Transition

Good news...we did find an apartment! It is in a nicer area of Stockton and the apartment complex is like a little resort. We have a fitness area, 3 pools, hot tub, tennis courts, and laundry facility. We are hoping for the best! One of the hardest parts of moving to a new area is not really knowing what it will be like until you actually live there. From experience, I did know to get a top floor apartment so we don't have neighbors above us walking across the floor. They sound like elephants in an apartment complex. The other good news is that the location is great for weekend traveling. Stockton has a marina with boat rides, tons of parks, and then we have San Francisco, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, and the bay area with beaches all within an hour of us. Of course I will be joining the MOPS group too. That helps me learn the area faster. Always talk to the locals. Learning the layout of this city will be harder for me because the population is 250,000. But that is where me and the IPad will become best friends. We are excited that Stockton has 3 Targets, Chipotle, Olive Garden and Jamba Juice. Thank goodness!

Here is another cool story..... After Christmas time (early February) we got a package from our tenants in our house back home. In the package was months worth of mail, including our tax stuff. Tucked away in that stack of mail were Christmas cards from friends. One caught my eye from a friend that Dan knew in high school. His family's address was Ripon, California. And he is the associate pastor at a Grace Brethren Church. I put the address in the GPS and saw how close they were to Stockton....... 20 minutes. So now we have a church to attend right away. Isn't God cool?

The only thing we don't have figured out is our rental furniture. We spent about 2 hours in the Rent A Center store after apartment hunting for the morning. We were all tired and hungry and grumpy. We got our application processed and got the final rental estimate. It was way too high! So we walked away from the deal and returned to square one with furniture. After feeling bummed, about a half hour later, the store called us and said they would try to lower the price for us. Dan is getting good at this wheeling and dealing thing. Not me...I just wanted to rent the furniture and check it off my list. So now we are waiting to hear back from the
store. I am learning and trying so hard to give up the desire to want to take the reigns on everything. I tend to get a bit high strung when it comes to the details on things. God is teaching me some tough lessons with this adventure.

Today was our last Sunday at church in Porterville. It was bittersweet. The pastor did a little presentation for us and gave us a framed thank you note. It was very thoughtful. I have such mixed emotions about this move. I made friends here and now we are leaving them. We are moving to a new area and I find myself feeling scared. And of course there is excitement thrown in there too. What a mix! I am praying for contentment with the move so I can enjoy this precious time with my family. I pray for my high strung disposition when stress and little details are involved to fade and turn to pure thankfulness for what I have.