This weekend marks one year since us Smiths moved from Lititz, Pennsylvania to North Carolina. In some ways we still miss our friends and small town that we left behind (heck, we still miss Florida too!) but in most ways, we feel like we’re finally home. This last year has seen our boys reaching new milestones- Nolan learned to walk and talk and Brady has completely blossomed into an independent pre-schooler. Our kids have gotten to experience so many new things since moving to North Carolina. They’ve explored lakes and trails, visited the mountains and beaches, and have been to tons of downtown museums and festivals. Here’s some of my favorite pictures from the last year of getting to know North Carolina.

If the weather was nice, we were at a park. Lots of biking, running, playing, and boating took place this year, and we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the amount of cool parks to check out.

 

 

We’ve tried to spend a lot of time enjoying all of the lakes near us as well with picnics, swimming, fishing and boat rides.

 

We’ve celebrated all of our birthdays since moving to North Carolina…Brady turned 3 last summer and Nolan turned 2 this Spring. Side note: This summer Brady will celebrate his 4th birthday in his 4th house. Time to stay put for a while!

 

We’ve really gotten to enjoy all 4 seasons. In fact, that might be my favorite thing about North Carolina. You get a taste of each season without ever feeling tired of any one type of weather. Just when the Summer heat got annoying, Fall gave us a welcomed break. When Winter got on my last nerve, Spring began to give us some relief. It’s just gorgeous here.

Summer

Fall

Winter

Spring

Some of our favorite memories were when we ventured out of Raleigh and checked out what else North Carolina had to offer.

While we know the state of North Carolina has a lot to offer, we’re especially happy that we chose Raleigh as our city. We’ve had so much fun checking out the museums, shops, parks, restaurants, festivals and Farmer’s Markets downtown.

         

It has been a fun year of exploring this area, and now that we have built our forever home, we are really looking forward to seeing what else there is to discover. I’ll always miss seeing Amish buggies in PA, and I’ll never be as close to the beach as I was in FL, but, despite the fact that NC has the worst Spring pollen I’ve ever encountered, it really feels like the perfect fit for our family. We’re looking forward to seeing what else this area has to offer and making lots more memories!