Going is about leaving, too.

It is hard to believe that we have just under one month left in Santa Cruz. The days and activities are ticking down, our last trip to the beach (see photo), our last trip to the Farmer's Market. It is truly as John Elrod decribed at my W&L graduation, "A time of leave taking." It is surely a bittersweet time. So many fond memories from the ordinary (walks on West Cliff, runs through Wilder) to the extrodinary (getting engaged, Elena's birth).

But we are looking forward to our new adventure in Utrecht. We recently learned that we have been assigned our apartment. It is the building on the far right with the thick white door molding. It is large, nearly 105 square meters and we have the bottom floor. Elena's daycare has been arranged and is just about 2 kilometers away. A quick bike ride on the way to the University for us and right next to one of the largest parks in the city.

Our timeline over the next few weeks is very full. Next week, Gram and Grandpa Steve (now known as 'Poppa') will be here for our last Santa Cruz Thankgiving, then Jake travels to Utrecht to meet with his new group and do some paperwork, then we travel to AGU, and back to Santa Cruz where Poppa will arrive to help with the moving. The movers arrive December 13th and we fly to Maine for Christmas December 15th.

We have decided to keep everyone updated using this blog site. Maintaining the website is too hard on Erin and Jake can also update and post here. And internet/phone will be uncertain in the first few weeks while we are in Utrecht and we know people will want to keep updated on our newest adventure.