Happy Monday! Rob and I landed in Roanoke late on Friday night and have had the best weekend seeing friends and family as so many people came in from out of town for my baby shower on Saturday. Rob and all the guys went to a brewery for the afternoon and I spent the day with my college roommates, some friends from high school, Charlotte friends, in-laws, and friends of my mom--it was so fun having so many different groups all together and totally reminded me of our wedding weekend.

I had so much fun and was so busy hanging out with everyone that I didn't pick up my camera once--luckily I remembered to snap a few photos with my phone before people started leaving.

On Sunday we all met at the Hotel Roanoke for a nice brunch before people started hitting the road. I've never been so tired but so incredibly happy--it meant the world to me to have so many people show up and show us so much love as we get ready to bring this little girl into the world.

Today Rob and I are swinging through Charlottesville on our way to Richmond for a few days. We'll spend most of the week there and then be in Virginia Beach for the weekend to celebrate his cousin's wedding! I'm so glad we were able to take this time away and really get some time to see our friends and family in Virginia. I miss Ender so much but am having such a relaxing time catching up with people. When we get back to California it'll be time to pack up, move to the new place, and get settled, so this little vacation came at the perfect time.

I hope you're all having a great start to your week! I may not post a lot on the blog while I'm away so make sure to catch up on Instagram and/or Snapchat (flynnmd)! 

Rob and I just signed the lease on a new-to-us house that we're really excited about. There was another one that we thought we were getting and it was newly renovated and gorgeous and the kitchen was like something out of a dream (or a Pinterest board). When it ended up not working out I cried in the car (luckily we were on the way to Whole Foods in search of "a slice of cake"...my cravings lately have not been super specific). But then this other one presented itself and the kitchen isn't nearly as Instagram-worthy but it's cozy and big and has fruit trees in the backyard, which is fenced in and just perfect for Ender to run around. It also happens to be cheaper than the place we're in now and I can already picture our little family there this winter. I'm so excited about having visitors come stay with us after the baby arrives. We leave for a long trip to Virginia on Friday and when we come back we'll start moving in and getting settled!

Yesterday I had a mile-long to-do list and the car wouldn't start. I ended up Ubering around a few places to at least get a few things done that were time-sensitive, but it was so frustrating. Doesn't it always seem like things only go wrong when you really need them to go right? Luckily it was just a dead battery and I got a jump, but I went to bed last night crossing my fingers that we don't need to replace the battery before Friday because today and tomorrow are busy as well.

I can't believe August is almost over. This summer (the whole year, really) has just flown by--wasn't it just February the other day?

I've been thinking a lot about my college days this week as students have returned to campus, some for the very first time. I remember the uncertainty, the fear and excitement, the not-so-great dining hall food and cheap beer at questionable frat houses. I had such an amazing college experience and feel so lucky to have made truly wonderful friendships there. I get to see my roommates this weekend at my baby shower and it kind of feels like it's all coming full circle in a way I just wasn't expecting it to. I actually think Rob and I are going to stop in Farmville on our way to Richmond next week and walk around our respective campuses, even if just to take a minute to acknowledge the magical place where our story began.

A year ago I stood at the table in my Charlotte kitchen on a 100 degree day, folding laundry and packing jeans and scarves into a suitcase to go to San Francisco for a week.

Rob had been traveling back and forth for almost two months, and his company was flying me out to meet him in California and spend a week house hunting. We had just moved into this three bedroom, two bathroom rental with a huge open kitchen and a backyard and I was selfishly feeling heartbroken about leaving it so soon--the house for which we signed a two-year lease because we pictured ourselves staying in Charlotte forever, in a city big enough to be exciting but small enough to run into people you know at the coffee shop, close to family, full of great friends and, in a few years, a couple little kids running barefoot across the hardwood floors and into the yard with the dog. I pictured our little family walking to get tacos on a Tuesday night or hopping onto the light rail with a stroller for brunch at 7th Street Public Market on a Saturday morning.

But we were lucky enough to be presented with Rob's dream job, one that could change our lives in so many ways even though we knew it would require us to move to California, so I dropped Ender off at the pet sitter and zipped up my bag and headed to the airport. I left the muggy and buggy familiarity of summer in the South for the chilly, almost wet breeze of the Bay Area in August, and I breathed it in as Rob pulled up in the rental car, gave me a kiss, tossed my bags into the trunk, and took me to In-N-Out for a burger and fries.

We spent a couple of days in the South Bay looking at apartments and townhouses, eventually finding the place we currently call home. We walked down Castro Street in Downtown Mountain View and ate Thai food on a sidewalk patio, had coffee at Red Rock and walked across the street for huge omelets at Crepevine, trying to picture our lives in this new neighborhood. The weather was great and I was up early every morning from jet lag, and even through my anxiety of leaving everything I know, I could see it.

I miss the East Coast every day but that doesn't mean we aren't happy here. It's taken time and it's still a work in progress but we've pieced together a life for ourselves on the West Coast.

A few days later we ventured north to San Francisco and spent the rest of the week living out of a tiny hotel room in Union Square--Rob and I would walk to the Blue Bottle in SoMa for coffee before he hopped on a shuttle to his office every morning, and I'd grab breakfast to go somewhere and bring it back to the hotel where I'd get back in bed with avocado toast, a half-drunk cappuccino, and my laptop. My first cookbook was being released that week and there was something about being out of town for it that really made me feel like an author. I'd do some work, take a shower, and wander back out into the city to find some lunch, Purity Ring blasting into my earbuds as I walked down the sidewalk.

One afternoon I ran out of things to do so I called an Uber and rode to Baker Beach by myself. The driver dropped me off by the path to the shore and I took my shoes off, digging my feet into the cold sand with every step as I made my way down to the freezing water. The waves crashed roughly and soaked the bottom of my jeans but I just stood there, thinking about my hot and humid home in Charlotte with a jacket buttoned all the way up and a scarf wrapped tightly around my neck, the wind whipping my hair into a frenzy as I took in the Golden Gate Bridge ahead of me in all its majesty. 

It wasn't home--it wasn't even familiar. But it was exciting. 

Next weekend Rob and I will leave our sweaters behind as we head to the East Coast for 11 muggy days to see our family and friends at my baby shower and then his cousin's wedding the following weekend. In twelve months I've made new friends and missed my old ones more than I thought was possible, trained to be a fitness instructor (something I didn't know I had in me), gotten to know a new region of the country, written another book, created and began growing a human person, fallen even more in love with my sweet husband (seriously Rob I love you more every day), and have started looking--once again--for another place to live (I think I miss having a backyard more than Ender does).

The time has simultaneously flown and crept by. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again--it's amazing what can happen in a year.