Amy Antoinette - A Motherhood & Lifestyle Blog: Richmond, Virginia

After an eight hour flight and a two hour drive from Washington airport, the three of us finally arrived in Richmond, Virginia - our new home for the next two years. Weary but excited, we hauled our four suitcases (our only possessions for the next month) up two flights of stairs and opened the door into our new apartment. The next morning, we watched the sun rise over the lake outside our window, the fiery orange glow lighting up the water and illuminating the silhouettes of the geese that lay there.

Our first few days were spent adjusting to the new time zone and completing mundane tasks - sorting out a rental car, food shopping, and filing for social security numbers. Once those were done, we've spent a lot of time exploring Richmond - eating out at different restaurants, enjoying some of the parks and nature reserves that are close by, and we did a spot of window shopping (real shopping is being postponed until our American bank account is sorted!) at Short Pump Mall.

Thankfully, I find driving in the USA a lot easier than the UK. With automatic cars being the norm, there's no need to worry about gear changes or clutch control, we've yet to come across a roundabout and the parking spaces are huge to accommodate the gigantic cars found here. The weather has been up and down; some mornings have been below freezing, and other days we've enjoyed glorious 23'C sunshine. There is so much beauty to be found here - in the walking trails laced amongst the trees, the silent peace of a sunset and the vast expanses of water. We can't wait to discover even more during our time here.

We've started to search and select some houses which we'd like to view, as we'll be moving into a bigger property once our furniture arrives, which should be May at the latest. We're very much looking forward to finding our 'real home,' where we can unpack our things and properly settle in. I do miss Henry's nursery, along with our beloved Bugaboo (our cheap substitute buggy has certainly been tested to its limits in the outdoor terrain) and all the little things that made our house a home. It feels a little like we're in limbo at the moment, so it will be good to find somewhere more permanent.

Now Monday has rolled around, almost two weeks since we arrived, and it marks the start of reality in our new country. Matt is off to work again and Henry and I will slowly find a new rhythm to our weeks by trying out some different toddler classes. It will be sad to see our little family disperse, it's been so lovely to spend so much time together over the last month or so, discovering new life together and creating more memories.

P.S. A few kind people have mentioned that they will be nominating my blog in the Brilliance in Blogging 2015 Awards, which is such a compliment and means so much to me. I would love to be recognised in the 'Writer' or 'Inspire' category or indeed any other category you feel fits my blog. If you would like to nominate me, you can do so here.