moving in

Our church has got to be the most generous community that either of us have ever been connected with. During morning church service, Raewyn and Ian, a couple who have been a part of the church for years, exhorted the community to help us furnish our new home, as we had planned to move into our new place with virtually no furniture, linens, kitchenware, or other basic household needs, and by the end of the afternoon we had practically furnished the entire house with the generous donations from about a dozen families and individuals. Here's a little look at our kitchen (can you believe that red countertop?) and living room:

For some reason, we thought it would be fun to invite friends over on the evening that we moved, and discovered that our living room can fit 20 people if necessary. Here are just a few of the lovely people who stopped in after the evening church service. Left to right, starting at the top: Karl and his son Mason (whom I was watching when he had his first accident two weeks ago - a decent amount of blood, but no stitches required), Sarah (sitting on the lap of her British fiance, Simon), Francinne (Karl's wife), me (apparently in 80s-style leggings and wool socks), Sarah and Chris (mentioned in a previous blog), then Anna (Phil's roommate), Phil (one of our best friends here),  Hannah (our soon-to-be Family Ministries intern!), Paulina (one of the awesome youth girls), Josh (an avid tramper), Dave (expert on all things American culture), and Shelom (bass player and the youth pastor's daughter).

They were treated to the ugliest cupcakes ever, which were supposed to be red, white, and blue, but I accidentally bought chocolate icing instead. Oops. Also, I learned that I have zero cupcake decorating skills. Should have left that to the experts. Look at the one on the bottom left that looks like it has a blue slug draped across it. Disgusting.

The bedrooms still have much to be desired, so I'll post pictures once they're in viewable condition.

-Rachel