Our new home!

We signed the contract! We don't get the keys until June 1, but turns out the landlord actually lives RIGHT next to us (we only share the kitchen & entry walls and it's with his apartment!) so he will let us in any time to paint etc.

Now for the tour...Here is the main entry with nice big closet























The view from the entry way, looking through the kitchen eating area into the kitchen.

The kitchen. The other wall is also full of cabinets. Love the gas stove. And a double sink, an unusual item in Spain.

The eating area of the kitchen. We'll put the fridge here because it's too fall for the space in the kitchen.



















Nic's room























Meg's Room



















Main Bathroom























Our room. It has 2 sets of doors onto the balcony.


















View of our room from other side

Our bathroom. Yippeee, we each get our own sink :)

The office

Other view of the office


















Living room















More living/dining room






























Balcony on the end, outside our room and office.















Balcony along our room, kids' rooms, kitchen














Balcony along the office and living room















So there you have it! It feels so good to KNOW where we are going to live. We walked to school from the flat, and it's only about a 15 minute walk. So that is great.

I'll leave you with a picture of the kids in front of the school gate. My allergies have been keeping me from getting sleep, so I need a nap!

Cute Boy

Click here to see Nic's school photo.

Fretting

Even though we are signing our contract today, I woke up stressed and jittery. Our day-off plans were a bit up in the air, so I couldn't crash and get a nap after the kids went to school, which is what I really needed. Instead, I puttered.

I did laundry. I sent an email to my tax man and a few other random emails. I printed out our furlough travel receipt so I could do the reimbursement form. But mostly, I fretted. About money. Because we had to pay 2 months deposit instead of one. Because the exchange rate is terrible right now, right when we have to spend money right and left. Because moving into the city means spending more on rent, more on school.

I fretted about furlough, and how you have to spend money to raise money. I fretted about moving, about new neighbors, about the new knowledge that the landlord actually lives in the same complex. I fretted and fretted and fretted some more.

I have a bad habit of being stoic. I can take a lot and keep on going, happily enough. But the last month has been really stressful, and I can feel in my soul that I just need to sit and have a good long blubber.

Random Mutterings

It's hot. It's 12:35 am and it's 82 degrees. It's only May. I've heard it's supposed to be a lot cooler tomorrow...I hope so! Between allergies and heat waves it's kind of hard to sleep!

On a less gripey note, we are signing our contract tomorrow, or I guess...today :) We got the call earlier. They did manage to throw in the curve ball that we have to pay a second month of security deposit which we were not expecting. But it's better than a bank guarantee! We'll be taking the kids with us to sign since they have not even seen the place yet. I'll try to take some photos while we are there. Hopefully we'll have a key as of tomorrow so we can get in and paint etc.

Nic got his stitches out today without any problems, it took about 3 minutes and we were done. I'm glad that's behind us!

Tonight I went into the city for my group. I made a loaf of garlic onion herb bread, and the whole train ride in I wondered if people could smell the warm loaf, because I sure could. Nice perfume. "My girls" and I started the Top 10 Chapters of the Bible study. The first one is Genesis 3. It sparked an animated discussion about the fall, and what it means that "your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." Good stuff. I love this women and our Wednesday nights together.

I guess I will go see if it has gotten any cooler upstairs and if I can settle into sleep. I can't wait until a month from now when we will be living in our new apartment and the move is behind us...

Waiting to Settle

It has been hard knowing what to write. We still have not signed a contract, but if seems that the apartment is ours. I'm just slightly skittish about claiming it until we have actually signed. We're talking about things like it is, but it's hard to be full-on excited yet.

Now is also the perfect time to be insecure about it. This place is in a very "pijo" (high-class, snobby etc.) area. The garage is FULL of Mercedes, Audis, BMWs etc. Our Ford Escort is going to look pretty out of place. I'm a little worried about living around people with so much money. Apparently there also a lot of French people living in the building. (We found out there is a French school nearby) French people have a reputation for being very quiet and reserved. Since we always have people in the house, I hope we aren't going to tick off the neighbors.

Uncertainty is a funny thing. It makes you waffle between hope and despair. It seems obvious that God has provided a good place for us; even answering little desires of my heart like a gas stove. Obviously, He knows the neighbors. Yet I still worry, like He is not big enough to handle them.

I am dying to see the place again. We looked at it thoroughly but only enough to know that we could live there. Now I want to go back and really take notice of things.

Today is a holiday in Madrid, so no business will get done. We're hoping to sign very soon.

We're all going a bit nuts with allergies right now, so that has us a bit off our game as well. Keep praying!