A small, intimate church

Our view from the top at Calvary Church.



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Catching our breath

So, we made the move the Charlotte, and we have now been here right around 2 months exactly. Who knew that moving would be such an ordeal for these oh, so experienced, TRAVELERS?! Let me tell you, traveling with the minimal amount of stuff we had for the past 5 years, and packing up and unpacking all of the stuff we had not only accumulated in 5 years, but also that stuff we left behind - 2 totally different stories there. Our move took us to 4 locales: northern Virginia, where we were living at the time; Chesapeake, VA, where we had our main storage room; Sean's parents' home in southern VA, who had been storing various and sundry things for us; and my parents' home in northeast GA, where I still had all of my childhood things stored. Whew! Honestly, this was a lot more stuff than 2 thirty-somethings should have. It took us a couple solid weeks of cutting open hundreds of boxes to finally get those out of the house, and then there was the "putting away" phase that lasted too long, and now we've managed to enter into the "ignore the rest of the work" phase that we are going to try to exit out of this weekend, hopefully. We'd love to finally hang a picture or 2 on the wall and make a massive trip to the Salvation Army to donate the pile of stuff we decided we not only can live without, but that we want to live without.

So, even though we probably have missed out on some good stories to relay through our voice here over the past 2 months, we are just now catching our breath and beginning to see somewhat of a life being established in our new city. We really have loved the neighborhood we chose, and we are excited to start feeling more like locals than visitors, which is such a foreign concept to us at this point. We began the process by finally getting our new NC drivers licenses' (that was a pain), new license plates (pretty cool pictures of the Smokies and Appalachian trail), and have even secured a dentist and a doctor to deliver this new baby. Just like locals.

I am even beginning to venture out without turning on my GPS every time I get in the car. Progress!

July 4 fireworks in Charleston, SC

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Our thoughts these days...

New hills to cross

When Sean and I were dating, we talked about what it would be like to be married, and we started making plans for that, as all couples do who are in love and starry-eyed. Being that we were both close to our families and felt the importance of staying in as much contact with them as possible throughout our lives, we concluded that we would eventually love to settle down in Charlotte, North Carolina. Not only did we love the city (place of Shannon's birth too), it was the ideal middle-ground for remaining as close as we could to each respective set of parents.

After marrying in 2004, we fairly soon began looking for jobs in Charlotte, thinking we would go ahead and move down there as soon as possible. We eagerly began applying for jobs, anticipating the flood of offers to come rolling in. Weeks became months, and months became years, and we found ourselves faced with the realization that the time just did not seem to be right for us and Charlotte to converge.

Two years in to our marriage, Sean was approached about the job he currently has, and you all know the rest of that story. This life on the road for the past 5 years has been exhilerating. We consider ourselves profoundly blessed to have experienced all that we have on this journey for these years. Yet four states, eight cities, nine homes, one baby, and "several" air mattresses later, this adventure is coming to a close. With a 2 year old and a new baby on the way, we knew at the beginning of this year that these travelers would need to find a resting spot - a permanent adventure - to spend the next years of our lives.

So it was with utter amazement on February 9, 2011, that a friend of Sean's sent him an email with some details of a job that he had heard about. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Working with a church. Using the very same experience that he's accumulated these past 5 years, but also using his seminary degree to boot. Sean has been going though the interview process for the past 7 weeks, and he was officially offered the position yesterday. We couldn't be more exited. We've discovered that God has been working in this long before we were ever even aware of the job, preparing the way both for Sean, as well as the church. We've made a trip to Charlotte and secured housing, so we'll be moving pretty soon.

We'll be sure to update you here with updates of our new adventure. I'm sure there will be many stories to tell in Charlotte. But we wanted to make sure that we thanked all of you, our faithful and loving family and friends who have been on this journey with us through Virginia (3 x's), Pennsylvania (2 x's), North Carolina (2 x's), & Tennessee, and many places not found on a map, but in the heart of soul of each of you. We literally couldn't have done it without you.

Change

Oh my, how time flies these days. I declare, the day was inordinately longer back when I was 10 years old than it is now. I remember making our family car trips to Georgia to visit my grandparents, which was about 5 hrs away or so, and thinking that it lasted ALL DAY LONG. Oh, the drudgery of those hours. Especially when I had to stay within my "lines" in the backseat, lest I fear the wrath of one of my 2 older sisters for crossing onto their territory. ;)

But these days, I don't know where the days go, much less the hours and minutes. We are all just resurfacing from some sick days of various colds and bugs; and low and behold, as I peek my southern nose outside, the chill in the air is starting to get ever so less chill, making way for what I anticipate to be a beautiful spring in northern Virginia. And even though we lose an hour of sleep tonight, I also welcome in the extra hour of daylight each evening. There's just something about sunshine that makes it all seem warm and cozy.

But one thing is certain, change is in the air. There are things churning in our humble household that may have to wait for another blog to disclose (not so long this time, I promise), but I can share our most exciting news. We're expecting baby #2 in September and are blissfully anticipating it. After having our son with us for 2 years now, we are more aware of the reality of what having a child means, and with that I include the pretty and the ugly of it, the sane and the insane, the holy and the mundane, the tender and the terror. It's been such an incredible blessing, and we know that blessing will only grow (along with the chaos and laundry.) So, as we continue this journey across these hills, we're excited to be sharing it with one more little soul. And we so welcome it.

First snowman

We've had some serious snow up here in northern Virginia. So much so that we were able to build our boy's first snowman - and mine too, as we never had quite enough down in Alabama. The temps are frigid, staying around the freezing mark for our highs most days. Brrr. Spring is right around the corner, right? Please?