I love HGTV!  I’ve always enjoyed watching the home shows daydreaming about which of the three given choices I’d choose for my own home.  Well a little over a month ago we were able to participate in our own House Hunters International, minus all of the cameras and arguing that usually goes on, haha.

The 3 non-negotiables for me were: water heater hook up, tinocin (water storage), 2nd or 3rd floor with roof access.  When we were communicating with friends in the DR while still in the states, they would send us pictures and make calls; however, we knew that no decisions could be made until we were in country to do a walk through.  We arrived in San Juan on Tuesday, June 6th, and the next day we had an appointment with Nicole’s lawyer to walk through a couple of places.  I was excited, but not too confident we would find something on our first try.  After living in San Juan for almost 3 years, Jeff and I knew we didn’t want to live off of the Avenida (main drag around town), where we lived before.  There was a lot of traffic and noise and we were wanting something more tranquilo.  Jeff and I had also discussed our rent budget, so we knew what we’d negotiate to when it came time for that.

The first apartment we looked at was on the first floor.  It had 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and the living room, dining and kitchen were all combined into one room.  It didn’t have a lot of windows; however, it felt very cool inside, almost like a basement.  We knew right away it wouldn’t work, because there was limited open space, and we wanted that for Braegan.

The second apartment we looked at was on the third floor.  It had 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, great cross breeze, separate living room space, walk out balcony and an enclosed washroom in the back. It also had my three non-negotiables!

water heater hook up (electrical work by Randy)

tinocin (water storage)

2nd or 3rd floor with roof access

Along with all of these things, it was 500 pesos below our budget.  Jeff told the lawyer that we needed some time to process and that we would be in touch.  We knew this was all too good to be true, and didn’t want to be naive and jump on the first day; however, how could you say no?!  We got our documents and money together and Jeff signed our lease.  Things are still coming together and we definitely feel like we are home.

View from the entry door and Braegan enjoying breakfast

Kitchen and door to the outdoor washroom

Master bedroom

Braegan’s room

On to other updates, we wrapped up 6 weeks of VBS this past Friday.  VBS season is typically my busiest time of year, organizing 6 sites for 6 teams to facilitate ministry each week.  I’m now preparing for the school year and student sponsorship.

Jeff has been busy making sure all four of our ministry trucks are up to date and running smoothly. He has also been assisting with some of the construction teams and other general tasks at the guesthouse.

Braegan is busy being herself, full of energy and loads to talk about.  She attended VBS one week with her friend Zoe.  The past two weeks she has been having Spanish refresher sessions with one of her former teachers from Lucille Rupp.  They have been reviewing numbers, colors, shapes, and letters.  Braegan is enrolled in preschool and will start her second year at Lucille Rupp in the middle of August.

Ways you can be praying for us:

-Residency: We have our residency renewal appointment on Friday, August 4th in the morning.  Thankfully when we decided to return to the Dominican, we were informed that we were still residents and that we will just need to pay a lapse fee for the amount of time our residency had expired.

-Braegan: She is still transitioning and some days are more challenging than others.  We have found that more one on one time has really helped.  I have been working on reviewing concepts with her to prepare her for school to start in a few weeks.  She is a little anxious to return back to the classroom, but she is excited to see her friends from before.

-Anxiety: As I stated in my last blog, anxiety is not my friend.  I have found that I have a hard time being still and my mind is always “on”.  Through counseling sessions I went through in the winter, it was brought to my attention that I need to find hobbies.  I’ve been doing daily exercise on my own along with reading.  The rooftop has definitely helped me to “shut off” life and take time for myself.  I typically have my quiet time in the afternoon while Braegan is napping.