one year in new england

We rounded our first year in New England in August. It's hard to believe that last August we pulled into the North Shore of Boston and it was all new. We have adjusted and...are continuing to adjust. It's funny to me how whenever a season changes I feel a little anxious. It's like a reminder of the change and how much really feels new here. I have mixed feelings about fall coming. The winter was really hard last year. It was dark and snowy and icy especially after Christmas, but when it finalllly got warm (ish) in May, it made me a little queasy just because it reminded me of what it was like when we moved here. Weird?

With that said, here are five things that I am loving about living here so far...

1... I am so grateful that we have a house we really love here. There is still a lot to do, but generally it's great.

just bought the house! (left)                     nemo snowstorm (right)

2...Fresh local food. My two favorite spots are Richardson's for fresh milk and eggs (& ice cream) and Tendercrop Farm in Newbury. Both are a bit of a drive (about 20 minutes in opposite directions) so I make these trips on different days. But both have tractors and cows to look at - which Jude loves now. Richardson's sell a gallon of whole organic local milk for $2.60....can you beat that??

3...The people. I feel like because of the type of neighborhood we are in we are more social than we were in Virginia. We love our neighbors. We take turns grocery shopping for each other. We spontaneously eat meals together. We love being near to Gordon College and Gordon-Conwell Seminary and the community of people that are here because of those two schools. We love the leaders we are working with from both schools too and they have already become so dear to us.

4...Living near Boston. We do not get into the city all that much. We live about 30 minutes North, but we love having the train run through town. We can hear it from our house and Jude listens for it as it chugs by. And a trip into the city is always fun.

5...There's probably other things, but for five I am going to go with flea markets, awesome antique stores and free stuff. I find more things on the side of the road than I know what to do with. Often they are things we could really use and it's great. 

Life is different here in a lot of ways, but as Philip reminded me when we moved initially, we still end the day together and that does not change.