BIG changes

Last week my registration tags for the Altima arrived in the mail- from CA. Yes, my car still has California plates and I still even have a California license (and a California phone number for that matter). I've thought about it several times, wondering when I'd be able to fully commit and become a full fledge east coaster. I guess it was the never feeling totally settled- we never knew what would be in store for us after law school and then when we moved back we weren't sure if we'd be moving to Virginia or staying in Maryland, etc. I guess it's for this reason that I've kept all my California identification. And now I am grateful for it, because.... we're moving back to California!!!

And let me just say what a complete stress these past couple of weeks (or should I say months) have been. Let me rewind a bit. Back in April Spencer interviewed with a Law Firm out in CA- Ventura County to be exact. We were stoked about the possibility of living our dream (we always figured we'd never be able to move to Ventura County until we were retired). Then several weeks later Spencer received a letter from the firm stating that they decided against hiring anyone for the time being. Oh well... Things were going wonderfully and we'd pretty much closed that CA door completely, until mid July when Spencer heard from one of the head partners of the CA firm again. They called Spencer up to tell him that they were planning on hiring another associate, asking if he was still interested. The partner mentioned wanting someone out there quickly so we figured we would hear back soon. Days turned to weeks and still nothing. We assumed that they must have already filled the position and a letter would be coming shortly. So, when a member of the Stake Presidency called Spencer into his office that Sunday morning and extended the call of 1st counselor in the bishopric, we figured that was our answer- Spencer must be needed here. We felt good about it, until 2 days later when Spencer received an email from the CA firm, thanking him for his patience, informing him that they were concluding interviews that week, and that Spencer was at the top of their list and they'd be contacting him within the week! That's when things started to get a little interesting. We still weren't sure what they'd offer or if it was right for us. Sunday came, Spencer was called, sustained, ordained, and set apart as the 1st counselor. Then the next day he gets a call from the CA firm with an offer! Talk about not knowing what to do! Spencer spent the next week exploring all possible opportunities for growth and upward movement with his firm here, but things were looking really sketchy (his firm, and D.C. law firms in general, are not doing so hot in this economy!). He was basically told that salary increases at his current firm were off the table and that they could not match the offer. On top of this, the firm recently announced that it was moving offices to cut back on costs and several partners had recently jumped ship ... Needless to say, Spencer was not very confident in his job security. We spent the week in prayer, fasting, thought, weighing pros, and cons, and evenings in the temple. Then near the end of the week everything became very clear and Spencer knew what he was supposed to do and he accepted the associate position at the CA law firm! We are so excited and know this is the right move for our family, but it completely killed Spencer to have to tell our bishop the news.

Things are actually moving really quickly. Spencer heads out this coming Saturday (ya, I'm kinda freaking out- that's less than 5 days away!!!), but since we are signed into a lease here at our townhouse through November, the girls and I are going to stay behind to try and get it rented out. My parents already had a trip planned to come out here the end of September/beginning of October, so my plan is to stick it out until then, have my mom help me finish packing (she's moved us 2 other times now, so it should be a piece of cake :), and then she'll road trip it out west with the girls and I. I'm not sure if I can be separated from Spencer for that long. Luckily, we'd already planned a beach trip to the Outer Banks the week of Labor Day, so he'll definitely be flying back for that. I'm just hoping it will give me the strength to get through the reminder of September.

As excited as I am about moving to Camarillo (where I've wanted to live since the first time I came to visit), there are so so many things I'm gonna miss about living here. I'm super sad about leaving all our dear friends behind (just hoping they'll all come out to visit). I'm gonna miss the changing of the seasons- I'm heartbroken that I won't be here long enough to see all of fall. And I'm crushed about missing out on our ward's primary program (I'll be leaving 3 weeks before the actual program)! The kids have worked so hard learning all those songs- I'm devastated about not being able to hear their final performance.

But luckily there are many pluses that come with with our decision to move- like:

1) Being MUCH closer to family (minutes from Spencer's parents and a 5 or 6 hour drive from my parents)

2) Better job + more $ + happier husband = happier wife!

3) Our many good friends that live there

4) A 15 minute drive to the beach

5) An hour and 45 minute drive to Disneyland- Madi's been begging to go and we were trying to figure out how to make Disneyworld a family vacation, but now this will be so much easier!

6) The weather. I'll definitely miss the changing of the seasons, but come January, I'm always more than happy to give up the cold and snow.

7) All the other things we love about California- sailing out to the Islands, backyard BBQ's year round, running outside year round, weekly beach outings, palm trees, etc.