We made it !!

Hey everyone. I know some of you were wondering if we had just stayed in Vegas but we did make it here. We had some computer issues to work through once we were here, so I haven't been able to update. It turns out that my charging circuit went out and needed to be replaced. We got in to town about 5:30 local time on Sunday night and had dinner with our new team here and signed the lease on the apartment. We had packed an air mattress in the car to sleep on the first night, which was weird being in our apartment with nothing but an air mattress and the bags we had packed for the trip but at least we had each other. It was a little overwhelming, surreal and emotional. We had just driven across the country to find ourselves in an empty apartment in a strange town. If you have been following us across the country on this blog, you know that we have been taking pictures as we entered each state, well when we got to California, it hit us both. We were no longer on vacation- we were moving here! It was a little sobering. But now after having been here for a few days, it has turned out to be nice. We are getting used to it. Although we exchanged the paper mill smell when the fog hits in the morning for the "sweet" smell of garlic from the largest garlic capitol in the U.S. a few towns over.
We got a nice deal on a 2 bedroom apartment $2270 a month!! What?!!? That is still nuts to me, that's more than double or mortgage back home. It is a nice complex, very clean, nice gym, pool, and a starbucks :) Our original plan was for all three families to separate in the city and go to different apartment complexes to meet more people but we all ended up at the same one- Andy and Filipe are actually in the same building and Bekah and I are only about a 3 min walk away. It has been nice since we have no clue where anything is. Actually right now as I'm typing this Bekah is out by herself for the first time trying to get to the closest Wal-Mart.
For the last 3 days we have been trying to unpack a ton of boxes and find stores to buy things we need. Some of our stuff got broken in the move- you always have nicks here and there as much as you try to avoid it, but 2 of Bekah's favorite plates got shattered, she was really sad. One of them was a wedding gift, a Turkish wedding plate that some friends from Germany had sent. Other than that I was worried about my drums and guitars making it ok. Being that they are obviously made out of wood and I didn't know what kind of heat and moisture conditions they would endure getting here. I was really surprised and amazed to open up my Taylor case and find that not only was there no damage but that little baby was still in tune- that's an awesome guitar! Other than that we have been hard at work trying to set up bank accounts and basically switch our entire lives out here.
Bekah just got back from Wal-mart and has told me that 1) people are very impatient here in the Silicon Valley and 2) they have red lights on the entrance ramps onto the highway. You get on the highway and at the bottom of the entrance ramp they have three lanes where you line up like go-carts at frankies fun park and then one car from each row gets to go on one at a time using 3 separate red lights! My, we have a lot to learn. Her other comment about the trip was that no stores have cart returns in the parking lot, so you have to walk them all the way back up front in a crazy attempt to encourage mobility and exercise. Who needs it! (if you don't walk your cart back up- you will get the stare down from all the other shoppers)
Last night we got our kitchen unpacked and had our first meal here- spaghetti bolognese. Back home, as uncool as it is, we ate in front of the tv more times then not. So, since we don't have cable or anything at this time we ate to a DVD of Shrek 2- it felt a little more like home. Tonight will probably be "how to loose a guy in 10 days." I can't wait to see whats showing tomorrow. Sorry there are no pics this time but we are planning on giving a video tour of our apartment and some pics of our complex soon.
Lastly, Rebekah's mom, Tina is due to fly in tonight. Her Dad kind of surprised them both by sending her here for a long weekend. It'll be nice to have our first guest- so all you back in Charleston need to pay attention :)
Ok, I know I said lastly- but this is for real lastly- We would like to ask you guys to pray for our team but specifically for our place to meet. We have picked out an elementary school that would be perfect. Please join us in prayer that God would grant us favor with the principal of that school to allow us to meet there. We love you guys, pictures coming soon.