Sonoma and Downsizing

So not much has occurred on our journey to get Chinese visas, but a few things have happened in our lives that are exciting! Last week we were supposed to go to a job fair in San Francisco; the purpose of the fair was to interview and hopefully land an international teaching job. Fortunately, we had already accepted and sent off our contracts, so we did not have to attend. The hassle of having to change the tickets and the loss of money it would've caused was not worth it, so we decided to head to San Fran anyway.

My cousin Steph lives in the city, and my Aunt Deb and Uncle Jay live just north in Sonoma. So they graciously offered to host us for the weekend, and so we flew out there from Austin. Paul had to stay behind with the grandparents for this trip because we had not booked him to come to the job fair with us. :( I think they had a really good time together though.

The Farm

Steph picked us up from the airport, and we drove to Sonoma, specifically to my aunt and uncle's farm there. It is the cutest farm, and they have a beautiful piece of property not too far from downtown Sonoma. She gave us a tour and we met their sweet dogs and I was so impressed with how much work they'd done on it!

Me, Steph, Deb

It was a gorgeous day and the sun was shining, so we decided to do what most people do in Sonoma. Visit Wineries! Aunt Deb and Steph had some favorites to visit, so we headed out. We visited a new winery first, which wasn't much of a hit, so we headed to another up on top of a hill. The wine was good, but the view was better. I don't think we bought anything at that winery, so then we headed to Jacuzzi, Steph's favorite winery.

Prosecco at Jacuzzi

There happened to be an olive oil festival going on at that winery, so we walked around and sampled olives, olive oil, and cheese! We decided not to do a tasting and opted to buy a bottle of Steph's favorite Prosecco, and found a place to munch on our goodies. I could not have asked for a more picturesque way to spend the afternoon. We laughed and ate lots of cheese and enjoyed our bottle. We didn't buy any wine that day, but went back before leaving for some oil and Prosecco.

Robledo Winery

We saved the best for last, and headed over to Robledo, Deb's favorite. She is basically family there, and their wine is super delicious, so we ended up having a case delivered. It will be a nice surprise when it arrives and I plan on sharing it with lots of people. The afternoon was coming to a close and we headed back to the farm for a nap before dinner, which was much appreciated. We then headed out the the very yummy Swiss Hotel for dinner. We were celebrating Deb's birthday, so it was fun to be a part of her birthday celebration. Dinner was fabulous and the company was even better, it was a super fun evening.

Steph and Deb

Awesome day

The next morning we enjoyed a delicious breakfast, and then Steph took us on an adventure to the beach. We brought their cute pup Maggie and hiked out to the beach and spent a few hours there looking at starfish and soaking in the sunshine. Maggie had a blast chasing a stick in and out of the waves. We walked back through a Zen garden and headed to lunch before another relaxing nap at the farm. Deb and Jay made a super yummy dinner at the farm, and we turned in early for the night.

Me and Steph

The next morning we headed back to the city to spend the day before our flight. Steph is an excellent city guide, and she took us around a few sights. We went to Pier 39, walked around. It was hard to believe it had been ten years since I had been there with my friends. It looked just the same! It was a clear, cold day, so we stopped in for some hot soup in breadbowls. From there we headed up to Ghirardelli Square and enjoyed some delicious chocolate treats. It was finally time to head to the airport, so she dropped us off and hopefully we will see her again in Seattle in a few weeks. I wish we had more time to spend with them, and I regret not getting out there to visit them sooner!

When we got back, our house had a For Sale sign in the front yard, and it was time to focus on getting it clean enough for someone to really want it. We showed it about half a dozen times, but wasn't until yesterday that we we were given an offer, and we accepted it! We met the family that wants it, and it's nice to know that our home will be well-loved. They also liked a bunch of our furniture, so they may buy some of it, which would be easy for all involved! We have a 7 day waiting period, and of course these things are never a done deal, so I'm hoping nothing goes wrong and that we are signing papers very soon.

Ciao Fit!

In the meantime, we've sold the Fit, so we are officially a one car family. It is hard to believe that everything is happening so fast! That was my first new car, and I will miss it, but I'm too excited for the future to look back now.

I've also received my passport in the mail! All my documents are now officially Hale, not Erhart. We are still waiting for all of the documentation to return from the passport office so that we can get started with this visa process. I am anxious to get it started!

Also, only 2 weeks until spring break! Hooray!