Beach Birthday

This past weekend we celebrated my 26th birthday, yes 26. I know that for a lot of you that seems very young but I am officially in the latter part of my twenties...weird. I often still feel as if I am in college. It was funny because we were on ODU's campus a couple weekends ago and all of the students looked like middle schoolers to me...I am starting to feel my age. So back to the celebration. We spent Saturday at the East Coast Surfing Championships. There was surfing, dirt bikes, skateboarding...it was crazy. It was amazing that just a couple weeks ago we were landlocked in Indy.

A surfer...Ryan wanted to me to say this was him!

Then after that we went home and took Jazzy on a beach walk. She loves the ocean now and can't get enough of the salt water. We have to drag her from the beach every time. Finally we wrapped up the day with an economic birthday dinner! We went to Sonic...gourmet on a budget! But you can tell Ryan and I didn't mind.

Loves Sonic...especially the ordering process so fun!

mmm...cheesy tots!

All in all it was a wonderful weekend and we are excited for the week ahead. We miss all of you and hope all of you are well. Big Hug and Lots of love from the Masons.

Mi casa es su casa

We finally got unpacked and we are enjoying exploring our new city. Ryan found out this week that he has to teach 3 class sessions this upcoming semester and is starting to feel a little overwhelmed with school. On Monday I start working for Interactive remotely and hopefully we will fall back into a routine. We miss all of you guys but are excited about our new life here in Virginia Beach. Here is a peek at our new place:

Our beach that is a 5 minute walk away.

This is the outside of our building, I think Anna would love climbing all of the trees in our complex.

The loft.

The kitchen and dining room

The living room.

Jazzy practicing her surf moves :)

Saying Goodbye

Today is the last day of work for both Ryan and I. The feelings that we each have in relation to this event are quite different. Ryan told me this morning he has been waiting for this day for two years and two months, which is just around the time that he started working for Schwab. Ryan is a lucky man because he knows exactly what he wants to do with his life and he is taking the big steps that are necessary to get him there. Schwab was just a hurdle he had to get past and now he is ready for bigger and better things.

I on the other hand will miss the geeky place that is Interactive Intelligence. Though I have not always loved the work, the people here are one of a kind. I have built some truly wonderful friendships and I will be sad when I no longer get to see their smiling faces. Right now I am sitting in my office looking out my window as three herons bathe in the pond. In this moment it is hard to imagine a more relaxed and low key working environment, but I am excited for whatever lies ahead for me professionally.

So in conclusion, Schwab and Interactive, thanks for helping us pay our bills these last three years, at least one of us is going to miss you guys.

The Beginning

In one week the adventure will begin for our small family. We will be moving 722 miles from Fishers, Indiana to Virginia Beach, VA. This number, 722, sounds like such a large distance but when I looked at the map my trepidations began to subside. Though it is still a trek it is by no means San Francisco (where Ryan's Brother, Matt, lives) or Panama City (where Ryan's cousin, Katie, will be moving).

So for the first post on my first blog I will start off with a simple message. We are moving and here is our new address: 2205 Willow Oak Circle Apt. 306, Virginia Beach, VA 23451. This may seem like a far away place but Google assures me the trips are not unbearable.

To Indianapolis: 12 hours and 43 minutes

To Warsaw, IN: 14 hours

To Spring Lake, MI: 15 hours and 7 minutes

To Phoenix, AZ: 1 day and 14 hours

To San Francisco, CA: 2 days

To Panama, Panama: Google could not calculate this distance (sorry Katie)

The west coast may require a plane ticket.