settling into island living…
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As we pass the two month mark of arriving here in Saipan, I thought I’d post a little update on how we’re acclimating to our new home. I know many of you who are interested in ‘real life’ updates follow us on instagram (currently our Saipan-update channel), so some of this will already sound familiar.
This move has been both fabulous and really difficult! Luckily, we seem to have rounded a corner a couple weeks ago and are living mostly on the better half of that equation.
Since it is pretty labor intensive to just make normal life happen (gathering groceries, or paying bills, or making dinner, or doing errands just take so many extra steps here!), there is a steep Saipan learning curve.
However, within the last couple of weeks, the extra steps started feeling normal to me. Five markets or grocery stores to get food for dinner? Sure, no problem. Farmer’s market every single Saturday, and often on Tuesday night as well? Totally normal. Paying all of our bills in person? That’s just how it goes here. Seventeen trips, five forms of ID and three notarized documents to figure out our account with the energy company? Well, that still makes me kind of nuts, actually.
Plus- and this is huge- I just keep realizing, over and over again how lucky we are to be here.
We get to pay off Adam’s dental school loan… and spend tons of time with each other… and live on a tropical beach… and spend so much time outside (snorkeling! hiking! beaching!)… and travel around Asia (can’t wait to finalize our fall travel plans, and then share them with y’all!)…
God has been extravagantly generous to us (and, I should note, is also extravagant in His generosity even when the end result is not living on a beach and traveling around Asia). I have just been so very thankful for this season.
Not to say this place is not quirky and frustrating and just so different than Denver- it IS! In fact, I should make a good-bad-funny Saipan list for y’all sometime. But the beaches are helping us muddle through. More to come…
Thanks for the update. Looks beautiful. Love the beach especially 🙂 Happy weekend!
Janet, glad you like the update! We are loving the beach especially as well… 😉
Kirstin! This is crazy!! I have been following this blog for a super long time, but haven’t really gotten on in a long time. So I just now saw that this is YOU!! How cool. I feel like I know a celebrity. 🙂 It sounds like things are going well for you guys. I’m glad! It all starts feeling normal soon enough. I’ve found myself missing the ways of Saipan life as I get readjusted to the mainland. Miss ya!
Annie, that’s hilarious! I hope you guys are having a fabulous time- enjoying Target and Sonic and all of the awesome things the mainland has to offer. And I am with you- FOR SURE there will be a whole list of things we will miss when we leave! Miss you guys too!
ps- Trying to explain a ‘blog’ to Helen, Agnes and Shirley was so very funny. Wish you would’ve been there!
So happy things are looking up!! I can only imagine the culture shock! It pays to look on the bright side like you’ve done in this post. We all have so much to be thankful for. But those beaches, I could really be thankful for that! Haha!
Haha Leigh Anne- the beaches are the best. 😉 And YES, I feel like it might help to look at the bonuses of wherever you’re living you know? Something I hope to do a better job at when we don’t have the beautiful beaches as comfort. 😉
HOLY BEACHES, BATMAN! So glad to hear you guys are finding your groove. I cannot imagine the adjustment (especially with the two littles) but it sounds like you’re more than making it work. I’m going to go turn on the ocean sound machine now…
Dayna, haha, yes, the beaches are gorgeous right???
And yes, AD.JUST.MENT. 😉 But like I said, I think we’re finding our groove. 😉
You have such a great outlook. So glad I found you. Looking forward to
all that is to come.
Thanks Lynn!