The good of South Bend

We have been in South Bend for 4 weeks today...kind of crazy. I must admit, it still kind of feels like an extended vacation to me and that we'll be headed back to Oklahoma any day now, but there are definitely things I have enjoyed about being here. I thought I would make a list, because pretty sure there *might* be some sad days ahead...like when I realize this is no vacation.

1. The weather-High of 81 degrees today...enough said.
2. Our walking path-It's the small things that make it home, right? We have a beautiful path I try to walk every day that is right alongside a river. We pass a duck pond with lots of ducks (downside to this is their poop that covers the sidewalk) and lots of cool, old houses. It energizes me every day.
3. The beach-We're 30 minutes from Silver Beach on Lake Michigan. Who would have thought we would be that close to a beach? We've only gone once, but I love the fact that it's close.
4. Our house-Overall, I really like our house. Yes, I can see myself getting extremely tired of walking up and down the stairs multiple times a day (especially when I'm 9 months pregnant), but I love it's character and all of the great natural light. Slight side note...our house did lose a little appeal last night because we found a bat...in our house...flying around. I think I'm forever scarred. Thankfully Kev caught it and released it into the wild (aka our backyard).
5. Restaurants-One of our favorite things to do is find new places to eat. This has been a fun adventure in a new place, except we're realizing it is getting a little more difficult to eat out with Miss Elliott.
6. Campus-We came from a college town and we still live in a college town. I love that! One of our favorite things in Norman was to take walks on campus and we can still do that!
7. The library-We just discovered this little gem and we will definitely be taking advantage of this when winter drags on for 8 months of the year (#1 will definitely not be on the list).
8. The diversity-There seems to be a lot of diversity in this town-ethnicity, cultural, social, beliefs-and it has been very refreshing. It's a good reminder that not everyone is like us. :)
9. The people-I feel like we've met a lot of people so far...people in our neighborhood, through church, through Kev's program...and everyone has been very friendly and welcoming. What a huge blessing it has been to us!

We're slowly finding our "normals"...favorite grocery store, favorite places to eat, things to do, etc. All of this definitely makes South Bend feel more and more like home!