A Trip Down Memory Lane

Tonight, I have a heavy heart.  I have been positive about this move for so long...until now.  It's selfish and petty.  I know that.  I am selfishly missing my home in Alabama.  With the holiday season quickly approaching, I am more homesick than ever.  I loved decorating my home for the holidays.  I usually decorated too early!  It's just not the same going from a large home to a small apartment.  I know this is just a stepping stone for us.  Just ready for a normal life.  Here are some of my holiday memories from our home. 

I loved decorating my banisters.  They were so pretty, all lit up at night.

I love my 9 ft. tree.  Maybe it will look as pretty in my new place.

One of my favorite ornaments

The Road to Tulsa

October 19th, 2011

I had already bid farewell to all my loved ones...except my Mom.  Thankfully, my sweet husband offered to let Mom ride out to Tulsa with us and he would pay for her airline ticket back home!  This helped my feelings tremendously...she would be such a big help to us!  She shuffled her patients around and managed to get 3 days off of work to join us in the 12 hour drive.  I don't think I have ever laughed so hard as we did on that LONG drive!  We made horrible time...we stopped for ice cream, shopped at the grand opening of the Dick's Sporting Goods in Conway, AR, had an hour long lunch at Wendy's and  filled up the tank 3 TIMES!!!  But the memories are so worth it! 

 The "Captain"

Captain and Co-Captain ;)

Mom's job was to just lay down and keep her lips zipped...she excelled at her job!  Just kidding!  I took a few naps myself!

 

Pyramid Arena in Memphis, TN

Wonderful snack basket that Megan made for us!  It was a lifesaver on the long stretches with nowhere to stop!  

 

 

 

My Mom stayed with us from Wednesday until Sunday.  We dropped her off around noon and it almost killed me.  I am so glad she got to come and help out.  We got a lot accomplished but I think we had more fun than anything!  From our notorious late night Wal-Mart trip to cooking up some chicken and dressing, it was a wonderful bonding experience with her!  Can't wait for more family to come and visit us!

Bittersweet Goodbye's

Well, the time had come to say farewell to everyone.  Moving day was coming, regardless of if we wanted it to or not.  I said my goodbyes over a 2 day period of time.  I think that it helped not having to tell everyone "bye" at the same time. 

This is my Gentiva family.  I said goodbye to them on September 22nd at our weekly meeting.  They had a lovely surprise party planned for me!  I will miss them all.  Such a good group to work with.

 This is one of my many lunch dates with Megan before I left.  We brought along the kiddos this time, Bella (Megan's daughter) and Peyton (My sister's daughter).  We ate at Old Town Grill and it was so good! 

 I said goodbye to Peyton the night before we left.  I think I had the hardest time telling her goodbye.  She is such an angel.  I can't imagine life without her!

My sweet sister, Shelby.  It was so hard saying goodbye to my sisters.  We have always been so close, I know that won't change.

 My sweet sister, Lorrie.  She came home from Auburn to tell me goodbye.  So sad :(  She is my baby.  

 Joc.  What else can I say?  He is so funny!  He keeps me laughing and I will definitely miss him!  By the way, this is Shelby's boyfriend and Peyton's dad.

My precious friend, Megan.  She came by on the morning that we left.  I'm so glad she stopped by!  I will miss her so much!  She is my lunch buddy and phone pal.  The phone calls will not stop.  We just won't have so many lunches together (and probably save a lot of money!)

Saying goodbye to the people I love was not easy.  My new saying is "I'll see you soon then", taken from one of my favorite movies of all time, Dear John.  When I talk to my family, I try to end on that note...I'll see you soon then.  It helps me, at least a little bit.  I didn't capture all my goodbyes on camera but they know who they are.  I'm already planning on coming home the weekend before Thanksgiving.  I hope it works out, I can't wait to see everyone!

A New Chapter

All of my life, I have lived very close to family and friends.  That is until October 19th, 2011.  I grew up in a small town in Alabama.  Four traffic lights, usually a good high school baseball team, usually a not so good football team, and lots of small town gossip!  I swore that I would get out of Childersburg as fast as I could. Well, that didn't happen.  I married the love of my life and we settled in Childersburg.  A couple of years later, we migrated to Alexander City, Alabama and loved it! It was far enough away from Childersburg but still close enough to visit whenever I wanted.  In July of this year, my husband was offered a job he could not turn down.  The only problem... it was 670 miles from home.  On October 19th, 2011, we picked up our life and moved to Oklahoma!  What a change from the small town life I have always known. 

This is our lovely home that we left behind in Alabama

Our basement, or as my husband would call it "man cave", where we would have football parties.  ROLL TIDE!

 The love of my life, Josh

From left to right:  Lorrie (sister), Me, Mom and Shelby (sister)

My precious niece, Peyton Jayde

 My best friend, Megan.  

I know that God has great things in store for us!  I don't know the plan yet, but I'm sure He will show us in time.  This has been such a big adjustment for me.  I hope this blog helps me to stay connected to family and friends, anything to make me feel like I'm still close to home.