Monday, January 9, 2012

Week 1

My, my, this certainly has been a busy week for us. We're finding that we enjoy our time in Renton much more than our time in Federal Way. There are friendly people here, people with good, lifelong relationships with other people. There are people here who smile at you on the street, who help you if you're lost, and who are always ready to tell you exactly how to get to their favorite restaurant or store and admonish you to "tell Mary that I said hi." We live within walking distance from downtown Renton, which is much nicer than downtown Seattle or downtown Federal Way. We have a major shopping center just a short drive away, and we can see the traffic report from our living room window. The sun rises every morning at one end of our home and sets in the evening at the other and our huge windows all throughout the house make sure that we can see them both.

Since moving into this house and getting rid of as much of our soy consumption as possible - a process that is still in progress, but thank God we have family who has been through this already - we have both had a lot more energy. We spend our days however we spend them, usually with Dearest at work and me running errands. In the evenings we meet at home, and I feed him, and then we go wandering around town to meet people. Once the last Starbucks has closed and the Barnes and Noble is locking up, we head home and cozy up in front of our fireplace with Netflix. It's a nice routine. I like it a lot.

The house in Federal Way was supposed to be auctioned the other day, but we got a letter in the mail (that had been sent the day before the auction) saying that it has been postponed again. I have a feeling they just can't find anyone who will buy it at their asking price. But regardless, it means that we have the place in Federal way and as of mid-February will officially have had it rent and mortgage-free for a year.

I haven't done so well on my resolutions thus far. I've revised them a little, realizing that with my schedule some days it simply isn't all that feasible to exercise. But Dearest and I still make it up the hill every chance we get. I'm also not doing so great at the "eating healthier" part but I'm working to keep my portion sizes under control, which helps overall.

I did, however, keep a few of my resolutions. For example, I resolved to read through one book every week. Last week I decided to re-read through Get Married, Stay Married  by Paul and Billie Kaye Tsika. Those of you who know me may know that this book plays a particularly sentimental role in my life. If it weren't for this book, I probably wouldn't be in a relationship with my husband, much less married to him! I really love the example Paul and Billie Kaye set; their marriage has survived 50-some-odd years despite an affair, and a time of long-distance while Paul was a travelling minister. I really admire them, and reading their book changed the way that Dearest and I related to each other. When he was going through his rough recovery, reading about the way that Billie Kaye dealt with her pain after finding out about Paul's affair really helped me. She wrote about taking her feelings honestly to God and how in that time it felt like a privilege to be able to seek comfort in prayer, and I really could relate to that in that time of our journey.


In other news, I'm looking for work still, and really hoping to work at Starbucks. I love our new place, a lot! And hopefully, next week I'll have another date night with Dearest and we'll go down to the pub.

1 comment:

  1. Sounds lovely! And I know the climate out there is perfect for you. I would love to see some pictures...I miss your photography. You have a fabulous eye for beauty :)

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