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Some Pictures of Our New Place

I'll post more when more areas of the house are presentable.

Please excuse the occasional box or bit of clutter.

Cleaning the World

It's fun having a little mimic hanging around. We've gotten Arya to say some of the funniest things, including select lines from Will Ferrel's "Pearl" video. (Don't worry -- we haven't taught her to swear.)

However, she doesn't always get the repetitions exactly right. She does try, though. For example, when she climbed on top of her dollhouse the other night, we told her to shout, "I'm queen of the world!"

To which she promptly exclaimed, "I'LL CLEAN THE WORLD!"

New Hampshire Observation #1

People here are really nice. Everyone we've met, from neighbors to service workers to other people in the grocery store, has been beyond polite. If anything, they've been downright friendly. The only two people who haven't been exceedingly nice are exceptions to the rule. One was the driver of a big-ass truck who wouldn't stop riding my bumper in moderately heavy traffic. I'm going to guess that was more of a personality issue than based on where he lives.

The other guy wasn't necessarily rude, he just wasn't going out of his way to be helpful. Plus, he's not from around here.

Maybe it's a fluke that everyone we've talked to has been so friendly, but it's an encouraging way to start out in a new place. I'd rather have this fluke than one in which everyone's a jerk.

In the past few days, we've continued to unpack our stuff and do general errands. We've got a kitchen full of groceries now. We might have some dinner guests next week. I've taken a dress to get altered and decided that I need to learn to sew something other than purses, because alterations cost way too much money. Chalupa got set up at his new job, and he starts on Tuesday. I've put all of my clothes away and am several boxes closer to a fully unpacked home.

Oh, and two days ago we took a walk to Maine. Can't say I've ever done that before.

980 Miles from Albany, Indiana to Somersworth, New Hampshire

Mom, Dad, Chalupa, and I had a number of adventures on our way to New Hampshire, but no real delays. There was the drunk guy in the lobby at our hotel in Scranton who shouted both friendly and hateful things at all of us (and at the lone, overwhelmed hotel employee) while we tried to check in. There was the fact that the Scranton hotel was out of keys, so the lone, overwhelmed employee was having to escort people to their rooms when they checked in. Then there were the rainstorms in New York State and around Boston that slowed traffic to a crawl, but didn't last too long. We met a friend of Mom's for lunch in Connecticut, and our dinner upon arrival in New Hampshire was delicious -- I love calamari, but it never occurred to me that it could be served as a meal and not as an appetizer. Delicious!

And of course, there was the 22-foot truck, which our friends helped load and Dad drove the whole way. (Thanks, friends! Thanks, Dad!)

We arrived at our new home yesterday, and thanks to the help of our hired movers (Yes Ma'am Movers, who were great), we had everything into the apartment within two hours. Now it's just a matter of finding places for everything, getting the unit presentable, and taking pictures for you all to enjoy!

Sadly, we had to drop off Mom and Dad at their hotel in Boston last night. It's strange being the first kid in the family to move this far away from home for this long. Chalupa has lived away from his family for nine years, but I've lived close to mine forever. I asked Mom to postpone her sadness for another month -- after all, next week she and I go to France together for three weeks! In the lobby of the Holiday Inn by Logan Airport, I suggested she put off sadness until we're leaving the Detroit Airport at the end of July, when she's heading for Indiana and I'm heading back to New Hampshire.

Finally, I need to say a special thank you to Chalupa for taking a day off work yesterday to set up all of our utilities, insurance switches, and cable hook-ups! That's why I am able to get online today and blog, all while being insured and comfortably air-conditioned!

Talkative Arya

Sometimes I suspect that people don't really believe me when I tell them how much Arya talks, so here is a video I took of her today, while we were hanging out in the car.

Safety in Cardboard

Arya, what are you doing?

Being safe from the dog.

The Church of the Pre-Dead Christ

My small group started calling itself the Church of the Pre-Dead Christ some time ago, beck when we were in the middle of what felt like a never-ending series on Luke. The name comes from the concept that in the never-ending book of Luke, Jesus told his disciples to go out and preach the gospel, even before his death. We considered this especially meaningful, as it implies that the message of Jesus exists even outside of his death and resurrection. We don't want to ignore the importance of the resurrection, but we do take great comfort in the fact that Jesus's message is one of love.

The Church of the Pre-Dead Christ has become an important part of my life over the past few years. And in the past year, it's become the main aspect of my social and spiritual life. The people in the group never fail to surprise me with their humor, kindness, and helpfulness.

I don't blog about my faith often, but I will say this: I've found nothing better for the soul than the support of a group of friends who are willing to lend a hand when it is needed most, let themselves be open to help when they need it, and listen to even your most outlandish spiritual theories and ideas.

Congratulations, Christy & Jeremy!

In the midst of my busy rummage sale weekend, my good friends Christy and Jeremy were doing something much more important: welcoming their baby Isaac Coleman into the world!

Congratulations to Christy and Jeremy! I look forward to meeting Isaac in person.