A week in Columbia.

We are here and happy! Columbia is pretty cool with lots to see. Our home is finally coming together and will be ready for pictures soon. God has had his hand in our lives since the moment we arrived. J and I underestimated the friendliness and welcomeness of the south and we have just been overwhelmed with generosity and friendship from the locals. Js boss happens to be about our age, an active christian, married with a baby and another on the way, and has welcomed us into his home for the holidays, invited us to his church and opened a door to this community of young married christian couples who have now invited us into their "life group" (a weekly gathering/devotion). We have been invited to pool parties, guys/girls nights out, dinner and game nights, fishing and just quiet time by the pool. All in two weeks of being here. God is good. 

J has completed two weeks of work and orientation, and is now cleared for unescorted access to the power plant. His work days are long but the week goes by quickly with just four, ten hour days. We live right next to the riverwalk access, which is a long paved trail that runs along the river and so bike rides in the evening have been a regular thing and its wonderful. I have become pretty comfortable with the city and have a mental layout down and so driving is easy for me but overwhelming for J. I have been spending my days setting up house while J is at work but have recently started playing in my studio and finally figured out my goals and plans...more to come. 

Gunner loves his back yard, he has adjusted so well it is a blessing. I have the biggest back porch that I cannot wait to fill with my potted garden. We had three tomato plants in the ground when we arrived, gunner destroyed one while trying to get a ball from under the porch but two remain...we will see if they last, the soil quality (red sand) is pretty awful. I also discovered i have a pear tree in the back yard and cannot wait until they ripen. I used to have morning glories crawling along the ground on one side of my house until the imbecile who maintains our lawn came and weed-whacked them all away. I was heart broken...who knowingly sees gorgeous flowers and just demolishes them. The 12 days of being here feels like two months. The city already feels familiar and comfortable. Our little street is right around the corner from the hustle and bustle yet it is so incredibly quiet it feels like we are in the woods of Phippsburg, Maine. We keep discovering beautiful streets, awesome restaurants, and little markets. Its just so exciting. 

I keep thinking about this experience and how fun it is for us but how bizarre it is that we leave all of it behind in a year and are off to the next stage. I can't imagine anything being as welcoming as this but who knows, i didn't expect any of this at all. 

We do not have internet in our house and so I apologize for my lack of posting. Hopefully that will be figured out this week and I will be up and running regularly. 

Here are some before and after projects I have been working on just for fun: