POST FALLS - When Samantha Babich looked at "the bigger picture," she realized it was time to move on.

Babich, Kootenai County Fire and Rescue's director of administration, who has served on Post Falls' Urban Renewal Agency for the past three years, is moving to Seattle this summer due to her husband, Dan, accepting a position with Amazon's global imaging team.

"This opportunity for my husband is exactly what he wants and needs right now so I'm all in - even if that means putting my career on hold for awhile," she said. "I am truly blessed to have been a part of KCFR for the last decade and feel like it is a part of my soul. I have never - and probably will never again - work with a better group of people.

"Leaving KCFR is bittersweet. On the one hand, I am leaving a family of sorts, but on the other hand I get to embrace a whole new adventure, get outside my comfort zone, do some more traveling in Europe and hopefully grow a little more as a person. It's both exciting and terrifying, but I know it's all part of a bigger plan for me."

The URA is accepting applications for Babich's replacement through June 19. An appointment will be made in July and the position will expire in December 2016.

Babich's last day at KCFR will be July 15.

Babich has been involved in several community efforts and organizations over the past 10 years, including Press Christmas for All, Post Falls Senior Center, Post Falls Food Bank, strategic planning and the Reverse Job Fair for high school students.

She said leaving the community will be difficult.

"It's safe, it's affordable and it's made up of the most giving people I have ever met in my life," Babich said. "It reminds me of the community I grew up in (Prichard, up the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River), where we all just took care of each other as if we were all family."