My First Earthquake

It's official, I have finally felt my first earthquake since moving to Berkeley. It was a 2.4 and happened at 9:37pm (PST). It felt and sounded like someone very big either fell on the floor or jumped really hard downstairs. It was quick. Right away, I walked across the hall to our neighbors and asked, "did you feel that too?" and Steven already had the website up that shows where the earthquake's epicenter was and its magnitude. It happened 1 mile NNE of Piedmont. Check these out... http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40181464.htm http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/ca/STORE/X40181464/40181464_ciim.pdf Ok, time for bed so I can be rested to go back to school tomorrow! Yuck! I hope those kids had a good week off so they can be good with me for the next 3 weeks!

Turkey Day... with complete strangers

About 2 weeks ago, two friends from church and PSR invited us to have Thanksgiving dinner with them at one of their friend's house. Our friend had known the couple from years ago living in Seattle. Coincidentally, both couples moved to the east bay so that their spouses could attend seminary. One is at PSR with Grant, the other is at the Episcopailian school down the street. So, it's 3pm, the time that our friends said they were going to meet us at the other couples apartment. We knock on the door and a woman answers. "hello! we're Robin and Grant" pause, woman is thinking, pause, "friends of -- and --?" Woman says, "oh yes, welcome in!" This was only slightly akward. Our friends had not arrived yet. We were expected, but it was still humorous that we showed up at complete strangers house, carrying yummy sweet potatoes, and expecting to be let in to share a Thanksgiving feast. The afternoon / early evening went really well. We talked to a bunch of seminarians and their partners (at least we had something in common!). We ate lots of yummy food and we even got an invitation to come back for dinner sometime. Back to the apartment search... we've visited 7 apartments so far in or near the desired neighborhood. We're quickly figuring out that we either need to lower our standards or be ok with paying more for rent, because we haven't been satisfied with any of the apartments so far. PSR and the other seminaries in the GTU subsidize the student housing. If our apartment building wasn't owned by PSR, it would taken care of and be in much better shape and it would cost $200-$300 more a month. It's a good thing that moving is not an emergency, just something we'd like to do soon.

On The Search

For the last few days I've been tuned into the apartment situation on Craigslist. Every new apartment that comes up in our price range is considered. We have a neighborhood picked out in Oakland. It is right by our church and we know almost a dozen people that currently live in the neighborhood. I called about 15 places this morning, of the few that answered, I made 4 viewing appointments. A few were out of the price range and the others I left messages with (still waiting!). Today we visited three apartments that were decent but not spectacular. I canceled the fourth appointment as soon as I actually saw the building in person. Yuck! So, one who has talked to me before about our apartment might wonder why I would want to move. Our current apartment has wonderful views, a fun rooftop, great neighbors, a unique charm and layout, a great size. But, it is too close to PSR, a community that is constantly disappointing us. So we need space from it so Grant's school will become more like a day job instead of a lifestyle choice. Also, if we move farther south into Oakland, my commute time to school will be shorter. Apartments are so expensive here. I'm easily paying twice what my apartment was in Davison, MI. My old apartment was wonderful. It had a deck that faced a huge green backyard of the house next door. I had my own parking spot. The kitchen was a separate room. The living room area was big. It was wonderful. Now we're trying to figure out what are the most important features. Does what we see outside our windows matter? Does the layout matter? Does ceiling height and the detail of cabinets and counters matter? Can I handle leaving behind the awesome sprayer faucet that we installed in this apartment? I'm glad that I have all of this week off from school to be handling this situation. Hopefully we'll find a place that we can both enjoy and be comfortable in. Send prayers and good thoughts our way!