Well, almost 3 weeks ago we were all lazing around in our pyjamas ... it was 8am on a Sunday morning and all of a sudden there was lots of noise outside.
For those of you following the saga of our container on Facebook and our news updates, you will already know the reason! After months of battling with shipping companies, immigration and customs officials, all our belongings arrived with absolutely no warning! The best surprise ever!
We quickly moved our car (Jenny did, still in her PJ's!), phoned around our friends for extra help ... and got on with the work in hand! It all got unloaded onto the grass outside our house, checked and then moved into the right rooms!
The girls were super excited to get all their toys ... in fact they disappeared into their room for a lot of the time and slowly opened everything! There was a big clean up job that evening in order for them to go to sleep!
The house looked like a total bomb-site as we managed to get everything inside by lunchtime. We've been saying ever since ... the house might look like a mess but it's a happy mess!!
We packed up all our things almost 8 months ago and ... while there are only a few things that we would really have missed if the container hadn't survived the journey, plus the fact that we've been bumbling along fine without it all since we arrived in February ... it has been SO nice to finally get to make our house, our home!
Admittedly, our home doesn't look very African but we're here for the long haul and at the end of the day it is our haven of peace from the hustle and bustle of life. We have already had the opportunity to give lots of things away that were in the container and to use stuff for other people's benefit. We look at it all as a real gift that we want to share with our friends here.
Below are a couple of before and after shots of some of the rooms. There is still a lot more to do but we're getting there!!
Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us through this very long 'waiting period'. There were days when it was really tough and we were questioning 'why?' for everything. Now we're still smiling that it's here ... the novelty has yet to wear off!!
Woohoo! Good to see the photos! :)
ReplyDeleteYay! Surprise surprise, your possessions are outside! I’m glad it finally arrived after your long wait. I’m sure this was a relief from all the organizing and arranging you had to do. I assume, by now, you’re done with all these stuff, and you’re thoroughly settled. And for that, congrats! =) PEDRO @ PackCrateAndShip.com
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