Our Neighborhood Bash

I never imagined that moving to a city would be the place I would know more neighbors than anywhere I’ve ever lived. I have to say though, this doesn’t just happen. It takes initiative, but it’s so worth it.

We knew moving into the city we wanted to be a part of the place we lived and that meant knowing our neighbors, shopping local, sending our kids to the neighborhood school and on and on. So we’ve been trying really hard to make this happen. We are so thankful to be home this summer so that we could actually have an opportunity to be a part of our community while the sun is shining and people are outside enjoying the weather and not ducked under a hood on their jacket (because remember, true Oregonian’s don’t use umbrellas). So here are a few things we did/are doing to make this happen:

• We put two socials on the calendar for this summer where we would host something at our house for our neighbors to come to.
• We put two garden boxes out front near the street so we could garden and meet people as they walk by.
• I’ve taken cookies to my 5 neighbors closest to us.
• I’ve taken dinner to a neighbor that I met only once because I knew she had a baby.
• Matt has gone to the neighborhood association meetings and is now a spokesperson for the school issues we have.
• We hang out in our yard in the evening and talk to people as they walk by.

None of these are extraordinary things but we have seen how taking the initiative to do this is paying off. So far the best thing we did was host a neighborhood S’mores and Sparklers party on the 3rd. We knew that because the 4th was in the middle of the week people would probably be hanging out at home on the 3rd. So we invited people, built a fire in our fire pit, loaded up on lots of s’mores fixins and bought enough sparklers to light the house on fire (only kidding, they don’t make sparklers like they used to). We ended up having 21 adults and 18 kids here. It was so much fun and people kept saying how much fun they had and they hoped we would do it again. I think they were serious because they stayed until after 10. Success! We will certainly be hosting another event.

Over the course of the week we have met about 30 neighbors. As a result we’re pretty exhausted but so thankful at the same time. I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to be more than just a face on the block and become good friends with some of these people. We’ll see what God continues to do……

Do you know your neighbors? Have you done anything fun in your neighborhood?  I’d love to hear some of your great ideas!