We Have Arrived!

Yay! We're finally in Florida!

The living room in our condo

Palm trees, green grass and the beautiful ocean


We can see the ships sail from the port in the distance.

Yes, we've arrived - arrived in Florida, that is.

We actually got here Monday evening and boy did it feel good to finally stop driving and park the car. After we stopped by the Coldwell Banker office and paid for our rental we drove up to the Shorewood complex to begin unloading the car and check out our condo.

We've stayed in Cape Canaveral the past two years so the area is familiar to us but we've never stayed at Shorewood before. I am a details person so renting a condo sight unseen is a big stretch for me but after days of searching and making numerous telephone calls, this was our only option. In fact, I really believe that God orchestrated this whole thing because I hadn't even called the woman who called me to offer us this place. Somehow my name and number had been passed on to her and she had this unit available because the NASA engineers who had been here for the February shuttle launch didn't need it anymore.

Once we found our building and entered the unit we were thrilled. It's amazing. I'm so thankful for how God provided us with this gorgeous place to stay for the month. It is quite spacious, beautifully furnished and we look directly out on the ocean. We are not too far from the port and so we have enjoyed watching the ships coming and going on the ocean. We even saw a large cruise ship departing our first night here. I'm glad I brought my spotting scope and tripod because it makes bird watching and ship spotting all the more fun.

We've been settling in to the condo, unpacking and doing a little rearranging. Have I told you I have OCD about my living space? It's a sickness! I like things just so and think I finally have things just the way I want, much to my girls' relief... We've also been visiting relatives and were able to see my sister last night. She is doing well and remembered all of us, thankfully.

Today we're going to the local library to renew our library card. Down here they give nonresidents a library card for free if you have a valid lease. How nice is that?! They have unbelievable libraries, too, which we really appreciate. The first year we were here my son read 250 books in about three weeks to earn a large Lego Batmobile set from the library for free. He loves to read and was a boy on a mission! Last year they didn't have a prize that motivated him but we'll have to take a look and see if they are still running the Library Bucks program this year.

The weather is cool by Florida standards but we're happy to be here and look forward to Mike and Daniel arriving tomorrow night.