On The Move - Again...

I counted it up and in the nine years we have been married we have moved nine times. Today marks the tenth place we have moved to. The longest we have stayed in one place without moving is 2 years,  the shortest 3 months. And here we are on the verge (literally movers are on their way here - and proving to us that starting at 9:00 am was just an estimate in their eyes as it is 9:48 and they are not here) of another move. This move is within the same city we are in now and has lots of benefits attached. But it is still a move. Which means packing, and organizing, and painting, and dealing with Chinese zhuang xiu'ers, and lots of heavy lifting for Sean... well you get the picture. So in honor of our move I would like to say a few things about our past [major] homes. I had way more pictures to put in this post but blogger is being ridiculously slow at loading them and I am so not in the mood for finiky loading today.

SUNDBO

Our first apartment was a student married dorm at Briercrest...LOVED that Sundbo place :) Great memories. I sobbed the day we left there. We had lived there 2 years and we first 'learned' to be married there (um we are still learning...)

WOODSONG 

Our first real apartment. The only place that we ever really felt like a 'normal' couple. You know with jobs, and rent. Lots of good youth ministry in that place. Plus the Polkies were our neighbors and how great was that (It was to get even greater in the future - just read on). Paulina once came an rescued me from a creepy wounded bird outside my door there. We [Sean and me not Paulina and me] prayed over and made huge decisions about our future there. 

LIANG YUAN

First apartment in China, so of course holds special memories. Learned to speak Chinese while living there (still learning). Went though all the emotions imaginable of leaving home and coming to a very foreign place. Bathroom was horribly stinky. 

This is all the luggage we brought to CN in 2005 - of boy have our belongings grown since then...

Here is Sean all packed up ready to move out of our Liang Yuan place - as you see we collected a book shelf

CHUN YUAN

Oh that sweet little place. This was the first real place that felt like home to us. We picked out and bought furniture for the first time in this apartment. We loved this place. We had both sets of parents and some siblings and the Polkies, and Iggy and the Gloglix-Del Kauffmans all come to stay with us there. This was the place we have lived the longest. We dreamed about getting pregnant while here, were devastated to find out it would not be an easy road, and later we took our positive pregnancy test there. And got to watch my belly grow there. And got to bring a 4 week old Caedmon home to there. 

Us the day we moved in there. Unpacking and getting settled was so much easier without a toddler.

Here is the little bean we brought home to this place

CEDARBROOK

While we were in the States for 10 months in 08-09 we were sooooo blessed to live with the Polkies. What a special experience that was. Friendships grew, we leaned all about being first time parents together, we watched lots of Office, were introduced to the art o Blitzing, ate Ecuadorian food, and get beaten over and over during Mario Kart tournaments, washed a TON of sippy cups and baby spoons, watched movies on the lawn....and seriously had too many great times to even start writing about here. 

JIN SHI QI

By far nicest place we have got to live in. We can see the mountains from this apartment. Though it has only been one year here there are many things I'll miss (though we will only be 25 min away) about this place. I love the Mommy and Me class I got to do here. I love that everyone in this complex knows Caed or Kai Kai, and it is a BIG complex. I am glad to see that we have in some way made a positive impact on this community. I love the guards here, one even offered to come to our apartment and make us dinner the other day! I love the cleaning ladies, and the shopkeepers. But truth is we have experienced more heartbreak and sadness here than any of those other placed. We have grieved endless hours for tiny little lives that were lost. There have been more tears cried here than any other place.  If you read our blog regularly I am sure you know what kind of a year it has been for us here, and that I am happy to leave behind. I am not happy to leave the two bathrooms and the pantry though...

And so now we will see what the Lord has for us in our newest place of dwelling. Oooo and how long we will be there :)