Lovin' It So Far...

The three things we like most so far about our new home in Asheville (no particular order):

- Our house. Lots of open space and room for everyone. Lots of windows. Everything's nice and new. Our big master suite (finally -- some privacy!). It's very bright and spacious and homey. We'll take some pictures and post them soon!

- The community. It's amazing how friendly people in this area are. We've gotten to know several people so far. It's a very laid back and friendly community. We just love our neighborhood too. We haven't had a chance to even take advantage of everything it has to offer yet. Bike trails, walking trails, a lake (good for boating and swimming), a clubhouse, a playground, tennis courts, basketball courts, campsites. It's like living on a little resort! We're in a really private little corner of this community too, up a ridge and at the end of a court. Our house backs onto a wooded ravine, so it's very quiet and peaceful.

- The kids' school. We enrolled all three kids at Asheville Christian Academy this year and we're really pleased with the decision. Everyone is very friendly. It seems to be a very spiritual environment, but at the same time it is academically rigorous. The teachers and staff do an excellent job communicating with parents. They have very good sports programs (Marisa made the JV volleyball team, which is a great program -- nine state championships so far!). The only issue is the commute (the school is on the other side of town, so we've got them on the bus while we try to figure out car-pooling, etc). There are several people in our neighborhood with kids there so we've been able to work out rides, etc. so far. I'm sure it will get better as we get to know more people.

Three things we miss most about GR:

- Our church. We've tried a few different churches so far, all of which I think we could do alright at, but haven't found the one that "feels just right" yet. There are a few we want to try yet before we start going for second looks at some of the ones we've tried already.

- The familiarity. Everything's new for us here. We miss knowing where to go for whatever you need whenever you need it! We miss knowing the best place to go for pizza, where to get the best deal on video rentals, where our favorite restaurants are, etc. etc. We're getting the hang of Asheville but it's a little confusing (everything in the mountains is confusing because there's never a nice straight way to get from point A to point B.

- Meijer's! You just don't know how good you've got it until it's gone. It was so nice having a big, new Meijer Supercenter and a Target store both right around the corner (literally). Asheville is a small enough town that they've generally got just one of everything -- one Target store, one Walmart, one Best Buy, etc. The main shopping area just happens to be on the other side of town from us. Not a big deal, but you've got to plan your shopping expeditions a little more carefully because you can't just run out to Meijer's real quick and pick something up!

To be honest, there's really no comparison between Grand Rapids and Asheville. They're just so different! We love the mountains and the scenery that surround you here everyday. We love the climate so far too! We've been here several weeks in August and haven't used the air conditioning yet. We just keep the windows open and enjoy the fresh mountain air (summer temperatures here hover in the high seventies and low eighties with very little humidity). Next up is the fall (which by the way is a very popular time for tourism in the mountains because of the great fall colors--just in case anyone is wondering when is a good time to come to visit!) We're looking forward to "winter" in Asheville too. It's very mild. It's been dry lately though. We were glad to get some remnants of tropical storm Faye last week--we got several inches of rain over the course of a few days. I guess we'll finally have to cut the grass! Oh well... Life can't be perfect I guess.