After an eight hour flight and a two hour drive from Washington airport, the three of us finally arrived in Richmond, Virginia – our new home for the next two years. Weary but excited, we hauled our four suitcases (our only possessions for the next month) up two flights of stairs and opened the door into our new apartment. The next morning, we watched the sun rise over the lake outside our window, the fiery orange glow lighting up the water and illuminating the silhouettes of the geese that lay there.
Our first few days were spent adjusting to the new time zone and completing mundane tasks – sorting out a rental car, food shopping, and filing for social security numbers. Once those were done, we’ve spent a lot of time exploring Richmond – eating out at different restaurants, enjoying some of the parks and nature reserves that are close by, and we did a spot of window shopping (real shopping is being postponed until our American bank account is sorted!) at Short Pump Mall.
Thankfully, I find driving in the USA a lot easier than the UK. With automatic cars being the norm, there’s no need to worry about gear changes or clutch control, we’ve yet to come across a roundabout and the parking spaces are huge to accommodate the gigantic cars found here. The weather has been up and down; some mornings have been below freezing, and other days we’ve enjoyed glorious 23’C sunshine. There is so much beauty to be found here – in the walking trails laced amongst the trees, the silent peace of a sunset and the vast expanses of water. We can’t wait to discover even more during our time here.
We’ve started to search and select some houses which we’d like to view, as we’ll be moving into a bigger property once our furniture arrives, which should be May at the latest. We’re very much looking forward to finding our ‘real home,’ where we can unpack our things and properly settle in. I do miss Henry’s nursery, along with our beloved Bugaboo (our cheap substitute buggy has certainly been tested to its limits in the outdoor terrain) and all the little things that made our house a home. It feels a little like we’re in limbo at the moment, so it will be good to find somewhere more permanent.
Now Monday has rolled around, almost two weeks since we arrived, and it marks the start of reality in our new country. Matt is off to work again and Henry and I will slowly find a new rhythm to our weeks by trying out some different toddler classes. It will be sad to see our little family disperse, it’s been so lovely to spend so much time together over the last month or so, discovering new life together and creating more memories.
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P.S. A few kind people have mentioned that they will be nominating my blog in the Brilliance in Blogging 2015 Awards, which is such a compliment and means so much to me. I would love to be recognised in the ‘Writer’ or ‘Inspire’ category or indeed any other category you feel fits my blog. If you would like to nominate me, you can do so here.
It looks so beautiful there. Roll on May when things can start to feel more homely for you all. xx
This is so exciting to read Amy! Such beautiful photographs and it really sounds like everything has come together perfectly for the three of you. I can't wait to see more and have my fingers crossed that that odd limbo feeling disappears soon (: I'm sure it will soon – it took me about 3/4 weeks to fully adjust and realise what I'd done! xx
It really does look beautiful! I know how hard it is to live in 'limbo' as you call it but hopefully you will find your home soon xx
Wow the place really is stunning ! I hope that you can find your new, long term, home soon, good luck with everything !
xo, Charlie
http://charlieleschroniques.blogspot.fr/
Ah it looks like heaven there, what a beautiful place to relocate too! Wishing you and your family lots of happiness! x
Tea Party With Alice
I'm so excited to see more of your new home town! We've always wanted to move to America and I love that you have moved to somewhere a bit less well-known than California or New York! If you find any good American BBQ restaurants then I'd love to see a post on those! My husband and I are desperate to plan another BBQ roadtrip!
x
Such beautiful views!!
Annie | http://www.drugstoredreamer.blogspot.com
Gorgeous photos, what a beautiful place! Good luck with the house hunt x
What Rachael Wrote
oh how beautiful, it looks like a really picturesque area. I hope everything runs smoothly with all you do in the US, you and your little family deserve it
Jade xxx
Girl Up North | UK Lifestyle Blog
It looks like a beautiful place which I'm sure you'll have lots of fun exploring and getting to know!
I have been waiting for one of your updates Amy- I am utterly envious and intrigued about your new life over there. Please do some more posts! 🙂 xx
What an amazing set of pictures and great to read that you are finding your feet – I look forward to reading how you get along and seeing you settle into your new home. Good luck 🙂
Welcome to america. I havent come to your blog for awhile due to family sickness. It will be very very humid so make sure you have alot of light clothing. Very exciting. Are you moving back to europe after 2 years???
Found your blog via Sprinkle of Glitter and am delighted to see that you are not only settling in well to life in the States, but have settled in just down the road from me. it's indeed a small world.
As for BBQ, try Q Barbeque, it's in the shopping centre near the Short Pump Kroger (basically across the street from Short Pump Mall). Alamo BBQ is also very good–that's in Church Hill, just east of downtown.
I hate that limbo feeling! But welcome!! And I've got to recommend going and spending some time in DC. It's one of my favorite cities I've been to.
I hate that limbo feeling! But welcome!! And I've got to recommend going and spending some time in DC. It's one of my favorite cities I've been to.
Love reading about your new adventure, sounds amazing! Id love to visit more of the US. look forward to reading more! 🙂
Natalie
Little Jam Pot Life
It looks like a beautiful place. Enjoy your new adventure! M xx
The CSI Girls