Everything around us screams “Washington.” The mountains, the air, the people, even the license plates are constant reminders that we aren’t in California anymore. And so far, we are really enjoying it. Of course, we continue to miss our friends and family that we have left behind, but we hope to keep in contact with you all! (Let us know if the comments section if you need our phone numbers or addresses.)

Packing up went pretty smoothly, although we would have been completely lost without Dustin’s direction and Luke’s help. (Thanks guys!) We got all of our stuff moved out of our storage unit in La Habra, into the Budget truck, then down to Orange to fill up part of an ABF trailer. And all of this in approximately 4 hours. It was good to see it all tucked away, but it feels odd saying good-bye to all your stuff even though you know (or at least hope) you’ll see it on the other side.

After a few more days of staying with my parents, we flew up to Seattle. Aunt Diane picked us up from the airport, and we stayed with her and Uncle Troy until our stuff was to arrive a few days later on the following Monday. It was fun to hang out with them for a while. We even got to go browsing at Bellevue Square. We have been so thankful for the help that they’ve given us in this transition.

On Monday, the 25th, we moved in. Phil’s cousin, Josh, helped us out with our moving which was an incredible blessing. It was crazy to see all the boxes again, and even crazier opening them all up after not having seen anything inside since the beginning of April! It took a few days though for us to feel really connected with our apartment. We were lacking our Internet and most furniture - both of which we received on Thursday. Our couches are so comfy. I think I fell asleep on one of them within a few hours after their delivery.

Besides unpacking and shopping for all our necessities, we’ve been busy with looking for jobs. Phil applied for a few jobs on Craig’s List a couple of days after our arrival, and one of the jobs asked to interview him. He interviewed with them on both Thursday and Friday, and received a job offer today! We are so incredibly excited for him. I’ve also had a couple of interviews, and I’ve turned down one offer. It’s sometimes difficult for me to figure out what kind of job I’m looking for right now as my life will be changing dramatically in about six months (more on that in a different post).

We are still looking for a church. We visited a church in Lynnwood that is affiliated with Uncle Troy and Aunt Diane’s church in Tacoma, and we really liked it. We still want to look at what else is up here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we stayed there.

We also are looking forward to my parents’ coming up at the end of this next week. They want to see our place and see all the places that I’m sure we will continue to talk about. They are also bringing up a few of our things that we either forgot at their house or we couldn’t bring up otherwise (our rat!). We can’t wait to see them.