Welcome Fall!

Today is our third wedding anniversary and it has been a most awesome three years. And some of the best parts of it have been this year in particular as we took what we thought was a huge risk to pull up our roots and I feared to quit working a stable job so that we could move to Illinois. However, on this happiest of days, as I plan to celebrate with the love of my life the wonders of the last three years, I can barely stop grinning thinking about how absolutely wonderful everything in my life right now is and about how great Illinois has been. It helps that today is an absolutely gorgeous day with blue skies and the trees all turning vibrant fall colors the like of which I have never seen before. In movies and pictures, yes; but never in real life. The oranges and yellows and even purples and browns and reds peek between the greenery in the most amazing display of color I've ever seen. I'm amazed. I'm impressed. I'm blown away. I wish I were a painter and could capture these colors on canvas!

I'm really happy right now. Super super happy and content with my life. I love being Chris's wife! I love that we moved to Illinois! I love this house and this neighborhood and how happy my step-son Colin is since we moved. It's like a cloud over him just lifted! He has friends and activities and runs around the neighborhood and yard with nerf guns and swords or plays basketball in the driveways and rides his bike! He is excited about school and learning great things and having to try harder and getting a great education! He seems so grounded and happy and smiles all the time and jokes around with Chelsea almost continuously. It's been really incredible for him too. For all of us! Chris loves the disc golf courses and the great weather for playing disc golf all summer long. He likes riding the train to work so that he can get work done while commuting. I love not working and keeping house and making homemade dinners and that I'm a new part of the book club on the street. I love my new knitting group and our new doctor and our new grocery stores and just everything.

I certainly do not mean to "dis" Texas because I really loved it there too. I loved my life and had a lot of pride in Texas and being Texan. As do most people from Texas. In Texas, it's common to hear people say prideful things like Texas is the greatest state in the nation and everything's bigger and better in Texas. It was one of the reasons I was so scared to leave. However, since moving here and living here (tho I have yet to experience the "brutal" winters) I have realized that my Texas pride was blind pride. I had never lived anywhere else so I had no basis for comparison. I just can't possibly explain how incredible every experience from going to the doctor, to getting our drivers' licenses, to playing disc golf courses, to shopping for anything, to having my hair done, to going out, to commuting, to the SCHOOLS!!!, to the job opportunities (I'm keeping my eye on jobs but not really applying yet), to the parks, to the weather, just you-name-it ~ It's a fabulous unbelievable experience unlike anything I'm used to in Texas. People are SO friendly! People in Texas are friendly too but not to this extent and certainly not while driving on the roads - people here will let you in in front of them and aren't assholes behind the wheel. Our neighbors are all so neighborly and friendly. My knitting group is so welcoming of new-comers and full of such nice friendly personable people. I know I'm gushing but today I'm brimming over with love and it has to go somewhere.

I hope all married people experience this much joy in their relationships and I hope anyone interested in getting married finds this happiness too.

LOVE