Our New House

As most of you know by now, we moved last month. I thought I would give some description of our new home. It is very challenging in the Philippines to find a home similar to a place you might rent in the US. We have looked at around 40 different homes since we arrived here. When we have been in the right frame of mind, some of the homes have actually been entertaining; but when you are seriously looking for a place to live, it can be very discouraging. We started to name some of them…the mothball house, the falling apart house, the house with the indoor outhouse, the house with the jumping fleas, the house with the river room, the house with mold on the moldings and water stains on the ceiling…
Back to our house… it is a multi-level home. Our dining room and kitchen are on the entry level. Upstairs is our masterbed, the boys room and an office. Downstairs is the living room, screen porch, and the girls area. We have painted the master bedroom and the kitchen/dining area. It looks beautiful! We hope to do more painting during the Christmas break. The house is owned by a mission organization. The family next door manages the two houses, which are on the property. The husband is a doctor, and we are so excited that the money we pay for rent goes toward medicine for his clinic, which is also in our neighborhood! The clinic is for the very poor neighborhoods that surround us.
Our neighbors love gardening, and our back yard looks like a park! It has been a HUGE blessing to us since there are no public parks in the part of the city where we live. More than anywhere else I have ever lived, it is so important to have a home that you truly enjoy. There is nowhere to really go to get away from things here. There are no places to go hiking, and no matter where you go, there are tons of people everywhere. Actually, one thing I really want to do when we get back to the US is go out west and stand on a plateau and look around me 360 degrees and see no one! I am craving the open spaces. But I am very thankful for the beauty of nature that I have when I look at the back yard!
The other thing that has been a big blessing is the two dogs. Our neighbors own them, but they protect both homes. The girls have loved having pets again. They give the dogs baths each week.
We are about 20 minutes from the school. It really isn’t that far, but traffic is always busy here…except when Manny Pacquiao is fighting. He is a boxer and politician, and the whole country shuts down when he fights. :) Anyways, this is home sweet home for us right now.