Two years
Today is the two year anniversary of us being in this house.
When we first moved and I talked to people about surviving major moves, they all said that it took about two years to really feel as though they were settling in. This was hard to hear. When we first moved, I was desperate to create the kind of support system and comfort level that we had left. Why I thought that I could create in one year what took over thirty to build is beyond me, but that didn't stop me from trying. I didn't want to wait two years until I began to feel comfortable.
Yet that is what I had to do. I can tell you it is with some great relief that I say we have reached the two year mark. The second year in a new place had it's challenges, but it increasingly felt better. I know people now... and I often even remember their names! We have met more neighbors, we have met more people at church, I am starting to sort out the social aspect of our homeschooling, and everything just feels less new. I don't get lost anymore or turn the wrong way on a street because I have forgotten how to get somewhere. I have some piano students. I still turn the wrong way, but that is because I am on auto pilot and not thinking about where I am going. Even that, the ability to have an auto pilot, is new in the past six months. Life is just less work because there is more that is automatic.
The first year I spent in a sort of frenzy, feeling as though I had to do everything right away. It was exhausting. This year, I have perhaps gone the other direction, but the weather has also been rotten for doing much gardening. Because of the continued wet weather, everything is terribly overgrown. J. and I was just talking about what to do in the fall to try to contain some of the crazy next year as far as the yard is concerned. We'll do what we can this year, but I'm not going to make myself crazy. Looking back at my post from a year ago, there is much on my list from things I wanted to do that still hasn't been accomplished. The cast iron sink is still not in. The kitchen is partially painted, but we still have a ways to go. There is no screened porch in back, and there probably won't be for quite some time, since we need to put in a French drain first.
That isn't to say we didn't do some major upgrades. The biggest being the building of the barn and the fencing of the pastures. This was huge, both in emotional commitment and money. I think my laissez faire attitude towards the yard at the moment is because it looked so absolutely dreadful at the end of the very wet spring from all the construction that I kind of despaired that it would ever look okay. Now, with the wet summer, the grass has grown back and the horrible scars in the yard are nicely covered over. And with the building of the barn came the ownership of a horse. Something I had dreamed about for forty years, and which is a pretty big deal.
There were also a few other accomplishments... the iron filter for the water system. It was lovely to not have everything come out orange from the iron heavy water, and was not a small expense. The new gravel on the driveway was also a major, yet needed, expense. There was great rejoicing when people could park and get back out without getting stuck in the mud.
More animals, besides the horse, joined the circus. We added one husky, two inside cats, two barn cats, six ducks, and two geese. We feel pretty full up, though once J. finishes them, there will be two empty stalls that I am doing my darndest to fill.
It's been a good year and we feel content here. There are people we miss seeing often from our own home, but that is about it. We like it here. We like the space and the trees and the animals. J. likes his job where he is appreciated and doing well. I like being involved in equine therapy to the extent I want to do more and get certified. We spend more time thinking about who we can invite over to get to know better than thinking about who we can convince to come out and visit us. (Though we would still very much like that, too.)
We are glad we are here. God knew what He was doing and has brought us to a good and restful place. We are all emotionally in much better places than when we made that crazy car ride out two years ago.
Soli Deo Gloria
When we first moved and I talked to people about surviving major moves, they all said that it took about two years to really feel as though they were settling in. This was hard to hear. When we first moved, I was desperate to create the kind of support system and comfort level that we had left. Why I thought that I could create in one year what took over thirty to build is beyond me, but that didn't stop me from trying. I didn't want to wait two years until I began to feel comfortable.
Yet that is what I had to do. I can tell you it is with some great relief that I say we have reached the two year mark. The second year in a new place had it's challenges, but it increasingly felt better. I know people now... and I often even remember their names! We have met more neighbors, we have met more people at church, I am starting to sort out the social aspect of our homeschooling, and everything just feels less new. I don't get lost anymore or turn the wrong way on a street because I have forgotten how to get somewhere. I have some piano students. I still turn the wrong way, but that is because I am on auto pilot and not thinking about where I am going. Even that, the ability to have an auto pilot, is new in the past six months. Life is just less work because there is more that is automatic.
The first year I spent in a sort of frenzy, feeling as though I had to do everything right away. It was exhausting. This year, I have perhaps gone the other direction, but the weather has also been rotten for doing much gardening. Because of the continued wet weather, everything is terribly overgrown. J. and I was just talking about what to do in the fall to try to contain some of the crazy next year as far as the yard is concerned. We'll do what we can this year, but I'm not going to make myself crazy. Looking back at my post from a year ago, there is much on my list from things I wanted to do that still hasn't been accomplished. The cast iron sink is still not in. The kitchen is partially painted, but we still have a ways to go. There is no screened porch in back, and there probably won't be for quite some time, since we need to put in a French drain first.
That isn't to say we didn't do some major upgrades. The biggest being the building of the barn and the fencing of the pastures. This was huge, both in emotional commitment and money. I think my laissez faire attitude towards the yard at the moment is because it looked so absolutely dreadful at the end of the very wet spring from all the construction that I kind of despaired that it would ever look okay. Now, with the wet summer, the grass has grown back and the horrible scars in the yard are nicely covered over. And with the building of the barn came the ownership of a horse. Something I had dreamed about for forty years, and which is a pretty big deal.
There were also a few other accomplishments... the iron filter for the water system. It was lovely to not have everything come out orange from the iron heavy water, and was not a small expense. The new gravel on the driveway was also a major, yet needed, expense. There was great rejoicing when people could park and get back out without getting stuck in the mud.
More animals, besides the horse, joined the circus. We added one husky, two inside cats, two barn cats, six ducks, and two geese. We feel pretty full up, though once J. finishes them, there will be two empty stalls that I am doing my darndest to fill.
It's been a good year and we feel content here. There are people we miss seeing often from our own home, but that is about it. We like it here. We like the space and the trees and the animals. J. likes his job where he is appreciated and doing well. I like being involved in equine therapy to the extent I want to do more and get certified. We spend more time thinking about who we can invite over to get to know better than thinking about who we can convince to come out and visit us. (Though we would still very much like that, too.)
We are glad we are here. God knew what He was doing and has brought us to a good and restful place. We are all emotionally in much better places than when we made that crazy car ride out two years ago.
Soli Deo Gloria
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