When my Massachusetts sweetheart and I relocated back to his stomping grounds after we lived in Alabama for five years (I am originally from Florida), I was excited but also had no idea what I would be getting myself into. Since being with Shane, I thought I knew all there was to know about New England life before even moving here; I thought it would be a smooth transition and I would fit right in (mostly). Move-in day! Little did I know, I would often feel like a foreign exchange student in need of a pocket dictionary and language guide. I'm sure I often displayed a befuddled expression as I attempted to converse with the locals, as I am sure they also thought my "y'all" and slight drawl (at least as far as Alabamians are concerned!) was otherworldly. Now that we have successfully relocated and have been enjoying New England life for 10 months, I have picked up some local words and phrases. Caution: when attempting to understand the meaning of a word or p
Christmas is my favorite holiday. I celebrate as long as I can possibly get away with and look forward to it for the rest of the year. Since we moved into our new home just a few weeks before Christmas, and it would be many weeks after that before we had furniture and paint on the walls, I had to keep my Christmas decorating to a minimum this year. Nevertheless, my Christmas cheer came in full capacity! I was so excited to experience my first holiday as a New England Belle , but I was most excited that for the first time in our entire relationship, Shane and I would be waking up in our own home on Christmas morning. There really was nothing like it. Because of this, Shane and I vowed to have a quiet Christmas morning together with no alarm clock. We soaked it all in by stayed in our pajamas, opening our stockings, and enjoying an easy breakfast. We spent the rest of the day opening gifts, spending time with family, and staying true to a few of our favorite Christmas t