Our New Adventure!

3 years! I've been sharing small pieces of our life through this blog for 3 years! My simple words and prayers  from our life experience have been read over 13,000 times. My top 3 countries for viewers are US, Russia (that's interesting), and Germany. What has hanged in 3 years? Well, we've added a child, I've changed jobs and spent time as a stay at home mom. We've learned that there aren't always right answers in parenting or in adoption.  We've learned so much and life around our house is so
different than it was 3 years ago. But it's time to change things up! We're preparing to pack up the comfy and familiar house and spend some time way out of my comfort zone. What could we do that's really uncomfortable for me??? We could move to another country! That's right, our little family is preparing to move (albeit temporarily) to Deutschland! (That's Germany for most of you). Dear Husband (DH) is taking a sabbatical to do research at a lab in Southwestern Germany. Do you think I'm letting him go off and leave me at home with the kids for 5 months alone? Heck no! We've leased our house out, putting all of our belongings in storage and taking a hop across that great big puddle of water with our tots in tow. 

In order to best be able to rent out our house in a college town we needed to make it available mid-summer and rent it for a whole year. This means we're going to be "homeless" for a month prior to our trip (thankful for family who's taking us in!) and then we'll most likely be renting when we come back. So...we're preparing to put all of our earthly possessions into storage and take 4-6 measly suitcases with us overseas. We're going to have our kids in limbo for almost 2 months before we get settled into an apartment in Germany. Their worlds (as well as ours) are going to be rocked as we throw ourselves into another culture and language. Truth be told, they'll probably adapt a whole lot easier than I will. TD (The Daughter) already thinks she speaks German...I'm sure in her 3 year old mind it sounds exactly like our German lessons! I worry about TD and TS (The Son) growing educationally and socially. I worry about cold weather (***this girl is not a cold weather chick***) I worry about TS's needs and whether I can keep him on track developmentally. I worry about them both getting sick and having to deal with healthcare in another country (although Germany is one of the best options outside of the US!) I worry about the flight and keeping 2 kids happy. I worry about adjusting our internal time clocks. I worry about living on the second floor of a house with an older couple below us hearing all the crazy noise from our kids (they converted the second floor into an apartment). I worry about driving in another country with signs I don't understand. I worry about trying to tell someone I need to buy bread and sausage and instead telling them they look like a breaded pig. I worry...yeah, I just worry. But then I remember all the amazing sights I'm going to see and the people and things we'll be exposing our kids to and I get excited again. I remember that we're going to be able to worship God in English when we choose to but we can join our Christian family in German worship or French anytime we choose. How amazing is that!?! I feel like we're kind of crazy for doing this but as we keep telling ourselves - this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!

What's the craziest thing your family has ever done? If you've ever put your entire household into storage I'd love to hear your suggestions!

So there's a quick preview of what the rest of the year holds for us. I'm looking to change up the blog a little, maybe even get my own domain!  Look for lots of travel posts about traveling with kids - we'll be doing several car, train and air trips- along with the.moving process and preparations, the sights we'll see and the struggles we'll face. Traveling toddlers should make for interesting blogging material, and I look forward to seeing how we are accepted as a transracial family in Europe. But I hope to be able to blog about the many new lessons I'm learning throughout the adventure as well as I put myself out of my comfort zone...way, way out of my comfort zone! (Did I mention I'm a worrier????)

Please leave a comment a let me know where you're reading my blog from and let me know what you would like to see me blog about during this time!

Lord God, I know You hold our future. You know where our journey will take us and the people we'll come into contact with. I just ask that You place us into the lives of people who need You and place people into our lives to help us. Help me Lord to cast my anxiety over to You, to breathe in Your love and peace. Amen.