St. Louis, The Arch and Family!

The move has been interesting. It has gone very smoothly. We have settled in and have a regular routine. We are comfortable and have been enjoying ourselves. Yet I still feel a little out of place. While the cost of living is much cheaper and much less of a stress, we are still looking for good jobs. Many of the things I want to see happen like our own place, having insurance, and a new baby are all contingent upon a good job. So I am trying to be patient and just enjoy the space that I am in now. I think about what I should be doing with myself and am not sure what I need to do more or differently. Still I feel that I should be doing something more. I find myself stuck in a boring routine. Thinking I have more spare time available I should be more productive. But what should I do with that time?

I find with Gigi being older and moving into a new stage of life, she requires less time and attention. She is also so excited about Daddy and hanging out with him. She wants his help all the time. I am able to sit and observe her a lot more, like I did when Katie was first little before Gigi came a long. Oh how life changes.

Wow I can hardly believe it. Life has changed so much in 6 years. We have all grown in so many ways. Gigi is now 4. She was so sad to celebrate her birthday so far away from her friends. We where at the grocery store a few days before her birthday and she saw a girl with red curly hair. She said to me "Mom I want to invite her to my birthday" with my reply " Honey you don't even know her" it dawned on me that she was missing her good friend Carmen back in Maryland. We really miss our friends. Good friends are a rare gift.

Though people are very nice I am not sure that I have found my spot here. I still do not have a calling. I have met quite a few people but have not really clicked with anyone. I find myself searching for conversation topics and hoping that we can be good friends. I walk into relief society and feel like there is no one my age. And though Age is relative. I wounder where are all the ladies that are in my stage of like. I like the primary. I think that maybe I should get a calling there again. I find it takes about a year to really start feeling comfortable with your new place. I forgot how it feels when you first move into a new area. We have met with each of our sisters we have been assigned to for visiting teaching. They are all quite nice. All seem to have lots of family close by.

Having so much family close by has been fun. We have enjoyed days at the pool, BBQ's, many birthday dinners out, and of course family dropping in at random times. It is nice to have family close by again. We have found some parks that are close and also taken Gigi camping for her first time. We have enjoyed lots of fun summer actitivites. For the most part people seem to be more layed back. It is different but we are getting used to it here.