Endings

As excited as I am for new beginnings, beginnings are always coupled with endings. This was our last weekend in San Diego. Scott and I both grew up in San Diego. We’ve both lived as long as we can remember in Encinitas or the surrounding areas, and our parents’ houses are a few miles apart. And we both LOVE Encinitas. I am thoroughly convinced that it is one of the best places on the planet. It has the perfect personality, the greatest people, such interesting culture and buildings, and it is just a beautiful place. If you grew up in Encinitas, you know that you cruise the coast highway and see the waves and the surfers and Lou's Records, and you eat a Rico's burrito, and you're home. I couldn’t bear to drag myself out of San Diego for college, and Scott didn’t go far. When I joined him in LA after graduating, we were both relieved that we could still visit San Diego (100 miles from LA). We’ve gone down once or twice a month ever since I moved up to Los Angeles a year ago, to visit family and friends, and just to be in Encinitas. We love it so much, and at this point we want to eventually raise our kids there. It was such a good place to grow up.

But, today we said goodbye. We had one last great weekend in Encinitas. I got Thifty’s ice cream with my sister, which we love doing as our special sister outings. Scott and I got to hang out with great friends and play games and grill burgers at his house. He went out with the boys to consume burgers and beer. We ran errands all over Encinitas and got some time to hang out at Barnes and Noble. We drove all over San Diego taking pictures. We had dinner with my family, and I said goodbye to my sister and Dad (I'll see my Mom on Monday, so I didn’t have to say goodbye to her yet). We said goodbye to Scott’s sister and to his aunt and uncle. We said our goodbyes to the city and our houses, and we drove away. Simple as that: leaving San Diego to drive to LA, just like we’ve done so many times this year, but also completely different. We won’t be back for a long time. God willing we’ll be back at Christmas.

It was a busy weekend, which was probably a blessing. I didn’t have much free time to dwell on the sheer immensity of the changes and goodbyes that are happening. As sad as the endings are, and as much as I cried today, it is also exciting. Turning my back on Encinitas feels like setting my face toward Tennessee. We leave a week from tomorrow!


Some pictures from our drive (I didn't have time to edit them, so pretend I touched them up before posting them):