6 month check in

Believe it or not this week is six months since we got here.

When I look back on the last six months, I can not figure out if they seem like forever or if they have raced by. I can not believe that half a year has flown by so quickly- but at the same time last August seems so long ago that it might as well be another lifetime.

From the other side of the Atlantic this seemed like the biggest and scariest decision I ever had to make. I was terrified that it was going to be the biggest mistake of my life- and that I would end up stuck in a terrible situation form which there would be no escape. I heard all of my friends who had already jumped over this cliff telling me that it would be okay, that I would not fall off the cliff but would instead soar through the skies in ways I could not imagine. I was not sure I believed them, but they were finally convincing enough that I could try.

From up here the world is a much different place. It is more beautiful and free that I could have ever dreamed while standing on the rocks.

Channah is blossoming in school. She loves her teachers. She is making lots of friends and has a social calendar busier than either of her parents. She loves her ballet class which is something we could never have afforded to give her in Toronto. She has open invites to half a dozen places on this street alone! She loves the kids programs at the shul and begs to go. She is as much at home wandering ruins and ancient holy places as she is playing a computer game. She is growing up where she can see and feel her history and her tradition all around her and it is astounding to watch how it is becoming a part of who she is in a way I doubt it will ever be for Jason and I. She has grown roots attaching her to the land far faster than we would have expected.

Jason too is coming into his own in ways very different from when we were in Toronto. Sure he can still make me crazy, but that spark that was inside him when we got married before "reality" trampled it is back. It has been years since I have seen him this happy. He looks forward to getting up in the morning! He has done exceedingly well in his ulpan time, and now is excited for the new job. He is making friends at shul, loves the Rabbi, and getting involved in the community.

As for me, well I never remember feeling this much a part of my community. I rarely feel anymore like I am an outside watching the world around me through glass walls. I feel to some extent that I have fallen into a jigsaw puzzle where I am a perfect fit. I have friends and committments and a business that is growing each day. I have a home I am proud of and that we are building literally from the ground up in the image we want it to take.

We made a list a while back of things that we learned after being here 6 weeks. At 6 months this list has grown into something much more elaborate. It has gone from being a list of things we have come to accept to being a way of life we have come to love.