Good Days, Bad Days, Going Half Mad Days

"I've had good days and bad days and goin' half mad days" -Jimmy Buffett


Good Days:
A couple weeks ago, I was getting ready for the day in the bathroom when I thought, Wow, this place actually feels like home now. When you move somewhere or you're staying in a hotel, it doesn't feel like home because you don't know where anything is. You have no routine because your stuff isn't where it normally is or things are always changing around you. I realized that day that I finally had routine because this place was familiar now and I've been here long enough for it to feel like home.

We found a church that we are going to join and get plugged in to. This is such a huge answer to prayer because as soon as we got here we started praying God would provide us with a church home and community (aka friends!) and He most definitely has. We found this place through a friend of a friend of a friend... literally! I emailed with this friend of a friend of a friend, Janelle and she invited us to her church. That night, Mitchell went to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) and met a guy who goes to that same church and offered to introduce us to a bunch of people our age. This last Sunday, we went for the second time and sat with a group of people our age and went to lunch with them afterwards. We felt really welcomed and comfortable with them. They invited us to come to their Sunday school class this weekend and I've hung out with one of the girls a couple of times. We really like the pastor of this church and feel he delivers solid messages. We feel like God has led us here and we are excited to have a church home!

Mitchell's work situation has been really good as well. He can walk to work and really enjoys doing that while he listens to his audio book. It's a great way to warm up to the day instead of waking up, driving 8 minutes to work and then getting started. This is a good 30 minute warm up to his day. His actual work has kept him busy and stimulated. He often comes home telling me about how his day was like a whirlwind but he loved it because it's interesting and he's getting to do what he loves doing - identifying problems and finding solutions to those problems that puts them in a better place than they were before.

The weather here has been beautiful and consistent! With the exception of a few rainy days (=snow on the mountains), we've had such a mild winter here. Most of the days are sunny with temps in the low to mid 60s. And things grow here! Rose bushes, orange trees, cactuses (cacti?), grass, evergreens, avocados, and a bunch of other plants that I'm unfamiliar with.

This good list could go on...

Bad Days:
There have been those bad days as well. I went from going 100 miles an hour in Houston with teaching (prep for 2 classes, grading, tutoring, etc), preparing for Christmas, preparing to move to Cali, spending time with family to a slow, slow crawl in California. It's been hard to adjust and there were some days when I didn't even leave the house. I grew up in a small house with 5 other people. I shared a room with my sister most of my life there and a bathroom with 3 siblings... I was around people a lot. As a result, I like to be around people so being by myself all day has taken some adjustment, with a few depressed days during that time. I've put some applications out here in Cali for teaching, substituting, coaching, tutoring and I've heard nothing. Thankfully, the Lord has provided for us and we don't need my income so there is no pressure but I will go crazy sitting around here. I am working on figuring out how I will spend my time here so keep me in your prayers please. :)

I haven't really experienced this so much, but I know it's been hard for Mitchell to keep up with friends back home because of the time difference. We're really only 2 hours behind Texas but by the time he gets home from work, eats dinner, cleans up, it's 7:30 or 8 and that seems too late to call people to chat back in Texas.

Going Half Mad Days:
The days between getting our house set up and finding something to fill my time

My interaction with the California DMV. It was easy breezy getting our Cali driver's licenses but getting our car registered here has been such a pain. The car was bought by myself and my dad (although I have paid for it) so the title (which we don't own yet) is in Chrissy Schoelman and Kurt Schoelman. Well, the car must be registered to the people on the title so that is how the car is registered in Cali. Sheesh, that makes me nervous since all my IDs say Chrissy Martin now but it will all be taken care of in the next few months when we pay off the car and get our names changed on the title. Now our CR-V has California license plates on it! Next challenge: getting the scooter registered in Cali and passing the scooter driving test so we can get licenses to drive it! Can't wait for more half mad days in the near future!

Don't forget that you can see what we're doing day to day through Project 365 so check it out! :)