It has been a happy, hard, busy, painful and wonderful year. Our family has definitely had our share of struggles this year, but the happy has far outweighed the heartache.
I am not good at journaling, scrapbooking or keeping up with social media on a regular basis. When I looked over all the pictures we have from the last 12 months I had forgotten half of what we had done. So before I forget I want to chronicle our top ten favorite things about our life in Nebraska.
#10. The Museums
James would probably rank this higher. He says the Air and Space Museum is his favorite place in Omaha. We love all the museums we have visited in Omaha. We especially love that many are free or nearly free. Some of our other favorites are the Joslyn Art Museum, The Children's Museum, The Durham Museum and the Mormon Trail Center.
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| Durham Museum |
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| Children's Museum |
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| Joslyn Art Museum |
#9 The Zoo & Wildlife Park
I am not a big zoo person but I will admit I love taking my kids here. It is clean and big and has a HUGE variety of animals. I have read it is ranked the world's best zoo by trip advisor. I can see why! My animal obsessed kids LOVE it. We feel very lucky to have it so close to home.
The wild life zoo is a different adventure, much smaller crowds and up-close encounters with the animals. It is a "safari" style adventure that you can drive around to see indigenous animals. They rescue and recover all kinds of wild life here. We love seeing the wolves, bald eagles, buffalo (that come right near your car!) Elk, and the clean petting zoo.
#8. Catching Fireflies
This deserves its own rank because it is absolutely magical. We love all the wildlife here. I'm still in awe whenever I see a cardinal, western meadowlark or blue jay. The birds here are so colorful! Our yard is filled with bunnies, squirrels and best of all this time of year fireflies!!
#7. Downtown Omaha
It is quaint and clean and has AMAZING food. I love the brick streets and old architecture. There are tons of unique shops and the antique shopping here is an experience. Our kids could go everyday just to do the slides!
#6. The Libraries, Classes and Schools!
James' school could be number one on this list. I have so many wonderful things to say about the incredible experience we had there this past year. His Kindergarten teacher, Mrs Perrone, helped James to gain a love for learning that will hopefully last a lifetime. The public schools here are WONDERFUL!
The libraries and recreation centers offer great story times, clubs and classes. We haven't taken advantage of these as much as we should! There are tons of options from music, art, dance, gymnastics, sports, swimming. All within 5-10 from our home. In Vegas we had to drive nearly 20 minutes to the closest library/rec center. Madeline just finished her first week of princess dance camp this summer and loved every minute!
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| James' selfie with Mrs. Perrone |
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| Princess Dance Camp |
#5. Trails, hikes, lakes and parks
When we were leaving Las Vegas I was a little tearful on my final run on the black mountain trail and last outing to the park near our home. Henderson had some incredible parks!! But Omaha has not disappointed. There are countless beautiful trails to hike, bike, run and explore. Just down the street is a trail that links to many wonderful parks, a little creek/stream, a lake and a beautiful prairie preserve. We have had many wonderful adventures finding new parks and visiting one of the multiple lakes near our home.
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| Lake Zorinsky Park |
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| Picking Wild Gooseberries |
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| Exploring new hiking trails |
# 4. Our Jobs
Dave has loved his fellowship. His coworkers are kind and very family oriented. He is seeing and doing and learning so much. His commute to work is much shorter than it has ever been. Now that the weather is warm he is able to bike to work. Best of all his fellowship gives us a LOT more family time than we ever had during residency.
I have loved returning to nursing. My job has been the absolute perfect "mom" job. I can maintain some of my skills and just work one day a week when Dave is home with the kiddos. It is a nice brain break for me, but still lets me be home full time with the kids.
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| Dave and Maddie in front of the Med Center, one of the hospitals where Dave works. |
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| Family time with dad! |
This was one I was a little nervous about. I love the heat and my desert babies really love the heat. But this last year made me realize that I missed the season I grew up with. They are beautiful! They make the holidays even more magical. The kids LOVE to play in the snow, go ice skating, have hot chocolate by the fire, rake and play in leaves and gather spring flowers.
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| Fall at the lake |
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| Building snowmen this winter |
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| Looking at the beautiful spring blossoms |
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| Swimming this summer |
#2. Our Home and Garden
We knew our new home was going to be a lot of work. Sometimes it has felt like every spare moment has been trying to fix this home the way we want it. But through that process we have learned so much. Dave has learned to do electrical work, build retaining walls, garden and improve on his woodworking skills. I have learned to repair railings, build fences and gates, build gardens, reupholster furniture, paint, paint, paint, dry wall, texture ceilings, help with minor electrical work, landscape and can food.
We love to do projects together, so this really has been the perfect house for us. Dave puts up with my constant projects and crazy ideas and I try to be patient with his perfectionism. After this first year the house isn't quite where I had hoped to be, but it is coming along.
Best of all our new home has been filled with time together. We have already been able to make many happy memories and traditions. We love to work together in the garden, play games in the living room, listen to James play the piano while Madeline dances in the empty adjoining room. It has been so fun having friends and family come to visit and let us share what we love about our lives here with them.
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| Our little White house |
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| My Electrician doing one of what feels like a thousand home repairs. |
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| No more 1980-something monster light! This kitchen is our next big project, as soon as I work up the nerve to paint those orange cabinets and tear out that terrible tile! |
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| Some of the rooms we have finished... |
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| The living room and formal dining/dance/wrestling room |
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| Family room (decked out for the forth) |
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| The kids bathroom. |
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| The deck. This thing was a beast. It had about 4-6 layers of old paint. I sanded the whole blasted thing with some help from Dave and my saintly mom. Three WEEKS later I was finally able to paint it. My "farm table" I got from an online garage sale and refinished it. It was super nice to have this space done before Dave's family came to stay! |
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| James and Madeline's garden. They have planted strawberries, sunflowers, cucumbers, green beans for a teepee, peppers, tomatoes and a tomatillo. I can't wait to see how it turns out in the next couple of months! |
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| Our family garden. This is about 1/3 of it. We also have corn, tons of tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, onions, zucchini, squash and pumpkins growing. |
#1. The People
Hands down the best part about our life here in Omaha are the people!!!
Our neighbors are by far the best part for me. They are thoughtful and kind and everyone looks out for each other. The kids have loads of friends their age that live all around us. They play so well together and all the parents look out for each other's kids. It truly feels like a village here.
James has made some really sweet friends through school and I have grown close with their wonderful mothers. They are some of my dearest friends and closest confidants.
Dave and I have fantastic co-workers who have become fast friends.
We absolutely love our Church family. They have been our family away from family. Truly some of the kindest and best people we have ever met and already life-long friends.
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| James with two of his best school buddies Nick and Ava |
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| James and his best buddy Nick exploring the prairie preserve. |
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| Trick-or-treating with friends |
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| I love these girls, they feel like my own kids. |
I am so excited to see what the next year here in this great city brings!
