Seeing The Unseen

So we're just about ready to board the plane and head off for our crazy trip to the states (I almost wrote home, but I have very conflicting feelings about that these days). These last 2 weeks have been crazy; packing, moving, saying goodbye to all of our friends, and packing some more. Hard to believe we have lived here for almost 2 years! It went by so quickly. When we came here I was so afraid that we would feel lonely and it would be hard to find friends. 2 years later I am having so much trouble saying goodbye to all the wonderful friends we have found here. We have had a whirlwind of goodbye parties. Ladies night out at the Indian restaurant, the last playgroup where the girls gave me and the other ladies moving on such a sweet and heartfelt gift and sendoff, then there was a birthday bbq on the beach, and lots of last visits and long hugs with amazing people. I've mentioned before how strange this lifestyle is; the coming and going, the constant transi...

So we survived moving day! Thanks to all who prayed for us! It was an incredibly crazy day but it went off almost without a hitch. Our plan was to move all of our things this past Friday along with our friend Lisa's things since we were headed to the same place. Totally last minute a job finally worked out for our friend Maria so we added her stuff to the mix. We hired 2 trucks and 4 Chinese men to come do the moving and thought we were all set. Then we decided to add in 2 more stops to our trip for both Lisa and us to pick up some furniture that we were purchasing from other expats who were leaving. By this point we were getting quite the collection of stuff and were wondering if it would all fit in the trucks. So we were able to borrow a mini-van from a friend of ours for the day and began stuffing everything possible into that to leave more room in the trucks. Just when we thought we had it all planned out, Rob's university called and said that in order for us to ...

Yesterday was the BIG DAY!!!! We got the keys to our new apartment! I finally had the chance to take some decent pictures and am ready to unveil the photos of our soon-to-be home. I will tell you the story of how we came to find it. I love telling it since it's such a clear testimony of His love for us. We started our apartment hunt with a very specific price range and a very specific area of the city in mind where we wanted to live. The weekend before we began our hunt, I spent hours online with our friend Lisa, researching places to look at and making appointments with real-estate agents. We were having a very difficult time finding exactly what we were looking for, but we made several appointments. Monday we showed up and met our first agent. The first place we went to was......disappointing. It was exactly the price range we were looking for, but on a dingy alley street and was filthy inside. The building itself looked as if it would be ripped down within the ne...

This week we have had the strangest weather! It has been almost as if we were living in the clouds. Fog has descended for several days now, blanketing our part of the city. At times I can't even see across the street. It's been a bit weird, but actually not too bad. It has held off the heat and stretched out springtime so I won't complain. We also had 2 thunderstorms which is un-heard of here. And I LOVE thunderstorms so it was fun! A few photos for your viewing pleasure :-) I am getting quite sentimental about leaving our home of 2 years here. We have LOVED our time in this city and this apartment. We have made precious friends and enjoyed the company of family. We have been so blessed with wonderful times and wonderful memories. I am starting to take pictures of everything so we can remember. This past week our apartment was signed over to the next tenants. It made me very sad and sentimental. I can't believe our time here has come to an end. We...

There are a few definite perks to living in a city as wonderful as ours. Our city is on the coast and I am constantly thankful for the beauty of the ocean that offsets living in a city of 10 million. This city is huge with high rises and industry and vehicles everywhere. However it is wonderfully positioned between the mountains and the ocean with parts of the city wrapping around some of the smaller mountains. The result is a huge city that still feels beautiful and friendly. The coastline is quite beautiful and we are blessed to live here. This saturday the kids and I went to a super-fun birthday party in a seaside park where the party favors were bubble swords, and then opted to walk from there along the coast to the downtown sailing center where the water fountains are. Along the way, we chatted with a fisherman, jumped off of "the biggest rock EVER" and played with our bubble swords. At the fountains they ran like mad people through the water back and fort...