our california abode

Today marks one year of living in this house, of living in California. This year has flown by! California and the town we live in, Castro Valley, has felt like home from the very first day. When Michael and I moved to Brooklyn (many moons ago...) it took me six months to make my first true friend. When we moved to North Carolina, I made friends quicker but it still took a long time to feel like home. Moving to Cali has been so seamless. I was surprised at how easy it was for me and Michael and especially for the kids. 

We were ready to leave Charlotte about five years before we finally did. I am still not certain why we stayed. I guess we were comfortable and we had family near by. We weren't unhappy with life there, but we were not satisfied either. Prior to making this move I prayed, a lot, to know if it was the right choice for our family. I never got an answer either way. So we figured it was one of those situations where we could choose. Staying or leaving was up to us, neither was a wrong choice. 

Our house in Charlotte got an above asking price offer in less than four days on the market. Packing up our home and shipping our belongings across the country when we didn't even have a place to live on the other end was a little scary. Leaving the home that we had bought and lived in for over eight years, that we had brought three babies home to, babies that learned to walk and talk within those walls, the home that we spent years renovating was so hard. I shed a lot of tears the last time we walked through that house and locked the door for the last time. 

BUT...

Everything from that moment on has gone so smoothly. Driving our family across the country, finding this home (that's a story in itself), making friends, the kids starting school- everything has fallen into place so perfectly. I know now that this is where we are supposed to be. I am thankful to finally, finally, have that confirmation!

I am pretty sure that we won't be living in this house forever. I love it, it is so perfect for us and our families needs but we are renting and it is uncertain if we will be able to buy it in the future. We will see, I guess. You never know!

our home 

front door

entry 

 living room looking to entry

living room from dining room- I love how open this house is.

living room

dinning room (i really hate the lighting choices in this house but once again, renting.)

kitchen

kitchen from play room

reading and art nook (I really love this spot! It is supposed to be a breakfast nook but it seemed redundant to have another table since the dining room is so close and we have a table outside in the courtyard also. I love that we turned a small, useless space into something cute and useful. We spend a lot of time here.)

 playroom. oh how I love having a dedicated playroom. I do a little wish that it wasn't so open to the rest of the house (messy!) but mostly I am just thankful for the space. also: I really hate wood panelling. my plan, since we can't paint it, is to cover it with the kids artwork. :)

the boys' room (Michael has an office in a room off this one- sort of a strange addition but 

we are so excited for that extra space!!)

the guest room/sewing room (this is in guest room mode)

I love this room. I am so excited to have a room just for my hobbies. I was so not expecting that!

the girls' room 

master bedroom

I love how big our room is (compared to our last house) and the fact that we have an actual master bathroom!

the courtyard 

the courtyard at night. this backyard is made for parties!

 the kids ride their bikes around "the track" in the backyard. it's especially nice since the neighborhood is so hilly it's hard to ride.

 our very own redwood tree. we love to hangout under it's shade.

we've got lots of fruit trees!

the kids were missing their swing set so michael made a swing (it's on the left in the picture) and we got this little second hand playhouse for Gemma. She adores it!

That's it! We love this house, and California, and hope to live here a good, long time!