Back East

We pictured our trip back East, similar to that of when we first came out to Bend.  We pictured the same emotions of excitement to see something new and driving on never ending roads. We pictured the kids happily watching movies in the back sit while we talked about everything and anything up front.  We thought it would be the same, but it wasn't.  It was actually a lot harder this time around.  Autumn wanted a snack about every 5 minutes.  Someone had to stop and pee almost every 45 minutes, myself included.  We just never seemed to be making any head way.

On the road again..

Autumn finding time for a nap..

We decided to drive as far south as possible to avoid any and all winter storms.  After leaving Bend we drove all the way to Tonopah, Nevada. It was the only hotel we could find between Reno and Vegas.  We probably pushed it a little too much the first day with driving.  We basically rolled into he hotel with a screaming 3 year old, a restless 7 year old and two very, very over exhausted parents.  Needless to say we hit the pillows hard that night.  Next stop ended up being only about 4 hours away when Josslyn started to feel car sick. VEGAS BABY! We found a reasonable hotel for the night and spent the day at the pool so the kids had a break from driving.  We couldn't do another crazy day like the one prior.  And in the Southwest all the stops seem so far apart.  After spending a night in crazy Vegas, we started getting serious about driving.  We decided to make our next big stop, New Orleans.  It took about 2 long days of travel to final reach one of my favorite cities in this country.  

N'awlins!!!!!  Cheers!!

Josslyn enjoying her first meal in the Big Easy.  

Oysters, gumbo and bbq shrimp.  What a meal!!

Love the cemeteries in New Orleans.  Mysterious and macabre, yet lovely and peaceful at the same time.

Joss collecting flowers she found on the ground along the way.

Loving the crocodiles in N'awlins

Autumn trying to steal one, but getting caught by the cashier.  She is always up to no good this one.

The biggest beads ever!

Filming NCIS New Orleans.  Josslyn was thrilled to watch this.  She so wants to be on TV.  

A rare family photo.

Precious moments.

Erik giving them a little Sunday School lesson.

Dancing in the streets to some jazz music

Cafe du Monde..  Best coffee ever and I am not even a coffee drinker..

Autumn seems to have loved the beignets.  Ha ha

After we left New Orleans we started heading North.  I couldn't believe we were already this far East to be able to head North to NJ, which is where we were going to see family for a couple of weeks.  As the scenery changed to that of what we once knew, it all became so surreal to actually be back East again.  Even though we were only gone for two years, the feelings I felt were as if I hadn't been back for 10 years or more.  It felt so exciting and fresh again.  I started seeing things with new eyes and was thrilled to be apart of it all again.  I wished at that moment I would always see things as if I were seeing them for the first time and would never take it for granted as I did before I had left.  I made a vow to be awe-inspired by the scenery no matter where I lived and to be grateful every day.  

Saying Good Bye

As I sit here ready to write the next post about our journey back across country, I have stumbled upon lots of pictures from our trip and have become teary eyed and choked up.  Mostly because of the happiness and love I feel as I look at how little the girls were when we started two years ago and how much they have grown since.  But also because of the sadness to leave this part of the country, for now and for how quick life goes by, even when you TRY to slow it down.  These are tears of accomplishment for having done such a trip and it actually being successful.  Tears of knowing that there is not one bit of regret for having taken this break in our lives.  And tears of knowing we learned that happiness can not be found in a place, but has always been there, we just needed to realize that.  

All packed up! AGAIN!  It was definitely easier this time around to pack up everything, since most of our stuff was still in boxes and since we had already gave away most of our things before we had left the first time.  Thankfully we also didn't accumulate anything extra while in Bend. 

  Saying good bye to the wondrous scenery was much easier than saying good bye to all our new friends.  

Here is the only picture I had taken of us saying good bye to people.  I really am not fond of saying good bye.  It's too final.  It means things are coming to a close and that's not how I wanted to leave Bend.  I wanted to keep that door open forever.  We always said that we moved to Bend because of the people first, and the outdoors and scenery second.  And it held true the entire time we lived there.  The people here are unlike any other place we have lived.  So welcoming and open hearted.  Thank you to everyone who was a part of our lives while we lived in Bend.  You made Bend so special and hard to leave.  

Life is a Never Ending Journey

When we moved to Bend, we pictured our journey coming to some sort of close with nothing but blue skies ahead, literally.  We pictured being settled with only the worries of which majestic mountain we would hike in the spring or which emerald colored, crystal clear lake we would visit on a hot summer day.  Which outdoor music concert we would attend on a lazy Sunday afternoon or which fabulous restaurant Erik and I would walk to on our date night.  Whether to walk to the "Lot," a place with heated seats, delicious food trucks and of course beer on tap, or go to an outdoor brewery to just sit and relax while sipping on the most sublime beer and watching the kids run around getting tired under a setting sun that is about to hide itself behind the three sister mountains in the distance.

This is how it was all SUPPOSED to go down. But the universe knew different.  Bend was not to be our home.  It was just a lay over.  Long story short, Erik was offered an amazing opportunity back East in Boston that we thought long and hard over.  It was an opportunity that would allows us to hop in the car, instead of a plane (a 12 hour journey when you include all the lay overs and driving across the mountains) to see our family whenever we wanted to.  An opportunity to see another part of this incredible country.  A place where jobs are plentiful and the fear of being without one is quickly diminished.  A place filled with the richness of history and the scent of the salty ocean all in one.  Boston, in the end just made more sense for us at this point and came at a time that allowed for us to enjoy a WHOLE YEAR in beautiful Bend.  The memories will always be there as will the opportunity to visit at any time.  It was with a very heavy heart, yet also with excitement in our guts, that we boxed up our lives yet once again, still exhausted from just unpacking not too long ago.  One of the greatest gifts from this trip, so far (because it is not even close to being over) is being able to expect the unexpected and to give it a big bear hug instead of running from it.  It has afforded us priceless time spent with each other that in the "real" world would never have happened.  We feel that our journey has prepared us to EMBRACE such life changes with open arms and open hearts.  Especially Josslyn and Autumn.  They are so strong and so accepting of change.  They are two very incredible girls who have taught us so much, maybe even more than the actual journey itself.  I couldn't be more proud of them.  And as the journey continues, both on the road and off, I feel so fortunate and excited for what lies ahead.