My husband and I moved to Maine a year and a half ago on a total whim after only visiting once. We had been talking about leaving New York City for a few years, but nothing serious ever came about—until we spent a weekend here in September 2016. We fell in love with Portland and ran home to start the job hunt that would allow us to make the move. By January we were driving up the coast in a U-Haul to start our new life in Portland.

I took this photo in April 2017 on my very first visit to Kennebunkport. It was one of the first warm days of the year. We were excited about the upcoming warm months because we could not stop hearing about how wonderful the summers are up here. We were meeting a photographer who wanted to do some portrait work with me. I have always been into photography, but living and working in New York City didn’t leave me with much free time to pursue this hobby. Moving to Maine has really given me the freedom to practice this passion and, of course, provided the perfect backdrop for doing so.

We shot with the photographer for about an hour or so right on these rocks. After she left we decided to stay behind and admire the ocean. We spent about an hour looking out and talking about our recent move and what the next year would bring us. I snapped this photo as we got up to leave.