Week One

Our first week was a bit of a whirlwind. Well, we’re still in that stage, sort of, but that first week was also coupled with jet lag. Jet lag. What fun. Our first night, we were all out cold by 8:30pm. And then the boys were up sometime between 4 and 5am. The sky wasn’t even quite light yet. I think it was at least the middle of the following week that I was able to keep my eyes open much past 9pm.

We wasted no time our first day. With the use of one of the school vans, we hit all the garage sales in our small city first thing and then drove 45 minutes to the nearest larger city, Palmerston North. We checked out a car auction there that is held weekly, and then went bed shopping. We found a great deal on a bed for us. We were lucky that some friends of ours donated a couple single beds for the boys. With beds underway, at least we could sleep in our new house. When we finally found a house, that is.

Monday morning (day 3), we set out to the property management offices and got lists of all their rentals. Then we drove around town to see the outsides. It was a rather discouraging morning, seeing the properties that were within our price range. Some of the houses didn’t look bad, but the areas were questionable. Or, the area was better, but the house was dumpy. After lunch, we went into one place, and were told she only had one house at the moment, but it might be perfect for us. We saw the outside and weren’t that impressed, but when she took us inside, we changed our minds. It’s huge. That’s the first thing I noticed. It’s an old, 100 year old house, that has been updated. Gorgeous, original wood floors, redone and polished, beautiful 12 foot ceilings, 2 lounges, 3 bedrooms, 1 office, a sunroom, and a kitchen to die for. The kitchen sold us. As someone who loves to cook, Colin looks for an easy cooking environment. And as someone who doesn’t love to cook, I look for the same thing. Haha. All the cupboards are a gorgeous dark wood. There are two shallow steps down into a large eating area, with a counter for a couple stools. And then 4 large French doors onto the back deck. We traded our large Victoria yard for a much smaller, not as well-kept yard, but the house more than makes up for it. It’s at least 3 times bigger than our tiny 800 square feet we were living in. The boys have room to RUN! Imagine that! (I will admit a secret longing for my tiny house when I was cleaning the floors the other day, though). We moved in Friday, the 11th. I’ll post pictures eventually.

The rest of the week was taken up with buying household essentials. We had to purchase a fridge and washer, as rentals never come with either. We’ll get a dryer eventually, but for now, the outside line and warm summer sunshine does the trick. We are now proud owners of a new-to-us fridge/freezer. Neither of us have ever owned our own before. AND we got a deal on a new washer. A NEW one. It’s actually FUN to do laundry in a new washer. I’m loving it.

When we weren’t rushing around buying things, searching for deals, and other “boring” grown-up things, we had a chance to enjoy the hospitality of our motel hosts, a young couple and their two small children. Ethan became fast friends with them and they spent all their free time swimming, or playing around the motel. They’ve told us even now that anytime we want to come for a swim or for Ethan to play, we’re welcome. They said their kids would miss Ethan. They are so lovely.

We went to a church on Sunday that we felt immediately at home at. We were invited to a BBQ for lunch and when the other guests heard about some of the things we needed, they sprang into action. Between some old things the church had stored in a shed, and a family that is moving overseas in a few months, we managed to get an old church pew (for our front hallway), a small cupboard, deck chairs, a heater, nesting tables, a side table, TV, TV stand, stereo, shelves, and a mirror. All for free. All given with warm hearts. We know that what goes around comes around, as we were able to give away much of our things to some new immigrants before we left Canada. The family that gave us some of their stuff said the same thing.

We’ve also got some great garage sale deals, including a bike in perfect condition as an early birthday present for Ethan. He’s out riding it every chance he gets. We’re amazed at how things are just coming together. We feel at peace here. I feel more at peace than I’ve felt in 6 months. Colin says the knot that sat in his chest for all these months has loosened. We know this was the right decision by the way God has blessed us in such a short time here. Not just taking care of our basic needs, but blessing us beyond what we imagined he would. We want to keep living with our hearts and lives open to his leading. We know he wants to bless us when we obey him with our whole hearts.

Next post: My baby’s 1st birthday party!