This is the Week

...that I've been anticipating for almost 5 years. And wondered many times if it would ever get here. Kane's PhD defense is on Thursday. It's just 2 days away! How many times have I thought about his defense and when it would be here?! Countless times.

Looking back...

I remember moving boxes and furniture into our first apartment in Atlanta 2 weeks before our wedding. Kane, his dad, my dad and I came down to "move us in". We worked so hard that day! We put together our bed, my dad scrubbed our bathroom while I worked like a mad woman to unpack our kitchen and Kane and his dad did the unloading. That's about all the "settling in" we did before the wedding. We needed to get the apartment livable enough for us to spend one night there on our honeymoon before we flew out of Atlanta to a resort in Mexico.

After move in day we both went home and 2 weeks later we got married in Virginia and then finished settling into our apartment in Atlanta once we got home from our honeymoon. I remember that time with wonderful memories but also some very hard ones too. I remember feeling very isolated from "my life" as I knew it because when I got married and left for my honeymoon, I didn't come back. I remember leaving our wedding reception with bittersweet feelings because I knew when I left the reception, I was also leaving the life I had known to begin a completely new one. Not just with a new husband, but in a new city, with new people, new church, new EVERYTHING!

We returned from our honeymoon to Atlanta where I knew no one and didn't even know where to get my groceries (or really how to cook, ha!). I remember feeling like my life was in Virginia, I just wasn't there to live it anymore! I felt like our honeymoon never "ended" in a sense because we came "home" to no one! It was good and bad. Weird and surreal at times. It took a lot of adjustment (that I admit partly came through many, many tears).

Anyway, the reason for our move to Atlanta in the first place was for Kane to start graduate school. The concept was so fresh and new. The campus seemed big and interesting, nestled into the heart of downtown Atlanta. We were excited about doing all the "Atlanta things" and making this our home. Kane was excited to start the next chapter of his life, to take the next step towards a career. It has been a very special time because it's where our life together really began and so far it's all we've known as a married couple. We were anxious to get involved in a good church and meet friends and make this our home. But, in spite of that excitement I struggled at first because we came here knowing that it was just for a season that would eventually end and we would most likely move away at the end of that season.

At the beginning when I was overwhelmed with all the changes of marriage and our move I wanted the end to be here quickly. But, a lot has happened over the past 5 years and although I am definitely ready for this season to be over (as far as graduate student living is concerned), there are also things that will be difficult to leave. Anytime you invest in something for an extended period of time, there are things that make it hard and sad to change.

There were moments along the way when it was very difficult and times when Kane wondered if he would be able to finish. Lots of times of questioning, then pushing forward towards the goal. It has been hard work for 5 years. There have been challenges we've faced that as I think back on them I really wonder how we've done it for this long (and stayed sane--ha!) We've lived with only one car for the entire time we've lived here. We've done apartment living close enough to campus so Kane could walk (and to help save money and time on commuting). We moved from a one bedroom to a two bedroom apartment when Mara Kate was 18 months old, which means for the first 18 months of her life we all shared one bedroom (how did we do this?!). When we made the move to the larger apartment Kane's distance to walk to school almost doubled, yet he has endured it for 2 years so that we could have the benefit of a bigger place. (Thanks, Babe--that alone has meant the world to me).
Our child has never had her own yard to play in. We've toted our groceries and everything else up or down two flights of stairs every day and we've shared our "garage" with everyone else in the complex---it's a large parking garage. All of those not so fun things are about to change and I almost can't believe it. We are moving into a cute, 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a yard and carport. Although the house seems like a glorified apartment as far as size is concerned, the fact that we are gaining an extra bedroom, a fairly large yard for Mara Kate to play in and a carport, not to mention the fact that we won't be living literally attached to other people is enough to make me happy. Oh, and it's cheaper rent than what we are paying now! It's exactly what we need and a little step up from what we've had, to boot. Thank you God for your provision for us in the housing department. I am very thankful.

Our life here has settled into a routine that I think when things are easier overall, I will feel like it's Christmas every morning. When I can walk out to my car that is parked directly outside my kitchen door, I will be giddy for months I think. ha! I am so thankful we are almost to the end of this time when I think about those kinds of convenience things.

But, when I think about our church and the relationships and the friendships that we've made it makes it much harder to think about moving away. I will definitely miss the comfort our church home has been to us. And the dear friendships that we've made. The friendships God had a big part in blossoming. I am very thankful that God has ordained that this move will only take us a little over an hour from Atlanta, so I feel like this move will be easier on me emotionally. I don't think I'll feel as isolated this time around. I feel like I'll be able to stay in touch with the friends here while I am meeting new ones in Rome. I'll be able to make day trips to Atlanta to see people on occasion or to meet up with my girlfriends for supper, etc.

Also, I feel like it isn't too far for people to come visit us in Rome....and everyone is welcome to come anytime! Rome is actually a very neat small town.

So, we are almost at the end of this season. The past two months have literally felt like H-E-L-L at times, but we are almost finished. It seems like a dream in a way, because we've dreamed of getting to this point so many times!

I am very proud of Kane and his hard work. I am looking forward to attending his defense on Thursday along with his dad who is driving in as well. I am excited about the celebration supper his advisor has planned for him that evening. I'm thrilled about our 5th wedding anniversary and celebrating it with Dr. Barker. (Our anniversary happens to be the day after his defense). :)

I love you very much Kane and am very proud to have stood by your side through this entire journey and I look forward to walking with you into the new chapter that awaits us just over the north Georgia hills.

Finally Finished (Writing)!!!

Over the past two months Kane has been working extremely long hours writing his thesis. It is quite a task to get 5 years of research into written form. He said writing this document has made him work harder than he ever has in his life.

Mara Kate and I took a week long trip to the beach with his family, without him because he was writing. Then, a week and a half later we took a 10 day trip to Missouri to visit my family so he could write, write and write some more. Being home alone all day and all evening was no fun for us, so we tried to stay as busy as we could.

Kane has been working until midnight or 1 am almost every night this past week and last night he was up until 4am. A printed copy of his thesis is due to his committee today, so he had to get it finished before this morning.

Thankfully, he was able to pull it all together and get the 5 copies he needed printed in time. He climbed in bed at almost 4am and slept for awhile, but it now up and getting ready to go to work (at 9am). He'll deliver his thesis, work the rest of the day and then we'll go out to dinner tonight to celebrate the fact that his writing is over. Yay!

He still has work to do between now and his defense (which is scheduled for July 23), but it won't require such long hours into the wee hours of the morning.

I'm so ready to have our evenings back together and actually be able to eat supper together too. I might actually cook a little if there is someone here to eat my cooking. ha!

Only two more weeks until our move. I've packed everything that I CAN at this point, but feel like there is a lot I'll need to pack the day or so before our actual move. Fun times for sure. I'm just ready to be in our new house so we can get unpacked and settled. We are all fairly tired of living surrounded by boxes. And Mara Kate randomly asking for toys she hardly ever plays with anymore and having to tell her, "Sorry it's packed!". Ugh.

Anyway, we can really see the light at the end of the tunnel now and I'm so extremely proud of Kane for all his hard work and for getting his thesis finished. We both felt like this time would never get here! The process of writing a dissertation has been compared to birthing a child and I think that's a pretty good comparison (although I can't imagine 5 years gestation). ha!

Congrats Babe! What an accomplishment. Now, just to defend all you've written about!

the last page!

Quick Outing

Kane's aunt Carol was in Atlanta on business this weekend and called us to join her and a friend for a quick visit at the Varsity. Kane was working hard on finishing up his thesis, so he wasn't able to join us (he worked until almost 4am last night) but Mara Kate and I headed over for a little visit and a yummy treat. Mara Kate opted for a chocolate milkshake and I got the Frosted Orange. Yumm. Thanks for calling us Carol. It might very well be the last time we'll go to the Varsity before our move to Rome.

Carol and Mara Kate at the Varsity

I just recently finished reading two books by Elizabeth Musser, The Swan house and The Dwelling Place. Both take place in Atlanta, which was so fun as I knew a lot of the places they talked about. The characters in the books often went to the Varsity for frosted orange drinks!

If you live in Atlanta and haven't read these, you should! Thanks Katie for recommending them to me.

To Do

We are moving in less than 10 weeks. Feeling just a little busy and overwhelmed.

So, here's a sampling of my current to do list (in completely random order, which is sort of the order I'm getting things done these days) :

-laundry (almost an everyday thing)

-exercise (try to do this at least 4 times a week)

-plant flowers in container gardens---(they are sitting on my deck waiting to go into the containers)

-pack entire apartment

-arrange and book movers and a moving truck and possibly some extra help (this is on Kane's to do list, but I can't forget about it until it's done)

-buy Kane an anniversary gift and a graduation gift (partially done)

-buy a wedding present

-attend wedding shower

-clean out my fridge

-pack away MK's winter clothes (yes, I know I should have already done this by now, but just haven't made the time)

-house hunt in Rome

-secure a place to live in Rome

-iron

-grocery shopping (DONE for this week)

-library (renew expired card so I can get some books to take to the beach) (DONE)

-post office (DONE)

-pack for my Summer trips

-be out of town for my trips which means I won't be getting any of this other stuff done during that time

-cook

-clean

-bathe 3 yr old

So, to my faithful readers out there who check my blog multiple times a day (I know there are millions of you) to see if there has been an updated post----this list is for you.

If I don't get around to blogging as often as I normally do in the next few weeks and you are wondering why, refer to the list above and you'll know what I'm up to instead! :)

Zoo Day

Yesterday Katie and Ella Ann invited Mara Kate and I to join them for a visit at the zoo. They have passes so we were all able to go for free, which was a lot of fun!

Ella Ann & Mara Kate ready to see some "adimals".

Watching Tara the elephant make her entrance.

Tara is the same age as Kane---27 years old!

At the gorilla exhibit. Mara Kate enjoyed seeing several different kinds of monkeys.

Katie and Ella Ann, Mara Kate took this picture. :)

Mara Kate and me...I think Ella Ann took this one!

Seeing the giraffe's were Mara Kate's favorite thing. At every other exhibit she'd point at the map and say, OK, now I want to go see the giraffe's! They were pretty much the last thing we saw, so she stayed fairly happy having something to look forward to as we walked.

Thanks Katie, Ella Ann and Rane (sorry I didn't get any pictures of Rane this time around) for treating us to a morning at the zoo. We both had a lot of fun!!!

Fire Station Field Trip

This past Sunday afternoon Mara Kate and I joined Katie, Ella Ann and Rane for Sundaes on Sunday and story time at the fire station down the street from their house. They were serving up free ice cream for the kids and then finished up the event with a story time with books read to the kids by the firemen. It was a really neat experience for the girls and I counted it as a home school field trip too! It was fun and still educational!

The girls on the way to story time.

Baby Rane went too!

One of the fireman serving the ice cream with sprinkles.
Mara Kate and Ella Ann were the 2nd and 3rd people in line!

Enjoying that sweet, cold goodness!

Mara Kate checking out the firetruck from the driver's seat.

Ella Ann also got a turn!

Story time.

"If you Give a Mouse a Cookie"

Mara Kate actually has a book about a fire man and his job at the fire station and when I told her where we were going she told me she wanted to bring her book...Big Frank's Fire Truck...so, I let her. When we got there she decided to show the fire captain the book she brought. After he read one book he found Mara Kate in the crowd and asked if he could read her book next....he told everyone the book was compliments of Mara Kate and everyone gave her a hand! She thought she was very special that the book she brought with her ended up being one the fire captain read to the entire group of kids. It was a really neat experience!!

Reading about Big Frank, but he changed all the names of the stations and roads to ones here in Atlanta---very fun!

Forever Friend

"A friend is always a friend."
Prov. 17:17

A couple weeks ago we had a visit from two very special girls! My friend Victoria and her little girl, Annalise (age 20 months).

Victoria is one of my closest friends and oldest---I met her when my family moved to Bristol, Virginia when I was 14. We were fast friends and I'm so thankful that our friendship has endured and lasted since we were barely teenagers to now that we are both married and live our daily lives as wives and mothers.

I remember the days when the only thing we had to think about was our next social outing or what to wear to church on Wednesday evenings which back then was the "highlight" of our weeks---ha. :)

Victoria and I were both in each others weddings and our friendship has had to reach far over many miles now that I live in Atlanta and she lives in Michigan. Now that my parents no longer live in Bristol I haven't been able to see her in quite awhile. We used to try to connect over holidays and such when we were both in town visiting family, but that hasn't happened in almost 2 years.

So, when Victoria called me a few months ago and told me she was wanting to come visit, I gladly welcomed that news! I excitedly waited for the time of her scheduled visit and we had so much fun while she was here. It is amazing when friendships go back that far, yet you still have much in common (most importantly serving Jesus Christ). The time and the miles fell quickly away and I felt like we were right back to when we lived in the same town and saw each other almost daily.

I've posted quite a few of pictures as I wanted to share about all we did through pictures....enjoy. :)

Victoria arrived at the Atlanta airport on Thursday morning. We mostly chilled that day while she got settled into Mara Kate's room. Friday we were able to go to a playgroup with some of my friends here in Atlanta so Victoria could meet the sweet girls I love here. After the playgroup we were able to meet one of her friends who lives outside of Atlanta for lunch. That evening we went to Michael's together to get supplies to start a little craft project we wanted to do together while she was here.

The finished craft project---door signs for her kid's rooms

On Saturday we decided to drive to meet Heidi and Olivia for lunch and a visit. Because I grew up with Victoria that also means Heidi did too. Since she is only 2.5 hours from me, we figured it would be an easy drive to meet her half-way so Victoria and Heidi could see one another and see their little girls who are about 5 weeks apart in age. Heidi actually had a wedding to go to that Saturday in Rome, GA and since Rome, GA was still only about an hour away we decided to meet there so she could see us and still attend the wedding that evening. The ironic thing is that Kane recently interviewed for a job in Rome, Ga (Shorter College) so there is a good possibility we could end up living in Rome by the end of the Summer. So, while we were there is was fun to drive around town and show Heidi and Victoria the place that could become home for us soon. We also drove up to the Shorter College campus to show them where Kane could have his first job after graduate school.

We met for lunch at this cute little cafe in downtown Rome.

The girls entertaining themselves at lunch---
Annalise and Olivia both had fun sucking on lemons. :)

Heidi and Victoria

Vic and Annalise---Annalise looks like a mini version of her mama!

Another baby girl who greatly resembles her mama! Olivia and Heidi

The little girls---Olivia, Mara Kate and Annalise.
There are two other children in our mix, but the boys weren't present. Jonathan (4) stayed home with his daddy in Michigan and Grant (3) stayed with his daddy for the day to go to a birthday party in Alabama. We missed them both, but it was fun to have an all-girls day!

All the girls!

Me and my beautiful sister! Love you Heidi!

Vic and me!

After lunch we headed over to a great playground in Rome to let the girls run off some energy.

Lots of fun was had by all. It was a special day!

That evening Victoria and I headed over to Atlantic Station so she could see one of Atlanta's neat shopping opportunities. The only thing we ended up shopping for was some ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery, but it was so yummy. Since the little girls were at home in bed with Kane supervising we just sat and chatted for quite awhile. It was a very good ending to a rather long day.

Once quick self-portait--(not great of me), but we were having a great time together.

Annalise and Mara Kate eating supper together.

After church on Sunday morning

Mara Kate wanted to take a picture so I had her take it of Annalise and me....thus the reason for the large upward angle of the picture. :)

On the last day of Victoria's visit we had the opportunity to go to a Day Spa for some complimentary relaxation treatments. Two weeks before Victoria came she went on a cruise with her hubby and while in the Southern Caribbean she and her husband met a lady from Atlanta (Joy) who is a massage therapist and owns a day spa. They connected and exchanged information and she told Victoria to get in touch with her when she was here visiting me...so she called her and this sweet, sweet lady invited us to come to a 2 hour private session at her spa for some complimentary relaxation. She even said to just bring our girls! It was an amazing morning and so much fun. We relaxed and visited and even went out to lunch afterward with Joy. Joy and I also made the connection of some mutual friends from my church so we ended up exchanging information too. I was reminded of God's goodness and what a small world we live in!

Heated massage bed. I did a 30 minute treatment in this.

Mara Kate snapped this of me while I was in the middle of my treatment.

Annalise and Mara Kate hanging out in the waiting room. They ran back and forth from the waiting room back to the therapy rooms. I brought stickers, paper, crayons, coloring books and books which they played with a little. But I think they also enjoyed just running around and checking in on Vic and I while we were getting our treatments.

Annalise playing with Victoria's toes during her massage. ha!:)

All relaxed after an hour massage.

Annalise getting a foot treatment. :)

Joy was sweet enough to get the girls involved in the pampering as well!

Mara Kate and I soaking our feet.
This was also after I had a 30 minute detoxification foot bath (very interesting).

Victoria using the "Chi Machine". It jerkes your ankles quickly left and right for 5+ minutes straight. I used it too and when the machine finished it shot tingles quickly up my entire body and out of my head. Very weird, but relaxing sensation.

All done!! So much fun!

Victoria, your visit was so wonderful and uplifted me greatly. I thoroughly enjoyed our time together and so not want to let so much time go between visits next time. Thank you for being a "forever friend".