Dear Seattle…Yours Truly, The Guenthers

Dear Seattle,

It took us a little while to fall in love with you and now that we have, we’re leaving. 

Love, Mike & Jessi Guenther

4 years ago we made the decision to move from 33 years of Wisconsin familiarity to a place we’d never even visited.  It was, at the time, the biggest leap of faith we’d ever taken.  In August 2008 we took our final flight from Milwaukee to Seattle after heartfelt goodbyes to family and friends and the first 12 months was the whirlwind we expected it to be with some unexpected events (3 different houses!) to make it more interesting, i.e. stressful.  We had a hard time meeting people that year; at least meeting people we felt connected to.  I often wanted to “just go home”. We were together in our resolve, thank God, or we never would have stayed.

Fast (really fast)-forward almost 4 years and we are saying some heartfelt goodbyes once again to friends and “family” who filled the holes that were created when we moved; who filled holes we didn’t even know we had.  To our amazing friends the Johnsons who are kindred spirits in every sense; like-minds and a loving relationship with the added bonus of 2 amazing kids who, like their parents, wrote the book on what it means to be a true friend. We had the pleasure of spending our last few days with them and I couldn’t think of a more perfect way to close out our time in the neighborhood.

Happy Birthday, Angie!

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We said goodbye to the Pinskis and Herreras who have the shared belief that most adventures are better with friends.  To the Betos, Nichols, Shumakers and Reeds whose 3, then 4, then 5 year-old boys taught Greyson the power of friendship, sharing, Star Wars and Superheroes.   The Loves (is there a better name for our retired neighbors?) introduced our boys to their backyard in the summer and movie nights in the winter; Easter Egg hunts and bubbles bigger than balloons, homemade applesauce, salsa from their garden vegetables and whoopie pies. 

We will also miss:

Pike Place Market.  What more can we say?  It will not be possible to get better fish where we’re going. It’s a big deal.

Mt. Rainier. Majestic. Breathtaking. Unparalleled. (Honorable mention goes to the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges)

Lake Washington. Our family had so much fun on this lake last summer. The River Thames won’t provide the same level of entertainment but there will be scenery worth photographing.

Downhill skiing. We’ll have to go to France and although it’s not difficult to get to France, a season pass and weekly visits will not be possible. We hope to make it once or twice a year.

Shopping. From groceries to clothes and shoes, shopping here is easy, the selection is great and believe it or not, MUCH cheaper than what we’re about to pay (and Seattle ‘aint cheap).

Appliances. We are going smaller, we are cooking in Celsius and our oven, range and refrigerator will require manuals that will be consulted on a daily basis until we have them memorized. The washer/dryer is small and inefficient and sits in the garage.

Our Church. We found a family at Eastlake and it will be very difficult to replace (especially in a secular England).

What we will gain is yet to be named but we know for sure that we will gain because our first adventure gave us the confidence to know that we can do it again.  We’re looking forward to making a new list.  But we will miss our friends…

So long, Seattle

PS. We sent change of address cards this week but if yours doesn’t make it, our new contact info is below ~

47 St. David’s Drive

Wentworth Gate

Englefield Green, Surrey TW20 0BA

Mike’s new cell: +44 (0) 7798 671643

Jessi’s new cell:  +44 (0) 7798 657463