Five Months in our New Home

Well for now... Dublin is Home. This was the big realization for month-five. Obviously we've been aware that we live here, for the entire 5 months, but only now have we come into a new feeling of comfort and love for this place. Not even so much for the place but for the people we have been so blessed to meet.

Last month we were longing for the normalcy of life that we left in Seattle but this month, for me, the overwhelming feeling has been one of thankfulness, Grace (with a capital "G") and love. We have felt so loved by the friends we've made here. So, not only have we made a great social circle but, we're starting to broaden that circle and with that, broaden our experience of welcoming. The Irish people are phenomenally hospitable and caring.

I have also noticed, this month, that we moved into a new stage with our friendships. Instead of being in the stage of constantly making new acquaintances, I feel I have now moved into some real friendships. We're out of that formal, "getting to know you" phase and moving into being actual friends. That's nice. And it's hard work. =)

All of the sudden, I have a social calendar. It's very hard to be a "social butterfly" (at the beginning) but it does pay off and this feeling of community we have is thanks to that.

We also chose a church (more officially) this last month and I think that brought with it a real sense of peace. We've been trying out the different parishes around here - Catholic, Anglican (Church of Ireland), Presbyterian, etc. - and finally, instead of looking to find an exact replica of our church at home - one we loved so much - we decided to just commit to one and become a part of it. After four months of searching, this really felt like a relief. It's so simple - "just choose one" - but it was a tiring process as we have many criteria we look for. In the end, we decided to just stick with one and so far, we're happy with that. Norah goes to the Sunday School (I stay with her as she's the only toddler) and we've met some nice people. One of the criteria was 'some young people' but we realized that that just wasn't going to happen. There just aren't many. So instead, our church friends are in their 80s - the best people there are. We may not be able to relate in the trials and tribulations of having a toddler but they've been there and their stories can't be beat. One man, Golding, has become a friend of ours. Golding turned 80 this last year and this week he had us over to his home for coffee and dessert. He lost his wife in 2010 but he has his children and grandchildren. One daughter (and 3 of the grandchildren) live in Ontario. Small world.

So this month, I feel some real peace about being here. I've even felt like I'll miss it when we go back to Seattle in June. Before, I couldn't wait to get back to Seattle and now I'm thinking we'll be excited to come back here. Maybe "Home" can be in a couple places.

I can genuinely say, this month, we're doing really well. We feel blessed to be here and the work of "making it home" is starting to pay off.

Here's a video of Norah reading last month. This is one of her favorite library books about Cuddling. We had it for a day or two before we realized she had it all memorized. I grabbed the camera but she's a bit shy in this one. You can never capture the genuine moment when these things happen. I was trying to film her "in secret" but she was onto me. (Hence her not actually being in view)

And Norah with our friend Loren's Ukulele with a riveting version of "Wheels on the Bus". You can tell she's very conflicted on the part where the "wipers go swish, swish, swish" as she normally has both hands free for that part, but doesn't want to put down the "baby guitar".