House, snow, homesickness... and other updates!

As of last Wednesday, we have no longer been homeless! We closed on the house Wednesday night and have been moving in ever since. I never realized what an undertaking moving is for two people to handle! Thankfully, we were able to enlist the help of some new friends in moving the particularly heavy stuff, but we still have quite a long way to go to get everything where it ought to be. 


It's also amazing the sheer volume of stuff I can accumulate. I suppose my new year's resolution has been to de-clutter, and moving has given me an excellent opportunity to do so. For example, am I the only one out there who buys something like shampoo, doesn't love it but doesn't hate it, and then stubbornly holds onto it for a year or more just on the off-chance I decide to use it again?! Is this a psychological condition or what?! Regardless, it is now either in the trash... or has been given to Chris, who has gotten more rejected goodies these past few days than he rightly knows what to do with. 


[The amusing thing is that as I am writing this, I am sitting at a kitchen table cluttered with all sorts of randomness I have yet to find a home for!]


However, I can't help but compare and contrast this move with our previous two - which makes me miss my parents terribly. Not just because of the help they gave us, but mainly because of their presence. Plus, now that I have so much time on my hands during the day, I miss my Grandma too, and Chris's family, and my friends. I keep wanting to call Carissa up to come hang out or bring homework over since she gets off work early and I have all this time... but that's of course not an option. Last night the homesickness set in really intensely, and I broke into sobs. We usually eat out with my parents Sunday nights after church, and it was my first Sunday night away from them. Chris just hugged me and let me cry - which was exactly what I needed!


These crazy mixed feelings have taken me right back to fall of 2001. New at college. Totally alone. Walking into the cafeteria for orientation and not knowing a soul. Being jealous of those who already knew people and those who met people and bonded with people more quickly than I did. Thinking I would never find solid friendships there. Terrified of being alone on a weekend with nothing to do but study. Sneaking into the bathroom to cry so my roommate wouldn't see my tears. Putting on a big smile so that no one would know how lonely I was. But I refused to transfer home, because I had this nagging feeling that OBU was where I was supposed to be.


Back then, I could not imagine that a time would come when I would walk into the cafeteria and have to decide which friends to sit with that night. Or four years later, when the tears were coming, not because I was homesick, but because I didn't want to leave that place. Or seven years later, when I would walk down the aisle to marry the man of my dreams, surrounded by my amazing bridesmaids - six of whom I never would have known had we not gone to college together. 


So I guess that's what will get me through this homesickness here and now. Chris and I know that this is where we are supposed to be and now is when we are supposed to be here. We are insanely grateful for this privilege, and we are amazed at the events that have transpired to bring us here. Now I guess we just have to trust that the friendships will follow - and be grateful for free night and weekend minutes to call everyone back home! (Plus free anytime minutes to those on AT&T plans ;-) We really are blessed.


I almost didn't share this. I know it's long, and I know it's kind of sad. But it's what I'm feeling, and I want to be honest. Writing helps me work through these emotions, and maybe this will be of benefit to someone out there who reads it.


OH - and there's been snow! :-) Ha! Pure, sparkly, crunchy snow. Love it! I guess that makes the transition a little more fun.