WE HAVE INTERNET!!!!  We are so excited to have our internet hooked up!

I cannot believe we have been here for over a week now!  We are quickly getting the house together but it seems to be a never-ending task.  We arrived Thursday and received our keys from Fuller.  Friday we made two trips to Ikea, and Saturday we spent 5 hours in Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  The BBB staff was very nice to us and gave us personal attention while we were there.  I think we set the record for the time spent shopping there though.  The wedding manager there heard our story and gave us the wedding registry benefits and discounts even though we didn’t register with them specifically.  Also, I made a friend, Mark, in the housewares department.  Needless to say, we have both done enough shopping for a lifetime. We have come to accept the fact that our trips to the store take more time than planned and we come home with more than planned. But we do truly Thank You for all of the gift cards!  The Ikea, Target, BBB, and Lowes have all been put to great use!  It takes a lot to build a home from scratch.

THREE WEEKS! We have been married for 3 weeks and yet this is the first week we have had to live and make big decisions together.  Here are some differences I have noticed…Jeff only likes black and white, I like color…He is a morning person, I am a night person…He is much stronger when it comes to assembling furniture…and he eats a lot more than me.  (Nobody ever told me that marriage is not cooking for 2 but for 3, just kidding honey!)  But we have enjoyed this time together so much! We both love to cook and we have taken some nice long walks around the area.  And for those who are  wondering, Jeff is helping cook and clean the dishes!

We are getting to know each other, as well as our house.  Our house was built in the 20’s and somewhat renovated in the 70’s, or at least that’s what the ugly tile is from.  I love the charm of the house but it has its quirks too! The water heater moans anytime we use the hot water, you can’t run the washer with anything electrical in the kitchen or it will flip the switch, you have to use wood blocks to hold the windows open, and we are slowly figuring out how to put the stove burners on any setting other than high.  It is fun learning about the house together and it is truly the perfect size for us!

We, also, have met several of our neighbors during this week.  They are very nice, slightly eccentric, and extremely academic! About half are at Fuller for their PhD and everyone else is going for or has a MA.  We are excited to get to know them better but so far it seems that we are in a great community.  Speaking of community…We tried one church last Sunday but we are still looking.  We are continuing to pray that God will put the right church in our path so that we can get connected there too.

I will put up pictures of the house once we get the mess cleaned up, but for now, I have some photos of the house once we arrived.

~Lauren