On Boston

First time on the T (subway)

I'm finally caught up on blogging, sort of. So now we're in real time. In Boston.

I'll be honest: the first two months here were really hard. The move was a bit of a nightmare. And as much as I try to tell myself that this is a great adventure, it doesn't change the fact that we have landed ourselves FAR away from everything we know and love. Add to that an extremely busy husband in a high stress/high expectation job, a crazy expensive place to live, and a mom juggling three kids, and you can probably imagine that it hasn't all been fun and adventure out here.

But things are getting better.

First impressions of Boston:
It is super old. Some of it is cool old (like the cemetery near us with graves dating back to the early 1600's). But a lot of it is just dirty, run-down old. Way different than the West.

People are very...blunt. And loud. They don't have a problem telling you exactly what they think (in a Boston accent), even if it's a little rude. The lady that yelled at me for walking in front of her in the grocery store parking lot is the same one who fawned over my "beautiful babies" in the checkout line. Though I was on the verge of tears, apparently she had no hard feelings. And once I knew that, everything was okay. Now that I've gotten used to it, I kind of love the braziness. It's refreshing after the passive-aggressive culture of Seattle.

Drivers are CRAZY. Seriously nuts. It's every man for himself on the road. Traffic laws are rarely heeded. They are replaced by horn honking and hand waving. Defensive driving is a must. And yes, I was a bit terrified the first time I got on the interstate.

I love New England towns. Every little neighborhood is a township with it's own "common" (green space in the middle of town) and old church. It's so cute and fun. Case in point, our town common with old white church:

Boston is a cool city. Every time we venture downtown, we find something really cool: Boston Common, the Old North Church, Paul Revere's grave, Fenway Park, Chinatown... this is a cool place with tons of history and we love exploring it.

Church wards are amazing. Our ward is what has helped us adjust the most. They have welcomed us into the fold and treat us like family. Even though the boundaries are huge and there aren't many members near our house, the people in the ward have been so kind. Isn't it amazing that you can go anywhere in the world and find a family through the Church? I don't know what I'd do without it.

So we are adjusting to life here. And, like I said, it is getting better. We love our house and yard (even though it makes me sick to pay our rent). We're making friends. We're figuring things out. And I am optimistic that with time, we'll really grow to love it.

So there's an update from our corner of the world: moving is hard but we're hanging in there!

***I've got a lot to catch you up on: first days of school, growing baby boys, visitors, and more. Stay tuned! I'll try to update weekly (at least)***