Howdy from Texas!

All the way from Austin…Hello Friends!

I still can't believe that Tyler and I have moved to Texas! It was always a possibility, but I never thought the day would actually come. Yet here we are, in month 9 of living in this beautiful city.

Some of you might be wondering, what on earth is in Austin for us? Tyler, along with the CEO and another cofounder, started a company called webAI in Grand Rapids. The company has been doing really well, but there was more growth opportunities outside of Michigan. They felt like God was opening doors for them in Austin, so here we are!

My first impression of the city is its vibrant activity. Early in the morning, you can see many people jogging or walking their dogs. And the dogs! Anyone who knows me is aware of my love for dogs. Austin is incredibly dog-friendly! I can take Luna almost anywhere here, from coffee shops to restaurants. Austin truly embraces the dog community.

The move itself was pretty easy as we still have our home in Grand Rapids. Tyler and I flew out to Austin and his parents offered to drive down his car with Luna. Our friends in Austin were kind enough to let us stay with them until we figured out our living situation. We lived with them for about 3 months, and after seeing quite a few beautiful homes and a few discussions, we knew the best thing for us at the moment was to move into an apartment. The exciting part is that we had always talked about how great it would be to live in the city, never did we think we would be spot on in the center of downtown Austin. We are currently living at Residences at 6G, which has beautiful lookout of the city, fun amenities, and frequent events for the residents. It's only a few minutes away from Tyler's job which is so convenient and we have coffee shops all around. And you guys know how much we love our coffee shops.

Speaking about coffee shops, the amount of places to go for food and beverages are amazing! When friends have come over to visit, the first thing we suggest are our favorite restaurants. If you're ever in Austin, the top 3 I would recommend are:

1. ATX Cocina (Mexican Cuisine)

2. The Well (Free of: Glute, Dairy, Seed Oils, Soy, Refined Sugars, and GMO's)

3. Qi (Modern Asian)

Those 3 are definitely our favorite, but there are a ton more. What I really appreciate about these restaurants are how clean the food is. If you have any form of allergy or intollerance, you will always have an option! As far coffee shops go, my top 3 are:

1. Codependent

2. Houndstooth

3. Neighborhood Cafe

But again, there are a ton more options that Tyler and I need to explore! There's also a ton of places to walk, a favorite being the walk around the river. There's always people around and it's cool to be a part of nature in the city.

Adjusting to the move of course has not been the easiest. As much as there are amazing things to do in Austin, you can't help but miss family, friends, my church community and routine. After 9 months of living in Austin, we have finallly found a church to call home (though ResLife will always be our home church 😉). After a nice sebatical, I had decided to start the process of auditioning for the worship team and was able to join! That has been so good for my soul.

Moving to Austin has definitely been a journey. It's super easy to talk about all the fun things that we've experienced in this move, but there's definitely been some hardships as well. In my next post, I want to share the ups and downs of my recent move. It’s been a whirlwind of, saying goodbye to family and friends, routine being turned upside down, and trying to find my way in a brand new place. I’ve definitely felt homesick and a bit lonely while figuring out how to find new community. But even with all the challenges, I’ve picked up some important lessons about being adaptable and bouncing back. I hope my experiences can help others who are going through similar changes.