Time for a Tennessee Update

 It's been far too long, we've settled in, working, meeting new people and making new friends. I forget that not everyone knows what is going on since we moved and that I need to share more details. Life has gotten busy again and I've had little time to sit down to write.

Where to begin? The kids have started making friends. Conner being the happy--go-lucky guy has a whole group of friends already. He is running sound on Wednesday nights in his new youth group. He also likes to talk to everyone on the phone. We laugh that he talks on the phone more than I do anymore!

  Elizabeth has been really homesick. She misses her friends in Visalia badly and hasn't made good friends yet. We are looking for new fall activities, groups for her to join and ways for her to make new friends. She has made some friends in her small group on Sunday nights.

  Both kids went to "Beach Camp'' in Myrtle Beach,SC for a week. They stayed in a resort by the ocean, swam in the Atlantic for the first time and had a grand time.  Now the planning for that is over and E is already looking for new plans!

  Marty interviewed for a job last week with Knox County schools as a school police officer. We should know within the next few weeks if they will hire him. We are really hoping he gets this job!

  I've been working full-time, trying to keep up with home, my own business and blogging! It's a full schedule. Being back in the pool has really helped, loving swimming again. Now to get back on a good riding schedule with the family.

  We are all excited about our new church, a little church in the WWII city of Oakridge,TN. It is a very small congregation with a lot of love. We already feel like they are family and it is our home. It the same denomination our church was in California. That is comforting since we hear about many of the same things we did in California. We've been to several functions, dinner with the pastor and he even took the kids out after camp to hear about their time in Myrtle Beach. We are excited to see how we can serve with this church in the future.

Meeting new people, enjoying new beautiful places, making new friends. We are so thankful that we moved here and are settling in to our new life. We still have to a few things to settle but for the most part, we are loving life in the south.

Happy! Happy! Happy!

 Lately this seems to be the words I hear more often than not.  No, I am not referring to Duck Dynasty, I am referring to comments people keep making to me.  Everyone keeps telling me, that I seem so happy and look so happy.  This move has been very good for us, we are very happy we moved and I guess it shows.
 We truly are "Happy!Happy! Happy!" as Uncle Si says.

Fourteen years ago, when we moved to Visalia,CA from the O.C.; I was so lonely and isolated, twenty-two years old and my first time away from family and home.  I cried nearly everyday for months on end though I had family nearby.  I missed my friends, my job, my family and the place I grew up. As the years went on, I made friends, got great jobs, learned to be happy in my surroundings and adapted.  It was so hard but worth the life change it brought about for me.

We lived a very rough, long stretch of life for many years.  My Grandparents passing away, then both parents struggling with health issues and ultimately Marty's renal failure and transplant.  We missed out on many years of living life while waiting for his transplant.  Our plan to move came about during his waiting period and gave us hope that we could start again.  It was the fuel that kept us going along with many prayers from our support system.

We agonized over leaving our family and friends once again.  This wasn't an easy decision and very unpopular with some close to us.  I spent many days crying after hearing how upset some were that we were moving.  It wasn't easy but we knew it was time to go.

As we were driving out of California, Lizzie turned to me and said, '' I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest." and that is how we all felt.  We were following our dreams as a family, taking a chance and a leap of faith.

We are so happy to have made this move.  The overwhelming peace we feel is truly amazing, undescribable, and long awaited.  Truly for the first time in years, we are really living life in a big way.  We are meeting new friends, reconnecting with old friends and finding our way.  We love exploring the area and finding new treasures along the way.  We love our new little rental house, it is really nice and cozy.  Soon we plan on looking for our own home.

This week I talked to three of my SOH's Olga,Tammy, and Heather all in California.  They all said how amazed they were at everything happening.  I also had two surprise visits from Twitter friends at work this week; Mary, Jane and Jeff all stopped by and gave me hugs.  Next weekend I get to see my dear friend Kim in her beloved Pigeon Forge, a six year dream come true!  I haven't felt alone or isolated this move at all, so very different from the first time around,

Thanks for all of your support along the way.  The emails, phone calls, texts and tweets have kept me going and encouraged us.

Our family loves TN

My new friend Flavia

Happy C and E at Cades Cove

TN cousins sleepover!

From my front porch

Even Max is happy

E enjoying our front yard with the dogs

The Great Adventure 2013: We are in Tennessee!

We are at the border of Tennessee staying the night outside of Memphis. We started out this morning in Fort Smith,Arkansas having breakfast with our friend Randy. They moved from California to Arkansas 6 months ago, he and Marty were co-workers in California. It was great to catch up and visit with him and his little girl Emmy.

We packed up at noon and headed toward Memphis. We enjoyed the drive through Arkansas, none of us had ever been to Arkansas before and really loved the scenery. It has been amazing to drive through route 66 with the kids for the first time. They've never been on a long road trip before and they've loved seeing the country.



 We wanted to sight see in Memphis before heading east to our final destination. We took our time on the road today and didn't reach Memphis until almost six pm, so we decided to check in to a hotel, get much needed rest and sight see in the morning.

So many have been messaging us, offering help along the way with weather, road closures, directions, AAA service, goodies along the road. We have had countless messages with thoughts, prayers and good wishes. It has been overwhelming and amazing. Prayers have been answered, smooth road, great weather and an easy trip have gone our way. Thank you all for the support, it has meant so much to us that so many are behind us cheering us along.

 I truly am beginning to think there is a book in this move, so many stories of things falling right into place at the right time. So many I truly cannot write it all down quickly, the story begins over twenty years ago.

Tomorrow we will enjoy our drive east to west. Last year we drove TN north to south during our family vacation and now we will drive it east to west. We are going to see all the Memphis sights, then drive to Nashville for a break before heading east. Tomorrow night, we hopefully will arrive in Knoxville, pull our trailer into our new driveway and then stay in a hotel one more night. Move in day is scheduled for Sunday and we couldn't be more excited.

As I was driving all day, my mom took some pictures and I will share them later. I didn't get a single picture because I drove today.Tomorrow we are sight seeing and I promise to take lots of pictures to share. Now I am headed to bed to get a good nights sleep after a long day.

The Best Laid Plans.....

Before I even married Marty, he told me that his plans were to not live in California forever. In 2010 while waiting for transplant, he decided he wanted to move to Peachtree City,GA. We had friends there and loved the area. We planned to move as soon as he was well enough and free from Stanford.

We had a list of plans to accomplish before that move could happen. We traveled to see the area, see friends and family last fall. We loved it and couldn't wait to move. After our trip several things happened and we pushed back our move date until this coming fall. Mainly because Marty loves me so much and I had plans with friends!

After my trip to Hershey it was time to buckle down and start looking for jobs. I got home from Hershey and Marty dropped a bomb on me. He had been researching Tennessee and really thought it was a better fit for us. More value for our money in home buying, more rural areas to buy in and I have family in the state. I was floored, not very happy and kind of ticked. What about all that planning? Where were we supposed to look?    What about our friends in Georgia looking forward to us coming?

He asked me to pray about it, make a list of pro's and con's and talk to people I knew in Tennessee. So I did that and still was uneasy.  During this same time, some doors in the blogging social media world have been opening for me and it seems like a career is coming out of this. I've known this for quite some time but not quite been sure of how to make it work.

Last Tuesday morning, I was getting ready for work and prayed while I was in the shower. My two prayers were "God if social media is the  job for me? show me" and " If Tennessee is your will, open doors there and show us where to go"

I got out of the shower and immediately got a phone call regarding a blog I set up. This was on top of the work I am already doing for a friend. It is so clear I am already doing this job, I just need a way to get paid for it.

I got off work a bit early and noticed a message on my phone. It was from my high school best friend Lee aka Liviu to some of you. He lives in Knoxville,TN and wanted to talk to me about something. I called him and what happened next floored me.

He and his wife Flavia have opened a beautiful furniture store Fig and Company in Knoxville. It is taking off and doing really well. They are really needing help with their blogging and social media. When Lee saw my message he couldn't believe it! He and his wife had been praying for help in this area for the last month. They only opened the store ten weeks ago. No wonder for the sudden change.

I am very excited for this opportunity. Very excited to be able to go work with such dear friend's and especially excited because I believe in their vision for the store. I was blown away to hear these two answers to prayer in ONE day. 

Of course, my heart was anxious to break this news to all of our Georgia friends and our family in Tennessee. At least we will be closer than before and still living within driving distance. 

It's scary making this huge change. Now it is all very real and time to make it happen. We would love your prayers and good thoughts. We've been encouraged by the response we have received so far from family and friends.

We still have some things that need to happen. Our original November/December move date is still in tact. We are praying for a job for Marty, housing and the funds to make it all happen. We know that God will provide all those things if this is meant to be. We are excited for this new, grand adventure in life and can't wait to see what the future holds. We know who holds it, that's for sure!

Isaiah 55:8 "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

Now be sure to go follow them on all these pages and see where I am headed.
Fig and Company website www.figandcompany.com
Fig and Company Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fig-and-Company/424483324270270
Fig and Company Twitter https://twitter.com/figandcompany