I'm officially a Pittsburgher.

We're here, we're here! After months and months of planning and dreaming (more like years actually) we're finally in Pittsburgh! My husband and I have been wanting to move closer to our family ever since we had kids, and that dream has finally become a reality. I've been taking a little blog break recently to unpack, recharge, and organize everything because wow, we have some STUFF. When everything is nicely organized in your house, you don't really realize how many things you have. That is, until you have to take it all out of your house and pack it into a 26 ft. truck. And your van. And your second car. And still, there's barely enough room for everything. I still feel like I'm recovering from all of the packing, unpacking, and organizing and it's still not completely done yet but we're getting there.

So far though, I am completely in love with Pittsburgh. What a beautiful city! For those of you who know Memphis, it's pretty much a concrete jungle (and a hot one at that!) Pittsburgh has so many beautiful buildings and such a wonderful sense of community. I'm really enjoying how genuinely nice everyone is here! I love that I can finally say that I'm a Pittsburgher.

There's also a few other things I've been loving about PA:

     1. Pittsburgh is like, a million degrees cooler. And less humid. And those 2 things alone are
     enough to make me want to move here.


     2. People walk around at night outside without fear of being mugged. That would never happen in
     Memphis. The sun goes down, you go inside.

     3. They have diet cream soda in their grocery stores. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but
     to me it's like finding the holy grail.

     4. Great local restaurants. Most restaurants in Memphis (aside from the BBQ joints) were  
     chains. Here, you can walk down the street and have the best hoagie you've ever eaten at a local
     hole in the wall restaurant. I plan on gaining lots of weight.

     5. Did I mention how awesome the weather is?

The one thing I'm having to really get used to are the hills. I'm just hoping I'll have some massive calves after being here for a few weeks :) Thanks for hanging in there while my family and I settle in. I've been giving myself permission to slow down a little lately, but I do have some projects that I plan on sharing with you soon! 

Signing off for now

It's time for me to sign off for awhile! We're making the big move this week, but our internet is officially cut off as of yesterday (I had to preschedule this post) so I will be without internet for awhile and won't be able to write on the blog until we move and get settled in. I'm just glad I have my iPhone to get my Pinterest fix on the drive :)  In just a few short days we'll be hauling a giant truck, 2 babies and a whoooooole bunch of stuff 14 hours away to live Pennsylvania. After that, it's nothing but unpacking and settling in with family until we can find new jobs and adjust.

We've been trying to explain the move to Haley over the past few weeks so that she's prepared for the big change. We've been here since she was only 3 months old, so Tennessee has basically been her home for her whole little life. We also have big plans to enroll Haley in preschool when we get there among other things. Patrick and I laugh about it because Pennsylvania has become this magical place where all fun things happen. Haley latches onto bits and pieces of what we've been telling her, then retells it to us at bedtime.

"We pack up allllll of our stuff into a big truck and we go see Yia Yia and Papa! And no more Haley's house. And we see friends, and go to the BIG screen and see Brave, and go to dance school, and go SWIMMING!"

I love how flexible young kids are, they can adjust so easily. Especially with promises of trips to the pool :) So it's goodbye for now, to Tennessee and to my wonderful readers. And hello to a new chapter in our lives!