Randoms (15) It's Been Too Long

Okay, I cannot believe it's been three months since I last posted. It's always when things are the craziest that I forget to update and then WHAM, there's just too much to write.

Here goes my attempt at the Randoms, part 15.

• We moved, again. To recap, we moved to Robison/Moon in March after selling our North Side, Pittsburgh house. We moved to Wheaton, Maryland - near DC - for Michael's new job in October and we bought a wonderful house in northern, Virginia in December. (that's four places that we lived in one year) Honestly, I'm unable to see boxes, packing tape or anything move related without getting sick to my stomach. I mean, WHO moves that many times in a year? (point thumbs toward myself, THIS GUY!) You can read more about that transition here.
• We live in Ashburn, VA - horse and wine country - a wonderful school district in a neighborhood full of children. We have a pool, a park, shops, doctors, sushi, everything we need within walking distance. The downside being, it's a 1.5 hour commute ONE WAY to the District. And that sucks. I remember the days Michael would leave for work at 8:30 and be home by 5:15 (just in time for Chloe and I to hit up Kaya for Happy Hour, AKA Mommy sanity). Now it's a much longer day and I usually start cocktailing around 4pm so I don't go totally insane. (I don't want concerned emails so please know that was a joke. sort of) 
• Turns out grad school at Georgetown is a lot harder than my bachelors degree from Geneva. I'm talking, WTF?!!? harder. I started early January and am still learning my way around. I get lost on my way every. single. time. (not surprising to many of you who are aware of my directional impairment), the commute is 1.5 hours one way, I double stack my classes which means I leave at 3pm and get home at midnight on Mondays, academic writing is a lot different than the style I've been blogging in since college (I know you're all shocked!) and things like Blackboard and this crazy RefWorks library are just a few of the things I'm adjusting to. Help me, Jesus!
• The children LOVE their new pre-school. It's Montessori, full of unique and extremely liberating ways of teaching and learning. I'm rather impressed, though we do miss Jewish school. Nico is writing letters and words and learning his addition and subtraction. Selah focuses her attention toward painting and music and measuring...is anyone surprised? We will keep them in this environment until 1st grade and since we plan to hold both back a year (late summer/fall babies), it will be a long-term relationship.
• The house is almost complete, decoration-wise. It's a brand-new townhouse condo so there really wasn't much to do except decorate. And I had an amazing time doing so. I decided on a different feel from my previous houses. Mainly a lighter and tighter theme, incorporating grays, purples, yellows and blues along with my standard red accents. I know how important it is for you to know this, especially since y'all are going to visit anyway, right!? right?!! Just in case you're interested, here's some photos to keep the TMI alive! *DISCLAIMER, I AM NOT A PHOTOGRAPHER, OVBI.

^A few pics of the dining room. We love that chandelier 

^ A pic of the kitchen. Well, really only half of it but I can't figure out how to capture all of it.

^ The living room/game table area. This is really just one huge open room.

 ^ This is the master bedroom. 

^ These are the children's bedrooms. 

Nico's dinosaur theme up top and Selah's Cat in the Hat meets Elsa theme.

Moving on to the more personal...

• I cannot believe how hard life is without people to laugh with, complain to, mommy with, drink and distract and divulge the good and the bad alongside every day, if needed. It amazes me how people function in this world all alone. 
• The thing about having no friends is that I'm forced to spend a ton of time with my husband. I'm not going to lie, I wanted to kill him for a few months. It was like we were in detox to all the distractions of relationships and forgot how to just BE with each other. I'm by no means saying I don't still want to kill him at times (haha), but it is getting a little easier and more comfortable. I'm also getting better at being alone. 
• Last weekend we were in Miami, as I'm sure you saw splattered on all my other social media sites. One of the many perks of Michael's job is his random, usually warm-weathered conferences that welcomes me to tag along!
  
   While he was in his meetings, I spent some wonderful time by myself. I went to a museum, had lunch, walked around, took UBER, read, ordered cocktails and was simply at peace with myself, by myself.
  
  This may sound weird but I could never have done that two years ago and certainly not in Pittsburgh. I'm telling you, there is something seriously life-changing about moving away from the hometown, especially when the hometown is such a small-town city. (Pittsburgh = 2 degrees of separation) 
• I do miss Pittsburgh though. I'm wondering when I'll start answering "northern Virginia" when asked where I am from. It's been sort of funny. Michael promptly says Virginia and I say Pittsburgh when we're both asked. The person asking the question is obviously rather confused.   Sometimes we don't even bother to clarify. 
• I have always been rather confused by the concept, "when do you get to call yourself..." - a builder, a blogger, a musician, a mechanic, a local, etc. I tend to shy on the side of conservative, lest I seem braggy or egotistical. I mean, there is nothing I dislike more than people who claim things that aren't true about themselves. "I'm a photographer," when they just take pictures of their children. "I'm a musician," when they just strum a few songs on the guitar. "I'm a singer," when they just sing in their church choir. "I'm a local," when they just moved to the area. All this to say, I'm not a Virginian. Or a Pittsburgher anymore. I feel a little homeless still and I'm not sure when that will go away but I do know...I am exactly where I need to be, for now. And for now, that's enough. 

Signing off. Thanks for following my randoms. I'll try to update before June! :)
(and btw, this is for you two, Nikki & Amanda, cuz you asked.)