Things I've Learned...Part 2

Round two of being in a new place:

*I love speed limits in small towns! Back on the country roads I can do 50mph compared to some ridiculously low number back where we lived before.
*Beware of railroad tracks in small towns! They might not be as smooth as where you used to live (I've learned that 50mph is great till you have to s-l-o-w down for the tracks).
*When you have no friends, family is king. We've had so much time together as a family since our move. It might be the change of my husband's schedule (benefit of an hour+ home earlier) or it might be we are in the open space more? And we were lent a bike trailer, so we'll be hitting those trails SOON!!
*For us, be patient with the house. It's hard to feel like we are really settling in when every room seems to have something that needs to be done. It may be as simple as unpacking a few more boxes or extreme as ripping out all the old shelving (pantry, master bedroom closet). I need to be okay with chugging through and also chilling out.

Some days are so good here and some days are hard. Trying to work through each. Excited for family to come this weekend and friends coming next week with their kids!

Talent Show...

We recently attending an ice cream social & talent show one of the churches here was putting on. Our friends were going, so we tagged along. What we didn't know is there was HOMEMADE ice cream and hotdogs (wow, I just typed hotgods...) and strangely hilarious talent not limited to but including bagpipes! Beyond the talent, Tim kept yelling out that he wanted to participate. It went like this:

Host: So, who's up next?
Tim: Me!!!
Host: Who'd like to go next?
Tim: I want to!!

A little awkward when they've never met him and when it's quite and he yells it out. But they were very kind and encouraged us to let him join in the fun. After a little girl sang something along the lines of "God, do you hear me?" (yes, that was it) Tim was invited to come up. After an introduction to our family and Tim chatting it up with the host (our friend), he was asked what he'd like to do.

Tim: I'm going to sing 'La, la." (David Barnes song Little Lies)
Host: You're going to sing what?
Tim: La la.
Host: Go for it!
Tim (singing): La la

Then, he looks wide-eyed and realizes everyone is looking and awkwardly walks back to us. The crowd went wild with cheers and laughter. Now, typically he'll sing the whole chorus and even bust out a few verses, but this day, he was literal. La la.

So there you go. I leave you with this - la la.

Newest Bike Rider

We've laughed at how crazy it is that our three and a half year old is riding a two wheeled bike. I have to credit it to the previous balance bike, motivation of Tim's own accord, and the fact the kid is just great. :)

Things I've learned...

...from moving. Been kinda MIA here, but I'm sure part of the reason (or at least I'm blaming it on this) is that we bought a house and have moved. :) We've been in our new home! for a whole five days if you count our move in day. And here are some lessons we've learned:

*Have your water turned on before you move in. Through a series of misunderstanding, we didn't have water for the first two days living here. Thank the Lord our only friends here live just six doors down and let us shower there.
*It's nice to have "peaceful" areas. Areas where you can go when you don't want to look at boxes. We had a new bedding set, thanks mom and dad!, and it felt so nice to set that up right away.
*Putting the kitchen away was a blessing. We had been eating out so much I just felt nice to cook again (and know where everything was instead of searching through boxes).
*Sometimes I don't see anyone all day. We live in a small town on a primarily elderly resident street. This is okay for now. Not sure long term how that will be.
*After the chaos of having to say goodbye to nearly everything that is familiar is difficult. But our schedule had been so packed those last couple weeks, it actually feels nice to have no commitments.
*Tell people you are new when you go places. They can be very helpful with information about shops/places around or within driving distance.
*I don't love all the dogs who live nearby and bark seemingly all-the-time.
*It's a hard transition when you previously live close to public transit. We are a true one car family; the car is gone and you can't take a train to get it. (That's today)

Speaking of which, got to run. Time to take the boys to the park. Having parks close is going to be a lifesaver!
(Note: I did not reread this. Forgive any typos.)