NYC

We are officially in NYC and acclimating to our new surroundings. It has been easier adjusting to life here than I initially anticipated in many ways (thank God!!). We are presently in a sublet for the month of August on the upper west side of manhattan a lovely few blocks away from central park!! The goal for this month has been to find a permanent apartment.... what an adventure!! I think it has been a bit more involved than either D or I thought.....

The process goes something like this:

1. you either have an insane amount of time on your hands and do all the hunting yourself (via websites that may or may not be legit) or you hire a 'broker'/realtor who makes a tonnnnn of money when they find you a place. Now we did realize that often times the brokers do get the better properties, but they often come with a higher price tag (or when factoring in fees have a higher price tag)....

2. You get what you pay for. Less expensive places are cheaper for a reason.... They are often near housing projects or totally run down or the size of a closet. So, unless you are a millionaire, you need to weigh your priorities and realize that you probably won't get most of what you are looking for.

3. Properties often stay on the market for about 3 days before they are snatched up. You don't have time to ponder if you want it or not... you either take it or continue to play the game and hold out for the potential of something better.

there are more rules to this apartment game... but it's more than you would really care to know... Bottom line: it's a hassle, but actually rather entertaining if you remove yourself from it enough to realize how crazy and chaotic the whole thing is!!

God is faithful as always though and has answered our prayers for housing. It has been fun because my typical response to things like this is to stress and not trust that God will come through. Throughout the journey, I have been able to pray and watch God do his thing. He has always come through in his own way and I knew he would do so again. We found a super place early last week and, atypically, the landlord wanted to wait for other potential tenants to look at the property over a period of several kinda rather long days before he offered it to us.  The Lord has provided us with a surprisingly spacious apartment within our price range in a fantastic part of town near parks, subway lines and school for daniel :) Blessed beyond measure.

[ the corner half a block from our new place]