We're moving to California!

This may come as a surprise to you, and it was to us too! All year Nate and I have been back and forth about whether or not he was going to re-enlist to stay in the Marine Corps when his first contract finished. About halfway through the year we had pretty much decided there was a 90% chance that Nate was going to get out and we would be moving back to Colorado. 

Because of fiscal years and other USMC mumbo jumbo, Nate wasn't able to put in his re-enlistment papers until about a month ago. When he got word back, it turned out that he got EXACTLY the orders that he was hoping for, at the duty station he's wanted all along. They gave us about a week (while he's on another continent...that's fine) to decide our entire future (I know - some people have much less time but I'm still salty) and after about 600 phone calls to my mom and $200 worth of data used, Nate and I decided to go all in and he re-enlisted. We made pro con lists and changed our minds about a hundred times, but we are both so excited now that the decision is made! We figured that since we don't have kids and are planning on waiting a while longer, this was the perfect time to live a little and make a decision where we could do a little more adventuring before we settle down. 

We were really looking forward to being back in Colorado and close to our friends and family, but now we will only be a short and cheap flight away from home! Living on the mainland will make traveling home (and other places) much cheaper than it has been living here on Oahu. When Nate and I first started dating we looked at our countdown for him to get out of the USMC about 130 times per day, and we never would've seen this coming. But the truth its, the Marine Corps has continually given us opportunities that we never would've had otherwise, and we are so grateful for that. Not to mention, Nate's new orders will have him working less hours, and hopefully not going away quite as often as he does now. Hooray! 

Nate was born in California, I grew up visiting my family there, he did schooling there, and we even got engaged at the San Diego Zoo! Although my heart breaks every day thinking about leaving Hawaii, we are so excited to make more memories in The Golden State! We're looking forward to good food, good sports, good concerts, Disneyland, making new friends, meeting up with old friends, and exploring a new state together. We hope to have a ton of friends and family visit us at our new home once we are settled in early next year! Stay tuned for more details!

Cheers to four more years!