Once Upon a December

Happy December 2010!  The year has flown by, and as Jen and I prepare to order and mail our Christmas cards, we decided it was time to update our blog.  We've been in New Hampshire for a little over a month now, and I think it is safe to say that we are pretty settled in and beginning to learn our way around the area!  The only thing left, now, is to find me a job... ;-)  As we enter the world of blogging, we thought it would be appropriate to begin with our beginnings:

In early October, Jen was offered a job working as the new Director of Youth Ministries at the Congregational Church in Exeter, New Hampshire.  The town is well known for it's prep school, the historic Philips-Exeter Academy.  The church is also historic, having been founded in the same year that the town of Exeter was established: 1638, by Rev. John Wheelwright (the brother-in-law of Anne Hutchinson).

On October 19, 2010, Jen and I set off on our second cross-country road trip of the summer (the first was after we graduated from Princeton in May 2010).  We drove from Seattle, WA to Newmarket, NH in five days, plus two days of visiting with my family in Michigan.  On October 25, 2010, we moved into our first apartment!

Our apartment is beginning to feel pretty "homey" - it is as furnished as it is going to be for awhile, complete with dining set, bedroom set, and sofa/tv in the living area!  We are so excited to have our first place - it may be tiny, but we can't wait to welcome friends and family, have dinner parties, and enjoy life as newlyweds!  We've posted some photos in the links to the left where you can see our apartment.  

We live in Newmarket, which is a small town of about 7 or 8 thousand residents, about 7.5 miles north of Exeter, where Jen works (so, about a 15-minute commute).  There is a small downtown that is an easy ten minute walk from our apartment, and has a couple of coffee shops, a post office, and some cute stores and eateries.  We haven't spent much time exploring Newmarket, but we look forward to getting to know our new hometown!

We had an absolutely lovely Thanksgiving - our first time hosting! - with Jen's Grandpa, Pete, and Jen's sister, Catherine.  G-pa Pete flew from Sacramento, CA to spend a week with us, and Catherine flew from Washington, D.C. from her internship location to spend 4 days.  We visited Boston, Portsmouth,Exeter (of course!), and Maine for some incredible lobster.  With the help of Catherine and G-pa Pete, we picked out and brought home our first Christmas tree - a 7.5-foot-tall, amazingly aromatic tree!

As we get ready for the holiday season, I am so thankful for the many blessings that this year has brought - for our marriage, our first place, a new job for Jen, and a new church community.  What a special and exciting time this has been!  We are both looking forward to the future, and we're excited to share the journey with you through this blog.