It has been more than seven months since I moved to Hills and nearly six months since I began my job as the editor and reporter for the Hills Crescent.Generally, when I reach an anniversary or a milestone in life I like to take time to reflect on what I have done and plan for what I hope to do in the future. My life in Hills is vastly different than I had imagined when I agreed to purchase a house I had found on the Internet last August.For starters, last Thursday evening I spent two hours in the basement of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church celebrating the Hills-Beaver Creek Future Farmers of America with at least 90 other local residents.During the event my husband commented, "We would have never done anything like this before."I agreed with his statement. We are not related to any of the FFA students, nor do we have much interest in cattle or swine prices, yet we were both thoroughly entertained.As I scanned the roomful of people, I recognized many of their faces, knew most of their names, count a good percentage of them as business acquaintances and consider many to be potential friends.My position at the paper has given me the opportunity to sit in the same room as many of our community leaders and youngsters. Suddenly the achievements and follies of these strangers are very important to me — not only because I am responsible for recording the history of the area, but because I care what happens to these people.For example, when I saw the tears on the faces of the boys after the basketball team suffered its final loss during the playoffs, my heart hurt for them. I would have done anything to change the momentum of that final quarter.Without this job I would probably still be a nameless face occasionally seen around town. Instead, I am recognized immediately when I enter a room with my camera.Taking the good with the bad …However, at this anniversary time, some negatives are worth mentioning. Situations I had hoped to leave behind when I left Texas have been replaced with new nuisances. Here are a few examples…oI no longer have to consider cockroaches a part of my extended family, but I now come into contact with at least 40 Asian beetles a day. oLeaves in Texas fall year round. Some drop in the fall, just as they do here, others fall at the end of the summer when temperatures have risen so high that trees can no longer support foliage. My husband and I, well, mainly David, were constantly raking leaves. I assured him that would not be the case here and I was right. However, I didn’t know about the cornhusks that would be flying through our yard throughout the fall and winter months.oThe sounds of traffic, sirens, neighbors, police, news and hospital helicopters are not a problem in Hills. However, the four wheelers, dirt bikes and tractors do wake us up on occasion.oBy far the hardest change has been adjusting to a Saturday morning garbage pickup. We have probably managed to miss 30 percent of our garbage days. It just never occurs to us to get the garbage curbside on Friday night.In Texas garbage day was mid-week allowing even the most forgetful residents to drag the bin out to the curb on their way to work.