We're Here!

We have made it to Fort Collins and are settling in to our new home. Unpacking is a daily project, which seems to be taking a long time, but we are making time in our schedules to spend time with friends, visit churches, meet other homeschoolers, get outdoors and explore our new community.

In no particular order, here are some tidbits about our life here.

Our Home. God has provided us with a great rental house here. About a year ago, after Brett and I visited Fort Collins on an exploratory mission, we brainstormed a list of what we'd be looking for in our home here. Of course, like all families, we had certain size and bedroom requirements, plus we need an extra space for Brett's office. We also wanted to be close to one of the many bike trails in town and near one of the 100-acre plus parks. We hoped to be in an established neighborhood with trees. . .and the list goes on. Our home meets almost all of the criteria we mentioned in that list, AND it's twice the size of our home in Fayetteville. We had thought we'd be living in fewer square feet, not more. AND it was just updated with new flooring on the main level (which we promptly initiated with a coffee spill), new light fixtures throughout, wall paper removal and fresh paint. There are certainly some odd things about the house, but that's what you get when you live in a home built in 1970.

Food. There's a great food review blog here in Fort Collins that we've been reading over this past year. Kristin takes the guesswork out of going out to eat. We try the places that she loves, and we end up loving them too. Our kids have gotten into the review mindset, and each time we try a new place, they give it a star rating. We've tried Buttercream Cupcakery, where somehow, we have paid for 3 cupcakes and have received 23. Brett went with our friend Andrew to the New Belgium Brewery tour. Also we've eaten at Larkburger, La Luz, Noodles, Ben and Jerry's, Beau Jo's Pizza, Chipotle and Raising Cane's. On the home side of food, we get our milk delivered in glass bottles from Morning Fresh Dairy, and we have really enjoyed shopping at the Larimer County Farmer's Market as well as the many, many natural food stores here in town. Thus far, we have discovered a local co-op as well as Whole Foods, Sunflower Farmer's Market, Vitamin Cottage Grocers and Sprouts.

Education. We are really enjoying the abundance of educational offerings here in Fort Collins. We have visited two of the three libraries already, and I have been glad to check out some items that were not available to us through our library in Fayetteville. We enjoyed a cool owl program (complete with live owls) from the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program and a trip to the Fort Collins Museum and Discovery Science Center (free admission one Sunday per month). We also took a day trip to one of the best educational places in the area, Rocky Mountain National Park. We hiked, observed elk and changing aspens, noticed the lower water levels this time of year and met another homeschooling family.

Church. We started our church-shopping this Sunday. It's a new experience for all of us, and we are eager for God to lead us to the place that is right for our family. There are definitely some great churches in our area.

Dry air. Since I have oily hair and skin, I have been looking forward to the dry climate here. However, while the dry air is great for my hair and face, it has been awful for the rest of my body. I have been itching like crazy and thus far, nothing has helped. I need to try my friend's suggestion of running a humidifier at night since I have already implemented the other things I know to do. I even dreamed about itching last night.

Friends. We are super-excited to be in the same city with the Stegers again. We are looking forward to encouraging one another and sharing lots of fun experiences together. And right now, we are anticipating the arrival of their baby girl sometime within the next couple of weeks. We are also looking forward to meeting new friends here and seeing how God uses them to shape our lives.