Update

Well, life has been pretty busy for us in Rowley world.

This weekend we moved! We now share a house with Adam and Jessica Snell and their two children: Brigid and Sam. They have a blog if you're interested: adamjess.blogspot.com.

Generally those I've told of this plan thus far have expressed amazment. Here's why we would make this kind of move.

1) Apt. 92, Summerwood, was too small to live in for very long. We were there for 7 months together, and I lived there for about 10 months in all. It was slowly being crammed more and more full of things. We were always planning on moving this summer, as it was when it would stress Libby the least.

2) We preferred to live close enough to Biola to not need a car. I am now walking to work, saving on gas, insurance, and maintenance for a second vehicle - ours broke down in March and we are not replacing it, yet.

3) The house is very well suited for two families. It is split in the middle by the kitchen. The bedrooms are on opposite sides of the house. There is privacy if you want it!

4) We've thought living in a house would be nice. We like the yard and the neighborhood. We go for walks at night, now. It's amazing. House rent is too much, however, unless we share (this being Southern California).

5) Honestly, Libby and I are antisocial enough to feel that this kind of move would be a positive experience. It is going to force us into a situation where we must love our neighbors, daily. It's been a consistent prayer that we do so well, and I pray God also gives us such grace in the loving that we grow much closer to him because of it.

There are a few of the positive reasons that we reviewed before moving into the house. We are loving it so far! It's such a delight to sit out in the cool backyard as the (two) stars twinkle above and talk. It reminds us of when we were dating, and I lived in a house. We loved going for walks, reading and talking in the backyard. It's great to be able to do that, again!

The house is still full of boxes, however. We're working our way through those, slowly, and getting settled.

So far, I've seen lots of birds in the backyard, too!

Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch (flyover)
Great-Tailed Grackle (flyover)
Accipiter species (?)
American Crow
Allen's Hummingbird
Anna's Hummingbird

That's in three short days. I expect to see band-tailed pigeons, Western Bluebirds (we saw some in the yard across the street when we visited the house), Black Pheobes, and Mourning Doves, at least. There may be orioles occasionally, too. There's a park really nearby that has lots of birds in it. Although that park is going to be turned into a water park this year. There won't be quite so many birds, then.