The Beginning of a New Chapter

A good friend of mine, Krista, suggested that I start blogging. So for all of you who are interested in reading up on the happenings in the Rateike household, here you go! 

As most of you know, we are now living in the grand state of North Carolina...for SIX WHOLE MONTHS!! We love it here and felt at home within the first week. Actually, our first week was spent in the great Holiday Inn hotel where we experienced complimentary breakfasts and room service! After only driving for eleven hours separately, we spent another two days driving around frantically trying to find our new "home" temporary lodging. On the third day, we decided on the house we both loved the most. Of course we both loved the house for totally different reasons. Clif is in awe of the fact that our house is on stilts and we get to park under our house. I, on the other hand, was in awe that the walls in our house actually had color! It was the first thing I noticed when we came to look at the house. However, Clif never even noticed, so I had to take him on a second tour of the house...and in the end, he too was in awe. For those of you who don't know, I despise white walls, so this factor in and of itself had me sold right away! Well we moved into our home September 1, one day before that massive, destructive, and obnoxious hurricane hit us. That "hurricane" was a joke...thank goodness. Luckily we were able to receive our household goods that Friday. This was perfect timing since Zachary Milton Price was coming to stay with us for the weekend. We had his deluxe state of the art air mattress from Target ready within minutes. Ok moms out there: you know how when you drop your baby boy/girl off at school for the first time? You know how you just sob and sob and sob? Well, that was me when we had to take Zach back...having him here made me feel like I was back at home around family. We had a blast while he was here though! We went kayaking over the weekend only to discover that I am quite the kayaker! Needless to say, Zach and Clif got heckled for lagging behind me. Pretty much every boat or dock we passed had commentary for those two! 

Now that we are all settled in our cozy new home, Clif is back to work and I am on the hunt for a job to keep myself busy! I love his new schedule (for the time being). He works a ground job at New River from 7:30-4:30 Mon.-Fri.- I LOVE the consistency! We immediately got plugged in with the OCF group (Officer's Christian Fellowship). We meet every Tuesday night for Bible study and we absolutely love it! It's a small group that consists of about 4-5 couples and the husbands are all Marines. Through that I have been able to develop close friendships with some really genuine Christian women. We are still on the search for a new church home, so please continue to pray for God's direction in that area. 

Before we moved, the uncertainties of being away from all of my closest family and friends, trying to find new friends, a new church, etc. dwelled in my mind. But it is truly amazing how God has given me such a peace and comfort while I have been here. Sure I miss my family, my friends, my church, etc. but every morning God reminds that he has placed us here for a reason, we are not here by chance. He has provided, comforted, and guided us the whole way and will continue to.  

Here are the before pictures of our home:

kitchen

Kitchen

The House

View from back of Kitchen

Living Room

Dining Room

 
After Pictures:

Master Bedroom

More Pictures to come...