Leaving Santa Barbara

Our dear friend Annemarie organized a going-away picnic/hangout on the Mission lawn, the Saturday before we left Santa Barbara. People brought snacks and beverages and lawn games, and it was basically a chance for us to hang out and say goodbye to many of our friends. These events are so fun to me, I love inviting all of our friends from different social circles and watching everybody meet one another and just generally having all of my favorite people in one place. 

We have been so incredibly blessed to have had such a rich, authentic, and loving community these past few years in Santa Barbara. I remember right when I graduated and Hubs and I first got married I was so lonely and anxious, wondering who my friends would be now that all my closest college girlfriends had graduated and left town. But God provided. He was sweet to bring us exactly the right friendships to see us through these past few years. These people were, and remain, family- our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Here are some of the pictures hat Annemarie took that afternoon...

{Lovebirds Mike and Juliann, Christina and Benaiah, the Bormets, the Dirksen family,
and Hubs' bible study bud Steven.}

{Emily and Lauren, the McRobbies, the Carnes', the Sis and her bf and Mom, the Bollman fam, baby Caleb and Rachel, Megan, and Annemarie and Burke, Comstock, and the Bradshaw fam.}

Our last week in town, we took time to get together with a few of these same friends one last time. We had a delicious Mexican dinner with Lauren and JD-we will miss these two so much, and are excited for their upcoming transition to the Midwest as well! I was able to get together with Rachel and baby Caleb, and we stopped by the Bollmans for dessert one night where Burke entertained us all for hours :) That week was also my last bible study- I am so sad to leave this group! We had a potluck dinner that was delicious and angel food cake with berries for dessert. The morning we headed out we also met up with the sis at our favorite bakery/cafe one last time... and then we were off.

Packing for a cross-country move is a lot more work than we realized. I started a few days early while Hubs was at work, but the night before the moving truck came we were up all night. Literally we took a nap from 5:30-7:30 in the morning and then the truck showed up. I was so grateful that Lindsay was able to come help me pack the kitchen stuff the day before! If she hadn't helped, we literally would not have finished packing in time. The movers loaded everything within about 2 hours, and then they were off and I was left with our empty apartment. It was a very strange and sad feeling. We have a lot of incredible memories from our two and a half years there.
That night, hubs and I camped on the air mattress in the living room. We woke up Saturday morning and finished cleaning the place, then packed the car and hit the road-but not without stopping by the Bollmans one last time.

{the Sis helping me pack; our empty apartment; camping out on the air mattress;
 the moving truck; and a family portrait in front of the Bollmans}

We were sad to leave Santa Barbara- I don't think I realized at the time we were leaving how much we'd miss it- but we were excited about the adventure ahead. We dearly miss our friends and relationships in SB. And yet we know we are where God has us for now, and are excited about what He has in store for us in the Midwest. 

{I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Psalm 16:8}