The Van Gelder Family: May 2015

Like anything in life, you have the good and you have the bad. This move has been both extremes for us. While the first month was logistically hard (so much paperwork, trips to government agencies, changing addresses on everything setting up doctors etc.), it was also new and exciting and I had a pretty bright outlook. I would just try to tell myself for every hard thing we went through that it would be over soon, especially since most of it was self imposed (especially house projects).

Then the second month started, and I felt like I was at the very pinnacle of the emotional roller coaster and for the rest of the month I was unknowingly going to plummet down at a very steep angle.

The second month in our crazy Georgia adventure was hard, VERY hard, for me. If the first month was the honeymoon phase, the second month felt like we went straight to reality. Don't get me wrong, we have moved enough for me to realize that there are things that will be hard, but it felt like I couldn't catch my breath.

These past two months we really haven't had a rhythm or schedule. Random house repairs some days, no school, sporadic appointments, and lots of miscellaneous errands have made it difficult to get into a flow.

Then there was the stress and headache of a LOT of expensive whoopsies all in a very short period of time (the girls broke my laptop screen, popped two tires on my car, lost set of car keys, broken air conditioner, vehicle registration which is insane in Georgia) and the normal difficulties and expenses that come with moving/house repairs, toddlers and being pregnant.

Speaking of being pregnant, I hadn't really given a lot of thought to the fact that I am in my third trimester, until I started getting some pretty bad sciatic nerve pain around 28 weeks. So I stopped running and took up walking. The walking started to give me braxton hicks and now I have just have to be really careful to not lift anything too heavy or push it too hard (tell that to my 2 year old). The real scare for me came when I failed my 1 hour glucose test. Turns out it was no biggy and I passed my 3 hour test, but I did give me a scare and maybe it was a good thing because I have been much more conscientious about what I am eating.

While all these other hiccups have been difficult in their own right, the real emotional challenge has actually been finding 'my place'. Over the past few years, with the past few moves, I have learned that I am a really relational person. I don't know that I would be quick to say I'm extroverted, but I like meeting people and I really value friendships and chatting with girlfriends. All of my previous moves I have had 'built in friends' immediately because I worked. And then when we moved to Carmel, I had friends there that I knew through college or high school connections plus my in-laws lived near us. Then I usually plugged in somewhere really quickly with a church (and gym) and having kids I felt like I made friends with moms at every park or preschool we visited.

Then we moved here. I don't work, my kids don't start preschool until the fall, we haven't landed on a church home yet, and I am hundreds of miles from any of my alma maters. My final go-to was the gym but my kids were the only two who ever went into the gym daycare so I knew I wouldn't be meeting other moms at the gym. I tried to go to meet-up.com and went to a few play dates, but my girls were the oldest by a few years, so that didn't fit. Any of the Bible studies I have looked into were either almost ending or halfway over.

Who knew making friends would be so hard?!?

Give it time is what I keep saying to myself (after all, it's only been two months), but I think we all know that feeling of wanting to know and be known by others. That comfort. That familiarity. I'm still looking for it. Thankfully I do have two girlfriends who moved down here when we did and they are GREAT, but let's be honest, they have their own moving/pregnant/toddler stuff to deal with also (yes they both also are pregnant and have toddlers and we are all due within 6 weeks of each other, crazy huh?).

Long story short, if you know anyone who lives near me, I will be taking friendship applications immediately, all and any are welcome haha:)

Even among the really hard spots, there were still the shining moments and I am confident that there will be more and more bright spots in the months to follow.

Here were some of the highlights from the month of April:

Good Friday - Nana and Papa came to visit!