Settling Into Our New Home in DC

It’s been a heck of a week folks.  Last Friday we pulled out of MN at 6 AM, headed for our nation’s capital.  Given that I feel like humpty dumpty now at 34 weeks pregnant, I convinced Nick that we should split the drive over 3 days (roughly 5-6 hours a day).  It ended up being just the right amount of driving per day and our Kia managed to bear the burden of the load.  WHEW!

If you’ll remember back a ways, the last time we were in DC was when this whole grand adventure began in 2009.  It started with the courthouse wedding, followed by a 4 month split where Nick stayed in DC for training and I wrapped things up in MN.  Then there was the church wedding in MN, after which I joined him in DC for 2 months before we departed for Manila.  In fact, I barely saw any of DC last time I was here because we had so much dang preparation to do before heading overseas.

In some ways, it feels like I’m in an entirely different city.  We’re living in a more urban area now (Falls Church before versus Arlington now) and I’m older and more seasoned than I was last time around.  There’s some pleasure in being able to pick out the fresh-out-of-training officers in the elevator and know that we ARE navigating this crazy life successfully.  It’s nice to have that base of confidence to rest on now instead of the constant feeling of insecurity when we first started.  It makes me proud to see how far we’ve come in 2 years’ time!

Which brings me to the point that we’re here for 9 whole months!  What a gift it is to be able to settle in one spot in the oh-so-familiar US of A for a bit.  It’s like a big PAUSE when I can breathe and get my bearings again.  The constant movement over the last 3 months really took a lot out of me.  There’s so much to be said for being rooted in one place!  It’s also miraculous to me that the Universe worked it out so that we could have the baby while we’re here AND have 7 whole months to adjust to having her before needing to acclimate to a new foreign country.

In the next week I’ll update you on all sorts of things including our new place and my OB/Midwife search.  There’s lots going on at the moment but I’m going to do my best to get back into a regular blogging schedule.  Thank you for being patient with me as we transitioned these last 3 months!  It’s good to be back…