27 days!

27 days until we leave for Tennessee!  I can't believe that the time has finally come-it felt like it never would.  I am happy to say that I feel like we have made the best of this year... visited with family a lot, hung with friends we love that we hadn't been able to hang with in years, made many wonderful new friends-which to be honest, wasn't really something that I was expecting to happen, but I can't begin to describe what a blessing those friendships have been!  I love how the Lord puts people in your life that he just knows you need.  I am going to miss these friends, old and new, and our families.  It was wonderful being close to everyone while it lasted. We've also taken a couple little family trips to enjoy the beauty that UT has to offer.  It really has been a great year.  Nate finished his dissertation and graduated from Columbia University.  Nate and I got to take our first trip together without kids in almost 6 years, thanks to some amazing family members, who sacrificed a lot to watch our wild and crazy children.

I honestly didn't know what to expect of this year.  Leaving NYC was hard, but the blow has been softened thanks to the mass exodus that happened last summer, placing several families here in UT as well.  It has been amazing to have our monthly (sometimes more) get togethers and feel like we still have a little piece of NYC here in UT.  I am really, really going to miss that.  Thankfully, Johnson City is a measly 9 hour drive to Manhattan!  Road trip!

So what are our plans now?  Well, we're going to spend the next few weeks de-junking, packing and cleaning.  On July 7th we will begin {another} cross country drive in our little honda cr-v, we will hopefully arrive in TN in a week.  Here is the kicker... we still don't have a place to live!  Ahhhh!  It's stressing me out.  Nate and I have different approaches to this sort of thing-I would like to secure a place before we get there so that we can just get there and start settling in.  But Nate would rather wait until we get there and try to find a place then.  I see the wisdom in that, as it would be really nice to be able to physically check places out before we commit to living there for a year, but still... STRESSFUL!  It'd be nice to fly out there and find something beforehand, but Nate thinks it's a waste of money.  See what I mean?  Completely different approach.  Oh well.  It will be fine.  We will just be forced to endure some extra days of hotel dwelling.  I bet you when we get there, after having been on the road and staying in hotels for 7 days, Nate is going to wish we did it my way. ;)

So wish us luck as we pack up our little family and begin this new adventure.  We are so excited to see what Tennessee has in store for us.