I’m just a small town gal trying to make it in the big, bad city

I love that quote, and that movie! Ok, I digress.

Rochester is fabulous. It’s taking some getting used to, that’s for sure. It’s much bigger than Erie, but it doesn’t take as long to get to places. We went to get pizza on Sunday from a little mom-n-pop pizza place Brian had found. While we were waiting for our order, we were admiring the autographed Colts pictures on the wall (the owner is a big Colts fan!) and talking. Another customer overheard the boys say something about having just moved here and she starting talking to us. She asked where we lived, and when we told her, she looked at us and said “And you drove all the way over here for pizza?” Brian and I looked at each other like, what do you mean? We were, like, 10 minutes from home. It took us longer to get to the mall from our house in Erie than it did to get pizza! But, I guess people in Rochester sort of stick to their own little area.

I had my first driving excursion alone 2 nights ago and I discovered something. There are ways in which Rochester is like Erie. Not all of their streets have street signs. Now, I’m sure this is no big deal for the average Rochester resident. However, it makes it very difficult for those of us NOT from here. In retrospect, driving to Lowe’s in the dark in rush hour traffic probably wasn’t a good idea for my first time driving alone here. I got there just fine. It was coming home that was the problem. I’m sure that will all come with time. It’s something I’ll have to get used to, for sure!

The boys love their new school and especially riding the bus! I, of course, love that I don’t have to take them to and from school anymore! Saves me 40 miles a week Alex will be enrolling in kindergarten for the fall. The only thing that disappoints me about the school system is that they have half day kindergarten, rather than full day like Erie did. That, however, may be mandated by the state. Fortunately, with 2 years of preschool, he’ll be alright in half day kindy. He will also ride the bus, which he is looking so forward to! So far, though, I am really happy with their school experience. It’s only been 4 days for them, but they seem to love it already. They each have at least someone from their class that rides their bus, and one little boy from Ryan’s class lives across the street from us, so that’s nice, too.

Do I miss Erie? Maybe a little. But so far, I am really loving Rochester. I think what I miss the most about Erie are the firends I made there. There is one HUGE difference between Eire and Rochester, though. When we moved to Erie, everyone asked us why we wanted to come to a city like Erie. I heard so many people refer to it as “The mistake by the lake” that it wasn’t funny. They just couldn’t believe that someone would actually want to come to live in Erie by choice. When we moved here, I heard “Welcome to Rochester. It’s such a great city and I’m sure you’ll love it here! There’s so much to do!” That, my dear readers, is what Erie is missing. And, quite honestly, it’s made our move to Rochester perfect. We really feel welcomed here, and I really feel “at home.”