So now that Laborious Part One is over, I'd like to focus on more lovely things. Just going to do this in list form, in no particular order...
1) Our neighborhood. I am loving our area. Went for a little jog in it the other morning, and I was noticing that every yard was so nice. We are five minutes from an awesome shopping center that has almost everything we need. We are closer than five minutes to other essentials like our bank, McDonalds (essential, yes?), etc. We are also close to the church, which is super nice. Feels like we can get the heartbeat of the area we're trying to reach.
2) Our home. It's shaping up, though slowly, to become less boxes and more home. And I have the kind of grass I've only dreamed about in white picked fence kind of dreams. Like you can walk barefoot and squish it between your toes kind of green, lush grass. Happiness. And of course, pictured below is a feature we are particularly enjoying :)
This is the view from the covered patio. It's fabulous.
Cadence always taking note of when the camera is out :)
A view of the front yard, although the green is so much greener in real life
3) Mac. Make no mistake- he is as cute, if not cuter, than the pictures show. But he is also a handful! When we went to the house to pick out which puppy we wanted, he was the one that immediately came right up to the kids and started playing. So what choice did we have, right? He is feisty. He is smart. He is already potty training pretty good and sleeping pretty good. He will chew or eat anything available. He will bite your feet. And he will cause little giggles and squeals from certain little children that warm my heart. And in the moments when his little puppy energy runs out, he is a cuddly, furry little teddy bear.
4) Berripop frozen yogurt. All natural, yummy goodness. Hello, I'm in love. And there's one in the above mentioned shopping center, none the less :)
5) Magnolia trees (my favorite tree) and palm trees (Chris's favorite) a plenty.
6) A great church service today. Albeit small beginnings, it was a morning that made the long, frustrating week seem like a distant memory. Chris was awesome. But when is he less than that? And we got to have a little fun and lead worship, too. Doing life and building the kingdom with these people is going to be a fun adventure.
7) Ikea. Although we had a frustrating experience (contributing to laborious part one) that wasn't Ikea's fault, it could not quell my love for the big, blue store. I've waited a long time to live in a city that has one. And guess what made me love it even more? That you can drop your kids off in a huge, adult supervised play area, complete with a secure sign in and number, and be on your happy way through the monstrosity of design goodness. Yeah, that's right. Be jealous.
8) New pals. There are only a few children in the church right now, but there is a family that has two boys who are the kids' ages. And they are just happy to have a friend. And we're happy they're there!
Forgive the fuzzy pic- I took it on my phone yesterday when we were eating lunch. This is Sam, the six year old. Nick and Cadence were on the other side of the table, but they didn't feel like being photographed at the time!
9) The city itself. It will probably be a while before I stop gawking at all of the tall buildings, funky stores, beautiful parks and landmarks, and well, the city-ness of it all. The urban vibe is so awesome. I wish I could describe it, but it's just us. Houston is us. I am looking forward to doing some more exploring once we're settled.
10) And the people. My goodness, the people. I hope I'm not offending anyone, because I feel like I'm just staring everywhere we go. This is a place so rich in culture and diversity, and it is breathtaking to me. I'm in a store and I hear a mother singing a song to her baby in a language I don't recognize. I stand in line at the grocery store, and about every color you could represent is standing with me. Not everyone would like that I guess, but to us it's one of the most compelling, exciting elements that even drew us in the first place. And although I know not everyone is, all of the people I've encountered so far are really nice. Houston, you are beautiful.
And that's a short list. I'm sure you'll hear me gushing for quite some time. When you live in a city of millions of people, there's a lot to love I guess. And there's also a lot of problems, a lot of need, a lot of hurt, and a lot of work, too. So that's why I'm going to need to be talking a lot about those lovely things. To keep perspective, you know?
Well, that's all for now. We're doing lots of church work today (and every day), so I'm gonna get to it. And the kids. And the dog. And the lunch everyone will be wanting shortly.
Peace out from the Pate house.
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