It was a little tough to send Holly to school this year. We've only been in Spokane for 2 weeks and I feel like we know very little about the school. I was nervous! Holly was nervous! Imagine my relief when I picked her up at the end of the day, asked her how her day was and her response was an enthusiastic, "It was great! I had fun!" Phew! It all went well. She's still our happy Holly. Here's some photos of my big girl on her big day.

Can you see Greta making faces through the door window? Honestly! Greta is turning into such a class clown. She's discovering she likes to make people laugh and does she ever make us laugh! Love these two sisters.

Greta starts preschool tomorrow!

We now call Spokane, WA home. We arrived here 6 days ago and unloaded the truck. We were settled pretty quickly. Conor's parents came to help us and they worked so hard alongside us. Their help kept me going and stopped me from having a nuclear meltdown! Initially I fell apart when we first walked through the house together. I misremembered a lot of things and I really had so many feelings from driving so long and the stress of moving, etc. But as soon as we began putting our stuff in this place, I felt better. I totally love the house we bought and I'm excited to spend a good long time here. It's totally dreamy.

Now to make friends!

Today Conor and I celebrate 9 years of marriage! We were such babies when we got married - I cringe at the thought of my daughters marrying young as I did.

It's been a beautiful nine years, growing, changing, stretching, dreaming together. One thought that I've reflected on repeatedly over the last few weeks is how much I like my husband. Yes, I love him more than I did 9 years ago, and I find him immensely more handsome. I had heard that love deepens, develops over time but I hadn't anticipated how much more I would like Conor. He's so different now than he was, and I'm grateful/relieved/excited about how much I like him. I've found my marriage to be so wonderful and if my daughters find what I have for themselves at an age as young as I did, then so be it.

Some photos below of our anniversary date... shopping for a refrigerator, a dining room table and eating a fancy meal together. Conor doesn't consider it an anniversary date, but I'm not sure when we're going to find the time for something less utilitarian any time soon with a looming move!

I've been "chasing" the perfect beach photo of my daughters all summer long. It's a tricky catch with bright sun and windy conditions. I was very excited when we arrived at Capitola Beach last week to overcast and windless conditions and I really like what I got! I love these girls and I love having a photo like this. Photographs are like gold to me.

Some more photos from our day. I loved this beach! Totally kicking myself because this was the first time we've been there! I'm planning on going back one more time before we move and when we come back to visit the Bay Area, I'm hopeful that we'll be able to spend a few days at the beach. It's the cutest little beach town with a very yummy bakery!

We're savoring our sunny days at the beach. They're coming to an end. In less than 3 weeks, we will no longer call California home. We're beginning a new chapter in Washington. I'm at both ends of the spectrum emotionally. I'm excited about Washington, happy to be closer to family and I'm in love with the home we're buying. And I'm going to miss California something fierce - the place, the people, the whole dang thing. Living in California has been an amazing gift. Our family, our marriage has done a lot of changing while we lived here. We climbed so many mountains here, our most known one was paying off our debt. California is the only home our girls can remember - they were too small when we left Colorado. We are going to miss just about everything about living here (our dear friends are at the top of that list!) and I'm already planning next summer's vacation in this golden State!