A week ago today we moved all our stuff from Champaign, Illinois, to Fishers, Indiana (Just north of Indianapolis, where Adam works). It was a welcome sight after being in San Diego for a whole month. As fun as Southern California was, with its palm trees and beaches and five-star attractions, I'm really glad we will be raising our family in the Midwest. Now when I take all three kids to the park or a grocery store, instead of getting inquisitive stares from passers by, I see many families with two, three, or more young children. Last Saturday I went to Aldi (yes, they have them out here too!) and watched a nice family with five kids under the age of seven go through the store! As we were driving to our apartment for the first time, we got stuck in traffic (one of the few big disadvantages of living in family-friendly Fishers). I noticed that a lot of cars sport the alternate Indiana plate stating "In God We Trust." Turns out there are several plates you can choose from--all without additional charge--and a lot of people choose this one. The radio airs conservative political advertisements, To rephrase the words of the sweet and exuberant greeter lady at Meijer (who is armed daily with a large tupperware of dum-dum suckers), "Children are very, very special to us here [in Fishers]!"
In looking up information on this town, I came across an article from 2010 where Fishers made it into CNN Money's top ten places to live. As one interviewed mother of two said, "It's very easy to live here." I guess we'll find out whether or not she's right. ;)
Now the thing that isn't so great is Adam's commute. He has tried a different route every day during his first week of work, and the evening drive time has ranged from 49 to 60 minutes. Every day. With the price of gas, that drive is going to cost us a pretty penny. But everyone we talk to says living north of the city is unequivocally worth it. Maybe we can work out a carpool system with other Lilly employees from our stake. In the meantime, Adam plans to keep well-stocked on audio books and podcasts.
We still aren't out of boxes yet, but that's partially good since we are hoping to find a home of our own sometime this summer. Tomorrow is our first day looking at houses. As the realtor was asking about our preferences a few weeks ago, I refrained from telling her that anything with more than two bedrooms and in which Thomas won't have to nap in the bathroom sounds just great to me. Our current three-bedroom apartment already feels luxurious, even with the remaining boxes scattered around. On our first day here, a group of three 9-year-old girls wandered over and asked us if we had just moved in. They introduced themselves, told us a little about their families and our quad in general (don't take a walk through the bushes on the far side--there's poison ivy. Good to know.). They then asked if they could help me carry things in from our car. Elizabeth, Daniella, and Mona with her two younger siblings are all sweet kids, and they have been great back-yard playmates for Jared and Allison each day this week.
This has been a springtime of adventures. And it looks like summer will keep us busy too. We're two hours further from our family in the west than we were in Champaign, but we're three hours closer to the airport. And now we can better afford to fly. So in my mind that's equivalent to "quite a bit closer" than we were before. At least, that's what I like to tell myself. :)
