July 7

As most of you guys know, David made the decision to drop from SEAL training a few months ago. It was such a hard and scary decision for us- especially since we knew that if we left BUD/s, we had no idea where we might go next. Finally- three months later- we have our answer!

About two weeks ago, David received his orders (the official Navy paperwork telling us where and when we'll go next) on a Thursday telling us that we needed to report to Monterey, Ca (almost 8 hours north!) in four days. So David drove a UHaul towing his jeep and I drove my car with the dog up to Monterey, and after living in a Motel 6 for a few days, we finally found a place to live- a great little cottage in the historic Pacific Grove neighborhood between Monterey and Pebble Beach. We have a downtown area with farmer markets on Mondays and we've already learned that everyone knows everyone here. The houses are from the early 1900s and are mostly small cottages and Victorians, and the ocean is about a mile from our house with a rocky shore full of seaweed, seagulls and surfers. As you can guess, we love it already!

David will be going to the Defense Language Institute (called DLI) that is actually on an Army base here in Monterey, where he will be learning a language full-time for about a year. We're not sure yet which language it will be, but we are expecting it to be Arabic or Farsi, and the rumor is that Middle Eastern linguists are stationed in Augusta, Ga after DLI. (Wouldn't that be interesting?)

I've been lucky enough to score some photography work here and there to keep me busy, and I'm excited to announce a revamped website and blog (www.achorandeden.com). I'd love to book weddings or portrait shoots in Atlanta in either early November or on a weekend near Thanksgiving (dates when I will already be home) - let me know if you have any leads :) I would love to keep Achor & Eden going in Georgia, especially since it's possible we may be stationed there soon.

Thanks to all of you guys for your amazing support. I'm attaching some photos of our new house and new neighborhood - we'd love to have you out to visit anytime!