WE MOVED!!

If you follow me at all on instagram, then you know by now that our family has relocated to the Pacific Northwest, namely, Spokane, WA! We have lived in California all our lives, both of us being born and raised there. A few years ago California stopped feeling like home. As conservative Christians, California had become a place where we couldn't see ourselves raising our children anymore. Not only that, but for the past eight years we'd been living with my parents in the Bay Area. We had moved in with them when I was pregnant with Cooper with the plan to live with them for 11 months, pay down debt, and then find a place. Well, we paid off all our debt, but the Bay Area was not a place we could afford, and where we had moved from (Modesto) had become a place we could also no longer afford, so we were stuck with my parents. Now don't get me wrong, we were very blessed at my parents home with help with the kids, but it was also hard not having our own space, and never really feeling like we were adults. I always felt like we were playing pretend. 

Our last photo at my parents home

My husband really enjoys his job, and knew he wanted to stay with the company, so he started watching the job listing board through his portal. He had been told the Boise, ID position was going to opening up, and that he was a candidate for it. We were so excited. Matt does the majority of his work outside, so super high temperatures and humidity were not something he wanted to deal with, which took much of the US off the list. Boise was perfect. Moderate summers, not super cold winters, close-ish to family in CA, and conservative. So we waited and waited. Because of the pandy, things were very slow moving, it took his company forever. He interviewed for the position, and waited another three weeks to be told that they decided to go with another person. We were so disappointed. Back to square one. During this time his company had decided to add a few new territories, one of them being the Spokane area. The Spokane area used to be half under the Seattle rep, and half under the Montana rep. But with Spokane becoming so much bigger, they needed a rep just for the Spokane area. They told Matt about it in the beginning of January because they figured he would be interested. He didn't have to interview this time since he already had, but due to scheduling issues, and every other issue, he wasn't officially offered the job until February 25th, at around 8pm (Ellie was born 25 hours later). We had five weeks to pack up our lives in the Bay Area, and relocate our now family of six almost 900 miles north. 

Going into our new home for the first time!

Spokane has been so welcoming, so far, there has not been a single unkind person that I have met. We have already started making friends, getting involved, checking out churches, and finding new rhythms for our family. This past year, after much prayer, we decided it best to homeschool our children, and while it has been challenging, especially with moving and having a baby, it has been the best decision. We have loved the change of pace, and having the kids home. I love that our mornings aren't rushed, and that we get to explore more. We have met three families already that have four kids each and homeschool! We love that this area really lends itself to exploring and being outside, even in the colder months, which we will most definitely have (and we've been having since we got here). We will absolutely miss the California weather, it was a big reason we stayed there for so long, and more so, we miss our parents. Both of our parents are still in California, with no current plans to move. 

We are truly feeling 'right' in this move, it already feels like home. We're very excited about this new stage in our family's life, and hope you'll join us for the journey. 

Just because she's the cutest