On November 5, 2014, I wrote a post to you (here) that we were moving to San Luis Obispo.

On February 22, 2016, I wrote a post to you (here) that my sweet, sweet mama Dot-Dot was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.

On February 27, 2017, I wrote a post (here) celebrating and cherishing my sweet mom, as she had been welcomed into heaven a couple of weeks earlier.

On March 19, 2018, I wrote a post (here) sharing with you that we had big news and were moving out of California to Reno, Nevada.

This was a huge turning point for us, after a couple of years of deep heart-throb that included every emotion you could think of: grief, joy, sadness, gratitude, faith, anxiety. ALL OF IT.

On July 13th, 2018 I shared my favorite post of all (here), when we brought our sweet baby-girl Abby home from the Nevada Humane Society. She trumps all the happy news. She is my whole heart and soul. Marco’s too.

And on November 14th, 2018 we shared another huge milestone post with you all, that we bought our first home together (here).

That day, on November 14th, we moved in. Since, we have been so at home. Cradled in the safety and comfort of this place. Blessed to call it our own. Joyful to fill this home with memories.

We’ve had countless BBQ’s, even more random dinner nights, and have played with our sweet friends boy, Brayden, more days than I can count.

This house, this place – Reno, these past two years, have been two of the best of my life.

This valley has healed us, challenged us, and shaped us more than I ever knew that it would.

Life here has been not a minute shy of everything that feels 100% right.

And even so…

Today, on January 21, 2020, I am writing a post to share that we are moving back to the Central Coast of California.

Cue the Thomas Rhett song, Life Changes.

Ain’t it funny how Life Changes. (Really, turn it on here as you read the rest of this post for the full effect and to connect with exactly how I’m feeling as I share this news with you.)

Ain’t it funny how life changes
You wake up, ain’t nothing the same and life changes
You can’t stop it, just hop on the train and
You never know what’s gonna happen
You make your plans and you hear god laughing
Life changes, and I wouldn’t change it for the world

I’m sure you have many questions like: Why? What made you guys decide to go back? But aren’t you happy in Reno? But you bought a house – what will you do with the house!? And because I know you’re a compassionate bunch, you’re probably wondering how we’re feeling.

So let’s talk about it, all of it.

Because today, as I write yet another post about a huge life change, I’m feeling extra grateful as I realize just how much of life I have been able to document here on this blog, and how incredibly loving and supportive you have always been.

Why

Ultimately, moving back is a decision for our family. So much goes into this, but to give you the gist, it comes down to job, being close to our biological family (our Reno friends have become family too – and we will miss them heavily but will stay in close contact), and growing our own family.

There is so much that went into this decision. It was not an easy one for us to make. We made pro’s and con’s lists. Marco and I had countless conversations with one another. We did a lot of thinking, praying, and heart searching. We love both places (Reno and San Luis Obispo) so much.

But ultimately, we made the decision that it was the right choice to go back.

But Aren’t You Happy in Reno?

Yes, we are so happy in Reno – it’s hard to think about leaving. There has not been a day, not even a minute, that we have felt regret over our decision to move here. We got our Abby, we made incredible life-long friends, we got our house, and we have felt so much joy here. Life in Reno has been nothing short of blessed.

There’s no doubt about it, we are going to miss it here. We’re already bracing ourselves for just how much. But ultimately, when we checked in with our family values: time off, being together, and growing our family, the opportunity on the Central Coast met more of our needs.

Plus, life on the Central Coast is a fantastic life too. It’s completely different than life in the high dessert, next to the Sierra Nevada mountains and Lake Tahoe. But it’s a good life too. I have friends who I also love there. I saw some of them this past weekend, as we went down to set up my office.

The biggest deciding factor of it all, is that we feel it’s God leading us back. And we believe that if He is leading us back, as long as we’re together as a family, we’ll be okay.

The House

Another burning question I know you probably have is what we will do with our home! Our home that we love so much! Our home that has brought us endless joy, has hosted many visitors, and has given us so much… We will be selling our home.

I’ve had family ask me “But aren’t you sad to sell your home?” Yes and no. Yes because this home has been wonderful to us. No because we know what matters most is not the home itself but the memories that were made in it and our family being together under one roof. And those are two things that we will never lose. But yes, we will miss it. It’s been nothing but good to us.

The Transition

So we’re headed to SLO. We have a beautiful place to stay while we transition. Abby has other animal buddies to play with, we have a vineyard to walk through each day, and we’re grateful to already feel at home there, thanks to wonderful friends who have helped. We’ve moved down my office things, and we’ll be back and forth for a while, but ultimately, by the end of this week, life starts in SLO-town.

I did decide to get an office in downtown San Luis Obispo so that I have a consistent and quiet space to work with clients through this transition. I will still be meeting clients over the phone (though, SLO clients, come visit me anytime – I have coffee and comfy chairs!) and nothing about my business will change. I will keep this lease for at least three months, to see how I like it. When we get our next home, I may go back to a home office as it is truly magical to work from home (for me!). But we’ll see!

In terms of my coaching business, I’ll be adding even more in like: new coaching spaces, an Intuitive Eating book club (starting this week in The Growth Vault – come join us today and I’ll email you personally to make sure you have everything you need!), and getting to attend BYOB again! Remember BYOB? Build Your Own Business? Well, my friends Asia and Natalie still faithfully host this SLO business group every month, and I’m so excited to be able to attend again!

How We’re Feeling

We’re excited, we’re happy, we’re sad, we’re all of the things! We believe we’ll be okay. We believe it will be good, and most of all, we have learned that life changes. So much more than we ever expected it too. And it’s all good. It’s all okay. We’re resilient people and with Faith, we can do anything and we do not need to be anxious.

Life really does change. And it’s good. If we hadn’t have moved to Reno we wouldn’t have Abby. We wouldn’t have gotten our home. Which having it for just over a year was so much better than not at all. We wouldn’t have made such incredible, close relationships. Moving here was in the plans for our life, too.

And now, to…

Life in SLO

I’m eager to see how life in SLO will play out this time around. Life is different now. For one, we won’t be living right downtown like we did last time (that was a little crazy on the parking front!). Two, I’ll have an office outside of my home. Which means a commute, different planning, and time away from Abber’s during the day (though, they did say I could bring her if I wanted!). I’ll ease into that to see how she adjusts ;).

Also, as we’ve been gone for two years, we’ve changed. Our preferences and lifestyles have shifted. We do much more together as a family now. Work is more full. It’ll just be different. Plus, as I mentioned, one of the reasons we’re making this change is because we’ll be thinking about growing our family, and that’ll be a huge shift too. (I know many of you thought that’s what I’d be posting about today – ha!)

I anticipate dinner with friends at their houses (Reno taught us to love this). I anticipate getting plugged into a local Church (our favorite Church in Ventura, Mission, who we still consider our home Church, planted a new Church in SLO that we can’t wait to try out!). I anticipate lots of running outdoors with Abby and walking with friends at some of my favorite trails. I want to try new restaurants that have opened up since we lived there. We want to hike with Abby, take her to the dog beach, and hopefully get a new trailer to get back into camping, now that we’ll have more time off together (a huge reason we’re going back).

Here are a few photos of fun SLO places from the weekend that I either already loved, or that are new and I’m completely in love with now…

Such charming and joyful places, right? I mean, SLO did get called the “Happiest Place in America.” But you all knew that ’cause Oprah said it, right? 🙂

There’s a lot of good to come. I can feel it. I’m excited for it. And of course, I’ll share along the way whatever is mine to share.

I appreciate you all being here with us, so much. Some of you have been here since 2011 when I started this blog. You’ve gone through our engagement with us, our wedding, our move to SLO, everything with my mom, our move to Reno, getting Abby, getting the house, and now moving again. You’re incredible – I appreciate you reading and sharing life alongside me.

For those of you who pray: I ask that you’ll join in along side us to pray for God’s will to continue to play out, as we make this transition. That’s all we want, and we have complete confidence that it’s already happening and will continue to unfold in front of us. Thank you!

If you have anything you’d like to share or say – encouragement is welcome! – please do so in the comments. I’d love to hear YOUR stories of unexpected change. Have you done big moves? How did they go? What did you learn? Definitely share. I’ll be down in the comments hanging out with all of you.

Thank you again for sharing in this transition with us, it means the world to have you be a part of it!