Come and Gone

Well, October has come and gone! It was quite a blur -- we closed on a house, since we'd rather not pay the exorbitant rent in this area with no equity to show for it! More on that to come, but suffice it to say for now that October was a blur of packing, painting, moving, and settling. That last one is far from done, but it's so good to be in a home of our own. There is color on the walls, and we can put up pictures, curtain rods, and other miscellany with gleeful abandon!

Our little lady also turned 3 in October -- I can hardly believe how quickly she's growing up. Both mentally and physically! Dresses I made not-that-long-ago are now tunics, and she's talking up a storm. Also, she can now sport a pair of French braids. Her hair is quite long, but it's so naturally layered that a single ponytail or braid results in stray wisps covering her face almost immediately. I've never been much good at "doing" hair, so I'll have some learning to do!

As crazy as the past few weeks have been, I'm astonished at how many little blessings have come our way. We had a horrible situation with our rental property (unscrupulous property managers), which was quite stressful. But when I went by the rental to mulch the flower beds (one of the move-out requirements), the yard maintenance company for the community had already done it! We are responsible for our own beds, so that was totally unexpected. The washer and dryer that we no longer needed? Friends of ours who moved the week after we did -- and helped us tremendously when we moved -- needed to replace the 1970's machines that came with their house. The box spring and bed frame that we no longer needed? Another friend who helped us move had been planning to purchase some! It would have been such a pain to try to put those things on Craigslist in the midst of the chaos, so giving them to people who needed them was the perfect solution. Little reminders that God was taking care of us in the midst of a stressful time.

A little industry (and a trip to IKEA!) will speed up the settling-in process. I love our new home, and can't wait to share more about it soon!

Hope you're all having a lovely November so far!