Life is Great in 21228

That is the bumper sticker I see around Catonsville.  It used to bother me slightly because I didn't think life was so great in Maryland.  All of my close friends kept moving away and I always felt like an outsider here.  Everyone seemed to know each other and have family here.  Jason and I would bring up moving back to PA all the time.

I can honestly say, on May 18, 2014, that I think living in 21228 is great.  Here are three reasons why I love Catonsville

1. I can get to a plethora of Baltimore attractions in 20 minutes or less.

I don't think my kids (or I, really) realize how lucky we are to hop to The Maryland Zoo on a Friday morning or eat goldfish while watching dolphins swim at the National Aquarium on a Wednesday.   We have memberships at The Maryland Zoo, Maryland Science Center, and B & O Railroad Museum.  Fortunately, we were able to use a friend's guest pass at the National Aquarium too.  We went to all of those places over a two month period.  That makes 21228 great.

March 4- Loaded up in Auntie L's van, heading to the
Science Center to use our new memberships

Cheesin' it up

April 18: Spring Break for Hannah.
The whole crew goes back to The Maryland Zoo

Seeing the polar bears brings me such happiness.  

Snacks & tantrums by 4 giraffees- what every
two year old does on a Friday.  Spoiled kids!

May 7: B & O Railroad Museum
We soaked up every minute of our last few days with
Lisa & Emily while Lisa was home on maternity leave

May 14: National Aquarium
After watching "The Cove" I feel guilty taking my kids to
see dolphins in captivity... they are fascinating creatures!

I forced my friend to take multiple pictures of ME with my kids.
No strollers are allowed, but they give you that fancy backpack.
Braylen loved it and Evie did a great job walking

JAWS comes to Maryland!

2.  My sister lives 20 minutes from me

I love raising my kids with their cousins.  Hannah and Cole will be in their life forever; I pray they will always be best buds.

Watching the elephants

Post egg hunt

3.  The wonderful girlfriends that I met over the past two years that have grounded me here.

Shout out to:

Lisa for being everything I ever wanted in a neighbor/best friend.  She is the main reason I want to stay put.  Our friendship is such that we can just show up at each other's houses unannounced.  It doesn't matter if we are in PJs, the kitchen floor is covered in spices, or we are screaming at our children.  We bring each other dinner, we have dinner together, we make SOS calls to pick up a kid when we've had enough, we walk the neighborhood all.the.time, and sometimes just sit together and wonder how the heck we are going to get through motherhood.   If we move, I need Lisa in my 'hood; wouldn't you?!

Laura for encouraging me to join her Mom's group which allowed me to explore all the C-ville playgrounds, meet beau coup moms in a 15 minute radius, and just learn about the happenings of Catonsville.

Karla for suggesting I join her MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) group.  I got a break from my kids for 2.5 hours each week and was able to connect with other moms with similar situations (ie kids close in age, no grandparents close, etc).

I've been praying for a good girlfriend to live close to me (and stay here!) for a long time.  It happened in God's time, not mine.  Lots of love to Alison as well,  for reaching out to me on Facebook as soon as I joined MOPS.  I have someone originally from PA that is an EAGLES fan!!!  She had me at "we should be best friends"  :)


(Sorry for all the mushy-ness.  Actually, I'm not.   I don't verbalize enough how much my friends and family mean to me because I am too busy chasing after my kids or have mommy brain 99% of my day.  So darn-it, I am writing it on my blog because I want these ladies to know they have made a huge impact on me feeling at home in 21228.)


As our friends not in 21228 invite us to their big four bedroom houses "out in the boonies" (AKA affordable areas), we find ourselves saying we would rather pay a ton for our townhouse in 21228 than have the big house in the middle of nowhere (at least that's what it seems to us).  We dream of living in a big house with a fenced in yard someday, but I think we're staying put for a little bit longer.