A New Year; A New Everything

We have begun our new life in a new town....Newton. As far as moves go, I think everything has gone smoothly. It took two trailers, a flat bed, and a U Haul to move us. We are overwhelmed with stuff. I keep contemplating a vow to not make any purchases this year of any kind. The only thing holding me back is having a new house that we could buy for.

It took six weeks of packing in Corn and so I shouldn't be expecting it to all be done within this first week. However, I do find myself getting tired of boxes. The carpet for the stairwell and upstairs was being installed the day we moved in. Crazy timing, but in the end a relief that it was done that day as we were then able to move all the bedroom furniture in and set up beds. We are living on the sub floors on this main floor in the house. This weekend's task is to put in a click and lock wood flooring ourselves, saving hundreds of dollars. Once that is officially in, several more things will fall into place and be unpacked.

I am so impressed with my dear husband. Turns out that in addition to administrative and relational gifts, he is also an electrician, a plumber, a computer tech, a floor installer of several different types, amazingly strong and ever so patient! He is steady and I appreciate him so. Today is his birthday! And I celebrate him.

Our kitchen is in pretty good order thanks to Russ' mom and Lil and their help last weekend. I appreciate your time and company!

That reminds me of how grateful we were for our friends in Corn that helped us clean during that last 36 hour crunch! Thank you all!

I find myself exhausted these days and sleeping more sound than I have in ages. My body is simply heavy. Stress has left its toll. So many wonderful things have happened and we are truly grateful for how smoothly everything has gone, but we will be recuperating for a spell now. My brother-in-law gave this perfect illustration of how something heavy leaves its impression on a mattress (or new carpet) even after being removed. The "stress" is gone, but its imprint remains for a while until the mattress, the carpet, the person completely recovers from the load it has carried.

While we are still under stress to adjust to all things and relationships new, we find the hardest transitions past. The grief I have born has been tremendous. I was relieved last Thursday, when about an hour from our destination, some anticipation finally set in. I felt I had at last turned a page on a chapter and could begin this new one.

Everyday holds a change in emotion and a new challenge. We miss our friends. Sam is probably affected the most this week. He has been angry or agitated. Yesterday morning held the first exclamation of "I don't like this place". He is mad at me the most when he is upset with anything he is struggling through. Wednesday's homework time reminded me of that big challenging skiing day. He is not in control of any aspect of his life right now, and that is hard for him. I think we are wired the same way and appreciate some predictable routine to our days. I am very thankful for the weekend. He will be home in about thirty minutes from school, and we need to regroup and resettle.

Not sure how to end this little update. I had meant for it to be a light hearted announcement of our arrival here. One filled with such gratitude for all that we have experienced. And yet, it is that mixed with some of our new challenges as well.