I hate to confess this, but I haven’t settled in yet.  We moved here, to Northeast Ohio, five years ago today.  And yet, I still feel like I’m still settling in, still trying to find my place, and make NEO feel like home.  Previously, it has never taken me this long to settle in and feel like I am home.  In fact, we have never lived in a home for more than 5 years in the 20-some years we’ve been married.  Usually I am getting antsy and ready to move on.  Not this time.  I want to stay.  But I also want to be a part of a larger community, to know my city better than I do, and to make friends that are like family.

I may have been unpacked and looking quite comfortably settled within the first three weeks we were here (I hate living out of boxes, so I get out of them as quickly as possible).  However, this move was not as easy in terms of making friends, making our home ours, and getting involved in our community.  Don’t get me wrong, I have made some very good friends, some who have already moved on from here, others I am getting closer to, but as a whole, I have had an exceptionally difficult time finding a place here in NEO.  We moved our four children while two of them were in high school.  I think they have forgiven us now, but between them, their younger two siblings, and just trying to organize and run life, we didn’t explore and engage in the same way here that we have in other cities until this last year.  I mean, I had no young kids to take to play groups, all of the kids were old enough to be dropped off at friends and activities (so no getting to know parents that way), and I just didn’t seem to click with anyone in my neighborhood or church family.  It was very lonely.  Things have improved, but I don’t have the close knit neighborhood that I’ve had before, or even the close knit school community.

I am loving NEO in a lot of ways (although it needs more sun!) so this year I have made a goal to really get to know my community and all it offers, to continue to make my home feel like my home, and hopefully to meet more friends and become a more integral part of my community.  Now that I’ve dumped my emotional baggage, I am hoping that this blog will be my opportunity to showcase what a rich, diverse and FUN area Northeast Ohio is and to document some of the projects and experiences that are helping me to…settle in.  And maybe to pick up a few friends along the way.