Brand New Life

I finally come here again, almost a full month later -- now a married woman (a wife!), with a new last name, a new home, a new place and calling and duties.

We live here!

(Image via MagazineUSA.com and the state of VA)

Andrew and I moved into our new home almost two weeks ago, and have been slowly chipping away at the boulder that is unpacking, organizing, and sorting the contents of our many boxes. It is quite ridiculous how much stuff two people can have.

Our first evening here, half the living room floor was covered in unopened wedding gifts, which we decided to open while we washed a load of towels. (We had no clean towels to shower with, no shower curtain, no anything when we got here.) Towels in the dryer, opened the first present. Our gift-opening enthusiasm was abruptly halted, however, when our washing machine began banging and thudding alarmingly. We leapt up to see water seeping onto our floor -- and all our towels were wet, in the washer! I finally unearthed a handful of dish towels, which we used to sop up the puddle, and Andrew stuck his head under the machine to diagnose it. The drum had become loose in the move, but his dad was coming the next day, so we thought we'd wait until then to fix it. I hauled the wet, soapy towels upstairs to the bathtub to rinse the soap out of them, threw them in the dryer, and we finished opening our presents. The joys of being a grown-up are many...

Through the mess, our house has become a home. The entire downstairs (living room, dining room, kitchen) is box-free, and most of the mess left is contained to the guest room/study, which will probably be a catch-all sort of room anyway.

I wish I could show you pictures, but Maine killed my camera. (Our honeymoon was in Maine; I haven't told you yet! So lovely.)

I feel like my life is defined now by its many changes. A new home. A husband. BFF Lindsay is now living in Korea (we got to see her before she left, though. Not that I miss her any less, but it helped). Now the thoughts turn to a new job. I am so intimidated by the prospect of finding a job. Irrationally, the thought grips my stomach with fear. I don't feel very brave right now.

But God is faithful, always.