What a difference a year makes!

This past Thursday marked the one year date from when we moved to Switzerland. I still can't believe we have lived here for an entire year, to say the year has flown by would be a massive understatement.

I remember a few days after we arrived in Geneva last year, Ryan had gone to his first day at work while I was home alone for the first time - I was sitting in the living room of our temporary apartment staring at our list of errands and thinking about how I knew essentially no one in this country and everything felt SO foreign. At that moment, I had a flash of panic and thought to myself "What did I get myself into?! I'm not sure I can do this, this is not going to be easy". And by all means, those first months were not easy. They were full of endless errands, paperwork, permit struggles, furniture assembly, feeling lonely at times, struggling with the language, trying to obtain internet access to maintain contact with the outside world, living out of suitcases until our shipment arrived, transitioning into new jobs, missing family and friends, among other things.  Then, slowly but surely, life became more comfortable -- the errands gradually slowed, permits were secured, furniture was assembled and our apartment started to look like a home, we made friends, obtained internet and discovered the glory of FaceTime to keep in contact with friends/family, and started to go on adventures in our amazing surroundings.  And now a full year after that panicked afternoon, I can confidently say that Switzerland no longer feels foreign or lonely, it just feels simply like our comfortable and peaceful "home".  Of course living abroad in a foreign country will never be 100% easy, there will always be errands, missing family and friends, and moments of frustration -- but now it is just a part of life, whether life is in Switzerland or the US.

So as I look back on the past year and look forward to the (likely) two more years in this country, blessed is the word that keeps going through my head. I feel so blessed to have a loving, supportive husband, caring family, fun friends who have welcomed us to Switzerland with open arms, a beautiful apartment, the adorable Pumpkin, healthy bodies, a convenient city to live in, promising careers, the world's most beautiful scenery at my doorstep, numerous visitors to share our experiences with, and many opportunities to explore this side of the world. Blessed, indeed...

Some of my favorite moments in Switzerland thus far...