Moving In

77 Steps. In case you are wondering it is exactly 77 steps up to the fifth floor where my new apartment is located. Let me tell you my legs and butt are feeling the additional exercise. And, after move - in day yesterday... I lost count of the amount of times I climbed the steps with boxes in my hands. A bunch of my team members showed up to help me move as well. I was so thankful for their help; I was so thankful for their attitudes. You know, I don't think I heard anyone complain about the stairs at all! And, there were not a "few" boxes to move either. I came to Romania 3 1/2 years ago with 2 suitcases and 1 book bag of things. Ha ha ha...if you could see the amount of boxes and bags that I'm sitting in the middle of right now you would probably laugh. There is certainly a lot more than what I came with!

Caleb went to sleep quickly tonight and I am very grateful for that. I wasn't sure if it was going to be difficult for him to fall asleep in the new room. He told me tonight on our way up the stairs for about the 5th time, "Mommy my legs are SO tired!" We are still sharing a bedroom but maybe next year he will move into his own room. For now though we will take changes 1 at a time. We have the move now, then Romanian kindergarten in the fall...so, I think I'll wait till next spring for him to have his own room. I'm okay with that extra room being the play room for now! Something fun, all day long Caleb has been saying these little prayers out loud at the most random times. Riding in the car to each lunch with our team : "Jesus, thank You for the new apartment!" Walking down the street : "Thank You Jesus so much for the new apartment!" On and on it went today. And, very interesting, on our way home tonight he saw a little girl and her mom coming home from the park. He went up to her and told her that we lived "up there" and "where do you live?" Her mom immediately went into a long conversation with Caleb. It was so neat to see. I told her that we had just moved and he was so excited about telling everyone. He asked what the girl's name was and then proceeded to say that his name was Caleb. And, he said Caleb with an English pronunciations - not how the Hungarians and Romanians say it. The mom right away said "You have a name from the Bible! It's very beautiful!" With a face of shock I said to her "No one EVER knows that!" Usually people make me repeat a million times how to pronounce his name and I really don't think that EVER someone has known where the name came from. I always tell them hoping that it will help them remember his name easier. I really hope that we run into this woman and her daughter again...see what God wants to do with this beginning!

I thought I'd list some of the benefits of the new apartment for you all, as I'm just discovering today as the "first day" in the apartment.

1. The toilet flushes. For real flushes. No more pulling a chain from the ceiling that is broken so it never flushes anything down. No more filling bucket after bucket with water from the tap to try and get the toilet to flush! Now, I just lift a button thing and it flushes. Woohoo!

2. The front balcony, facing the west, is a perfect spot for me to put my laundry rack to dry clothes. No more putting the laundry rack in the living room, which took up the entire living room, and having no living room space at all until the clothes are dry! YAY!

3. Okay, so I sort of knew this already but...INCREDIBLE VIEW OF THE SUNSET. Being on the 5th floor with no taller buildings in front of me means I can see just the hills and fields in the distance...and the sun setting over them each evening.

4. Hot Water for showers and baths. Yes, anytime now I want to take a shower or give Caleb a bath I'll have hot water. No more letting the water run for 20 minutes to only have luke warm water. Then, running and boiling water on the stove to add to his bath to make it warm enough for him to stay in it long enough to get him clean! I have my own heating system in this apartment and that includes water as well...ohhhh yeah!

That's it for tonight! I'll get some pictures once I remember to take my camera out of my old apartment and bring it to the new apartment : )