Visitors!!!

Last week we had visitors! My sister-in-law and niece came to stay for a week. It is probably the best thing that could have happen to me.  I know my posts have been Debbie Downer lately, I just haven’t had a super great attitude toward the new adventure. But guests in my home has changed that a bit. Instead of spending the whole week thinking about what I missed and how things were not the same, I looked for things to do and places to go.  I was doing this for my company, of course, but intern got a great out look on the area and what all there is to offer here. 

I also got to hear myself complaining aloud, and realized how petty and dumb it really sounds. I really don’t hate it here. I live in a beautiful home, my kids have a safe place to play, the area is beautiful and actually has lots of activities to offer. I’m just lonely. And you know what… that is temporary.  I know God has a great plan for me here, I just want to rush it. I want it to automatically feel like “home” and where I came from.  And “home” didn’t feel that way right off the bat… it actually took several years before I didn’t want to leave there everyday, so I know the loneliness is just a season.

The book I am reading talks about 3 different stages of the starting over process when it comes to moving. The first one is where I am stuck and going to try to really, really hard to move past it. Letting go of what you left is the first step. Not always comparing what happens here to what happened there. Not stuck on what you are missing out on, but looking at real opportunities right in front of me. This is much harder than it actually sounds ( I know this because I have been intentionally focusing on this for 3 days).  I don’t want to compare or have a “must be nice” attitude, but I find myself doing it… a lot. So I am just using those opportunities of catching myself in the act, to pray and ask God to give me a heart of gratitude and open my eyes to how I am to be used here (which I am pretty sure is just to be a rock for my kids as they struggle right now).  So in the words of Elsa from Frozen, I will “Let it Go” and look forward. 

So with that thought in mind… you are about to get a picture overload… sorry (not really :)). But I will let you know there are lots of positives to this place, and we have only discovered a smidge of them!  

We found two really awesome parks this week. One of them has a pavilion, lots of equipment, a nature trail, and part of the Three Notch Trail (biking, walking, jogging long paved trail) that connects right to it. Bonus: Clean Bathrooms! The other one has TONS of soccer fields attached, lots of playground equipment, and a .25mile loop around the equipment to get some miles in while the kids play. Super Bonus: Clean, AIR CONDITIONED,  bathrooms. :)

We found an Italian Ice/ Custard place that was good… and Snow White (a really good one, I must say) just happen to be hanging out there the next night!

We hit the beach for a day. In the process of looking up beaches, I found out several other options of water recreation things to do in the area! (Including lighthouses and places to kayak).

We did the pool. This was the same pool where we did lessons, but the kids got to enjoy the water slides and diving boards. All three big kids went off the high dive (it was really high), and the boys were even diving off by the end. They even talked Alice and me into jumping off. It was much higher than I remember high dives being… or maybe I am just old. 

My nature loving kids found a dead frog, a live frog, a dead crab, and several live crabs (fearless are the little people I have that spend their beach days trying to catch crabs).

I got to go on a date with my husband. We found out what Japanese steak house we should never eat at again. ;)(We should have just walked out when there was NO ONE there at 8pm on a Friday night. You live and you learn.) BUT… had a really great conversation without any little people interrupting! 

Eleni got mail! The kids check the mailbox diligently everyday hoping for something in the mail (this is a great thing to do if you want to encourage my kids… they love getting mail).  El was SUPER excited!!!

Spent a day in DC. We did the major landmarks with the kids (they did great with all the walking) and have discovered the HUGE amount of things we could do there… ALL. THE. TIME!  There is just so many things… the possibilities are endless. Landen was definitely the most into it. He already asked me if we could come to DC and do all the things he wants to do for his next Mommy/Landen Date! Absolutely!!!

And the kids got lots of cousin time in! They loved having Taylor here. And I loved having Alice here. It was nice to have someone to talk to, face to face. I am forever grateful for her making the trip and spending her vacation with us!

It was a good week with lots of perspective. 

          

Thanks for joining me on the journey.

It’s been a Month…

We have been here a month. 

Sometimes that feels like forever. Sometimes it feels really lonely and far away. I miss my friends and family and my church. I miss the “comfortableness” of knowing where things are and recognizing faces out in the community.  Almost everyone here is a stranger. We know the neighbors, one other couple, and that is about it… well, the ladies at the Amish market are at least familiar faces now, but I wouldn’t say I know them. Other than that… 99% of my face to face time with people is made up of Eric and my children. I love my family… but I need PEOPLE! I’m struggling to make connections. We still don’t have a church, which is hard. Sundays are really hard. I want to find a place to grow, and connect, and thrive… and we just aren’t’ there yet. So some days it is a definite, “we have ONLY been here a month?” kind of day.

Sometimes it feels like time has flown. I look around and I still have boxes to unpack. I don’t have paint on the walls, or décor hung up anywhere.  It kind of feels like a huge hotel room that we are just hanging in for a while, and then we get to go back home. I feel like, ”seriously? I have been here a whole month and this is all that is done?”

And sometimes it just feels like life. :) This is my life, we are chugging along and we are doing it.

 We finished swim lessons

We’re having the neighbors and friends over.

The kids are ready to meet more people, ready for school to start.  It is hard to watch your kids struggle. I don’t know what to do, or how to comfort, because quite honestly I am feeling just like they are. So I pray for them and with them and we are trying to find the things we like here and get involved where we can. They are kind of at their capacity of “sibling time”.  Brayden is banned from Landen’s room (see sign below) and Brayden hides in my closet from the other kids to read (he has read 6 Harry Potter books since we have been here). 

And the practical jokes are in full force (note the large tarantula dangling from string and the dog in a bathrobe).

Allen, Eric’s brother, was working out of Baltimore, so he made the trip down to see the kids. They were so excited to have a familiar face and someone that loved them and gave them lots of attention.  It was a less than 12 hour visit (which consisted of Allen being an awesome uncle and letting everyone sleep with him) and then he was gone. We were thankful for the visit, but sad to see him go.

I have been doing my morning devotional from the book Jesus Today by Sarah Young. Eleni has decided to join me on these. I’m going to be honest and say at first I was a tad frustrated that my “quiet time” was now invaded by a little girl who wanted me to read aloud and then had a million questions. But three days in, I really felt it as a huge blessing that God was sending this eager little girl in every morning, unprompted or provoked, yearning to learn about His promises.  So I went from frustrated to honored in a matter of 3 shorts days (I’m getting better at this patience/teaching me life lessons thing).

So this morning I was reading her the devotional and it was talking about God putting us in humbling circumstance in order to grow and know that He is in control.  “Although this is an uncomfortable position, it is actually a good place to be.” I was explaining to her that even though it is hard not having our friends and family here, God put us here for a reason. It might be hard right now but God has big plans for us… that is why He moved us here.  (Definitely what I needed to hear this morning) So as she looked back at me, I could see her little mind working over time and I was waiting for some thoughtful , sweet response and I got, “Mom, I don’t think so. God didn’t move us here… the President did.” Touché Eleni, touché!  :)

What a crazy month! Thanks for joining me on the journey!

Routine and a Long Weekend

We are trying to establish routine here. Eric went back to work and the kids started swim lessons. This has been an adventure on all accounts.  Eric finding a good route to work and adjusting to the new leave/come home times, and us trying to maneuver around southern Maryland.  Day 1 of swim lessons I forgot my phone. I thought I knew where I was going, but when I drove across the bay to the indoor water complex (or what I thought was the indoor complex), it was indeed the library for that county. :( I was slightly panicked because I don’t know my way around and I didn’t have my phone to guide me, so I went old school and went in and asked for directions. All was good and we arrived on time.

The kids love the huge pools and their teachers. They also love that they are required to wear swim goggles… that makes them feel pretty big. :) Eleni was in tears when she found out she had to wear a swim cap. She thought it was going to be ugly and embarrassing. Thankfully the swim team was practicing and all the girls in swim caps helped the transition. 

So we had scheduled mornings and lazy afternoons.  Movies, pedi/mani time with the girls, a library trip, and a trip or two to the Amish market. All in all, a good first week getting things back to “normal.”

A long weekend was a good start to the scheduled week. We have… dare I say it, friends!!! We met a fantastic couple from the church we went to and hit it off. They have a couple of kids and they play marvelously with ours.  We hung out on Friday and ended the evening with lovely fireworks over the bay.

They came back on Saturday to help assembly the patio furniture. Already using them as manual labor… must be real friends, right? We had and impromptu campfire and s’mores. It was a good weekend. 

Thanks for all the prayers this week. I did have a couple of really rough, homesick days. I really appreciate all the texts, phone calls, and messages. The weekend gave me hope. It won’t always be lonely and horrible here, it’s just part of this adventure.

 Thanks for joining me on the journey!