One Year

It's hard for me to believe, but yes, we have now lived in Seattle for one year.  Has it flown by? Yes.  Does it seem like we've been here forever?  Yes.  Am I still homesick?  Yes.  Do I still cry?  Yes..but not as often.

Those first few hours & days here are, quite honestly, a blur.  Much of it was so raw that I think I've just chosen to forget details.  It's good, though, to reflect on the past and remember some of those hard-to-live-through details.

After a last meal at, you guessed it, Chick-fil-A, we flew out of Nashville on our non-stop flight to Sea-Tac.  Five long hours (plus a two hour time difference) with 3 small boys is enough to make anyone crazy!  But the big boys enjoyed most of the plane ride and were excited as we started to land.
I, on the other hand, was nowhere near as cute or excited.  As the pilot said, "We are now approaching Seattle.  Please return to your seats & prepare for landing", I was very close to having a panic attack.  I wanted to scream, "TURN AROUND!!  Don't land this plane. TURN AROUND NOW!!"  Thankfully, to Jason, I didn't and managed to exit the plane that had been a hell hole for the past five hours (non-stop flight with a 15 month old, need I say more?).

As we emerged from the airport, the boys got to see Seattle in all it's glory for the first time.  It was 50°ish & drizzling.  Since the raindrops were so light & large , Luke said "Is it snowing?"  Tears in check, I got into the van that was to be our vehicle for the next few weeks.  A church member had sweetly let us borrow his 1980s carpeted van.  It was fully functional and was big enough for all of us, but you can imagine it only added to my emotional state.

We had arranged to stay with 2 church members until we could find a place to live (that's right, we DID move across the country without knowing where we were going to live).  Mike & Nicolle, whom are now some of our dearest friends/almost family, were the ones that took us in during those first few weeks in June.  Luke later referred to their house as "our first house" here, which delighted Nicolle.

Nicolle had dinner ready for us when we arrived to their house from the airport.  We just sat down at the table when Luke said, "When are we going home?"  Yep.  You guessed it.  That's.When. I. LOST. it.  I ran to the bathroom and sobbed my eyes out for the next 10 minutes or so.  Jason later said that Luke wasn't confused, he just knew that Mike & Nicolle's house wasn't going to be our new home and wanted to know when were we going there.

The cake that was made for us at our "Meet Martha Lake" party.  When Jonah saw it, he said "Is it my birthday?!"

The next days and weeks were about the same as that night.  It didn't take much to set off the waterworks.  Our first Sunday at Martha Lake, I sat in the ladies Sunday School class.  About half way through the class, I looked around and thought, "This isn't MY class.  These aren't MY friends.  I'm supposed to be in Tennessee.  What am I doing here?!"  My now dear friend, Jennie, followed me out of the class and walked around the church with me, while I tried to get it together before Jason's first sermon.

Whew!  I'm certainly thankful to past all that drama.  Am I sure that this was the right move for our family?  Yes.  Do I know without a shadow of a doubt that this is where God wants us to be?  Absolutely.  Do I still cry?  Yes...just not as often.