Life in the suburbs is oh so fine.

Spring has sprung. The snow has melted. By golly, the neighbors are out!

We moved to the suburbs in the dead of winter and hardly saw a single soul out and about for months. It felt like a ghost town. A very nice ghost town, of course. Houses were closed up tight and garage doors were kept shut. I never even saw people coming and going. But now! Front doors are propped open, garage doors are left up and kids are everywhere! Dogs all over the place! Bikes and strollers, lemonade stands and camp chairs line the sidewalks. Oh my. This is going to be so fun!

We've played outside every day this week, and went for a stroll around the community every day as well. I love looking at the houses, waving hello and talking to my new neighbors. Ahhhh...to feel safe and to feel comfortable where you live is a great feeling. Not to mention smooth sidewalks are so nice when you're pushing a double stroller with 50 pounds of children inside.

When we lived in the city, I also walked the streets frequently and said hello to people I passed. But there was always that nagging voice in my head reminding me: "Oh, there's the house where the woman was shot in the neck last May. And there were 4 police cars on that corner last night...wonder what happened there. I hope I can walk past the two J.W. women who are headed my way without a long conversation. What happened to that house with the boarded up windows?"

Life in the city is a thing in my past. I can't imagine we'll be back in that type of community again. That is fine with me. My appreciation level has soared to new levels. Without those experiences, I would have much less to be grateful about.