Saturday, October 3, 2009

Deep Breaths!

Every day for the last few months, I have had to stop and remind myself to take deep breaths.

The wind was incredible today. The trees were swinging in the gusts, the fallen leaves were rushing around on the sidewalks, and the kids were laughing as the wind took their breath away. It was like the entire day was a deep breath.

And for me it truly was ...

In July we packed up all our belongings and put them in storage. This was our hardest move, out of the seven we have done in our ten years of marriage. Maybe it was the added challenge of kids; maybe it was the fact that everything was going into long-term storage instead of going to our new place; maybe it was some combination and a million other things.

We spent the month of August and part of September at my parent's house. For those six weeks, we were preparing for our relocation to Aberdeen, Scotland; planning my youngest sister's wedding on September 19; traveling to visit all our friends and family before we left three years; trying to enjoy the summer and keep the kids happy.

September 22 was our arrival day. We landed at Aberdeen airport and began our adventure in Scotland. This was an incredibly stressful week as we searched for a place to live. Everything seemed stacked against us. But God had a great place picked out for us and we just had to wait for his timing. Incredible!

Last night we signed the lease and moved our eight suitcases into our new flat. Today I spent the entire day cleaning, while my hubby and kids unpacked our stuff. There is still plenty of organizing and cleaning left to be done, but it is already starting to feel like home.

We have a place of our own. We can start to re-establish our routines and habits. And maybe life will slow down and I won't have to constantly remind myself to breath deeply.

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Have any of you moved lately? What do you do to settle into a new home a new city, and in our case, a new culture?

3 comments:

Jena Webber said...

Wow! Aberdeen Scotland. Amazing. Congratulations on getting moved in. Can you remind me why you are there again? It's nice to have you back in the blog world. I knew you'd check in eventually. And when you are settled, can I come visit? I have this thing with Scotland lately. How long will you be there?

Ruby said...

Yes, lovely to see your post come up in my reader, too! This is a great adventure for your family. I have great visions of Scotland, I hope you will post us about it when able. Also hope it all continues to go well.
I haven't moved in years, but I tell you, I could do with a move to clear out the junk we have accumulated! (Don't let Organizing Mommy know that though!)

judahmo said...

I'm so glad you found a great place! I can't wait to see pictures!

Although we haven't moved recently, one of the things that always makes it feel like home is to invite people over and start creating memories in our new place.

Shannon