Ann Arbor

2013 presented me with an opportunity to move to a new city with a great guy. We arrived with our things in mid-July and settled into our spacious and centrally located apartment in Ann Arbor. Immediately, I latched on to the Portuguese Meetup group in the area and started to have some regular hang-out-and-speak-Portuguese outings. Through Meetup (the Portuguese group and others), I've made some good friends in the area. They've shown me around quite a bit and introduced me to the neat things there are in town!

Sticker on a bridge railing in Ann Arbor

We had a beautiful (however short) fall season, complete with beautiful shades of yellows, oranges, and reds on every horizon. A friend, her daughter, and I took a day trip through small towns to visit the Frankenmuth area to find an apple orchard, pumpkin patch, and corn maze. The temperatures were great for walking to work and around town.

When I first arrived in Ann Arbor, Michigan from southeastern Ohio last summer, many Michiganders joked with me that the winters here last 9 months and they are worse than what I've experienced. I had arrived with little-to-no expectations regarding the winter, and decided to expect the worse based on the jokes. However, by the time January and February rolled around and we had experienced two polar vortexes, even the Michiganders started to complain about the worst winter they have ever seen. We had quite a bit of snowfall. So much, that we had to keep snow shovels in our cars so we could dig ourselves out of our apartment's parking lot if we needed to go anywhere. One day, the snow between the cars was all the way up to the top of my thighs! Temperatures stayed in the single digits and the teens for what seemed like forever, with those polar vortexes kicking it up a notch (-40ºF at their worst!), making the walking plus public transit commute into work interesting. There was so much ice on the sidewalks for a while that you couldn't even SEE the pavement underneath! Let's just say, I had to walk much slower and with smaller steps for a few weeks. I feel like I should personally thank those who actually kept their sidewalks clear and safe!

Kayaking on the Huron River

Before I knew it, winter started to fade away as we had less and less nights with temperatures below freezing. I bought some pots, dirt, and seeds to start my balcony planters inside in April (even though at that time it was still much too cold to keep them outside). Finally, in June, we had our first warm, sunny, Saturday and a group of friends decided to kayak on the Huron River. Great fun! In addition to sporty outdoor activities, there are also quite a bit of live music shows all summer long. I can't wait to see what else this summer has in store!