One is silver and the other gold

I have been in Salem for one month! Nathan followed a few days later after finishing his board exams. Our new house has really taken shape in that amount of time, especially after all of our belongings arrived safely and intact and we put our efforts to decorating a little. There is still a lot to be done, but that is what Saturdays are for, that and getting ready for Sunday. The house has been fun, but moving to a new place is lonely in the beginning. Realizing that we have only been here a month, I was amazed to think about how many people I already count as friends. Our ward has been very friendly, especially after finding out we are not graduate students and we plan to stick around for a long time. I have been invited to a baby shower and given a friendship bread starter (the end product is wonderful and I am sorry you are all so far away and I can't share it with you). We have also had several neighbors go out of their way to meet us. Did anyone else know that it was National Neighborhood Day last Thursday? Anyway, I sincerely look forward to following up on these introductions and building friendships. That song about gold and silver friends is really true. When I was in Girl Scouts they made us sing it in a round while holding hands and the song was about maintaining existing friendships and creating new ones. Our blog has been a fun way to connect our existing friends with our life here in Salem. When I say friends, I am including our family members because they are our best friends, or at least those we are (fortunately) stuck with forever. Thanks for reading.