Truth

It was daylight savings time here last night and this morning when Ruby woke at her "normal" time, we convinced her that it wasn't time to get up yet.  Mila is still snoozing, Noa left for work, and I have a few minutes to sip my coffee and listen to the dogs prance around before our house gets moving for the day.  Naturally, I'm using these few minutes to blog a little.

So, can I share some truth here?  First of all, let me start by saying how truly blessed we are.  I know that the term "blessed" has almost become a cliche in some circles, but I can honestly say that we have been given much: we have a roof over our heads, money in the bank, food to eat, and a healthy family. And, on top of that, we got to move to Europe!  How many people dream of this experience?  We are the ones lucky enough to experience it first hand.  Truly, we are blessed.

A look at Rota's beach at sunset

Keeping that in mind, the truth is that this PCS has been different and very challenging compared to past moves.  The stress level in our home has been pretty high lately.  Moving to a new culture is not an easy task, even with military support, it can be challenging to navigate.  First, there's the language barrier, the societal customs (yes, everything closes for siesta), and learning to "fit in" here.  Noa is learning to be a part of a new command and a new department (he's working in the ER this year).   Then, there's the house: the constant unpacking, learning (i.e. European appliances), and organizing. Additionally, we are making new friends, so we don't have our normal safety net of buddies that we are accustomed to.  Each day there seem to be endless challenges to tackle in order to become established in our new home.  And each day is filled with some big ups and downs.

 For instance, let's look at yesterday:

UP: made it out of the house (before lunchtime!) with the kids to make an Ikea run

DOWN: kids only had 20 minute naps in the car and we can't find our car's base pass (which means we can't get on base with our vehicle)*

UP: Got the master bedroom unpacked and new rug put down

DOWN: oven isn't working and pantry light is out (and can't seem to find the replacement bulb at the store)

UP: got boxes and miscellaneous items cleared out of the master bedroom

DOWN: the rest of the house is still in a state of chaos

Pantry building chaos!

Noa and I chatted about this a little last night.  This move is different from our other moves because our family has changed; we now have two little ones, twice as much stuff (especially all the kid stuff), and as much as we love our new house, it's not what we are used to.  We have to learn how to live in the space and how to make our things fit.  

We noticed that we use our full emotional reserves each day and by the end of the day, both of us are spent.  We have to ask for forgiveness a lot.  We have to rely on faith each day and we have to often take a step back and look at the big picture.  We are in Spain.  We are blessed.  We are loved.

But, it's still hard.  Knowing that all of our past moves started out challenging, but proved to be wonderful is incentive to keep going.  We were not just randomly sent out here.  I know there is greater purpose to our move.  And, we will get settled in our home.  We will make friends.  We will learn the language.  But, it will take time and it'll probably be a bumpy ride to get there.

*Update: The pass has been located.  Ruby *found* it in her play kitchen.  Hmmmm…wonder how it got there?  Oh well, crisis averted.