Dreamy Prince Edward Island

 We have dreamed for YEARS of coming here. Planning five schedules was complicated, but we finally made it! And I feel confident in saying that Prince Edward Island lived up to expectations. An incredibly beautiful island with so much natural beauty, as well as charming towns, and incredibly nice people--I know I've already said it but they were extra nice here! I already miss it so much, and I was just there a week ago. Prince Edward Island, you won me over completely.

To get there, we opted to drive the Confederation Bridge across, rather than the ferry. Mostly because we didn't want to have to worry about coordinating schedules. This bridge is 10 miles long! It was pretty impressive.

^^views from the bridge^^

^^I spy Mel Mel again^^

Our schedule for our time in Prince Edward Island was pretty open, with one day devoted to all things Anne of Green Gables. So when we first arrived, we just drove around along the coast, stopping to eat at this coastal restaurant, with the best lobster burger (basically just a bunch of lobster meat, butter and a brioche bun)--yummiest lobster I have had!

We explored different beaches and lighthouses and coastal towns, had afternoon tea, and did a little exploring in Charlottetown, the capital. We had a wonderful time and I did not want to leave!

Just such a dream come true for us!

Welcome to Canada, eh!

To break up the driving, we spent one night in St. John, New Brunswick, and it was a lovely city. This was my first time to Canada (besides the Canadian side of Niagara Falls so does that even count?) and it was great. No traffic, and incredibly nice people. They just got nicer and nicer! And they really do say "eh" after things ha. 

We just walked around the waterfront and downtown a bit, and also visited the City Market, which is apparently the oldest market in North America. It was a fun market. And just down the road was another really cool artisan fair going on. I love that stuff. 

 ^^loved this cute display^^

 ^^our souvenir from St. John were these cute silver knot rings.^^

There were these statues all over the city. They grew on us.

Then we were off to the much anticipated Prince Edward Island!! yay!!!

Our Mother and Daughter Trip aka The Cancer Victory Tour

I have sooo much I want to blog about from our summer adventures, but I really want to talk about my most recent first because it is fresh on my mind and so amazing.

My mom has had a pretty crappy year. Last March she was diagnosed with breast cancer and has gone through surgery, chemo, radiation, and one last surgery. My sisters and I decided to finally make one of her dreams a reality and plan a trip for her---to have something to look forward to, and to celebrate with her at the end of it.

I have so much admiration for her and how she has handled it. She kept her job and worked throughout all of it: I called it her therapy, because oh my word, the notes of encouragement, and gifts, and daily affirmations from these kids at the elementary school would drive me to tears every time she would tell me about it. So grateful for those sweet children for being her cheerleaders.

And then on top of that, my mom's mom, my wonderful grandma, passed away just days before our trip. So that was hard on her and all of us. We tweaked the trip so we could all be there for her funeral, and then we were able to all leave together. My mom definitely deserved this trip.

Our first stop was beautiful and lovely Coastal Maine. More specifically Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.

 ^^heart eyes emoji^^

 ^^right after this, my phone fell into a tide pool and was broken the rest of the trip womp womp. good thing I still had my nice camera^^

^^I spy Mel Mel^^

 ^^hydrangea heaven!^^

 Jordan Pond at Acadia

After a lovely day in Maine, we got in the car to cross the border to the exotic land of Canada! But no stamps in our passports to prove it bummer ;)

Our New Home

We've moved!

As fun as it is to say "we bought a house!" I can't help but think something more along the lines of "the bank bought this house and our military BAH (housing allowance) is going to pay the mortgage!" HA.

But I still am feeling so grateful because this home is an answer to our prayers. Buying a home in Southern California is a PAIN. SUCH A PAIN. We really wanted to live off base in order to have more bedrooms and a bigger yard for our boys. Finding those things in our desired city, with our budget (with home prices rising significantly over the past 6 months as we were searching) started to seem impossible. We had already lost out on a house in this neighborhood, so when this one came up, at the same price as the other one, it felt meant to be.

So yeah! We have a house, but currently no furniture. Can't wait to show more as we turn it into a home!

Final Days in Monterey

We had a busy couple days before leaving Monterey. Pretty stressful actually. The stress eased a little after we turned in our keys to the cottage. Farewell, little cottage.

We checked into a hotel just in time for his graduation the next day. I watched the graduation ceremony from the "family room" aka the basement. I feel bad I didn't get to see Victor in person, but there's no way the boys would have lasted! We promptly met up with him after. Congrats on all your hard work, Victor! He's a master now--but I'm not gonna call him that.

 ^^with one of his math professors who is Romanian. We love her and her family. They always welcomed us into their home cu drag (with love). ^^

It's funny though, because even though his thesis was done and approved, and he walked at graduation, Victor still had a big project due for a class the next day. So frustrating for him! So after graduation he worked all afternoon, and after our celebratory dinner, he still went back and worked all night. I feel bad for the guy.

Because of all that, we decided to stay the next day in Monterey instead of heading to Oceanside. I'm so glad we did, so we could have one last day in Monterey not filled with the stress of moving and school. And it was our anniversary. Six years!!

 We started at our favorite breakfast place, and ended the day playing at Carmel Beach. It was a nice anniversary, but we both agreed we needed a re-do with just the two of us haha...which we just did this week in Utah thank you so much Juju!

 Love our crew.

 ^^he got wiped out by a wave. he got tossed around but of course he was back at it right after this^^

Such a beautiful day! Grateful for six blessed years. So much to be thankful for. I get the words to Hamilton stuck in my head when I think about all that has happened these last few years. "Look at where we are, look at where we started." Life isn't perfect, but it's hard to dwell on the imperfections and frustrations when you step back and realize how good you actually have it. Grateful for a loyal partner these six years and hopefully many more years. Grateful for our 2 healthy children who bring us more joy than frustration. And grateful for this life we are building!