One year ago today

One year ago today I arrived in TN with my mom & my kiddos, Eric had come ahead of us by a week to start his new job. I remember being completely & utterly exhausted from the week we had just gone through. While it's nice to have the movers come & take care of things, don't kid yourself, it's still a lot of work, especially with three kids! We had a good-bye party for the kiddos and it tore my heart out to say good-bye to all the friends in Oklahoma. I don't think I've cried that much in a long time.

It was hard to leave but also easy to leave at the same time. I just KNEW that this was the path that God had us on, I even remember having conversations with my close friends and also my mother-in-law one year prior about how I felt strongly that our time in Oklahoma was up. I'm not a patient person by any stretch of the imagination so when I felt God telling me that it was time to move on, I was ready to go. We had to wait a YEAR!!!

Eric found out he had a job and within three weeks we sold our house, came house hunting in TN, and bought a house. Again, our current house was one of those times when it was VERY clear to me that this what the Lord wanted for us. Both Eric & I had found this community online and found a floor plan that we both liked. I found out that a house with this exact floor plan and in this neighborhood had just become available. That was exciting to me because I really just wanted to move in, I didn't want to be in intermediate housing until a house that we liked could be built. I was SO frustrated with the realtor that we'd been hooked up with because he was a BIG fan of Williamson county and just came over to Rutherford because we insisted. We walked into this house and I KNEW, again, that this was the house God wanted for us.

My mom was a lifesaver (she's amazing if I haven't already told you so) and she came out to help me and drive out with my and my three kids. We stopped half-way and stayed in a hotel and then we pulled into town on Sept. 14th. I was a bit over-whelmed by just the traffic. WOW. The town we moved from doesn't have traffic. If it does, it just means it takes you 10 minutes instead of 5 minutes to get most places!

Don't get me wrong, I was excited! There was a Chick-Fil-A and Target just 10 miles up the road and LOADS of scrapbook stores. For a girl like me, that's pretty darn close to heaven!

We closed on our home on Sept. 15th and began the adventure of unpacking and making it feel like a warm & cozy home. The first night we were in the house we realized that our dishwasher was busted and so we had to wash the dishes by hand. Let me clarify, my amazing MOM washed the dishes by hand.

We got through and while Eric worked I found my way to places like the Discovery Center, library story hours, and, of course, Chick-Fil-A & McD's.

We also lived across the street from First Baptist and the gentleman that sold us our house went to that church. He recommended it and then a neighbor did as well, so we tried it out. I thought it would take us forever to find a church that we felt right being at but it happened with one stop. This was yet another time that it was very clear that this was where God wanted us. It was a big church but we found a Sunday School class (small group) that we felt like we fit with and have been going ever since.

We feel so blessed to be here. We have made some fabulous friends, gotten active in our local church and have managed to find our way around to some cool places! I am so thankful that God has put us in this place and can't wait to see Him work in our lives here.

To my TN friends, thank you so much for being welcoming and helping our first year in TN to be an amazing one! You are a true blessing.