday two weeks ago, found out he got the job that Tuesday and left in the moving van Wednesday night. Corinne and I flew out on Saturday (accompanied by my incredibly gracious Mother-In-Law) and we have been in our new house for almost a week! If you stopped breathing while reading this, then you understand what we are feeling!!! But you can let out that breathe with joy, because we absolutely ADORE it here. When God does something, He does it well. We knew in our hearts that this was OUR will, but we knew it would never happen unless it was God's will and divine plan. I mean, 4 months ago, we were living in Farm Town America (no offense Chestertown) and now we are in the promised land of California!

We fell in love with California when we lived here after college. We were sad to leave it when we found out we were expecting Corinne, but we thought it would be best for everyone if we had our first child around family and friends. We thought that we would be happy because we would be close to the people that we love the most, but our hearts ached for this place. When we lived in Maryland, we felt empty because there was no joy in the lives we were living. We are not small farm town type people and we felt like our souls were slowly dying on that cow farm. We dreamed of one day going back to California and raising our children in a place where culture and diversity is embraced, where individuality and personality is celebrated and where life is enjoyed and lived to its fullest. We had no idea that our "dreams" would "come true" so quickly. Of course, it didn't seem quick while we waited, but 4 months is a lot shorter than 4 years!

Why do we love California, you ask? Well besides all of the things I have already mentioned, the beaches are free, the surf is great, the mountains are at our backyard, the people are friendly and welcoming, the lifestyle is simpler, the food is better (there is a chain restaurant that imports Philly food and makes great cheesesteaks, so we have EVERYTHING delicious), the weather is sunnier, and our hearts are lighter. And those are all the reasons that we need. Of course, we miss our friends and family, but we know that our hearts will keep us close forever. And really, California is only a 5 hour plane ride from PHL, guys. You won't regret the trip!