February update

Lots of stuff happening here, people. Here's a brief summary of how our lives have changed in the last 3 months:

1) Jason got a job! That's right, after 25 years of being a student, Jason has finally made the transition to the working (Mel calls it the "real") world. And he even managed to do it before his 30th birthday. He has been working at Rolls Royce in downtown Indianapolis since the end of January. Thus our 6-month streak of unemployment and increasing anxiety has blessedly come to an end.

2) We bought a house! Right before Christmas we took a whirlwind three-day trip to Indy to assess our living options. We found a house we liked, our offer was accepted, and we now get to make large monthly mortgage payments for a long, long time. We couldn't be more thrilled!

3) We bought another car! We wish we could have gotten by with just one car for forever, but alas, it was not meant to be. Plus we had so much extra room in our new two-car garage and we needed something to fill the space. So we found a lovely little Mazda5 within our price range and parted with yet another large chunk of our savings. (We're getting pretty good at this spending money thing.)

4) We moved to Indianapolis! I know this was obvious from point #2, but I thought it deserved its own mention. It feels great to be back in the Midwest and experiencing real winter weather again. (Sorry Texas, but 50 degrees and sunny is NOT winter). We're also once again attending a Mennonite church (oh blue hymnal, how my ears have missed you) and starting to make some connections with other young families.

5) Our daughter turned 11 months old! Wait, seriously?! It's pretty incredible how Caitlin is such a perfect mix of her father and me. She's got Jason's eyes, reserved demeanor and wicked smarts, and my hair, sweet tooth and headstrong-ness. She frustrates me and amazes me on a daily - even hourly - basis. She loves the vaccuum, books, strawberries, playing peek-a-boo, drinking through a straw, being outside, zooming around the house with her walker, dancing with Mama, goofing around with Daddy before bed, and - my personal favorite - rearranging the kitchen cupboards.

We feel incredibly blessed to be in our own home and for Jason to have a fulfilling job that allows me to stay home with Caitlin. We're also pretty happy to be living closer to all of Caitlin's grandparents (and I think they are pretty happy about it, too!).