Starting to Get Settled

It's been a few weeks since we moved in...I can't believe how fast the time has gone! Here are a few photo updates.

Ethan happily exploring that which will later be off limits to him.

A fellow from our new church named Jay volunteered to help & brought his truck and trailer! This trailer load was the contents of our storage unit.

Bookshelves, mirror, boxes of books and a space in the middle...perfect spot for a toddler hang out.

Ethan and the cat. Lines on Ethan's cheeks are from some stamping markers he discovered that day.

More marker face.

The cat is happy to have a new home too. :)

Living room/library/music room.

View on the other side.

Looking in to the dining room.

Back hall.

Kitchen

Kitchen looking into office/laundry. Note that much of what you see strewn about the floor is what Ethan found and drug out. It's nice now to have things put away a bit and be able to have "off limits" areas.

Playing in boxes is so fun!

Aunt Irma came to visit, played with Ethan and unpacked our library! Thank you Aunt Irma!!

Back hall cleared of boxes with photos hung.

Bathroom with pictures hung, some decor.

Our bedroom. The cat loves this spot to sleep.

TV area, cleared with pictures hung.

Music area.

Library

It's sure fun getting unpacked and rediscovering treasures. More to come later. :)

Our New Home

Well, it's been 6 months since we last had a place to call our own. We left Oregon thinking that within a few months we'd be settled in a new job, home and life. For whatever reason the Lord had other plans for us. We have put an offer on this home that has been accepted and are now living here as renters until the loans close. We're hoping this happens soon. It's a bit of a leap of faith to move in and become invested in a home that isn't "officially" ours yet, but it has made the most sense to do so, especially considering I start the third trimester tomorrow and am already quite sore from the move. 

I feel like I've had a pause button on my life. We left Oregon, hit "pause," and only now are starting to live again. For me these last six months have been survival mode, just making it through one day at a time and praying we'll be able to get settled before the baby arrives. TJ's been grieving the loss of our Oregon friends and family pretty hard these months but I'm just starting. With the holidays coming it's harder because this year, while we'll celebrate with our biological families, we won't be celebrating with our adopted families. I've lived in several places now and it never gets easier to leave dear friends behind and start over. I wish it would, but then, if it did, maybe that would mean the relationships made were not as deep and strong as they should have been. 

I thought it would be fun to share some photos of our new home. These are all "before" pictures. The outside of house has been painted now and we have lots of stuff on the inside...but before pictures are always nice to see! I'll try to update as we start to get settled in more. The big question on my mind today is, "where will all our cloths fit?" The first two homes we lived in had lots of bedroom closet space. This house has lots of closet space, just not all in the bedroom. :) I've been blessed with a lot of maternity cloths this pregnancy and am excited to get them put away somewhere so I can wear them! I now have more maternity cloths than regular ones. Isn't it funny we don't hand down our regular cloths when we're done with them? Of course, maybe we're not ever done with them!

The tornado siren is being tested right now...10 am Monday morning. Ethan is very concerned that the siren just goes and goes and never stops. :)

Upstairs: Ethan & Elsie's Room. It's a large room with a fun narrow closet.

Upstairs: Bathroom; our home hasn't really been updated since the late 50's...but it's all in great condition!

Upstairs: Hallway with two closets on the left and two rooms on the right.

Upstairs: This is currently our box room, but in time it will become our guest room, craft room and "museum" as TJ likes to say (where we'll display some of our "please children don't destroy these" items.)

Upstairs: Cedar closet.

Upstairs: Landing at the top of the stairs.

Downstairs: Hallway with built in storage

Downstairs: Bathroom with shower tucked away out of sight of the photo.

Downstairs: Kitchen...well, half the kitchen. Yes, that is carpet on the kitchen floor. No, we do not think carpet on a kitchen floor is a good idea. Yes, we have plans to change that! :)

Downstairs: Dining Room

Downstairs: Family Room/Music Room

Basement: Built in pantry/canning storage. I'm excited to be settled and then clean out the basement. It has these really old wood beams in the ceiling...really old, really hard. We think if we ever wanted to finish the basement we'd have to have the floor dug down rather than the house lifted up.

Ethan happy with daddy, sitting on the stairs.

Main entrance of the house for guests. Pretty good size porch too! That large window looks into our family room.

Ah! There were more photos here but for some reason they were cut off. I'll have to include them next time. :)

It's The Little Things

Well, we are getting settled into our new life and home here in Ohio and are looking forward to taking our little fellow trick-or-treating tonight then coming home to hand out candy! I think the last time I did either was more than 15 years ago and I'm looking forward to seeing all the kids dressed up and having a fun time.

We have moved to a small town, "village" to be exact, and are adjusting to life outside the city. Here are some little things about living in this small town that have surprised us after years in a more metropolitan area:

1. We saw the local pizza place deliver a pizza to an older gentleman in his van outside the pizza place. Yes, the workers walked out of their place of business and delivered to the man right there! They chatted a bit and then both went their separate ways. I got a salad at the same pizza place and was sitting waiting for it. The worker brought it directly to my table and it was a take out order! Service like that is usually lost in the city.

2. We've had two separate people stop at our new home to help with outdoor work. One gentleman lost his sight but regained it and as a way of showing his thanks to the Lord goes around town and pulls weeds! Another gentleman with a golf cart (golf carts are all the rage here as a form of transportation) stopped to help shovel grass out of the sidewalk cracks. His shovel is all dulled and flattened from helping thus around town. And this was all before we moved in!

3. The first day we were at the house after getting our keys an older lady stopped by to say hi, congratulations on getting the house and tell us a bit about people who had lived here before! I think in the city we'd have thought she was nuts or had an angle...but she was just friendly. I saw her later and she said congratulations again. :)

4. We went to the post office to get a mailbox for this house (they are free since the post office doesn't deliver a block away :D ). Ever since then, even before I got the address change form, they have been separating our mail into our box, even though most of it is not addressed as such and doesn't have that little yellow box saying it's different. If all post office's were so thoughtful they probably wouldn't have the troubles they do!

5. The Methodist church across the street from us hosts a free community meal once a month. We've gone now two months in a row and think it's a great idea! Why don't more churches do this?

6. Those with disabilities, the aged, the infirm, etc are not housed away here. We've seen all of the above working at the grocery store, McDonald's, taking walks, visiting, etc. There is a morning gathering restaurant and everyone there is kind to those who may be different. It's neat!

We had our first night in our new home last night and are enjoying some of the little things here also:

1. When Ethan is napping in his room upstairs I can work on the computer, watch Hulu & play music without headphones, talk on the phone and do whatever I want because he's upstairs and not in the room directly next to me.

2. The bathroom is 6 feet from our bedroom. Pregnancy, nighttime...enough said. Ahhhh....

3. We have an open porch here on a pretty busy corner of town. It's fun to see all the traffic and people. Eventually we'd like to move out into the countryside somewhere but for now I'm enjoying seeing the sights and sounds of a small town.

4. Today I didn't have butter for lunch so Ethan and I walked three blocks to the grocery store. After 3 years in the countryside with no bus service and 3 years before that having to take a bus to run errands I love walking to the grocery store, post office and pharmacy!

Ok, those are the things just off the top of my head. Overall we're just happy to be getting our boxes unpacked and rediscover treasures like kitchen dishes and winter coats! :)

Photos

Many of the following photos were taken at Greenfield Village in MI. We went with my aunt and saw an old car show (nothing before 1924? 1932? Old!), rode the train and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the village. It was rainy in the morning but cleared up to a beautiful sunny day. Ethan looks rather bummed in these family photos but I think that's because he wanted to be moving and looking, not just sitting and having his photo taken.

Ethan and I rode the merry go round. We sat in a seat that rocked. I probably should have considered that rocking and going in a circle may be a bit much, but I think he enjoyed his first ride nonetheless.

Cool old truck! You can almost see my pregnant belly, but I was also storing a bunch of things in my front pocket. So it's more of a kangaroo look.

A lot of the old vehicles had the three flags on the front.

Love this house! Ethan again looking "grrrr." Note how packed up we have the stroller...how did we ever survive without a stroller!

Ok, I can't quite figure out how to move photos around in blogger. So this is skipping back a month to the  National Tractor Pulling Championships we went to. Very LOUD!! Next time we'll bring hearing protection so we can sit in the stands and watch. It was fun to see all the tractors though.

They had a museum of old racers.

Ethan people watching.

Skipping again, back to the place we are living. Ethan was "helping" dry the silverware. Which mostly means he found the large spatulas, grabbed them and ran around the house. :D

Daddy & Ethan looking at cars on the tv. So cute!

Ethan showing my dad how to put a bottle of oil in the microwave.

Back to our MI trip! In my aunts city there is a Farmer's Market. This was a table with heirloom tomato varieties. Don't you just want to reach through the screen and eat one!

Once again, my favorite house at Greenfield Village. If I had 100 acres and money to spend we'd have a home like this. So cool!

Ethan & my aunt at Olga's, yummiest restaurant east of the Mississippi! I worked at an Olga's one summer too. Love their food and can only get it when we visit MI!

Ethan playing with my hairdryer. He loves any type of machine with a cord. Really anything machine-like or cord-like.

TJ and Ethan...when we eat out Ethan is always on the move!

"Hello camera!"

Happy daddy.

"Now hold still for just a second..."