Transitions
It has been such a blessing to have these past two weeks of vacation in between assignments. Time has been spent driving, packing, seeing old friends, and completing necessary things before we start in Florida.
As I stood atop furniture in our storage unit and pointed out to Austin the box we needed to get to that had all of our summer clothes (that one, on the very bottom) I found myself wondering if our nomadic pursuits are worth all the trouble.
Not that I don't love exploring the US with my husband and our dog, but not everything has been easy. I miss cooking a home cooked meal with all of my kitchen supplies. The endless red tape and requirements needed to satisfy state nurse licensing boards is something I don't look forward to repeating in 3 months. We are slowing acquiring duplicates of home goods that we didn't have to foresight to get out of storage and now suddenly need. My life feels nowhere near "together" or close to where we want to end up one day.
Nor does the majority of the public understand or sympathize with plight right now. A lady at the farmers market slowly backed away after I casually mentioned that we were living out of our car at the moment. It stinks to not have a place where you are established.
We have been so thankful for hospitable friends and family. Home-cooked meals and a comfy place to sleep are valuable things, especially these days. So thank you to those who made us feel at home. It means more than you know.
This weekend has been spent adjusting to our new town, apartment, and climate in Gainesville, Florida. Our apartment overlooks a lake with trees and hanging moss (possibly alligators? Tucker watch out!) and we have worked hard to use what we have to make it feel like home. For a little while at least.
Goals for this assignment/summer include:
- Eating healthier! We do love going out to eat and finding fun restaurants in a new city, but now that we have access to a kitchen and kitchen supplies, we want to be more in control of what we are eating. We are attempting to incorporate way more fruits and veggies, less carbohydrates and less processed foods in hopes of losing weight and feeling better
- Exercising regularly! We have never been apartment owners, but we are super excited about access to a free gym! MELTONS GET FIT SUMMER 2014!
- Gospel centered living- We were blessed to be part of a great church in Albuquerque and we hope that we can find an awesome community here too. That is one of the things I love about traveling, Christ's family stretches everywhere and I love hearing different people's stories
- Sight-Seeing- WE ARE TWO HOURS FROM DISNEYWORLD. But I'm sure we'll make time for some other awesome spots too. Savannah, St. Augustine, Miami- can't wait!
I'm thrilled to have you back on this side of the country, and look forward to vacation with you in a few weeks. Hope you enjoy getting to know Gainesville, and are able to make the goals you have set in place. We loved having you visit for a few days, and hope to visit you in FL while you are there. We are so proud of all that you are doing, and especially how you are using each new horizon to grow spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Lots of love! Mom