The Hasper Family: From California to Indy
As my husband finished his Skype interview, and walked upstairs quietly, I felt a sense of peace, a sense of something big, new and adventurous in the air. “Freewheelin Bikes wants to bring us out to Indianapolis in 2 weeks, to meet the Board, see the shop and tour the city”, he said with a huge smile. Right then and there I knew we gearing up for one of the biggest decisions in our 19 years of marriage!
Fast forward to June of 2014, sold the house, said good-bye to ALL of our family and friends and beautiful, sunny California! The next four days were packed with hours and hours of driving, yet so much fun with our 3 kids, and 2 dogs over 2,000 miles. The day arrived that we pulled onto our new street in Indianapolis, and we all cried, obviously tears of joy to have finally made it, but also tears of memories of a life in California and a life to build here in Indy.
Trying to prepare teenage boys for a new school, new set of friends and a new city is not the easiest. So we spent the rest of the summer touring Indy on bikes, and what fun we had exploring the Monon, from Broad Ripple to the Cultural Trail downtown. One of our favorite things to do as a family was to load our backpacks with a picnic, fishing gear for all and ride our bikes to Fall Creek! We spent hours fishing (I caught the first one of the family) then would ride home, dump our stuff then head to one of the tasty restaurants on Mass Ave. We were amazed at how easy it is to get around on bikes, which helped not only our teenage boys, but our 9 year old daughter get acclimated to a whole new adventure.
Moving to Indianapolis has changed us as a family. While we miss our California family and friends, we have been introduced to a whole new way of life. Being new to the city and not really knowing anyone, we have adjusted to really depending on each other, and enjoying each other’s company, especially during the holidays. We have been introduced to more art culture, such as First Fridays and City Suppers. The new friends we have made here have been warm and welcoming and very hospitable. My husband and I are so very pleased with Paramount School of Excellence, and Herron High School which are the schools our children are attending, and recently I started working full time. Life here in Indy is great! Adventure is an important experience, and a friend of mine recently stated, "Change does not happen if change does not happen."