A new chapter

We are officially starting a new chapter and moving to Minneapolis!

Mike's company contacted him a few months ago with this opportunity which gave us some time to really dig in and research it before signing the papers. When he first told me about the promotion I knew two things about Minnesota:

1. It gets dang cold.
2. There are lots of lakes.

Everything else was a blank - I actually had to grab a map to remind myself where Minneapolis is located!

The past few months have definitely brought a great opportunity to learn more about the area, his job and the type of family environment. While it'd be easy to stay exactly where we are - in our neighborhood and living close to family, we also see this move away from our comfort zone as a big opportunity for personal, family and professional growth. Obviously, we will miss being close to everyone we love. And, we know and recognize that this is a big change for our whole family, not only now but in future years. But, we truly feel blessed with this opportunity and confident that this is a path we should take in our journey of life.

Thanks to the internet, books and our brief trip in late January, I now know a few additional facts (and found my first two to be correct!):

3. Known as the Twin Cities with the Mississippi river flowing between. It's largely German and Scandinavian ancestry. So, we'll fit right in.
4. Bicycling magazine just named it the top cycling city in the US (it beat Portland!). Amazingly, the article even talks about all of the cycling done in the cold, cold winter!
5. The Mall of America attracts more visitors annually than the Grand Canyon, Disney World and Graceland combined. This is Max's favorite thing to read about (no, not a shopper, but thrilled to think about an amusement park being indoors).
6. By nature of a bigger city, loads of museums, events, etc. to keep busy.
7. Home to one of the highest per capita parkland places in the country. Probably due to #2. Lakes are everywhere! And they are used year round. Obvious activities in the water, but there are a bunch of "beach" lakes full with playgrounds, and trails - both for walking and biking. While we were up there in the winter, we were amazed at everyone cross country skiing across the lakes, cycling and walking around on the trails. Not to forget the ice fishing - at least one person drives their car/truck onto one of the lakes too late in the season and it falls in.
8. Thought to have been visited by the Vikings. This is Max's second favorite thing to read about. I think he secretly hopes Vikings will actually still be there when we move.
9. Great public schools. Many of the school districts are ranked extremely high nationally. It's been nice reading about this and hearing it from people we've talked with as Max will be starting into the school system the fall of 2011.
10. We will remain Jazz fans. Sorry, Timberwolves.

I could go on, but I feel like I'm starting to sound like one of those tourist books.

So the house goes up for sale relatively soon, and we start the official house hunting fun in the upcoming weeks as well. If you see any deals on extremely warm winter clothing, please pass them our way.

A few shots I took while we were there in January. This is a bike/walk only bridge over the Mississippi.
A different bridge shot.
A distance shot of the ice fishing on one of the lakes we drove by.


Let the adventure begin...