Out to Sea

Our move is looming ever so near and I can't help but be a little excited and sad at the same time. Matthew is so excited to move on to the next step and I'm excited for him. We've always wanted to live in Colorado, in fact after school we were choosing between 2 jobs in Denver and Colorado Springs and the one here in Hillsboro. Obviously Hillsboro won. We wanted the boys to be close to their fun cousins and to be closer to most of our family.  Now we're sad to be leaving our wonderful family and friends behind. As silly as it may sound, I'm also sad to leave the ocean behind.

I grew up in Idaho and the first time I laid eyes on that vast body of water was when I was 14 years old. It was spring break and we drove the 5th wheel down to Newport, OR where we stayed at a campground right on the ocean. It was amazing, and of course we did all the silly things one does when first meeting the ocean for the first time. Like immediately running into the waves with freshly shaved legs, OUCH! Scouring the beach for any piece of sea life and thinking each find to be a treasure, including that rotten crab claw and dead starfish. I loved the sound of the waves at night and sitting in the cool sand watching wave after wave crash onto the shore.  Little did I know at the age of 14 that I would spend the 7 of my first 8 years of marriage living so close to the magical  blue. Those 3 years in San Francisco were absolutely amazing. Our first year we had a complete ocean view and Evan and I loved watching the large freight boats chug their way out of the bay all day long. I left our windows slightly open all the time so at any quiet moment through out the day I could hear those blessed waves crashing onto shore. I can't tell you how relaxing that can be. I was newly pregnant and so terribly sick. Matthew was gone from 7 - 10 almost every night and I was entertaining a 2 year old while spending most of my day loosing my lunch. I spent a lot of time on my bed and couch just listening to those waves and feeling so calm. There is just something about the music of the waves that completely relaxes me. We went to the beach at least once a week even when we moved across the Golden Gate to Sausalito. We were so spoiled to have it so close. We're almost 2 hours away now and we haven't made the drive as nearly as often as I would like, but at least I know it's there. Now to leave it so far behind, that saddens me a little. My boys don't remember anything different then spending a day at the beach. I hope they miss it too and that one day we will have some glorious reunions with our friend the salty sea.  We'll run into the waves and collect all the gifts in the sand. We will fall asleep to the sound of those crashing waves and remember all of the wonderful memories we've made in the salty air.

Here we are searching for those agates. It's our absolute favorite thing to do as a family at the beach. We have quite a collection at home. It's always fun to see who finds the most and who finds the biggest. So far, I'm the record holder for largest agate found. We'll carry those agates wherever we go and always have a little bit of the ol' Pacific in our home.