{Getting There}

We are slowly but surely getting settled into our home here. Just a few days ago we finally got rid of the last of our moving boxes and paper. You should have seen the stack we left out for the recycling guys. Thankfully they took it all and so now my living room is empty. Hopefully it won't be empty for too much longer. Our couches have shipped but they are coming from California, so they are probably still a few weeks away. We were quoted 15 business days. We really are getting tired of watching tv in folding chairs or reading a book at the table. Not the end of the world just uncomfortable.
We have found the grocery store, the library and our friendly neighborhood Target (Wal-marts are sparse out here). I guess that is all we really need, right? The weather has been hot but thankfully our A/C works so well that unless I leave the house I don't notice the blistering heat. We are still (not very) patiently waiting for our trampoline to arrive that we ordered the day after we got to town, almost a month ago now. We have had the worst customer service with our local Sears store. They have refunded us $100 and gave us a staggering 5% off our next purchase for our inconvenience. We'll see if we every order something through them again. The kids are losing all hope that they will actually get to jump on the tramp before the winter weather sets in.

Ryan is loving fellowship. It is better hours and he gets to do something that he really enjoys. We are loving getting to have him home much more. We really don't know what to do with him home this much. He has been finding some back roads from work to home so that he doesn't have to take the beltway all the time. When it is bad traffic it is really bad so Ryan likes to have alternatives. Although one morning this last week he tried out one of his new found alternative routes and took the wrong turn....he ended up at the University of Maryland. For those not familiar with our geography, that is ways from Walter Reed, especially in rush hour traffic. Thank goodness he leaves earlier than needed he was only 15 minutes later than usual.

We have met several of our neighbors and out of all the places we have lived this is the first where our neighbors have come to introduce themselves to us. I met one yesterday, Mrs. Pike. She is Korean and brought us a box of Korean popsicles. Red Bean popsicles. Ryan tried one last night, if you can imagine what red BEAN would taste like in frozen form then you can imagine what this "dessert" tasted like. But she was thoughtful and generous so we won't hold it against her.
The kid's rooms are some of the finished ones in our house. Although I am wanting to do something fun with their bulletin boards and a few pictures they are pretty much done. The other rooms need rugs and pictures and such. All in good time Ryan likes to remind me. I am learning more and more that this was really the house we were suppose to rent. Our landlord is wonderful and the neighborhood is great. I am thankful for the small blessings.