It's a Small World After All

It's funny how we have met so many people with connections to home!

One of the first couples we were "set up with" was from my friend Tara. Tara and I were in youth group together and were suitemates in college. This is really morbid, but on 9/11 I always think of Tara because she was the one that walked into our bathroom and told me that a plane hit the tower. Anyway, she let me know of a couple that she knew  that moved to Biddeford for Medical School at UNE. The husband is a Mt. Calvary grad, of all things! But, he was considerably younger than all the Mt. Calvary grads that I hung around with so we didn't really swap many stories. He is in his first year of med school so they are very busy, but we did manage to meet up for breakfast one Sunday and hope to do it again soon.

The second time was when we went to set up a bank account. The bank guy, Jason, needed our phone numbers and when I told him mine he was like, "717? Are you from Lancaster?". Turns out he was a Millersville University grad and lived in Lancaster for several years after college. He moved to Maine because his parents moved up here a few years ago. We both agreed that First Friday in Lancaster is amazing but that Portland can give it a run for it's money. He also commented that Lancaster is like a mini-Portland which is one of the things Jonathan noticed when we drove in for the first time. And one of the things that made us excited to move here.

The third time was at a picnic at a church that we attended a few times (but haven't officially decided if that is where we'll land). The church was having a picnic afterwards so we stayed. We ended up meeting another couple that moved up to Maine for medical school. The wife was from Pittsburgh, which is not as close of a connection, but it's still Pennsylvania so it counts. We have a coffee date with them next week so hopefully we can get to know them better.

The fourth time was when I went to training for my new job (which I will have to explain more of in future blog posts). I met a guy named Thomas that is originally from Maine, but went to grad school at Ohio State. We talked about our favorite places to go in Columbus and about the ridiculousness of Ohio State fans.

I didn't officially meet her at the training, but during my first week of work, I met a girl named Heather that was from Zanesville, OH and moved up to Maine a year ago to help her parents start a bed and breakfast. I didn't know the Zanesville area very well so we didn't have many connections that way, but we shared a mutual frustration with how annoying it was to transfer our Ohio teaching licenses to Maine.

It's funny how life and people are so intertwined.

The other day, someone asked me if we had any snow in Maine yet. Um, Maine is not the Yukon. No, we have not had snow. I haven’t even had to scrape ice off my car yet. It has been a very typical fall here. The leaves peeked earlier than in Ohio or Pennsylvania but that has been the only noticeable weather difference.

We tried several times to go leaf peeping but I think it has rained almost every weekend in late September- October. We made several weekend plans to go to Acadia, Franconia, NH and Stowe, VT but they were all rained out. We were going to go up to Camden, ME (which was voted the prettiest small town in Maine) this Saturday—but of course, it is going to rain. We did manage to see some pretty trees, but there is less near the coast. It was disappointing—I love fall weather, leaves, etc.  Maybe next year.  

I think winter will come earlier here. I hate winter. People keep telling us that Maine winters are milder near the coast so I am hoping that is true. But, I figured if I moved north, I might as well embrace the winter. Our Christmas gifts to each other this year are going to be snowshoes and winter gear.  There is a state park about 5 mins from us that has great, flat snowshoeing trails that will be good for us beginners.  Jonathan is excited to do some downhill skiing, but that scares me because I’m really bad at stopping. Every time I’ve gone downhill skiing, I’ve had to fall down to stop. I’m hoping to take a lesson or two. I would also like to try cross-country skiing. We’ll see.