Moving In...

Finally posting after working on this blog on and off for three weeks.  There's several links to pictures or more info if you are interested...

Mount Vernon

Where:  Northeast of Columbus by about 45 minutes

Population:  Around 17K

Shopping:  Dollar Tree, JC Penny's, KM, Kroger, Peebles, WM, local businesses

Dining:  Standard fast food places, Ruby Tuesday's, Ryan's Steakhouse, several local restaurants including those specializing in Chinese, Indian, Mexican

Attractions:  Oldest opera house in U.S., Children's garden (with water fountains, miniature buildings, a secret garden and more!), water park, city parks, one of the largest art galleries in OH

Affordability:  Quite so, compared to most U.S. cities, definitely less than Colorado Springs

Housing:  Currently, there's an abundance of housing, average price is probably around $120K, unless you want a huge place or lots of acres, and then you're starting price is around $350K



MVNU



Another Part of the stream

 

Stream running through campus





 

 Student Population:  around 2.7K

Campus Size:  406 acres



Mascot:  Cougar

Local Nickname:  The Naz

Our Place of Worship



Where:  New Life Church of the Nazarene

Size: 600ish when school's in session

Kid's Programs:  Yes, in multiple age groups
     Kaitlyn has been in the nursery several times now

     Hannah's first experience with the kids' programming was a Wednesday night, and despite a very rocky start she had a great time and met lots of new friends.  She's been in the Sunday morning little kids' worship several times now and always has a great time.

Small Groups:  Wednesdays, there's a young couples group, most of the couples are mid-20s, and resuming this fall, another small group on Sunday night


Our Temporary Housing


Where:  MVNU's Glen Road Apartments, a fourplex on the southeast side of the campus and town

Which:  Top, southeast facing...  all day sun and only a tiny bit of morning shade
How long:  we can stay for up to a year, so through April of next year, but probably just through winter


Size:  2-bedroom, probably 800 square feet, bigger than the one in CO, has a deck off the kitchen

A/C:  Yes, a small unit in the living room was provided, and our portable a/c in our bedroom

How's it going:  If we can survive the heat of summer, we'll be golden!  (The indoor temp, by the a/c, have been in the low 80s most of the day)

The Girls

Thanks Granma Smith for the cute clothes!

Dipping in the campus stream





At the Children's Garden's Train Ticket Booth

 


Here's your ticket!

 Hannah:   Seems to be adjusting to life in a new town, her stress levels have definitely gone down now that the unpacking is mostly done for now.  Decided on our way home after Memorial Day weekend that she was ready for potty training and did really good for a couple of weeks, but the stress of the move caused her to revert for a while, but she's back on track and accident-free!

I found my tongue!



Kaitlyn:  The move didn't seem to really affect her, except that the busyness of the first few days caused naps to be off, but she's back on schedule now!  She's almost walking, she took 2 small steps the other day. 

The water is cold, but I love it!

 

In honor of Aunt Carol Sue...











 

Jobs

Daddy:  Still lovin' his job and they love him!  He's in the middle of a huge deployment of hardware and software, so he's been really busy and a bit stressed at times.  But the good news is that the biggest part of the deployment is done!  

Back from an interview

Mommy:  Almost to the end of her contracting work for Focus on the Family.  They have been a wonderful, meaningful part of her life over the last 8.5 years but that chapter is about to close.  So, she's looking for a full-time position outside the home, but childcare is quite expensive so we may need to look for unconventional jobs. .