One Year Anniversary

I have never been a huge "Anniversary" person. My hubby and I always do something special to commemorate our big wedding day, but we are pretty low key. It always cracks me up a little when people talk about 4 month anniversaries for dating, or the 5 year anniversary of when he proposed. I really don't keep track of dates very well I guess!

As I was walking the dog this morning I strolled past the Aberdeen apartment complex, at the corner of 15th and Robinson, which was the Leffel home as we transitioned into life downtown. It struck me all of a sudden- "Hey- about this time last year we moved in there!" I came home and checked the true ledger of events in our lives, the checkbook, and I was right! We moved last year on March 20th. That cozy townhouse/apartment was only our home for three very quick months, but it represented a major shift in life for our family. We had known for a long time that we really wanted to move downtown for a LOT of reasons. Now that we are here I can say without a doubt that I totally LOVE IT! So, I will break from my non-anniversary nature to give you my list of the top 5 things I love about living in downtown Oklahoma City in honor of our family's first anniversary here:

1. Death of the Commute: The number one reason by far for our move. We have at least 40 more minutes a day with my husband because instead of taking 20-45 minutes ONE WAY to get to work, it takes 4-5 by car and only 30 to WALK! Woo Hoo! Side benefits include- lunches with hubby at home, appearance of hubby at random during the day school functions for our kids, dinners as a family at a reasonable time, breakfasts as a family, I could go on here...

2. Community: Our neighborhood has such a strong sense of community. We have a rocking arts centered neighborhood school that I WALK my kiddo to each day- on sidewalks no less! We have a neighborhood park, neighborhood festivals, and people walk, bike, and sit on their front porches. I have met 10x more neighbors in the nine months we have lived in our house than we did in the 5 years we lived in our previous neighborhood.

3. Food: Sad that this weighs in at 3, but true. We love to eat and have long spent date nights cruising downtown to enjoy all our favorites. Now we are here and it is gastronomically glorious! We can walk faster than we can drive to Cheevers, Cuppies and Joe, and Big Truck Taco. It is easy to walk to the Plaza Court for McNellies, Cafe do Brazil, 1492, etc. The Wedge, Iguana Lounge, Sage, and many more must eats for us are just a short car ride away. The best part? These are all LOCAL restaurants, so more of our dollars support OKC.

4. Entertainment: With the first MAPS downtown OKC exploded with entertainment options. Bricktown, the Ballpark, movies, canal rides, restaurants, bowling, museums, gardens, theater, a state of the art YMCA, and the holy grail this time of year... the Ford Center! We can do it all and be there in minutes. During December you can add snow tubing and ice skating to the list. Where is my husband right now? At the Thunder game with Zander! They can leave at the half and be home and tucked in for bedtime in 15 minutes. It rocks to live so close to so much great entertainment.

5. The Future: The best part for me is that this area is only getting better. So much has changed and opened up just in the year we have been here. With the passage of MAPS 3 even more awesomeness is coming. A new central park for one thing- have you seen the plans? It looks to be amazing. With the construction of the new Devon building comes a huge renovation for the Myriad gardens with several specially planned children's areas, a cafe, and water features that turn into an ice rink in the winter among other things, and that should be done in a year. It makes me proud to call Oklahoma City my adoptive home. Friends who come to visit me now leave impressed and excited to come back.

So, there is my anniversary list. We love it here! We will always have strong connections to our church and friends on the north side of town, but we are here to stay. It used to make me a little defensive when people asked why we wanted to move down here... now it just makes me smile.