The hardest thing about moving around

Six months in as fresh newlyweds, Ted and I made our first of several moves together. I found it exciting, adventurous, and great to be able to grow as just us in new locations. One of the first things we look for in a new place is a good church. While we were dating, we left my church of six years, went over to a church plant, and then before leaving New Orleans went to my brother's church for a few months. We hadn't had a solid community to be apart of our entire relationship. In hindsight, I wouldn't have put ourselves back in this kind of situation. It would have been more beneficial to have a solid church community throughout our dating and newlywed season. Nevertheless, we hopped around and really had hopes of finding a good 'nitch when we moved.

After our short stint in Virginia, where we never found a steady church that we felt like we could attend and grow, we moved to Philadelphia. We ended up in a church for 3 1/2 of our 4 years living there. Although it wasn't ideal in style, we found a great community. We have been now attending the same church in St. Thomas for just about a year. It still isn't our style and we are slowly finding community.

One of the hardest thing about moving around is not having a steady community to be apart of and grow with throughout life. We crave good worship, meaty preaching, and Spirit led services. Thinking about our next move in summer 2016, we have this as top priority for our list of places where we would like to go. We want a good church. Not a perfect church, because those don't exist. We'd love to be apart of a community that loves the word of God, has a great children's program, and a place to get our hands dirty.

Iron sharpens iron, type of place.

Refresh and renew, type of place.

I truly believe that God has met us in every move whether it is our ideal situation or not. Our prayers are for Him to lead us to another city where we can really love our church. A place where we can grow and our children can learn and have fun.

Farewell

I only have a few photos to share from the amazing day we were able to share with friends. The Robinson's hosted a farewell open house in our honor. It was a perfectly sweet day to spend with everyone just before moving. The food was a-m-azing. Thanks to everyone who made and brought food to share. Ted and I didn't plan to say anything but felt like we should. Unscripted. Ted went first then I shared. I got halfway through and started crying. My life has been touched by each person that we was in attendance in such a special way. But, here is what I would like to say now. If I mentioned every. single. person. I'd end up with a book. I am grateful for each person we have met and shared our lives with. Here is just a few thoughts.

Upon hearing our news of our relocation to Philadelphia, I was not extremely happy. Moving to Philadelphia has been great and I am so thankful. What has made it so great is having such a great community to be apart of as well as friends we've met along the way.

I remember at our first Resolved meeting (the young adults group at our church), I pointed Jared out to Ted. Jared had gone to the open mic and said exactly my thoughts. I nudged Ted and said 'we are going to be friends with him'. And, we were. Our friendship with Jared was so great and refreshing. He spent many of nights with just me and Ted wandering the city and happening upon Jewish parades. We then moved down the street from Jared in Fishtown and were neighbors for the last two years in Philadelphia.

Timing worked in our favor and a childhood friend of mine moved back from Los Angeles to New Jersey our first year in Philadelphia. Lauren helped me survive lost friendships and relocating to Philadelphia. She would arrive on the train and spend several days with me finding new restaurants and debating current events. We spent many birthdays together and laughed about everything under the sun. Lauren also introduced me to Ellen. Ellen has been such a good and extremely fun friend to have. I am so thankful for all the memories we share. Our trip to New Orleans together, hipster dance clubs, theological debates at bars, afternoons at the park, and so much more. I am so proud of her in her recent business ventures with The Green Lace Lion. Ellen's family also warmed our hearts with open invites to their farm for horse rides and even holidays. We spent one of our most memorable Thanksgivings with them. We are forever thankful for the friendship we share with the Sortore family.

My *mom friends* really have been so encouraging for me and Wells. We spent most Tuesdays mornings figuring out this whole new world of motherhood. We would laugh together. We all grew our bellies out and brought a little tribe into the world. I remember whispering to Amy in church "I'm pregnant" and a few minutes later with Matt's approval from overseas she replied "me too". Jenna introduced me and Amy and from the start we were instant friends. I am so thankful for all she has done for me. She threw me a beautiful baby shower when I was pregnant and we were able to hire her for maternity and newborn photos.

I would have never survived my devastating C-section without Bekah and Jenna. We all held hands throughout failed natural birth plans and c-section recoveries . I am not happy that we all went through c-sections, but I am very thankful that God put Bekah and Jenna to walk with me. I vividly remember gushing my story out over lunch with Jenna and Steven. Jenna knew exactly what I went through and cried with me. I remember Bekah texting me as she found out she was going in for a C-section and I cried my eyes out. I knew what she was going through. Recovering was tricky and I couldn't have done it without you two.

The last two years in Philadelphia, we were in Bekah and Connor's community group. I've said it on the blog before but this is the transition that really helped us. Connor is one of the nicest people ever and a such great group leader. Our time in their group was wonderful and we are so thankful for it. There wasn't anything magical to the group just they place where we needed to be.

We met Matt on the lawn in front of church our first year attending and slowly developed a lastly friendship. He even stuck it out after Ted dripped sweat onto Matt while he was helping us move our of the center city loft. Matt introduced us to Erin, Luke, and Zoey. The best group of friends we could ask for. We instantly bonded on similar interests. For the last few years, it has been the best thing to have great friends to laugh with and cook for. Then, both set's of parents adopted us in as there own. The Robinson's were our first babysitter's for Wells. The Trowbridge's always showering their love on Wells and watched him so we could go to a brewery down their street. Both families welcomed our family, even on holidays, and we are truly grateful for God putting them in our lives.

You would think I'd be scared of moving because our lives were so full in Philly. Leaving what is good, real good. BUT, what I know to be true because of our experience in Philadelphia is that God is faithful. He showed us this time and time again in the last four years. I know He will meet us again. He will teach us again. He will be faithful again. This is where I find hope and peace.

It is hard to believe we are not returning to Philadelphia at this time. That we are on our way to creating a whole new life here in St. Thomas. I've come to learn not to take what is good for granted and to appreciate the people that make our lives so rich. From Jersey or not, we love you all.

3 Things I've Learned About St. Thomas

Gearing up for our move this summer, I've been researching and finding out all I can to prepare for our move. I've been thinking of items we can buy to ship with our household goods at the end of April. Buying fun items for Wells like little bathing suits, sun protecter shirts, and a tracker hat. I'm sorting through our home and decided what will stay in long term storage stateside and what we will ship down to St. Thomas. I've also been purging which is what I love about moving. I also get rid of a little more junk and reevaluate items. I've been thinking about what exactly to pack in our luggage for the time we will be without a home (May through at the longest August). Through all this prep, I've learned a few things about moving and living on the STT which is locally known as the Rock.

Driving on the left hand side of the road. Our main vehicle will be shipped to us when we move and we will be selling our second car here in Philadelphia. I hear the roads are rough on the island. I'm expecting potholes worse than New Orleans which is bad. I'm sure the change of driving on the opposite side of the road will take some getting use to. I hear it's common to get bumped while driving. Islanders make sudden stops and honking is a great friendly way to communicate like telling someone hi or just a good morning toot. A honk shouldn't be used to alert the driver your upset over his sudden stop. I'll let you know what I find to be true once we are down there. We are so happy to have four wheel drive as I've learned roads can be steep. 

Fighting against mosquito's. I am more worried about protecting Wells from mosquito's and island pest. I'm been researching the best organic bug repellants, essential oils, or anything that actually works and is safe/baby friendly. I've bought netting to hang over his bed. I plan to plant rosemary, basil, and mint which I've read helps. 

Island shopping. I actually feel as if I haven't gone shopping since before I was pregnant. I've been craving a really good shopping trip. Forget that I'm still breastfeeding and I can barely squeeze into shirts, it has been fun. I'm about to blow right through my clothing budget, whoops. The island won't have Target, Gap, and definitely not shops we are use to. St. Thomas is known for its shopping though. The best in the Caribbean is what I've read. But, let's talk groceries. Basically, what I've learned is everything is at least double the price. One gallon of milk could be $10, a wilting head of lettuce $8, etc. I'll definitely have to adjust to seeing such high prices.

Weeks away

Besides being sick, I've had several things to tie up my days this week. We have so much paperwork in preparation for our move. Doctors and dentists appointments for our approval to move. I've also reworked our entire filing system, getting everything up to date and insanely organized.

7 weeks.
In seven weeks, my house will be packed by movers. This is our first time getting movers to do everything. It's somewhat relieving. Time seems so short from now to then. I've been trying to find the best prices and best products that we will send down with our household goods like beach accessories and mosquito netting. I have a huge list and been trying to find coupon deals and I'm not a couponer.

13 weeks.
Only thirteen weeks until our flight to St. Thomas. This is exciting but also carries a lot of unknowns. Unknowns like when will our car arrive by boat, should we buy an island car, finding housing, adjusting to the island, and adjusting to driving the the left side of the road. The exciting apart is soaking it all in, the beautiful views, a dip in the pool or ocean, days in a hotel, and getting started with our island life.

I've become a member of a few island groups on facebook including one for mothers with toddlers which has eased a lot of my anxiety about Wells. It seems like we will have many activities to check out from mommy meet up groups, baby wearing hangouts, music classes, tot lots (playgrounds), and of course ocean time.

Originally Ted and I planned to spend our fifth honeymoon in Texas visiting Austin for our first time together and track back to our honeymoon spot in San Antonio. Since we are moving to St. Thomas, we decided we will celebrate there. I can't believe this summer we will celebrate five years of marriage and our Wells' first birthday. I'm pretty excited about this.

I have a good feeling.

A few weeks ago, as I was anxiously awaiting our orders, I asked Ted if some of the locations were still an option. St. Thomas was included in my question. He really thought it wasn't likely. I went on researching the other 20 or so locations that were possibilities. (You can read about all our location possibilities here.) Last thursday came as a big surprise. One because I had just settled into the waiting game. I was talking with a friend the night before and said it's probably going to be another month or maybe we aren't even moving. And I was content with it.

Thursday morning, I responded to a few emails and sipped on coffee. Wells slept in. Ted called and told me to pull up my email which only meant one thing. Our orders! Ted was nervous and so was I. With one click our next few years lies. Where would it be? He clicked, I clicked. I was the first to shout out 'ST THOMAS'. We both kind of sat stunned. Surreal. Our immediate reactions were happy yet very surprised. 

The next few hours I was so shocked. I called all my family members and close friends retelling them our news. Everyone was so encouraging and excited for us. I was still really shocked and was thinking about how different life will be for us to live on an island. A really expensive island. My questions were in this order. 

1. Will my milk be available to buy? (I drink Lactaid because I'm allergic to dairy.)
2. Can I have a baby there? Midwife? Home birth?

3. Can we still get Amazon prime?

4. Will I have cell phone service?

5. Will Wells have friends?

6. Do they speak english? 

Over the course of the day, the idea settled in. Now even a few days later, the move seems surreal. My questions have been answered and I'm searching for more answers to all my new questions. I'm really, really excited. I think it will be different for us. A good different. A sunshine, salty water, hiking, outdoors different. I can't wait. Now we have a few months to work out all the details of the move, make trips home (LA/TX), fill our wardrobes with summer clothes, buy sunscreen in bulk, and say our goodbyes. All the looming details have me making a ton of lists which I do best. 

Goodbye is going to be so hard. On the other hand, hello to St. Thomas will be so exciting. 

We are moving!

SUMMER 2014 from Tamara Ohman on Vimeo.

One email started the next chapter of our lives. Our orders came in.
I can't wait to share more of my thoughts about our next location soon.

5 Things I've Learned About Moving Away From Home

Yes, we are still waiting to find out where we will be moving this summer. Meanwhile, I have had time to reflect over the last four years. I thought I would post a few things I've learned from moving away from home. Home is vague term we usually refer to New Orleans as. Many people say 'home is wherever you are' but I'd say 'home is wherever you are committed and laying roots'. We may only plant for a few years, as a military couple, but we've learned that friendships are worth fighting for, life goes on without you and that it is normal, commitment counts, how to get out of vacation mode, and do not hesitate to jump right in.

Friendships are worth fighting for.
It is very hard to stay in touch with people without being intentional. Social media kills the need to call or text a person because it leads you to feel connected through status updates and pictures. Social media is only the surface and can really be misleading. I struggle and have bad days in the midst of all really good and cheery days, but I don't usually post about them. Sometimes I do, but no one likes a social media Debbie downer. I typically try to focus my attention to the positive. That is part of why I stopped blogging in 2012/2013.

I've challenged myself to stay in touch through personal ways. I'm still kind of terrible at it but it is something I would like to continue to fight for. It's important to show people you care. I've sent cards in the mail, text messages, and called on occasion. I make it a point to call close friends for big things like 'I'm pregnant!'.The best is to pick up where you left off when you do see one another. It's the beauty of a good friendship. It's tough moving away from friends, but God has given me grace.

Life goes on without you and that is normal.
You left a community that will continue to grow and thrive without you. It always is crazy to see how everything has changed when we are visiting home (New Orleans). New stores, new restaurants, new people. Your church grows. Your friends make new friends. Your friends move. AND it is all normal. I think change and growth should be celebrated! Although it can be hard if your not connecting and creating a new normal in your new location. That's where...

Commitment counts.
When Ted & I moved to Philadelphia, we set out to make a commitment to a church community for the four years we were here. We didn't want to skip around from different churches. We wanted to commit regardless if we saw flaws, because flaws are everywhere. The first two and half years were good but not great. We battled with our decision and thought about switching a few times especially when I was working in a restaurant that I worked Wednesday nights and Sundays. (During that period, Ted continued to go faithfully to our church and on Monday nights we went to a young adults group at another church. I needed to get my fill from somewhere.) I truly believe God honored our commitment and in the last year really blessed us with deeper friendships and stronger faith.

We switched community groups a little over a year ago and it made the world of difference. Our former group was fine, but we never really connected. In our new group, we immediately started to blossom and its has been a major difference. I'm most grateful for God leading us here. I'm thankful we made this commitment to the Lord and ourselves. Stick it out.

Getting out of vacation mode.
I really struggled with this our first year or two living in Philadelphia.  I can see the slippery slope of dealing with this continually because of our frequent moves while Ted's in the military. Early on, it felt like we are on an extended vacation and at some point we would return home. This attitude can be toxic for your ability to put down roots and not develop a healthy new home. I beat vacation mode with accountability partners, getting involved in our church, and daily routines.

Do not hesitate to jump right in.
Get to know your area and don't be a hermit. This plays right along with creating a new normal. We visited a few churches before committing to ours. Going into a new place without getting offended if people do not greet you first. Instead, be proactive. Be friendly. Stay when it's awkward (ten minutes after or before event/service). When you visit a church take the initiative to approach people and introduce yourself. I promise it isn't as awkward as it may seem. This is something I did when we first moved here. I introduced myself to one girl, who in return invited us to the small group where we visited the next week (and stayed for two years). I do agree, people in church should be approaching new people, but reality is, people are busy and services don't always revolve around you.

This also is something you can do outside of church. Join a playgroup. Volunteer somewhere. Take a class. Go to the park. Pick a restaurant or coffee shop to frequent. Adopt the location as your new home.

Notes: Speaking of home, if in my dreams my home would ever been worthy, enough for someone to photograph, let alone publish, and I had to answer the design question: what do you love about home? I'd say 'What I love about my home is that it's full of personality'.

The time has come

This month is a turning point in our life as we patiently anxiously want for Ted's orders to reveal our next location. While we wait for our orders to pop up in Ted's work email, I feel as if we are living on the edge of a good book. One that is so good that you can not wait to finish but you also don't want it to end because it is so good. I am so thankful for our life in Philadelphia and don't want it to end. On the other hand, I can't wait to see where life takes us next. Soon we will know.

The good thing is there is another book ahead and I trust it will be just as good.

The light at the end of the tunnel

Reality set in on Monday night when I counted out the months we have left in Philadelphia. A tight knot formed in my stomach with little butterflies surrounding. I'm equally excited and nervous like going on a blind date, although I've never actually been on a blind date. I'm actually glad it's not up to me to figure out where we go next because I'm so fickle. I have a major list of pro's and con's on each potential location. Like it's too far away from family or too close to family.

We worked on our submitted list last night of which included a wide range of locations. Here they are ( I think I remember each one): Honolulu, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Portland, New Orleans, Jacksonville (FL), Nashville, Anchorage, Savannah, Charleston, Miami, Houston, Astoria (OR), San Francisco, St. Thomas, St. Croix, and Tampa. I think that concludes the list. We ranked each location 1-55 (each location has a number of jobs listed. So we applied for every job in the cities we could handle getting placed in. More than anything the lack of control makes me want to puke.

If you've been reading my blog for awhile -which basically no one has except for 2-3 random mysterious blog readers- than you would remember when we were waiting to find out where we were being stationed while we lived in Virginia. Post 1. Post 2. Finally, Post 3.  It was a bit different last time as Ted was in school and ranked by number in his class by which he would wait his turn to be able to pick a location off the list. The guy right ahead of Ted in line - whom we forever will dislike - stole our number one pick, Seattle. Seriously I sold him on Seattle sadly by talking of its perks (he always mentioned he wanted east coast only so I thought I was safe gushing over Seattle). I wasn't too happy about Philadelphia but once we unpacked I really have loved it. This gives me hope.

I trust that we will be where we need to be. I hope that it's kid friendly and we find a good community slash church. I pray God helps me cope if it's not exactly what I had in mind. So as we wait until January for our next location announcement and on into the next several months until we actually move, I hope to enjoy our life here. "Wherever you are be all there" quoted by Jim Elliot via pinterest. I love this quote. It speaks a million things to me especially in the season I'm in right now as a new mom and military spouse.

What I'm most thankful for is the past few years of the relationships we have built. It was rocky in the beginning. I think I cried for 1 1/2 years over friendships that seemed to have dissolved from back home. I learned so much in trusting in God in the first two years of marriage as we moved away and settled in. So much was revealed about my heart. I was stretched and as a result I grew. Most importantly this last ten months have been redemption. I speak for both of us (Ted and I) when I say we hit the sweet spot of our life in Philadelphia. We had that 'we are right were we are suppose to be' moment and it has just grown with time.

The bumps in the road are normal and we fully except there to be more over the years. It's life and we embrace it. Grace finds us each time. God is faithful, always. I truly believe that. That is what keeps my heart at ease.

The New

it's been almost an entire month since we moved into our new place. the first few weeks were silky, but now i'm in a definite runt. i have lost ideas of where to unpack stuff. it's not because we dont' have the space because we have plenty of that. rooms without closets is my dilemma.

we have ONE. a large one. it's full with all of our hanging clothes & winter coats. about 10% of my shoes fit and a few odds and ends. ted's putting shelvings on the third floor nook which we are calling closet number 2.

i feel pretty adventurous every time i open our trap door which leads to our basement. thursday's are quickly becoming my favorite shopping day as the farmers market a few blocks away at a local garden center.

after living in center city (where our friends were only home less people), it's nice to have friendly neighbors. the washington square crowd didn't talk with anyone. snnooOOt--tAy!

i wish i could get this house in order so i could start vamping our little backyard. can't wait to have a little party out back.

all in time

last week. canoe trip celebrating  3 years of marriage. moving.

my arms didn't see what they had comin' this past week. 

feels like i bench pressed 500 lbs. 

but, we are moved in. even though boxes have flooded level 1, 2, & 3. 

overwhelmed. tired.

lots of work to be done. 

can't wait to share pictures of our trip to Saugerties, New York.  

first have to find my sim card reader.

a gave a few peeks at our trip & move on instagram (come & see: tohman)

attached

there is one thing about that has hardly changed - ever. i'm use to moving. growing up we moved a l o t & we weren't even a military family. my parents get that bug to take another adventure. you would think i'd be a pro at detaching from things easily. wrong! one thing i always get attached to is the home(s) i live in.

ted and i drove up from virginia one saturday in march '10 to search  for a place to live. we knew very little about philadelphia but ended up finding a perfect loft. we headed back to new orleans shortly after & loaded our life in a penske truck heading to philly.

lots of sun. ceiling reaching 18 ft. huge brick arch in our kitchen leading to the dining area. steel appliances & doors. a two person (double) shower. a doorman. limited closets but pretty good storage area.

it's all fading fast as we are breaking everything down to move. the last 2+ years have gone quick. we have another 2 years left in philadelphia which will probably go faster than we expect. new home. new neighborhood. new adventure. same city.

i'm going to miss this sunny loft & all the memories made here like when ted & i didn't know one single person in the city. we would play board games all day long or have OC marathons. a quick walk to the park to stretch our legs with a packed dinner & frisbee to toss. (in some ways, i can't wait to move & find ourselves in this exact situation again... it was some of my favorite memories)

2 weeks

happy monday! i'm pretty much back to myself except the occasional cough.
look at all of these pictures of grrreeeeeeeeennnnnnn.
*click for links* 1, 2, 3, 4
seriously, i'm in love with all things green & potted.
we have two weeks until our move.
t w o  w e e k s  t o  p a c k  u p .
time for me to get serious & get everything ready.
before moving day we are still going away for our 'honeymoon'.
my plan is to have everything done before we go.
so really i have way less than two weeks.
off to box hunt.

heating up

i've spent way to much time watching television & laying around in the last couple days. ted spent monday & tuesday just the same. by wednesday i switched places except my cold (if thats what we are calling it) isn't leaving after two days.

i just can't wait to breath again without my throat tightening up like a fist. 

after months of searching, we found a new home. we are excited. i'm less excited about the packing. more excited about the bigger space. i'm also ready to celebrate three years this month of rooming & loving my best friend. for some reason i always call it our honeymoon instead of anniversary. i decided the other day that i can keep calling it the honeymoon instead of always correcting myself. it's sounds sweeter & fresh referring to it as the honeymoon.

Ohman's on the Move

i've been a renter for far too long. ted & i are making huge strides to saving to buy a house the next place we move (when we leave Philly). i couldn't be more happy about it. although the saving part does come at a tight budget, the reward will be well worth the effort. the option to do as you please speaks a thousand words to my soul. of course the huge debt is a pain but the freedom to love the place you live within reach.

we've been on an endless search for the right rental. we've lived smack dab in the middle of the city for two years in a bright, new loft building. our unit is full of light, gorgeous kitchen, sweet double shower & arched brick wall in our dining room.. but we need more space. so we are looking to expand. everything we find that is within the list is a little further out of the city than we'd like.

so, i've been listing and re-listing our wants & needs. what can we compromise on & at what cost. we looked at one of the best places yesterday.. the downfall is, it's not within walking distance to anything.

i've just grown used to walking everywhere & its my safety zone. walk to the grocery that is a few blocks. three coffee shops a few blocks away (in new orleans where i lived for 10 years, we say 'we are going to the grocery' grocery story... some even say i'm going to 'make groceries). a park, a few blocks away. shopping, close by. post office. convenience store. doctors office. shopping. bowling. all the public transportation you'd ever need. pretty much you think of something and i can point to it out of my window.

so my question to myself, do i want to trade in convenience for 3+ bedrooms or stay within walking distance for a city sized place.

i find MadeByGirl's rental series interesting.

moving stronger

one thing i enjoy about ted's job is the endless possibilities it brings to our family. with two years down in philadelphia.. we have roughly two years left here till we pack up and move again. we talk about all our dreamy places that may be where we land. mainly anything west coast. san diego, santa barbara, seattle, hawaii, even alaska. our number one choice before moving to philadelphia was seattle and we were bummed we didn't get it.

ends up philadelphia had some tricks up its sleeve (read 100 things I love about Philly here). and we obliged and feel in love. this being the 'real' first move together as a couple (well virginia but i don't like to count it). we learned several lessons about moving across country the first time around. and i'm actually excited about doing it all over again. and again. and probably again.

moving is part of my nature, i suppose. it's an adventure worth the agony of boxing up everything and unpacking over and over again. how about closing ties with friends and starting fresh ones. it's tough but i think it makes you stronger. a layer of thick skin always helps and a pretty smile to greet new places.

Lately

Lately looks like...

...late nights studying.

...meals at home with Ted.

...phone calls with friends.

...studying.

...movies with tedley & with friends.

...scarves & hot tea.

...horse riding with Ellen.

...rainboots.

...typing papers.

...studying.

...packing away summer clothes.

...cleaning and decluttering our house.

...art museum browsing.

...apartment searching in Queens Village.

...STUDYING.

...Christmas card making.

...back rubs from Ted.

...shopping trips with Janet.

...did I mention studying?!

Halloween Fail

Here we go passing Halloween by again for the second time! No costumes, no candy, nada-nothing. Let me interject here, we did have a party around a bon fire last friday night. We've picked pumpkins at a farm, carved them, and toasted their seeds the weekend before last. But, no halloween party! I blame myself. I should have thrown a party. But, I'm in the middle of midterms, projects, scoring a internship, etc. I'm pooped. So, we let it go.

This is a HUGE thing I miss about New Orleans and the HARDEST thing about moving away. Not having those friends where you have parties (even if they are last minute) on holiday's, birthdays, and any given friday night. Or a girl friend to go shopping with. Seriously, just went shopping with a friend two weeks ago and I realized just how much I miss a girls shopping trip. I do love shopping with Ted but sometimes you just need a girls day of shopping. It's totally different. With that said, I'd like to announce I'm homesick. It doesn't happen often but it does happen. Come on Philadelphia! Ok, so we go to church in Jersey and most of all our friends live there. So, Come on Jersey!  

The holidays always slap it back in my face. Thankfully we will be spending some of the holidays split between both of our families. 

We can't wait. 

EDIT:

Today I tackled many to-do's which included an internship at Terrain at Styer's. Score!

Moving Tips 101

I've been cleaning out my computer files and found a list of things to consider when moving. Moving is serious business.  I've moved 20 times. So, I've decided to share some tips.

Moving trucks:
Penske, Budget, U-haul.

Don't just go out and rent a U-haul! Do yourself a favor and call around and compare prices. In my experience Penske has been the best with Budget at it's heels.

Things to consider when renting a truck:
Condition of the truck - Old, new, clean, tires new or worn, windshield wipes, fluides, A/C? How tall is the truck top?

1 year down

Cheers to 1 year in Philadelphia!

I have been pleasantly surprised to find such a great city. (Although, we would have loved to be in Seattle. But, have come to love Philadelphia which is a total change of heart from when we first found out we were moving here.) God put us in Philly and it has become our home. The other day we were coming home from the grocery store talking about how we definitely feel at home.

Living in the city has been different from our suburban lifestyle back in New Orleans. It has easily become one of the things I love most. It's great that gas inflation isn't affecting our budget. We tend to be outside more walking the sidewalks window shopping or just around the several parks nearby.

God has also used this past year to teach me about his faithfulness and His sovereignty. He was faithful to give me the grace I needed in the midst of the transition between relationships and a major move. He led us to a great church where we can grow and be apart of a community. My relationship has grown through the course of this past year learning to trust more. It's been an awesome time for our marriage to blossom. Thankful for how we live our lives from day to day in Philly.

Here's to 3 more years (or well 3ish) in Philadelphia!