Some News

Well, last week marked 3 years of blogging and a little over three years of living in Graz.  We'll be sad to leave this wonderful place, but we're excited for our new adventure because...

...come June, we're movin' to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!

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That's America, folks.

I found us a home there this weekend, too.  A cute little double duplex (fourplex if you will) in a great neighborhood.

(Google street view of the front of our duplex)

We have a front and back yard and a fairly decent sized front porch where I'll be sitting and rocking with Alexander.  Baby boy has a name now:

It's an older building, but charming with wood floors throughout and enough space for our small little fam.

One of my big priorities for our next city was somewhere we could walk and not have to drive a car everywhere.  After living that life in Graz, I realized how wonderful it is.  I knew that this was a tall order and not possible many American cities, but somehow we lucked out and Pittsburgh is one of them.  

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Apparently this neighborhood has everything within reach...grocery stores, shopping, lots of good non-chain restaurants, Starbucks, Carnegie Mellon library and two big parks.  Art's work, University of Pittsburgh, is a 15-minute walk through the Carnegie Mellon campus.  He's been walking to and from work here for the past three years and it will be nice he can continue to do the same.  We're shooting to only need one car and to need it mostly on the weekends.
 

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University of Pittsburgh campus and the Cathedral of Learning

Look at how pretty it is inside.

 

And I'm still gonna get my fall trees (and other three seasons) here!

Some pics of the neighborhood:

 

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I love all the trees and older classic American homes.

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Pittsburgh isn't the industrial steel town it used to be.  It's frequently rated high in lists like Forbes' America's Most Liveable Cities because of its good job market, universities, walkable neighborhoods, lively downtown and affordable housing.

I'm pretty sure there are some avid sports fans there too.

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So, I'm already scheming up nursery decor in my head and a tiny bit stressing over packing up and selling our stuff here and saying goodbye to our wonderful Graz friends.  Also wondering whether to continue the blog in Pittsburgh.  Life in Pitt doesn't quite have the same ring to it.  And, I can't write of my culture shock in quite the same way, although I'm sure it ain't like Texas.

I know it sounds cheesy, but thanks for supporting and reading this little blog.  It's actually been a huge part of our time here and we've met more than a handful of friends from this little endeavor.   This weekend I met someone from San Francisco for coffee and a chat who had recently moved to Graz and we also went to dinner with a couple from New York that just moved this past weekend and needed a little American friend reassurance that they had made a good decision moving here. Both of these people found me through this blog.

I'd say our time abroad has been one of the best experiences of my life.  It's been a good start for our marriage and we've both grown and learned a ton from it.  Now onto the next chapter!