A Trip to the Big City!!

It's funny, one month ago we lived in a place commonly referred to as "the big city" by many. Basically, if you lived in Nebraska or western Iowa and did not live in Omaha, then Omaha was the "big city." It has shopping, it has restaurants, it has crime, it has traffic, it has suburbs - all the conveniences (and inconveniences) we have come to associate with larger cities. If you lived on a farm or in a small Nebraska town, Omaha was the place you headed every now and then because you needed some new school clothes or you wanted a fancy anniversary dinner or your favorite singer was in concert - but you never stayed long, after all, it was the big city. By God, they had shootings there!

Fast forward one month to now... now I'm the one heading to the "big city." The big city in our life now - Raleigh, NC. It's about two hours from us, and it's the home of my husband's best friend - his former Air Force buddy and the best man in our wedding. The friend, Shane, is the kind of friend who didn't hesitate to drive four hours round-trip when we first moved to New Bern just to help us unload our moving truck. Is it ironic that he also drove hours to help us pack our moving truck when we moved to Omaha 5+ years ago? So when Shane, who typically works weekends, got a random Sunday off - we didn't hesitate to drive four hours round-trip to see him and enjoy a cookout at his house in Raleigh.

Georgia has only met Shane (now) twice, and has taken to him every time. She cutely says "Shane" which sounds more like "sane," wearing a proud smile every time she remembers his name. And on Sunday, that smile was plastered full-time on Georgia's face when Shane took us to the awesome playground by his house!

We hit the swings...


Even Shane got some time in...

Then there was the sand box...

And this thing you can jump on...





We left with sweaty brows, a few new mosquito bites and big smiles.

Shane also invited over a couple who has a daughter one month older than Georgia. It was so nice to see her play with someone her own age again. I still feel guilty for ripping her away from her little friend next door to us in Omaha. So for an afternoon, we all remembered what it was like to have friends close at hand. It was nice. I won't say I started to feel at home yet in this new state, but it's as close as I've been since we made the 1,400 mile leap here. It was just around the corner... I swear!