We’ve now lived in our new hometown for 4 months. It’s been a crazy and amazing season!

After living in the same place, comfortably, for 15 years (and, I might add, truly believing in my heart of hearts that we would never leave), jobs required us to pack up and move on. Moving day TOTALLY felt like this:

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I kid. No.  It did NOT. There were no adorable maids in little white caps helping us and there was DEFINITELY not a teenage boy singing at the piano. My teenage boys were NOT happy at all about this move and although they were extremely helpful for the most part, the refrain of “why are you ruining my life?” is still ringing in the halls of our new abode on a fairly regular basis.

But moving on . . . .I did a few things that have helped this feel like home sooner thank I ever could have hoped.

Move next to amazing people

OK, so maybe you can’t really control this. Real estate agents aren’t real keen on allowing you to interview potential new neighbors. But in my case, we hit the jackpot. Another working mom with teenagers and a traveling husband, Carolyn has been a God send. Also note that she speaks fluent sarcasm and has literally picked my children up off the side of the road when they missed the bus. So important for me to feel truly understood.

Have a dog

Dogs make friends. You have to take them for walks and when you do, you meet people. Also dogs are great judges of character.

Need a root canal

This can be for yourself or for your child (as was our case) but nothing bonds you to the community like desperately needing a dentist.

Be friends with the woman you bought your house from

And then weirdly connect with her on FB ALL THE TIME and ask odd questions like “did you ever notice that the kids bedroom temps are off?” and “btw, what color did the kitchen used to be?” If you’re really lucky, like me, she’ll send you photos of your new home through the years and send you occasional text messages that say things like “don’t forget to clean out the gutters even thought they have those gutter guard things. The leaves will rot the wood.” She’ll also tell you the best place to get pizza and that the Target off of McGinnis Ferry seems further away but really it’s closer because of traffic. She’ll also share which neighbors have the best taste in wine. Love you, Jane!

Now, I can’t guarantee that any of these will work for you. But they’ve worked GREAT for us! We still have some adjusting to do, but every day we feel closer to our new hometown. And, we hope, our new hometown feels closer to us.

BTW, did you notice that’s only 4? Give me a break. I just moved. I’m tired.

Happy running.