City Folk at Last: a year-long transition

After having our house on the market for 6 months and then living in temporary housing for another 6 months, we have finally moved into our "final resting place" (as I like to call it). This has been a challenging time, but also a fun time.

Living in the apartment over the summer was just what Rob needed to relax after working on his doctorate for the last 5 summers. He didn't have to mow the lawn or work on any house projects! The kids enjoyed the pool and playground. We even used the tennis courts and golf course, though not as often as we thought we would.

Learning to trust God more fully was the greatest challenge for me, as I saw the school year approaching, and we still weren't settled in a house. God stretched me in the area of unbelief and also convicted me of the sins of discontentment and covetousness. It was a very humbling time, and I still need to grow in believing that this was really the best time-line.


About city life: We love our 1913 house - 9 foot ceilings, 12 inch base board, working transoms, and more. We are enjoying walking to friends' houses, concerts, the deli, and the park. We spent two weeks before moving in painting walls, trim, and even some floors, as well as sanding and finishing the livingroom floors. We almost got all the painting done before the move! The rest will have to wait for summer.

Last week our contractor broke ground on a small addition that will add a 1/2 bath and mudroom on the first floor and a master bath on the second floor. We spent hours in Lowes selecting lights, vanities, toilets, and hardware. We are really looking forward to having more than one bathroom!!

We are meeting neighbors, who seem friendly and willing to stop and talk for a while. Living with walls connected to other houses is definitely an adjustment (in another blog we'll tell you about the defacto fraternity house next door).

Our new 5-bedroom home has given us the opportunity to help out LBC students every once in a while. Currently, we are sharing our home with Emerald Conniff, a performance major in Rob's department. It has been great having her in our home as she is one of the funniest people I've met as well as being a huge help around the house.

Danika has been able to start teaching ballet in her new studio (a converted over-sized bedroom on the third floor). She teaches four classes each week with about 3 girls in each class. She is an excellent teacher, and the little girls just adore her!

In all we are really excited to be here.

Here are some photos of Danika teaching her first Ballet class in the "West End Studio" (a.k.a our third floor):