Reflections: Our First Week Home

We are home! It has been a very busy but productive first week back in Austria. Being back here feels just as good as I was expecting. There is something about being back home that gives me a sense of peace and a feeling of being settled that I have missed so much over the last 7 months.

Although we didn't have long to get over jet lag and get settled before life picked up again, we at least had a few days to run errands, sleep and get organized. Some things we accomplished included:

• Picking up Ellie's visa that I applied for back in January. All set!
• Unpacking and finding spots for everything we acquired while we were in the U.S.
• Sorting through our belonging at home and putting back all of our decor items that were moved while we were away
• Buying groceries and stocking up on basic household products, like toiletries, paper towels, etc.
• Planting our balcony garden with herbs
• Planting our community garden plot
• Getting lots of items ready for the interns, like binders of documents, cell phones and a gift basket

It was a busy busy few days, but we are all settled and back into the swing of things, with our interns here and Nate preparing for a sermon at the end of the month.

Here are a few photos from our travels and our first week back!

On the plane! We had a very smooth flight. Ellie enjoyed activities and then slept for about 4.5 hours.

We're here in Vienna! With so so many bags....

Planting and watering our balcony garden

Back at the dog park with Mozzy. We were so excited to be reunited!

Ellie decorating signs for our interns

Baby is 22 weeks! I had swollen ankles after the flight, but now things are back to normal. 

My helper planting our vegetables in our community garden plot (in a raised bed).

Visiting Schönbrunn Palace with our interns and seeing the roses.

Our interns are here!!

Nate got an immersion circulator for his birthday in March and has been so excited to try it out!

Setting up an apartment in Austria

Nate installing window blinds in our bedroom

Nate is skyping with a friend from home right now, talking about moving in and setting up an apartment. As I listen to the conversation and Nate explain things, I'm realizing how many things are different about setting up a home here than in the States. We've gotten used to all of the differences by now, but it's quite a different experience!

Here are some differences:

• Apartments here (and I think in most of Europe) do not come with closets. So in addition to buying most of our furniture, we have also had to buy free-standing wardrobes for every bedroom. It's nice, because you can decide how they are laid out and organized, but it's time consuming to buy and build them!
• We choose our own light fixtures! I've never rented an apartment with bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling before. This makes for a lot more decisions!
• The windows also do not come with blinds. Needless to say, the first night we slept in our apartment, our neighbors could see right in! It felt weird, so we went out and purchased blinds the next day.
• Many of the building walls are made of cement, so you need a special drill in order to drill holes in the walls. It's very loud and a little more difficult, but the screws and nails hold very well!
• In addition to not having bedroom closets, most apartments do not have any build-in storage. We are, for example, installing shelves in our storage closet and buying a wardrobe from the front hallway for coats. We also installed extra cabinets in the kitchen for more storage space.
• Balconies are important here and growing plants on your balcony is a must here in Austria. We are going to work hard as creating a comfortable balcony with seating, a small (electric) grill and lots of plants! Not to mention, we will also use our balcony to hang clothes to dry in the sun. It will take some maneuvering and planning to fit all of that on our small balcony.
• Building your own furniture. From what we've seen, there aren't very many affordable furniture stores here that compete with IKEA's prices. Since we were outfitting an entire apartment at once, we needed to buy all of the furniture at Ikea and put it together ourselves, because it would have been too expensive to do it any other way. Although Ikea is popular in the U.S. as well, this is certainly the first time I've experienced starting from scratch and building this much furniture all at once!
• The last several apartments we had in the States came with a washer and dryer. That is very rare here! We just bought our washing machine last Friday and when we move, we'll take it with us. Also, it's common for the washing machine to be situated in the kitchen or bathroom here (ours is in the bathroom).  And dryers are a luxury - few people have space for them.

All this to say, this is why it will take us weeks months to settle in and make our apartment a home. We make a little progress each day, but there is still much to be done. If you want to come visit, wait until the summer time!

A Place to Call Home

We officially have a place to call home!

Two weeks ago, we flew to Vienna to pick up our visas. And just to use our time well, we decided to visit some apartments while we were there. I tend to be ambitious, so I set up 8 apartment showings in 2 days (crazy!). We went in with low expectations, because many friends advised us that it takes awhile to find the right place.

Meeting with the "Makler" (real estate agent) in our new living room.

So when we walked into the apartment on Breitenfelder Gasse in the 8th district, we were surprised by how much we liked it! It fit within our budget, was a reasonable size, and had all of the important features we were hoping for. For instance, hospitality and cooking are an important part of our life, so we were hoping for a good-sized kitchen. This one is not huge, but it has enough space for us to add extra storage and workspace. We also liked the layout, with an open living room/dining room and a separate hallway for the bedrooms. We knew we'd be working from home, so we needed an office and were hoping for a guest room. We also really like the neighborhood, with easy access to public transportation and a short ride to the 1st district (where language school is). There is a street nearby with good access to supermarkets and other basic shopping needs. Check, check, check! Everything on the list!

Last week, we put in an official offer and less than 24 hours later, it was accepted! We processed the real estate fees, set-up a date to pick up the keys, and it's done! Phew! We are so blown away by how this all continues to come together. I suppose God wants us there, right? 

The kitchen. We will install more counters and storage on the opposite two walls.

I've been dreaming for so long about the feeling we will have once we're settled in Austria. And as it gets closer, my excitement grows. We've spent the last week picking out furniture online (IKEA!) and laying it out in a 3D model of the apartment using Google Sketchup. It is so fun to dream about our home and know it will be coming to fruition soon.

We get the keys on March 15 and then spend 3 - 4 weeks painting walls, installing light fixtures and buying/assembling furniture. Then our container will arrive from the States early- to mid-April and we'll be ready to unpack it all and move-in!

A "loggia" (covered balcony) where we'll grow spices, dry clothes and eat meals outside.

Thank you for your diligent prayers that have brought us to this exciting point. We feel them and God has made the path clear for us. This apartment is another thing on the long list of answered prayers. But it is not the end - it marks the beginning of a lifetime of ministry in Austria where God will continue to answer prayers and show himself to be faithful!

The Timeline!

Now that we have our visas, many of you are probably wondering if we are heading back to Austria soon. Receiving our visas this early was very unexpected and caused us to reevaluate our timeline for staying in England. We want to balance honoring our commitment to the missionaries here with getting back to Vienna, where we believe God has truly called us. We also want to be financially responsible. We've paid for our apartment here in Lichfield through the middle of March and that is not refundable.

In order to determine next steps and timelines, we spent time praying and discussed the situation with our field leaders in Vienna, as well as our teammates here in England. We then determined the following schedule:

• February 20 – 23: Visit to Vienna to pick up our visas and begin our apartment search
• February 23 – March 13: Finish out our time (and our apartment rental) in England
• March 13 - 31: Return to Vienna and continue searching for an apartment. Stay with teammates (no rent!) and possibly meet with a language tutor.
• April 1 – 5: Participate in the Austria WorldVenture team retreat in Grundlsee, Austria (we last attended this on our Vision Trip in 2011 and we're excited to be back!)
• Sometime in April: Move into a long term apartment and have our household good delivered from the US! Begin language school at the end of April.

We are eager and excited about these next steps. The thought of having a home to “call our own” is very exciting to us, after nearly 2 years living a transitive lifestyle. I am so excited to have our container delivered - it will be like Christmas to see our of our household goods again!

Please pray for patience these next few months, as we walk through the final steps towards being settled in Vienna. I tend to be eager about planning and sometimes I push forward too fast. Please pray that I wait on the Lord and his timing for finding an apartment and getting settled. We want to land in just the right place, a neighborhood where we can reach out and stay for the next 3 - 5 years.

Exciting things are ahead and we're just one step closer to "home"!

Feeling Settled

Exploring Schonbrunn Palace in the evening

Having been here for 6 weeks, I am beginning to really feeling settled in Vienna. We know the neighborhood here well, we are enjoying exploring the city, and we have a routine to our life again. We are progressing in the language and each day, I find more confidence to speak to people with the little German that I know. The feeling of being settled in one place is comforting and it's something I had missed while we were on the road this last year.

But with the feeling of being settled here also comes some angst. The more we feel drawn to Vienna and the more we fall in love the with city and the people here, the sadder we are to depart in January for 3 months. When we first started talking about going to England awhile back, I was excited to experience a different country and I thought being in a place where English is spoken would be refreshing. But now that we are here and finding some momentum, it is hard to think about leaving. I'm afraid of losing the German I've learned and I'm weery when I think of starting over someplace new. Plus, we like our neighborhood here in the 20th district, and we know that we'll have to start over in the spring when we return to Vienna, learning new streets and a new routine.

I know that God has a plan and that it includes 3 months here and 3 months in England for a reason. And I am truly confident He will use our internship opportunity to help us grow and give us opportunities to serve. Plus, it may be good for us to focus on studying the German we've learning so far, letting that sink in for a bit before continuing on with more difficult grammar. But I am praying that my heart follows along with my head on this one. Instead of trying to shut off the emotional attachment I have for this city and neighborhood, I am instead praying that God grows my heart for Vienna more each day here. And that coming back to Vienna will be that much sweeter when April comes.