Joe and David got to see a great game on Saturday: South Carolina won 38-20.  Go Gamecocks!

Joe is visiting from Pittsburgh this weekend, so we walked down to the park last night to introduce him to the neighborhood.

before:   after:

Today was a sweet day.  My friend Charissa and I ran the Color Me Rad 5K, our first race ever.  My only goal was to run the whole thing, and we did it!  Well maybe it was more of a jog than a run (especially up that bear of a hill at the end … oh my goodness), but I’m counting it a victory. There were 6,000 runners today, everyone from college students to families with kids.  It was totally laid back.  There was lots of laughter and lots of people who walked.  Oh, and lots of color.  We got pelted at four color stations, then at the finish line…

We had a happy, happy weekend settling into our house.  Thank you so much to all who helped us.  It’ll feel a bit barren until the rest of our things arrive from South Asia (in a month? two months?), but it’s already beginning to look more homey. This morning we sipped coffee on our front porch, watched the kids play in the yard (we have a yard!), then cooked Moroccan lentil soup for lunch in our very own kitchen. Please come and visit soon!   p.s. our blog is public again! thanks for being patient and loyal friends along the way!

I realized last week, as we combed the city of Columbia looking at rental house after rental house, that I have spent the last four falls in a row house-hunting and packing and moving.  2009. 2010. 2011. 2012.  Maybe sometime I’ll be able to look back and chuckle at the irony of it.  Now is not that time. Let’s just say there were lots of tears last week.  And not only from my three-year-old. But, this was a new week.  And God gave us a gift.  A place of our own. An adorable, spacious, charming house right downtown.  Just down the street from the community garden. There’s a huge mix…