Moving In, Soccer and Halloween

So, I thought I should blog in case anyone reads this to let people know we are still alive out here! We are officially moved in and the boxes are gone!!

We have been working like dogs for a week and a half nearly round the clock to get moved in and settled and resume normal life (well, as normal as we ever have it!). My parents are flying in tonight for a two week visit so it served as a good incentive to get this house in order.

In exciting news, Grace started playing soccer a.k.a. holding the ball and running around screaming and laughing last Friday at a park about a mile from our new house. She loves it and every day asks "is it Friday yet, can we go to soccer?

Saturday morning, we worked like dogs around the house and putting the garage in order and half way through the day we realized it was Halloween. We considered not going out for it, but then re-thought it and ended up giving it a try. So after we ate dinner and the trick-or-treaters started coming in droves, I ran around like a crazy women tearing open boxes and miraculously found what I needed. So, Emma wore a pumpkin outfit my mom gave me right before we moved, so that was easy to find. Grace wore what I could find in her closet, so she was a ballerina princess. Thankfully at their ages they didn't notice how last minute and thrown together this all was and they thought it was great to go out!

We ended up meeting a lot of our neighbors as the cul-de-sac at one end of our road had a block party. Everyone was so nice and California laid back which we loved. And this is the first Halloween I can remember where I have been able to go out in short sleeves and flip flops - gotta love this weather!

We both really love our house and the more time we spend in it the more we love it. The weather couldn't be more gorgeous every day is just perfect with sun and clear blue skies. We are very blessed and feel at peace with our decision to bring our family here.

The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.
- Psalm 29:11 

Moving In - The good, the bad and the ugly!

So, the day has arrived (actually it passed 2 days ago), the 18 wheeler pulled up, four movers hopped out and they began unpacking our 18,000 + pounds of belongings. I was embarrassed by the sheer quantity, but felt a bit vindicated when I realized that half was kids clothes and toys!

The unpacking happened simultaneously with the painters finishing up the interior of the house, the glass repair guy coming to fix our sliding glass door (from the previous owner) and the guys coming to hook up our washer and dryer. A busy day for sure considering we had 2 kids and no help at all! Needless to say, the kids were fantastic, Chris was a huge help, and all of the workers were on time and did their jobs!

So, now the fun begins. The unpacking seems endless and I no sooner unpack a box and put things away then the kids come through like tornadoes and remove it all again.

Yesterday I spent over 7 hours unpacking and organizing the kitchen and as the picture shows, it looks horrible and is a disaster to look at still! I am working non-stop to get things into shape in time for my parents visit on November 4th. It is good to have a firm deadline to shoot for.

Even with the immense mess, I love the house and the layout is so great for our family. The plan is really open with a great flow and tons of play room for the girls and a huge office for Chris and a bathtub in the master that I am vowing to use at least once a month!

Tomorrow will be a bittersweet day for us as we move out of our temporary housing that we have lived in for the past 8 weeks. It is our first home in California and the location was so fantastic that it can't be beat. We will sadly not be able to live in San Ramon  unless we sell both kids and most of our organs!

The picture to the right is the view from outside of our apartment building - not too shabby! However, we are excited to be moving to beautiful Mountain House with lots of wide open spaces, running/biking trails and parks. That coupled with this crazy beautiful weather and we are very blessed indeed!

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
- Revelation 21:5 

Muir Woods & IKEA!

So, since moving to Northern Cali, we have tried to do something new and different each Saturday with our girls. Today we chose to go to Muir Woods and IKEA - true, they have nothing in common, but it was a fun day!

Muir Woods ended up being something that Chris really loved and enjoyed, so I was happy we decided to brave the treacherous hairpin turns and endure 1 hour in the car each way with an un-napped1 year old! It was beautiful and tranquil (except when our kids opened their mouths!!) and was awe inspiring to see trees over 1,000 years old.

On our way home we pass an IKEA, so we thought, why not. We had a great time walking around and checking out the 1 bazillion square foot store. If you have never visited an IKEA, you should, it is a unique retail experience. So, we bought nothing, but gained good ideas for what we hoped would be a new house.

On that note: we had an appraisal done on our perspective house and it came in lower than asking (which is not surprising in the area we are looking), which led to week long negotiations and re-appraising. On the way home from IKEA we got the call that we got the house for the price we wanted to pay, so the day ended on a high note. The sad side is that our days living FREE in our temp housing with daily food per diems and a cleaning crew are quickly coming to a close.

 

The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.
- Psalm 33:5

A New Chapter

This is my first attempt at a blog, so if this just plain stinks, let me know!

So we have recently started a new chapter in our lives. As most of you now know, we recently pulled up our roots of over 7 years in Western MA and headed out to Northern California. The whole process happened very quickly so we were thankfully left with little time for tears and regrets, which was great! We were blessed that Chris was offered a promotion and his company handles every aspect of the move, so we jumped at the chance to live in a new state - especially California (always a dream of mine to live here!)

So, we sold our house 4 days after it was added to the market, the movers packed us and moved us and here we are in temporary housing awaiting the closing of our new house.

I don't want to minimize the move and all of the changes our family has had recently, but it really has been painfully easy. Chris and I are so happy to be in California and we feel that the girls would be too if they had any idea what was going on! We are excited for our new life here and starting over in a sense.

The weather is ridiculously beautiful every day, the parks are wonderful and plentiful for the girls and we are 30 minutes from downtown San Francisco, so all in all, not so bad!

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- Genesis 1:1