North Carolina

It hasn't really set in yet that we live in North Carolina!

Hello from North Carolina! We have survived our first week in our new home! I say survived, because we are anxiously awaiting our moving company's phone call letting us know they are on their way with our stuff. God is giving us the grace to offer up not having our apartment be filled with our belongings yet and it really isn't that bad not having any furniture or kitchen supplies. However it does make us grateful to know that we won't have to sit on the floor forever. The other day Tyler said, "We're missionaries, not monks." Well said.

Since there is only so much cleaning one can do in an empty apartment with no belongings, we have found plenty of things to do to keep us busy! We have really enjoyed exploring the surrounding towns around Charlotte and thankfully we like ours the best! Belmont is a small historic town right on the interstate and our apartment is minutes from Belmont Abbey College. Every day we've been going to daily Mass on campus and praying in the Adoration chapel...I'll have to post a picture later!

Farmer's Market in Gastonia

We have already explored two farmer's markets! One in Belmont and the other in Gastonia. We plan on being regulars and enjoying fresh vegetables and fruit for as long as we can! They are open year round so we're excited to see what the different seasons will bring!

Leave it to Tyler to find a soccer game to go to! The Charlotte Eagles are a USL pro team and we caught their second to last home game this past week. We are excited to continue to explore all the sporting events Charlotte offers! Tyler is considering becoming a Carolina Panthers fan. I like their colors so I'm in.

Whenever you come to visit us (everyone is welcome!) we will take you uptown Charlotte. Yes, it's called "uptown" instead of "downtown." What we've heard is that during the 1980s people wanted to change the image of the city and thought calling it uptown would present a more positive upbeat image of the city, as opposed to downtown. I think it's fun to say.

We ventured uptown the other night for a date night. Thanks to our Regional Director who took us here when we visited last March, we were confident that we could get on the interstate, go north, and take an exit and end up where we wanted to be. Sure enough, that is what we did. It is very easy to get around and another perk is that parking is free after 6pm!

We definitely marveled at the tall buildings and as we walked down the main streets we took note of dozens of restaurants that look amazing. We enjoyed appetizers and a beer at an Irish pub called Ri Ra that is definitely a new favorite.

How does our girl like North Carolina, you might be wondering? She seems to like it a lot. She has transitioned very well and is always SO excited to see us when we come home (more than usual it seems, she jumps in the air a lot and we're trying to work on that so she has good manners when meeting students in a few weeks!) There is a nice neighborhood near by that we enjoy walking her and it seems like many places here are pet-friendly.

We're excited to see what our second week holds here in our new place! Hopefully it is full of unpacking our things and getting settled! All in God's timing...