Happy 4th of July!

Phew! SMS and I have had a busy few days as we unpacked our household goods shipment which arrived on the first. I have gotten rid of a lot of extra crap, which I'm really happy about. I hadn't gone through stuff in awhile. It was difficult to donate goods in Japan so I promised myself I would do it here.

  

Unfortunately, that meant carrying out what had recently been carried in. This is unpleasant because we live on the third floor of a building with no elevator. But I have traded-in four boxes of books to the local used books store, sold a textbook on Amazon and dropped off six (6!) boxes of clothes/other goods to Goodwill. It's crazy that excess can be a source of stress because I know what a blessing this "problem" is but it was nice to simplify and recycle/donate/sell what I could rather than just junking stuff. 

Anyway, our apartment is shaping up nicely although not finished yet. Today, we spent a lot of time organizing but took a break to go rock climbing at the local gym. We'll get outside soon but for now, the gym it is. 

This evening, we had an amazing time with new friends we met at a community party last week. We went to the San Francisco orchestra show at the Shoreline Amphitheater. We had great picnic food, listened to beautiful music and had the best seats I've ever had for a fireworks show. It was incredible- we were basically right underneath them. We cycled to and from the Amphitheater which was an excellent call since traffic was terrible. 

The symphony was great too. The program was a mix of Patriotic songs, famous American composers (some immigrants), a Disney cartoon with live accompaniment and s sing-a-long to the Sound of Music. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed getting to know our new friends a little better. We live in a very international community here!