In Which She Takes a Big, Deep Breath

Hey everyone! Sneaking a few minutes on the lap top while Caleb naps. . .

Gosh, where do I begin? My mind has not fully registered the fact that I live in Washington now. It feels like we've come up to spend the summer. A vacation. Not a life. A whole new life. So instead of trying to comprehend this amazing, enormous change, I'm taking it slow. Last night, I drove to Wal-Mart and back without getting lost. Today I'm doing laundry and putting our clothes away in the chest my mother-in-law has so graciously provided.

Slow changes. Slow days. Hopefully, my mind will catch up soon.

Our three day drive was long, but uneventful. We spent around 10 hours in the car each day (including stops), spent one night in northern California and one night in central Oregon. Caleb was a real trooper and I praise God my son behaved himself so well. He napped, played with his menagerie of plastic animals, watched movies on the laptop, and chattered away like a monkey when the mood for verbosity descended. My mom and Harry were a HUGE help. We all took turns driving, navigating, and babysitting. On our last day, Mom and I read from a tour guide book about all the state and national parks we passed. We saw Mt. Shasta, Mt. Hood, Mt. Saint Helens, and Mt. Reineer. We saw deer and bison, fields of rice and fields of sunflowers, trees and more trees. We drove through Los Angeles, Sacremento, Portland, Olympia, Tacoma, and Seattle. We saw no rain, but lots and lots of rivers.

Boy, we were glad to finally get here! :) Three days is a loooong time to spend in the car; I don't care WHAT kind of snacks you have. But we did enjoy seeing so much of the Pacific Northwest. Jason and I are working on a list of day and weekend trips we want to make; there's so much to see here! But more on that later.

Jason has a job interview!! Already!! He got the phone call this morning, and next Tuesday he goes in. It's an IT job here on the Island, working for a bank. Getting a job is the next step for us as a family. Once Jay has employment, we can find a place of our own. But employment is tricky; Jason could find work closer to Seattle, but we'd kinda like to stay on Whidbey, or close by. So we're praying, real hard, that God would make our path clear. Do we stay here, closer to his family and in an area we love, or do we go where jobs are more plentiful?

Mom and Harry left this morning. They were my last good-bye, my last piece of California. They might come back toward the end of the summer. Depends on when and where Jason finds work. And they are definitely coming for Christmas. :) :) I'm not thinking that far ahead right now, though. The immediate future has me organizing the trailer where we now live, helping prepare food for the family, getting Caleb back into a routine, and the like.

Pictures will come, I promise. I need to find my feet and that may take some time. There's no denying we live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. I've only ever read about places like this; I can't believe I actually live in one now. God is very good. All the time. :)