An Overdue Post-3 Ways To Acclimate After a Big Move

WHOA...I haven't written a blog in over three months and I'm sure you all have been DYING to ready my non-english majoring high school level writing. Kyle actually was the one who brought it up last night before bed saying"you know you haven't written a blog in a very long time". I was half asleep already and just said "yeah I know life's been boring." It really hasn't been all that boring though...it's been quite exciting actually! SO below, because I like bullet points and lists, I made a list of one hundred FOUR ways to acclimate after a BIG MOVE. (Don't know if you're planning a move or anything and even if you're not all these things can be don't to just spice up your life and bring some JOY!)

4. Make Friends

Seems like a really easy thing to do but not everyone is going to like my quarks, outgoing personality, hyper and loud self! As much as I like to think that everyone likes me I just know that that's not true. AND GUESS WHAT that's ok. I am not going to change who I am as a person to make others like me. That's called being fake and I like being REAL. I will say that Kyle and I have made some really WONDERFUL friends out here that are genuinely kind, fun, and caring. It really makes all the difference when you are invited out or can invite people over! So if you're planning a big move of sorts make sure to put yourself out there. Invite people over, say yes to when YOU'RE invited out. Omaha has become so much like home in part by the friends that we have made that have showed us how AWESOME Nebraska can really be!

3. Get an Animal 
MY CAT IS THE BEST. Hands down, no questions asked. If you know me, I have become a crazy cat lady unlike any other. AND WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN that would happen but if you met Frankie, you'd fall in love too. I had a previous post all about how we got Frankie and how important he was for the loneliness Kyle and I were feeling when we were on opposite schedules. You don't have to get a cat (obviously I think dogs are equally as cool) BUT it is nice to have a companion if you didn't have a spouse or significant other around. Frankie just makes me smile. He makes me laugh when he is being crazy. When you're in a new place that is still unfamiliar even after having been around for months, it is nice to have that companion that just solely loves you!

2. EXPLORE and Go Visit Your Family Back Home

We decided to go home to Connecticut and Rhode Island to visit our families after only being residents of the midwest for a short four months. We were a little home sick mainly just missing our mommy's and daddy's. Siblings too! We ended up driving a nice short 24 hours back to the east coast. We also brought our cat with us which was QUITE the experience! He ended up being MUCH better than I expected in the truck and I think it had a lot to do with the anxiety drops that I got from my vet. He was so chill and just wanted to sleep on the very uncomfortable dashboard but it was adorable to have him along for the ride! We will NEVER do that again because it was just SO MUCH TIME spent in a truck, but we did end up saving hundreds of dollars because it was so much cheaper than buying a plane ticket. When we got to Connecticut first to visit my parents it was nice to just be able to relax and enjoy the time with family. We were there for 1 week and didn't do anything out of the ordinary. My one request was to get a delicious Lobstah roll (Lobster for all you people that aren't from the east coast). The second week we spent in Rhode Island with Kyle's family and it was also wonderful. I have a  few good friends in CT but the majority of friends reside in RI since that was where I was living for the past 4 years. It was wonderful to spend time with them and tell them all about the move, our adjustments to the mid-west, and all the fun things we've been up to like just working and getting a cat. I thought I would never be ready to leave but to be honest, towards the

end of the second week I was ready to get back home to my own bed, my own kitchen, and my own bathroom. Lord knows how much I love my deep bathtub. I almost felt bad that I was ready to leave because I love my family so much and I do miss them all everyday but we were just trying to skirt around the inevitable drive back home. Home....it's weird to think that our official home is now Nebraska. I think going back to visit our families really set in reality that now it's just going to be made up of visits whenever we can afford it. Makes me really appreciate the love I have from both sides of the family.

One thing that I was a little mad about is that we really haven't done a whole lot of exploring in our new home state! Granted we will live here for quite sometime (until I finish my schooling and Kyle gets the training at his job) and have ample opportunities to explore but I feel like we are letting the mundane work life get in the way of our fun! We can die and meet our maker at any moment in time and I want to know that I didn't just work to pay bill and on days off sleep because I was too tired from working all those long hours.


1. Find a Home Church and Love Your Husband (or wife)
This was the most important thing for me when I moved here was finding a Church! God really has blessed me with this community of believers and the fellowship that we have together! I had been praying for YEARS to be led to where it is I would feel most encouraged and service my savior best and it's amazing that he has answered that prayer right here at Grace Bible Church. If you're not religious then this probably won't matter to you but being a part of something that's bigger than this world is something unexplainable but also the best feeling you could ever have. So many people have talked to me about how they feel "empty" or "missing something" trying to fill a void with sex, drugs, alcohol, money, people, their job, basically ANYTHING of this world. I have not felt like that ever since I have accepted Christ as the ruler and Savior of my life. This Church that I am now apart have has reaffirmed my love for the Lord in a way that I never expectedI. I have made wonderful friends that motivate me to be the best servant of Christ that I can be. This is number one because if any of my fellow Christian brothers and sisters know what it's like to be apart of a church that gives you a glimpse into how Heaven will be, that's the best feeling in all the world! HANDS DOWN.

One of the biggest things to acclimate after the big move is just continue to love my husband. I read a wonderful post the other day from a friend that said "there are a million different ways to say 'I love you', 'put your seatbelt on' 'watch your step' 'did you eat' 'get some rest' you just have to listen" and I LOVE THAT because I say 90% of those things all the time on top of saying I love you probably 100 times a day but it's really important to keeps saying those things. To show that no matter where we go, what we do, home is wherever I am when I am with you! I love my family and Kyle's family but ultimately, Kyle and I are a family (Frankie too obviously). I can't make everyone in life happy I can only focus on the man that I wake up to everyday, that I pray for everyday, that I make dinner for a couple times a week (you thought I'd say everyday I don't have time for that working the night shift at the restaurant I'M NOT PERFECT). Sometimes I feel like my words are never enough for how much I truly love this man. It can only be a gift from God to know this love and if I love my husband this much, it is almost UNFATHOMABLE how the creator of the world could love such a sinner like me to save me from my sins by sending His only begotten son. All love is a glimpse of God and his love for us. I love you Kyle! Sorry to get so mushy in public like this but you'll get over it!