It Must Be Beautiful in Vermont This Time of Year...

It is no secret that I love Vermont.  Yes, I know, it is cold and it snows a lot.  And to a Southerner, that can be really terrifying.  But it is absolutely gorgeous.  And it is full of things we love--good and local food, beautiful vistas, amazing summers, all things fall (again, my thoughts on that are no secret!), and community minded people.

I have always wanted to live in Vermont.  I think my obsession started young, with the movie, White Christmas.  Then I read lots of books based in New England.  And I went to Vermont with my grandparents when I was in 7th grade.  

And then we got to live there for two years, which was amazing.  There were some times that I was just done with the snow (but, let me tell you a secret, native Vermonters feel that way too by a certain point), and I definitely had some periods of homesickness, but there was so much about living there that we loved.

We found out a while ago that the director of UVM's Living/Learning Pottery Studio would be retiring this coming May.  So we have known about this possible job for a while now.  And, while we have tried to guard our hearts and not hope too much, I'm going to tell you that we were not very successful at that!  The job got posted a little over a month ago, Bech applied, had a phone interview, and then flew up there on his birthday for an interview.  We just found out this past week that he got the job!

So at the end of this summer, we will be moving to Burlington, Vermont.  

We are both so excited!  We have explained it to Jack, and he seems excited too.  But, honestly, we could tell him we were moving to, well, anywhere, and he would think that was great.  But I do think he is going to love Vermont.  How can he not?

I could make a huge list of all of the things I am excited about--let's be real, y'all know I will probably do that soon.  The only think I love as much as fountain drinks, stripes, fall, and fair isle (which is like Christmas + stripes!) is making lists.  But for now, I'm going to say just two things:

1.  I am excited to move somewhere we have lived before.  We know the area.  We know people there.  When we moved to State College two years ago, I had never even been here and I knew NO ONE here.  That is more than a little terrifying.  We have moved so gosh darn much and it is always somewhere new.  But we know Burlington.  We know the good and the bad and we still love it.  We have drank the Vermont Kool-Aid (or craft beer/local cider) and are proud of it!

2.  I am excited about our church, Redeemer Burlington.  When we lived in Burlington, this church plant was just starting our last year there.  We were able to be a small part of that.  And now it is growing and meeting on Sundays.  Seriously, take a look around that website.  Pretty cool vision, huh?

This church is huge part of the draw Bech and I feel to Burlington.  Joseph, the pastor, referenced Keller once in a conversation with us, talking about how, as Christians, we are called not to leave the cities and places bereft of Christians for our nice, safe suburbs, but to go into those places and love them.  Burlington is the most unchurched city in the most unchurched state in the nation.  And that's where we want to be, there, among those people and at this church.

I am sure there will be more posts about this in the weeks and months to come.  And y'all know this means there will be a plethora of fall pictures and posts.  Sorry, I'm not sorry!