We SURVIVED!!

It has officially been 13 months since we moved! I honestly don't know how we survived some days (or weeks/months for that matter), but a year has passed. There are some AMAZING things about living in the city. Some things that I will actually miss when we move home. Like Sunday, I drove up to Target to get a few things (and have a wee bit of alone time) and got home and realized I forgot ONE thing to make a dessert for dinner at a friends. ONE thing. At home, I would have called a neighbor or five before I left. But here, well, is here. So I grabbed some cash and walked a block to the grocery to pick up my one turned to five things.
Some other things like 'let's go to the playground' and you get your choice of a bizillion or so in walking distance. This can also be a con though, because if the boys are at a playground, so am I. No sending them outside so I can cook, clean, use the facilities, blog…all those important things.
The boys definitely know how to clean up. They don't do it on a regular basis, but they know. I do a lot of threatening to actually get it done, but nevertheless.  Andrew will on occasion tell me he is doing a surprise for me and he will close his door and "clean" his room. Not that they wouldn't have learned this at home, but they don't have a choice here. Two toys out are two toys too many.
We have gotten really creative.  Small spaces=big imaginations. I LOVE it. Andrew is definitely wearing off on Ryan too. He makes up stories and imaginative play all the time.
Walking=instant lazy person cardio. Some days I like to think if I didn't workout enough, that its okay, because I'll walk later pushing the boys. Chris loves it too, because he walks both ways to work and combined with my excellent cooking and nutrition plan (wink, wink) he has lost about 30 pounds.
No need for ANYTHING new!! There isn't any room!
There really isn't anything like Central Park. I hope the boys always cherish this amazing place and things to do.
Eating out is AMAZiNG. Enough said.
I can do 5 loads of laundry at a time. Bad part #1-taking it to the basement, bad part #2 is I have to fold and put away right away.
We have made some amazing new friends we will always be friends with, even though some have moved on already. I truly believe God puts you were you need to be and puts certain people in your life at the times you need them.
There are some cons too. I will NEVER get used to the price of groceries. It is just outrageous. Completely and utterly outrageous. I mean, we have to eat, and eat healthy (which even unhealthy is crazy-I bought the boys a box of angry bird teddy grahams-regular size box for $6!!)
The city is uber kid friendly, but wasn't built for kids. You can't get a stroller ANYWHERE. Even a single. Forget the double. I think I have shopped for something besides food with the kids twice. HATE IT. (May be a pro for Chris:)
Rain+city+kids+stroller+sidewalk=miserable.  I love the rain. Love to let the boys out with their umbrellas and rain boots to splash. But pushing a stroller in the pouring rain while trying to hold an umbrella and people NOT moving over (HELLO?!? Don't you see me pushing two kids on a stroller with one hand and holding the umbrella under my chin?!) is probably on my list of least favorite things in the world. No lie.
Not getting to train hands on with my clients. Miss it terribly.
I don't bake as much as I used to. Weird that it is a con, but I can't bake as much because I don't have people I see everyday that I can feed it to. I miss it.
Paying to park my car. So crazy. And calling to get it 90 minutes before I need it. Even crazier. Its MY CAR!! And, being expected to tip people-for EVERYTHING!
Missing our friends and family back home. There are stories and milestones we have missed and will continue to miss. Makes my heart sad.
No room. For anything. Ever. I constantly fight with an inanimate object. It has gotten better over the year, but it is still weekly, if not daily.  I have tried to clean out and purge about a million times and I still feel like we have TOO.MUCH.STUFF.


I am sure there a ton of other things I love and hate. These top my list right now. I can't imagine not doing this rotation, and I know it will be an even crazier two years left, but I am ready. BRING.IT.ON.