In just a few hours, we will be heading to the airport to fly to Amsterdam. Not just fly there — move there. I’m so excited and nervous (and happy and sad and stressed and… all of it.)

I’ve lived my whole life in California — I’m a fourth generation Californian. And despite my Irish complexion which would totally have you believe otherwise, I am a California girl through and through. I’ve studied abroad more than once and jetted off to Europe pretty much any time I was given the chance in the past 13 years, but moving there for two whole years is a whole other thing.

I know that our move is going to be amazing and such a wonderful experience for all of us, and I love that Prim is going to be exposed to so many different people and things and cultures and countries at such a young age, but I’m sad to be leaving our life in California behind. Our families are here, our friends are here, our support systems are here. I know that we will be back in two years, which makes the farewell a little easier to swallow — because it’s just goodbye for now; and we will be back to visit, too…

But it’s still hard.

We will miss all of you, but I hope that chronicling our adventures on the blog will help me feel like you aren’t quite so far away.

The next few weeks may be a little sporadic, posting-wise, as we adjust to European time and get our new life established in Amsterdam, but I’ll do my best to keep you updated on all the fun. (Flying with a baby! Explaining jet-lag to a one year old! It’s going to be awesome, guys.)

Tot ziens! (Bye for now) Adventure awaits!