From NJ to CA

Heads, Carolina, Tails, California.
Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer.
Up in the mountains, down by the ocean.
Where? It don't matter, as long as we're going
Somewhere together. I've got a quarter.
Heads, Carolina, Tails, California.

(-Jo Dee Messina)

Ten years ago, I was looking for employment at the end of business school. My better half graciously offered to follow me to the ends of the earth - but please anywhere but New Jersey. (It's so cold, grey, and brown! It has concrete, and factories, and an airport with nothing but delays. And the turnpike! Have you seen the turnpike?) But of course God had other ideas, and off to New Jersey we went.

We found our sweet spot there, a place with trees not far from the Delaware River and the antique-y vibe of New Hope, close to horse country (and far, far away from the factories and the turnpike). We found a choir and a church community and a home that we made our own. We left for a few years (for a truly amazing short stint in Singapore), but we came back to the same home, the same church, and the same choir.

But always, underneath, there was the hope we'd be able to move to "somewhere greener, somewhere warmer." Bronchitis every winter didn't help, and our time in tropical Southeast Asia only whetted our appetite for sunshine, blue skies, and plants. And now we find ourselves actually here, starting a new life in California.

But it is truly bittersweet. Already we miss our close friends, some of whom have become like family. And a 3 hour time difference may not seem like much, but it makes the distance more keenly felt. Still, we are here, and it is, as advertised, both greener and warmer, and beautiful in a desert meets tropics meets suburbia sort of way. So here's to our California adventure!