One year

It's hard to believe, but one year ago today, we arrived in the 'burgh to stay!
In some ways, it feels like it was another lifetime when we were living at the beach! Certainly a lot has transpired over this past year and it has been a very full and blessed year. We are so thankful for how God has directed our path each step of the way!

the blessings................

• arrived without (kelly) having seen the house we were moving in to. Praise God, though not without some inconveniences, it has been a wonderful home for us!
• arrived without any jobs. Within a month, God had provided a job for Andrew.
• Small problem - he hated it. :) Again, God was gracious and provided a new job within a few months!
• A few months into that job, he received a promotion which allowed him a huge increase in the flexibility of his hours. Something we have not had the privilege of before, and how thankful we are for that!
• we love living in the heart of the city. We love being able to walk to our bank, eye dr., dentist, other dr's, cvs, rite aid, restaurants, friends' houses, parks, starbucks......
• coming in at some of the beginning stages of Redeemer Community Church has been such a learning experience. We are thankful for what God is teaching us through this phase.
• we have found the city to be SO kid-friendly. Since starting our mom's group, we seemingly have a never-ending list of activities which come across our path. From symphony concerts to movies in the park to spray parks to stroller walks to the Children's museum, Science center, Zoo....Graham is one lucky boy!
• we left behind so many wonderful friendships, and while those cannot be replaced, we are thankful for the new friends & neighbors that God has brought across our path.

The not.so.lovely.................

• everyone here smokes. ok, probably not everyone, but sometimes it seems that way! I hate walking down the street and having multiple people blowing their smoke right at stroller level. grrrrr.
• the weather. not so in love with the weather here, seems we go from extreme hot to extreme cold to 20 inches of snow in 2 days to 7 straight weekends of rain in the spring.....yes, it's been crazy.

But, as you can see, the good list is far longer than the not so good list and we rejoice in God's goodness.

not an uncommmon sight in our neighborhood of older Italians!

Graham was just 5 months old when we arrived!

 It was an interesting 6 weeks without a stove, and we were thankful to have it!

our team might not be great, but baseball games are still fun!

at the pumpkin patch with our Redeemer clan!

my very dear friend who has since moved back to Turkey. SNOW!

the momtourage is growing.......

enjoying the spray park!

After almost a year of living in white walls and interesting borders, we were very thankful to get the go-ahead to make a few changes! A $5 can of "oops paint" goes a long way!

our big 17-month year old boy!

looking forward to what God has for us in year #2!