Winter Wonderland

Well, it's been quite a week.

It was wonderful having so much help from new friends on Saturday and Sunday. The young couples group even invited us to their Christmas party coming up this weekend! It's nice feeling like we are building a community already, espcially since I'm missing all my friends and family so much.

After the crazy move-in weekend, we checked out of our hotel Monday morning and spent our first night in our new home on Monday night. We still had so many boxes in the house and didn't really have any "livable" rooms yet, but we slept in our own bed, warm and cozy, while it snowed outside.

Since we are sharing a rental car, I have been driving Nathan to work in the morning (about 30 minutes away) and then returning to Peoria for whatever I have to do during the day. On Tuesday, I had to return to Peoria for two job interviews, and they both went really well. Both were mid-morning and by mid-afternoon, I had two job offers! It really put me at ease, knowing that I'll have work to go to and people to talk to during the day. Especially, being so far from home. Huge sigh of relief.

Of course, I had to wake up with a horrible sore throat on Wednesday. (I told Nathan on Thanksgiving to keep his illness to himself, but did he listen?!) Nathan drove himself to work, and I hung out in the basement all day. Now, if you have ever been home sick as an adult, you know what a bummer it is to make yourself meals. Not a problem in Peoria!! Let me extol the virtues of home sandwich delivery!! I was tired and feeling like this might be the beginning of a bad cold. Even if we had food in the house, the last thing I would want to do is make myself something to eat. Then there was the weather. It was really blustery and snowy on Tuesday, and if I was feeling 100% I would NOT want to be driving around searching for food. Back in San Diego, the only thing I could have delivered would be pizza, but in Peoria we have a PLETHORA of delivery choices. Even in crazy, blustery, snowy, freezing whether, the sandwich delivery guy was at my door in 10 minutes. AWESOME!!

As you may know, Nathan's favorite food is sandwich. He now orders sandwiches for lunch at work pretty much everyday, delivered to his office. It's his new favorite thing in the world.

Thursday morning, I felt 100% again. I think I was just run down from moving and traveling and cleaning and unpacking. But we had so much to do, so I dropped Nathan off at work and went out on the town with credit card in hand. I went to Wal-mart, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, the grocery store, and stopped by my new workplace to fill out paperwork. Phew!! And it was COLD outside. Check out all the snow!

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Though the snow is beautiful and really makes me feel like I'm in a Christmas movie, it is ridiculously cold. I feel like I should be wearing all of my clothes at once. But my weather vocabulary has also quickly changed in response to the cold. Nathan and I were discussing how it has "warmed up" this weekend... at 35 degrees. Who are we?? When has 35 degrees been considered WARM?!

After the giant shopping extravaganza, I spent Friday organizing everything. Our room is pretty much set, until we buy some additional furniture. The basement is looking better everday. The kitchen is almost perfect, we just need a microwave that works. I bought one earlier in the week that was too small, returned it on Thursday for a bigger one, but that one doesn't work. Oh bother. And we have food in the house!! I made dinner on Thursday and Friday night, which was really great. Eating a home cooked meal together in our new house. Very nice.

And I will finish up with an update on my job! I accepted one of the positions. I think it will be the best fit for me. It's at a local preschool, and I will be teaching the 2 and 3 year olds!! How great is that! The owner seems really smart and fun. All the other teachers are fairly young and really nice. I am praying it's as great a place as it seems and that I have a wonderful "work family" here in Peoria.

The next couple days we'll have even more stories for you. On Sunday, we have our young couples Christmas party. Monday is my first day at work. And on Wednesday, Nathan might buy us a car! We'll definitely keep the updates coming!