Settling In...

Hello fellow blogging friends. It has been awhile since my last post and that is because, in the last 13 days, we have made our big move to Los Angeles, spent 8 days remodeling/painting/unpacking/decorating our new home, had one day off, and have spent the last 4 days in staff training for the upcoming DTS that Benjie and I will staff that starts on September 20th. It has been a whirlwind, but a fantastic whirlwind!

The adjustment has been extremely smooth. Our girls are doing well. Lily had not been sleeping well (waking up like 2 times/night) but I think we are on the down side of that as she is starting to realize that this is going to be our landing place. I think it is sinking in to her that we are here for good and will be here for awhile. However, the most heartbreaking thing is when your toddler keeps asking for all of her friends and family by name and wondering why she can't see them. It is difficult to explain to her why she can't just go over to Nana's and spend the night or why she can't play with her little friends at their homes with their toys. But I think that actually affects me more than it does her.

Sadie is as happy as ever, although she is cutting two new teeth so that has affected her mood mildly. She is pulling herself up on everything around her and we have fished out everything from food to paper to pieces of metal (yikes!) from her mouth. Everyone around here has fallen in love with our kiddos and they are rapidly making friends with all the kiddos on the base. (There are four other little girls ranging from age 18 months to 3 years, so they are all around Lily's age).

As for us? We are doing great! I would say that so far, the biggest adjustment for me has been learning and embracing what my new role as mom/YWAM staff will be here in L.A. It is Benjie and I understanding that each of us is going to need to be flexible in order to accomodate the other concerning when we need to be meeting with students/working at the offices/etc....

It has been so refreshing to be living back in a community again. There truly is nothing like it! We have already met and are getting to know so many wonderful people here because people are always reaching out to get to know you and include you in what is happening, no matter where it is happening. It is beautiful to live life with people who share a common goal: to know God and to make him known!

Oh, one minor thing I am not too thrilled with about California: the ants. Two mornings ago, I woke up because I had ants crawling all over my body in my bed. Can I just say NO. FREAKING. WAY. I took our can of Raid and boldly declared my vendetta against ants and killed every last one in our house! Good riddance!

I will leave you with some pics of our new house. I am so overly thrilled with it! It is a lot of what I love about houses: open floor plan, some wood flooring, wain-scotting, ability to paint, big porch, LOTS of potential!, small and cozy :-) Aaaahhhhhhh, thank you Jesus for this new season!

This is the front door of our new house.

This is the wall to the right of the front door in our living area.

A view to the right of the previous picture.

Kitchen/part of the dining room (the door in the background is the entry to our laundry room).

Dining Room

Door going into the girls room.

Lily's Bed

Girls Closet

Sadie's Crib/Changing Table

Pictures of our room to follow.....