Hey everybody! We just got internet in our apartment so I thought I would share some great photos from our trip.
We packed every square inch of the 16 foot truck. It was like we invented Tetris.

This is how I feel about Ohio


But even the evils of the Buckeye state couldn't assuage Baxter's Smile



We could tell we were on our way down south



We still traveled with a jolly dispositionWe loved the landscape of Tennessee


Baxter especiallyBeautiful Tennessee sunset


We're in Georgia
Atlanta Bound

The entryway to our building
First time opening the door

Plenty of floorspace for Baxter to do somersaults
Tall ceilings and a delightfully short girl :-)


The mover asked, "Where should I put the Bibles?"


Answer: In the Liquor cabinet

We put strange descriptions on most of our boxes, many of them contained at least one Weevil.

It only took us one day to get peaches (48cents a pound)

That old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind.

Peach Pie and Mint Juleps

We’re here!! The trip was long and the truck was huge but we made it. On Friday we picked up a 16 foot Penske truck and a car carrier to bring down to Georgia. All together it was about 26 feet of vehicle but we had surprisingly few problems driving it. We picked stuff up from my parent’s house, Kristen’s house and my Grandma’s house which took a few hours but then we hit the road to Ypsi to pick up all of my stuff.

It was tough saying goodbye to our families. We’re so lucky to be so close to our parents and it’s hard to say goodbye, even if it’s only for a few months. But only a few tears were shed before we got on the road. It was great to get to see a bunch of friends in the two days before we left (Emily, Sarah, Laura, Benri, Kelly, Johnny, Laura W., Nate, Aubrey and Joe).

It took us quite a while to finish things up at my apartment but we were on the road by 10am on Sunday morning just Kristen, Baxter and me in the cab of the truck (and we got McDonald’s breakfast). As you all know, Ohio is by far the ugliest state in the union and driving through it is like washing your face with brillo pads but don’t worry, we made it. After we hit Kentucky the rest of the drive was really beautiful.

We drove over 500 miles on the first day and stopped at a hotel in southern Tennessee. We were totally beat and decided to order pizza and watch the food network instead of venturing out into Sweet Water TN. The next morning we dined on a continental breakfast that was fine enough to satiate even the pickiest homeless person and then made our way to our new place.

We arrived around one and did all the paper work and then we got to see our new place. Our apartment is BEAUTIFUL! The community is lovely, the apartment is huge and really well arranged, we are in a great neighborhood with tons of restaurants and we’re only four tenths of a mile from my church. There was a slight fiasco with moving the piano but other than that it was great having other people unload our stuff. We went out to dinner and had Indian food (which was amazing) and Mint Juleps (which were awful).

We’ve been slowly unpacking and settling in the last couple of days. We’ve been buying things for the apartment and making it feel homey. I went to a meeting at work and got to see my new office and spend some time with the Senior Staff at my church. Everything has gone so smoothly and Kristen and I are very happy. We’re eating peaches and peach pie and peach bread and peach sausages and peach omelets and peach soap and actually only the first two.

We won’t have internet for another few days so I won’t be able to post very often or respond to e-mails but please send us some love as I send a lot of love out to you.

A lot of photos to come, just not today.

Sail Forth

“Sail Forth- Steer for the deep waters only. Reckless O soul, exploring. I with thee and thou with me. For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared go. And we will risk the ship, ourselves, and all.”

Well, here goes. I've never done this blog thing before but I'm changing so many things right now I may as well change my non-blogging habits as well.

In about 40 hours Kristen and I will be picking up the truck for our big move Hotlanta. I've been packing like crazy for weeks now and I'm still not done but it'll all come together. I'm so happy that Kristen has decided to join me on this life adventure. Though it's very sudden it feels right and we're both intelligent enough to realize what works and what doesn't.

After we pick up the truck on Friday we're going to load up Kristen's things, pick up a few things from my parents house and my Grandma's house and then be on our way to Ypsi. Loading and cleaning is going to take up all of Saturday but I do have some wonderful friends coming over to help out (though I did bribe them with pizza and beer).

Saying goodbye to everyone has been difficult and it still hasn't set in that I'm moving to Georgia for a very long time. I'll probably hit me about October. I'm going to miss my family and friends a whole lot. It also keeps sinking in how much I'm going to miss Ann Arbor. My six years in this amazing city have really shaped my life and the person I've become. I will miss the culture and the people a lot.

But all is well. It is time for that change. "Sail Forth- Steer for the deep waters only." I bid you all a fond farewell as well all steer for our own deep waters; plunging in with confidence and elation.

And there it is, my first ever blog post: just as scattered and nonsensical as blog posts should be.

until next time...