4 month update

Today marks 4 months since we've moved to London! It is a bit hard to believe, and it does seem like it has gone fast, and that so much has happened and changed since moving here.

I hope this won't bore you, but I wanted to selfishly get down on paper, er blog world, where we are after 4 months. While right now it seems mundane, I think it will be neat to look back on what we were doing. And since lists are quite easy...here we go!

-Wiley has adjusted beautifully. Maybe it was the fact that he was back and forth between Wake and Birmingham from the start between holidays and summers, but he just hit the ground running...of course, once we got the time change sorted out.

-Speaking of the initial time change with Wiley (and children in general). It was awful. Having a child who you could always count on to sleep well suddenly waking up at 2 a.m. wide awake was totally unnerving, and led me to post Bible verses throughout the flat we were staying in as well as memorizing them. In particular: Psalm 26:3.

-Wiley goes to school 5 days a week, and while at first it seemed like a lot (especially since I'm not working), it has been amazing for both of us. I'm still trying to figure out what to be doing during that time, but I think I'm on the right path. The routine of school each day has been so good for Wiley. And when he loves the school and is playing with wonderful children and sweet teachers, you can't ask for more.

-Turns out, I still haven't been to the V&A and that was one of my first things I wanted to do upon moving here. Maybe I'll get to it in the next 4 months.

-Routine is so good for families. I want to be flexible, but the difference in our life at home in December (3 days/week then holiday) and in January was pretty remarkable. Maybe it is just something about a fresh new year, new calendar, new routine...I feel better when I know how my days will be happening, and looking back on the past few months, I am going to go out on a limb and say that this is the first time we've been in a routine since before graduation. (Love summer so much, but not the best time to get a routine down pat when one is able to go to the lake! :-) )

-I am really quite excited about the opportunity to travel here. I met a girl this weekend who was telling me that she and her husband had travelled to just about every place that she really wanted to visit. It was the primary purpose of their move to London--to travel--and now that they have literally checked off the majority of their list (she said they keep it on the fridge), they are going to be heading back home in the fall...that is after they do a final trip around the world. While all of that is not possible for a variety of reasons, namely traveling with a child, it is pretty inspiring how they have seen the world and taken advantage of their location. I'm going to work on our list now, of "must visits."

-On a related note: There is a reason the flights to Eastern Europe are cheap in January. It is bloody cold there.

-It is true that London weather is miserable. It really does rain a lot. This is not an exaggeration. And I can count on one and a half hands the number of full days of sunshine we've had since being here.

-We may speak the same language (sort of), but American and British cultures are very different.

-Celebrity sightings are fun! Especially when it's Taylor Swift!

-Efficient the Brits are not.

-Bubba is better at customer service/installations/repairs than James/Adair/other name that you cannot pronounce due to thick Scottish accent or out-sourced accent.

-Free museums are a genius idea...rather, brilliant!

-I heart grocery delivery.

-It is perfectly acceptable to ask a neighbor over for tea. What would you do if I asked you to come over for tea in the States? I am pretty sure you would either ask: are you 6? or Sweet tea?

-NHS: You get what you pay for.

-It's not entertaining to see a paycheck, and then how much the government took from it. See above.

-London can do a park. The playgrounds are so good, and not boring at all. Many have a zip line! Exercising in a huge park is also pretty freeing in a big city.

-Homesickness is not fun. I can say that I didn't have it at camp, college, etc. but London, yes.

-Guy Fawkes Day here (in November) is like our 4th of July with the fireworks. Serious fireworks happen on this night.

-I'm thankful for the Pilgrims.

-Finding a church right off the bat was such a blessing. In those first few weeks there were loads of unknowns (where to live? school?), but at least we could rely on having church each Sunday and a Women's Bible Study for me. Thank you All Souls.

-It really is a very secular country here. Quite different from the "Bible belt."

-Snail mail is wonderful, as are skype dates, gmail chat, and blogs, for keeping in touch across the pond.

-Wil has some really great co-workers. Hi Grant!

-The expat community here is so helpful...Turns out we are not the first family to move abroad! They understand that you don't know where to get your haircut, and they will help you! They understand that you don't know where to grocery shop, they'll show you! It's a neat little community...It makes you feel less alone when you find yourself thousands of miles from home.

-When you find yourself thousands of miles from home with only your husband to depend on (yes, the 3 year old is here, but I wouldn't say he is dependable...except to make us laugh and pull out our hair), that relationship will deepen and grow exponentially. Literally. Imagine that graph from Trig or Calculus or both, I don't really know which, where it starts out in the left hand corner then just multiplies so fast to the upper right hand corner. (Maddie, are you aghast at my math analogy?) Yeah, so that is how we have grown. We have so much fun together (right, Wil?), and it is just like we have bonded so much more since moving here. That is a lame way to put it. But the visual in my head is from the Bible verse, Ecclesiastes 4:12, "A cord of 3 strands is not easily broken." We have both had to rely on and trust God first and foremost, and then one another.

-The past four months have had their ups and their downs. Maybe more downs than ups. I've been told that it takes 2 years to adjust to a new place which is not so reassuring given our time frame, but I am hoping that 6 months will make us more comfortable here.

-So with the hard, I am so thankful for the good, namely what this move has done for my relationship with my God, my husband, and my little family. I feel as though we are laying a firm foundation for whatever is to come next in our journey.

For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness

Psalm 26:3