How are you finding it? September 18, 2025

I ran into a neighbor when C and I went to the corner grocery store today. He always asks me, "How are you finding it?" My response is generally along the lines of "Oh, it's good, getting into the routine of things. Better now that school has started for the kids. Feels more like a home rather than a vacation that way," which is all true of course, but that answer skims the surface.

What I really should say is

The rainy weather is getting to me, but the nightly rainbows and sunny days give me life.

I've hated watching my kids struggle through this, but I am grateful for the chance to dig deep into cultivating emotional resilience with them.

I miss my grocery stores and go-to food items, but I know the food here is held to better standards and I'll find new favorite things.

There are a lot of things I wish we hadn't given away, but with every tear is the reminder that this isn't about the stuff.

My body has felt the stress lately and yearns for its comfort zone, but I know the deepest layers of healing come with the darkest moments where the most trust is needed.

Adjusting to not having our US holidays is going to be hard, but finding new traditions as a family will be fun (even if we have to eat Thanksgiving turkey after school and football practice on a normal Thursday.)

I miss our family and friends, but the visits will be that much sweeter and the conversations that much more filling.

I often wonder if this will ever feel like home, but maybe that's not important.

Maybe it's the journey to give love every day that matters, and with that will come friends and community.

Maybe it's the splashing in rain puddles, having dance parties, crying together during Planet Earth, and making Rice Krispie treats that matters, and we can do that anywhere.

So the next time my neighbor asks me how I'm finding it, I'll smile and say, it's a little bit better every day.