East side!!

My sister will hate that I titled this EAST SIDE. Having lived in Grosse Pointe Farms for a number of years she feels it doesn't make any sense as it doesn't indicate where we live. But to those of us that have spent the majority of our time on the WEST side of the state, when I say EAST side you basically know I live somewhere near Detroit. We live in Rochester  which is about 45 minutes north of Detroit. We've lived here a little over two weeks now. I love living here so far. There is so much to do, and the shopping is phenomenal. Our apartment is very close to downtown Rochester which is lovely. I can hardly wait until the holiday season to see all of the decorations. We are settled into our apartment and while it is cozy, it really isn't too bad. I do miss having a deck and outside area to hang out in that is private. I do not miss our house at all. Honestly I was over our neighborhood for a variety of reasons and feel so happy to be gone! I feel such peace being here and definitely feel that we made the right decision. 

The kids are registered for school, and everyone but Matthew is excited to go! Matthew is never excited to resume school! He is slowly but surely getting used to his new hockey team. He definitely misses all of the friendships he developed over the past eight years of playing for KOHA. His rink is only a few miles up the road which is very convenient especially with all of the traffic we now face. 

I just took my licensing exam this past Saturday and I am sad to say I missed passing by 6 measly points! I am trying to give myself grace as it was literally a horrible time to try and study. I definitely underestimated the amount of topics covered. I took a prep class six years ago and tried to remember what I learned and use materials from back then but fell short. I am going to take a refresher prep class and take it again at the end of the year. I am contemplating whether or not I want to work until then. Jeff would say that I need to work to stop me from shopping at all of the fabulous places around here! However most of the MSW jobs in hospitals require a full licensure so I may just wait until I pass that darn exam! I am trying to enjoy being at home but we are ALL over summer and all of the togetherness at this point. Tomorrow we are headed to Cedar Point for two days! We are staying at Hotel Breakers and the kids are so excited as they have never been. I think I am too old to be riding coasters and I'm hoping Ellie wants to go back to the hotel to hit the pool or the beach. 

Life is good for us! We are happy and content and enjoying East Side living so far!