Farewell Canyon View Drive

I just tucked my babies into their beds for the last time at this house and it hit me harder than I thought it would. We purchased this home without having children on our life radar, and shortly after found out we were expecting Audrey. This home has been the first home to both of our children and I am so fortunate to have so many memories within these walls. In this lifestyle it’s important to not get attached to locations and houses; you learn that your “home” is wherever your family is. But, this house will always hold a special place in my heart. Our first home we purchased as a couple, the house I left in labor (twice) and returned with two healthy babies, all of the first holidays with the kids and family, and lots of laughs and happy memories.

I arrived in California from overseas and very pregnant with Audrey. I knew no one and struggled to enter into motherhood without any friends. I joined a church, Gymboree, and started knocking on neighbor’s door and from that I created a tribe of lifelong friendships that have guided me through both the toughest and happiest moments of early motherhood. I will miss those faces the most. These friends have been there through earthquakes, wildfires, Jamari traveling, a global pandemic, two pregnancies and postpartum, and this move. Sure, the weather is fantastic, Disneyland is amazing, my wine club membership will miss me, and the beach is pure serenity; but those friendships have seen me through some of the most challenging days in the last three years and we’ve had some of the happiest times. We are asked often if we will be back to California soon, and the sad reality is that we won’t. That isn’t how foreign service life works, and we were very fortunate to have the three years here that we did. We are headed to Kansas City, Missouri for a short year, and then on to the next spot. That is the hardest part of moving from place to place, you get used to a routine, create close friendships, and get comfortable with the area and then have to start all over.

We arrived here with only Kingston, and are now leaving as a party of four, plus Kingston. This is our first move with kids, and I underestimated how challenging that was going to be. From preparing basic necessities for the hotel stay prior to departure, packing and purging things, and the hardest part is explaining to Audrey what is happening around her. Children are resilient, but it’s still very difficult. If I find it hard to leave friends at 33, I am certain she is struggling with the goodbyes to her friends as well. We have been trying to keep it very short and sweet, and taking a few pictures before the goodbye so when she asks about her friends in the coming months I can show her. We started the process early explaining that we were moving to a new house, with new parks, new toys, and a new bedroom. We’ll see how the prep work pays off tomorrow when the big truck rolls up and the movers start packing everything.

I try not posting many photos of the inside of our home for privacy reasons, but since the home was listed on Zillow and I want a memory of how it looked in ten years and I am on my third location from now I am including some photos from our happy home.

California will now become a vacation spot for us, and we are leaving this no humidity weather with a gorgeous backyard dragging our feet to a humidity overload and no pool; but we will make new memories and have new favorite places there. Farewell Canyon View Drive…you’ll be missed!