We Made It!

We've moved to West Virginia! After spending a little time in San Antonio hanging out with family, we took our car, a u-haul trailer, the dogs, and some furniture that Evan's parents graciously gave us to help fill our new and much larger home, and headed off for the 1400 mile trip. The drive went very well and it was beautiful for major portions of it, especially in Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia.  

We couldn't have picked a better time to move here than October. The fall colors are GORGEOUS! When we came to visit at the beginning of October, the leaves had just started changing but it was already beautiful. When we came to sign our lease the following week, the colors were even better! When we returned the next week, this time to stay, it was just more of the beautiful reds, oranges, and golds than the week before!

View from our front porch!

Unfortunately, last week a cold front came through that brought wind and rain, and most of the leaves fell to the ground, but there are still a few hanging on. We have a tree in our front yard that is just a brilliant shade of red right now and it makes me smile every time I see it.

As for the weather, it has been pretty mild so far. We have had a few mornings in the 20s but we have had numerous afternoons that are sunny and 70 degrees. I love being outside and I am really looking forward to being outside more now that we live somewhere that isn't SO hot!

On our visit at the beginning of October, our main objective was to find a place to live and we hit the jackpot! God promises to go before us and prepare a way and we are so thankful that He has done so for us. After looking at some places that needed a lot of work, were too small, or didn't have any type of yard or fence for the dogs, I was discouraged. I am not THAT picky, but I was starting to think we were going to have a problem. Then we came to the house that we now live in :)

There aren't that many houses for rent in Charleston and the ones that are available are not available for long, if they are in good condition. My main source of information was the local newspaper classifieds that, thankfully, were updated daily online. The only problem was that of the seven or eight listings a day, most wouldn't work because they had been rented by lunch time or they didn't allow pets. The other resource that every realtor I called referred me to was a version of the classifieds that could only be found at local gas stations. Most realtors didn't have any properties to show us because only those who are also property managers would show rentals, and most of them didn't have anything available. Don't get me wrong, all the realtors I called were very friendly and went out of their way to help me but there just weren't many options. I had called about a different house that was listed in the newspaper and the landlord said that it was already rented (no surprise) but that he had another one coming available soon and we could see it if we wanted. My parents and I came and looked at it before Evan arrived for the weekend and we were all shocked. It was huge, beautiful, and brand new. It exceeded all of my expectations. Only in my dreams had I thought we would live in a house like this one. I quickly called the landlord back to double check about price, the dogs, and when it would be available. The house was being completely re-done (they tore the original down to the studs and then added onto it) and still about three weeks from being finished. We were to arrive in Charleston in two, but I knew we had to bring Evan back to see this one. Evan had a similar reaction the next day when we came back to see it. (Evan would like for me to add that I showed him the second worst place we saw right before this one, so a cardboard box would've looked good at that point...but he does REALLY like the house.) The landlord said that they could have it ready for us to move in when we would arrive on the 22nd but that they would probably have a few little things left to do and we agreed that it was worth it. This house was never advertised and yet, two foreigners found it! Praise God! Just this past weekend, one of my new friends, who has lived here for about 6 years, came to pick me up and said, "How did you find this place?!?!?" I told her it wasn't as much about the how as it was about the who. And did I mention that Evan has less than a 10 minute commute to work and never has to get on the highway? I am still overwhelmed by what a blessing this house is and how it all came together. I will post pictures once we are a little more settled. Right now we have boxes everywhere! While we lived here for over a week before our stuff was delivered, it is all here now and I have a huge puzzle on my hands figuring out where to put stuff. We have a guest bedroom so just give us a call if you want to visit. We would love to have guests!

All that paper came from one box!

Another HUGE blessing is that we have found a church and have already made some friends. Charleston had been great, but it was starting to feel lonely. Especially since I am not working, I was anxious to meet people and get plugged in at a church. I am really thankful for all the people we have met so far and for how warm and welcoming they have all been. I am excited, but having a hard time being patient to see where and how God will call us to serve at this church.

Evan's new job is going very well. He is enjoying the work and has great people to work with. We are adjusting to the new schedule since this will be the first time that I stay home during the day and he leaves to go to work since he worked from home for so long. The fact that I have had a lot to do in the way of cleaning, unpacking, and errands for setting up our house and new life here have helped. Making new friends that I can see during the day is also helping with this a lot. I am still adjusting but starting to settle into my new role quite nicely. Now that we are starting to get into a routine, I hope to update the blog more regularly!

While it is very different here than it was in Houston, we like it so far and have peace about knowing that this is where we are supposed to be. It is fun living in what would be categorized as a small town compared to Houston. We had only lived here for two weeks before I ran into someone I knew in Walmart! Everyone is friendly and quite chatty. It is also very laid back. I have caught myself hundreds of times since we moved here feeling like I am the only person in a hurry. I never realized that I was always rushing around before but most of the time, I don't even have a reason to rush. The pace is much slower here and it is a welcome change. Overall, I would say we are doing very well and that we are blessed to be here!

The dogs are doing well too. After all the confusion of the last 10 months, I think it took them awhile to figure out that we were staying here.

In the back seat of the car on the trip to WV

They (Jersey) will be happier when the fence is finished and they can go outside for long periods of time without us. They will also be happier when the fence is finished because then there won't be guys walking around our backyard. Baxter has a particular dislike for the welder and the sparks frighten him. They both get very excited with all the cats that seem to cross through our back yard at night and are beside themselves when deer show up. One of Evan's co-workers who lives in our neighborhood said that with the Kanawha (pronounced "Ka-naw") state forest close by that people have seen bears too. Yikes! We're not in Houston anymore!

Deer in our backyard

I think they both finally accepted the idea of staying when we unpacked the dog bed last night. They have spent most of their time sharing their "pillow" today and finally seem content about hanging out in the basement. They also have found their new "spot" to gaze out the window. In our old house it was sitting under the drapes of the sliding glass door in the living room. In this house, they really like looking out the sliding glass door in our bedroom

Enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon in our backyard!