So, many of you may not know this - but we have moved to a new state; New Jersey. Garrick was offered a Senior Financial Analyst position for a big Fortune 200 company who's corporate headquarters are located in Northern New Jersey. The city we currently live in is about 15 miles from Manhattan & a rather quick 30-45 minute drive there. He started work this week & I have to say... It's been an adjustment; going from the student-life to the corporate-crunch. It was so nice to have so much time with Garrick over the last 22 months, or so - but, now we're back in the real world. We were just fortunate enough to take a mini-break from it.

It was very, very sad to leave Gainesville. It's not the actual town that I miss so much (although I do miss the southern-type, friendly, helpful locals who reside in North FL & of course, my favorite grocery store; Publix), but it's our friends that we miss most - the people who used to occupy Gainesville. Everyone is scattered across the country now, from Miami, to Jacksonville, to DC, to North Carolina, Philadelphia, New York, Michigan, Texas, Ohio & even as far west as Arizona. We knew this would be the outcome & I knew it would be difficult... so we're trying to adjust the best we can.

The kids seem to be adjusting pretty well too. They like our new suburban-type living situation, with many parks within walking distance, lake communities & a family-fun filled environment. We even bought a new SUV & a new modern, big-city living stroller, a Phil & Ted's double - which I think is pretty darn cool... especially because there are so many cute little areas to walk to + it makes our weekly trips to Manhattan all the more easy! We've visited Manhattan at least 4 times since our move, on 5/28. Which has been very nice... We love all the time spent with our family there & the kid's first cousin.

I have to say, my overall experience of living in New Jersey is that it probably gets a pretty bad rap - you always hear people talking badly about the state of New Jersey, when really... It is quite beautiful. Especially our town, the homes are just gorgeous - the natural landscape is so pretty & lush. Right now spring is in full-bloom, all the tree buds have formed & everything is so green & blossomed! NJ gets a lot of rain & the landscape shows it. There are also rolling hills, absolutely covered in thick trees - we see deers grazing along the side of the road, HUGE ground-hogs (like 30+ lbs) just laying out in the sun, chipmunks galore (they're sooooo cute!! They look like little hamsters playing around the yard areas), Canadian Geese just walking outside our windows (they're such family-oriented birds, they all seem to have 3-4 little babies & you always see the mom & the dad with them). We're really enjoying the cooler weather (windows are always opened), the cool June-breeze & nice warm sun (when it makes an appearance).

We're currently living in an apartment (something I wasn't really wanting), for the next 12 months. After a very short & spontaneous attempt to buy a home (2 1/2 weeks before our move up here), we decided we wanted to take our time to feel out the area a bit. We realized we were rushing things a bit, although we did find a few houses we would have liked to make an offer on, we didn't want to be in limbo for the month or so of our arrival. I feel good about our decision to wait & I'm excited to know that it's just temporary & come next May, we may have our own house!! :) For now, I really like our community. There are lots of great places for walking, a playground in our complex & our "backyard" which is a pretty big open grass-area that the kids love running around in, digging up rocks, throwing balls & riding tricycles. It'll also be fun to go out there when we get our first blanket of snow - we'll need to buy a little sleigh because there is a very slight hill decline, that the kids will enjoy sliding down... The idea of winter sounds fun right now - but from what I hear, the 6+ months of winter is not something too enjoyable. I am, however hoping for a "white Christmas" :), if I wake up to snow... I'll just feel the magic! Hahaha! But - that's a long way from now. For now, we're enjoying the nice cool end of spring, something I welcome after leaving 90+ degree FL, since Jan.

Ok - I had to finally make a post. It's a bit shabby - but present. To include a few pictures... Our town had a little festival the 2nd weekend we were here & of course, Garrick and I being the "festival-type" people we are, we had to attend! The festivals here are awesome... In addition to all the fair-type foods, they have the most amazing Italian food!! Yummm... Italian sausages, peppers, pizza, I love all the delicious Italian grub here! :)

Horse rides... Preston doesn't like it (thought we'd give him a second shot at riding horses - I think the attempt last fall ended in a similar way!)

 Pro...

 My little animal-lover! :)

 This kid is so goofy with his faces... He's seriously the cutest thing ever, I just can't seem to take a decent pic of him... Hahaha! He cracks me up! :)

 Aubree is the best big-sister!

 My mini-me.... (she's the best helper!)

 This was a really cool bear show we watched!

 Of course... haven't we seen pics like this before?? Aubree wouldn't leave until she got a train ride in! :)