When Ben and I started talking about moving closer to family, we really were thinking of Indianapolis - - it's right in between our parents (3.5 hours to Ben's, and 5 to mine), an hour from Purdue (so we can catch football games), and we have a ton of college friends who live in the area so it sounded ideal. Then the opportunity in Louisville came up. I NEVER in a million years ever thought about living in Kentucky. In fact just about a year ago, a guy that I use to work with was telling me about when he was younger him and his family rented a house boat on a lake in Kentucky and how great of a vacation it was. I just looked at him and said "Kentucky? That is one of those states that I lump in with West Virginia......." And now I live in Kentucky!
Lots of jokes were told to us before we moved, and I understood because I had similar thoughts. My family asked if Alex and Olivia would grow up with southern accents, and I told them that I sure hoped not! And after being here for a few months, here is what I have learned and thought about our move:
1. A study was released listing the states with the most millionaires - #4 was Connecticut (what were we thinking moving?)
2. Another study came out shortly after that ranking the large metro areas with the lowest percentage of residents with college degrees - #6 was Louisville (what were we thinking moving to Kentucky?)
3. A ranking of the most affordable places to live had Louisville ranked #8 (Kentucky was finally redeeming itself!)
4. Not knowing whether I live in the south or the midwest, I have been told that Lexington, Kentucky is the south, and Louisville is the midwest. Interesting.....
5. I've always told myself (perhaps trying to convince myself) that Louisville is much different than the rest of Kentucky and I am finding that others who live here say the same thing, and I still think it is true.
6. Everyone who sounds like their from the south, I find, doesn't live in Louisville but lives in a surrounding city - perhaps proving that Louisville is indeed the midwest and the rest of Kentucky is the south!
7. People do really have "double wides on the lake" and others seemed excited about it. Maybe one day we will own our very own double wide on the lake!
With all that said, so far we really do like living in Louisville. There seems to be so much to do here - - with and without kids. They have a great zoo and science center, and then there is always Churchill Downs (which we haven't been to yet) There are also some great restaurants with fabulous food.
Even though we targeted Indianapolis, Louisville is an ideal location as well. Ben's parents and extended family are just 2 hours away. My family is 6 (half of the drive from MI to CT), and Ben's cousin and college roommate live in Louisville.
We found house that has been great for our family - - a lot more space than what we had. And it is in a neighborhood which we love. There is even a playground in the neighborhood which we can walk to. Ben and the kids got a lot of use out of the playground this past summer and will continue to in future summers when he is home with them.
The kids have enjoyed all the extra space but it was a transition moving to a new place. They got their own rooms for the first time - - this actually went over much better than we thought it would. After we closed, Ben and I stayed at the house for a few days by ourselves painting the kids' rooms to make them extra special for when they first arrived.
And the kids had to get use to us going downstairs after putting them to sleep at night (our house in CT was 1 story) - - this was a bigger transition than we anticipated - they thought we were leaving them. 3 months in and they are well adjusted to their new rooms. They even have a playroom all to themselves which is off of Alex's bedroom.
The finished basement is a hit with the kids (so much space to run around since we don't have a ton of furniture down there), us (great place to hang out at night and also do work in the office), and our guests (the guest room is down there with their own bathroom and coffee maker, etc -- much different from our old house).Here are some pictures of the main floor:
The only painting we have done is the kids' rooms. Ben hates painting, so it is kind of like pulling teeth to get him to paint. Lucky for him I LOVE the yellow in the kitchen and dining room, and the red in the living room. So there won't be too much to paint. Our room will probably be the next to paint.....we'll see when that actually happens!So far my job is going good. And I am happy to report that in the middle of September (about 4 weeks into the school year) Ben landed a job teaching 7th grade social studies (what he taught in Connecticut)...things have been crazy busy ever since! Here's a picture of the building where I work - AEGON Center which is the tallest building in Kentucky (my brother took this while we were walking through downtown).
It's official....we are Kentucky residents!
