We arrived in Charleston Friday afternoon on May 3rd. It was cloudy, windy, and there was more traffic in this one city than I think we saw the entire drive. I'm sure for people who are used to driving in big city traffic it wouldn't have been a big deal for them to move to Charleston. But for us who claim Rigby, Idaho with 2 traffic lights as home, it was a huge change. The roads are a spider web of mazes that change names about as fast as you have to change lanes to get to your destination, and rush hour is something you avoid at all costs.
We spent the first week in an extended stay hotel in Mount Pleasant (a city right next to Charleston) while we performed a mad house hunt. The hotel was very nice, and it wasn't even very small, but after a few days we knew it was time to get out. After being strapped in a car for 6 days, and spending 6 more days in a hotel you can only expect kids to be so good. Actually the kids were awesome, but ready to get outside and make some noise (which you really can't do in a hotel room).
This was two days before we moved into our house. We found that EVERYTHING turned into wrestling matches, even family prayer which is what we were attempting to do here before the giggles and wrestles kicked in.
We were blessed to find a house incredibly fast and moved into it on the 7th of May. The best part is we found a VERY nice house, in a wonderful neighborhood, and in a perfect location to everything. It is only 15 minutes from downtown Charleston (where Thayne will have to drive every day for dental school), five minutes from the church, 20 minutes from the beach... it is perfect. We truly feel like we have been blessed, not only in getting here, but that everything has worked out so well for us since we arrived.
The only downside to our house is the size of the yard. The houses are SUPER close together in our neighborhood which gives us very little room to play outside, but I guess we can't have everything. :)
We do have a Kumquat tree in our back yard. I didn't even know what a kumquat was until we moved here, but they are actually delicious.
We also planted a small planter garden in our back yard. I can't get over how fast everything grows here. My vegetable plants are HUGE now and it hasn't even been 2 weeks since I planted them. It won't be long until we are harvesting vegetables from them.
Here's a quick tour of our home... Most of these pictures were taken right after we moved in and before we had any furniture ... like couches... or pictures hung, etc. I'll try to update the pictures after I decorate, but I'll be honest, it might be a few months... or a year. :)
It is hard to tell colors from these pictures, but I LOVE the colors of our home. It is beautiful.
Our living room seems so big compared to our last house. It is so nice to have room for the kids to play and not feel incredibly crowded... or to have friends over and actually have room to move around. These are the couches that we found on craigslist (another huge blessing). I think they have been the best purchase we have made since arriving in Charleston, but maybe that is just my pregnant self and sciatic nerve speaking.
Our kitchen - So much bigger! Or maybe it is just more open than the kitchen in our last house, either way it is wonderful!
Dining room... another BIG change that we love. The one thing I am trying to solve in here is the echo. EVERYTHING echos in the dining room which makes family dinners seem a little crazier than they actually are.
Jarom's room... or should I call it the boys room? It looks a little better now because Jarom has a bed frame. And we just found a beautiful dresser at a yard sale for $15 which I am in the process of refinishing... more on that later though.
The girl's room. It is hard to get a feel for their rooms because of the angle, but the rooms are actually fairly good sized, and work great.
Main bathroom... small but not tiny. And can I just tell you how NICE it is to have TWO bathrooms! How did we survive a year with only one? And while potty training too!
Master Bedroom. Wonderfully large! I think there will even be room for a small desk in here for Thayne to study at when we find one. :)
Master bathroom. The only downside to having a bathroom this big is it takes forever to clean. But I'll take the extra work for the second bathroom. It has a garden tub, shower, two sinks and a separate toilet room. LOVE IT! (I know, it's probably silly that I'm making a big deal about all these little things, but it's a big change from our last house.)
A few of the fun things we have done while we've been here:
The battery!
The battery is a sidewalk that goes right along the ocean along the point of downtown Charleston. It is beautiful. There are a couple of small parks along the way...
A couple fountains that the kids got to play in....
A long sidewalk perfect for scooters...
And beautiful houses and historical buildings to walk by. It is fun to live in an area so rich with history.
Angel Oak Tree!
The angel oak tree is over 500 years old!
It stands over 65 feet tall!
Measures 26 feet in circumference!
And it produces shade that covers more than 17,200 square feet!
Basically it's a REALLY big, REALLY old tree!
It is amazing to think about what this tree has survived, including hurricanes, and other major disasters.
The Children's Museum!
This was a huge hit with the kids. The Children's Museum is filled with all kinds of fun themed rooms. It was hard to get the kids to stand still long enough to take a picture, they were having way too much fun!
They can't wait to go back and have more fun here!
The Turtle Pond!
Actually, I don't know what the pond is called. It is just a small pond by our house that is literally FILLED with turtles. We also have some geese as well as baby geese here. The kids LOVE feeding them bread.
I bet there are more than 100 turtles in this one small pond. We also have heard that alligators will probably come visit the pond this summer which would be a fun adventure.
The Ocean!
Obviously! Living right by the ocean of course this is a place we love to visit. The water is warm, and the weather ideal. We LOVE the ocean.
The kids could stay all day long if we would let them!
We even found a boogie board at a yard sale for a dollar and Jarom has quickly become a pro at riding the waves.
To sum up our move in a nutshell, we LOVE IT HERE! I am actually a little scared with how much we love it here. The weather is awesome, the people are so friendly, our ward is just the best! the water is warm, and the experience is so different from anything we have ever experienced. We are also getting to know the wonderful people here. It is so fun getting to know the other dental students (and their wives) that will be going through the same things we will be for the next four years. We are definitely the odd couple, going into dental school with 4 kids while everyone else is just barely married (or still single), but we are excited for the adventure, and so grateful to be here, moving forward with our dreams.
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