Back in the USA

After Norway, we had three days to pack up before we flew home. We spent that time going to some of our favorite spots and taking several laps around the wall. It didn't take a lot of effort to pack since we had been planning this day for months. Every time we had a visitor we would send part of a suitcase home with them. Our final full day in Lucca was spent passing off the keys to a wonderful family from the Bay Area who would be spending part of their sabbatical in Lucca. It was perfect closure for us to show them around. It gave me the feeling that our flat and this city that we called home would be loved, enjoyed, and taken care of.

Even though we left Lucca, the adventure was definitely not over. We had another day of almost missing a flight after our first flight was delayed. Running through the airport, train station, city center has become the normal, not the exception in some ways. We know to always expect the unexpected. Always be prepared to take a different path and just go with the flow. Lessons that weren't always easy for my two girls, but definitely lessons that I hope carry through with them for life.

First stop - Portland, to see our new home. We spent four days exploring our new zip code, meeting with contractors, and celebrating Independence Day. It was so sweet to attend the 4th of July parade through downtown, enjoy the local farmers market and music, and cap the day with a picnic and fireworks over at the lake. I was apprehensive to show my husband and girls this home as they had never actually seen it in person before! I felt responsible for the outcome. Sure, Dave and I decided together that this would be our home, but I was the one on the ground in February who made the final call. Verdict? The girls announced to me at dinner the second night back that I couldn't have picked a better place. Ta da! We are all in love with Lake Oswego!

Next stop - California. Now that we had seen home, we spent the rest of July catching up with friends and family. The girls both attended their favorite summer camp and got some individual time with grandparents. Dave and I spent our anniversary ALONE in San Francisco and took a drive back to Portland to drop off one car and make a few more decisions on the house. We have enjoyed eating at our favorite american places like In-N-Out Burger and Chipotle, seeing movies in English, and long evenings of games and conversation with our friends.

It's now mid August and we're chilling in the Pacific Northwest. Well kinda. They are having an unusually hot and dry summer, so I guess we're not technically "chilling". We transferred our stuff from storage into a U-haul, drove to LO, moved the stuff from the U-haul into a POD in our driveway and now we're up in Seattle with longtime friends who also escaped the Bay Area busyness a few years back.

The day we unloaded the U-haul was everything I hoped it would be for my kids. The whole neighborhood came out to welcome us. The girls spent their day riding bikes and scooters, eating popsicles and hopping from one neighbor's house to the next. As we were unloading our stuff we were periodically interrupted by a neighbor driving by, a boy walking a dog, or a tray of refreshments being delivered. Exhausted from all the effort of heavy lifting, we were greeted by our girls at 7pm, telling us not to worry, they had already eaten dinner. Both of them independently called it "the perfect day".

There are some uncanny coincidences already. In the whole world we chose a place to live where there is a girl next door the same age as my oldest daughter and a girl across the street the same age as my youngest. Our neighbors directly across the street met and fell in love in Lucca and lived in Italy for four years. Two doors down from them is a family with a Mom who studied Music Therapy and teaches piano lessons,  and right next door a teacher and school board member. All the families we met at one point or another have lived in the Bay Area and all talk about how good the move north was for their families.

We feel a tremendous amount of comfort in knowing that this crazy idea we had a year and a half ago is turning out to not just be a wacky adventure, but a course correction for the good. We were warned by new neighbors that "the pace is a little slower here" to which we responded "that's what we're hoping for!"