ATL

catherine guess what.

we found out friday where we're moving. i keep thinking there's some fun way to share this news, but i'm feeling even less creative and less articulate than usual this morning. so here you go:

we're moving to atlanta!

i have a LOT of different thoughts and feelings and emotions about this, but i mostly think it's hilarious. here's why...

georgia was home for the first 24 years of my life. born and raised there, except for the 10 months spent in california when i was 5 years old. same thing for donnie, almost. he moved to georgia when he was 7 and stayed until he went away to college. after he graduated he came back to love on his sick mama. then he married me. and we had only been married for 5 months when we moved to virginia. we lived there for 4 years, then moved to clemson. we will have been here for 13 months when we pack up and move again.

moving away was not easy but i desperately needed it. it was the best thing we could do to help establish our little family and decide what we want that to look like and how we are going to make decisions. i would encourage everyone, if they have the chance, to move away at least for a little while. my mama, along with mama's everywhere, probably want to give me a good elbow to the gut for that comment.

i guess all i should really say is that it was the right choice for us. and it was hard. especially that first year in richmond. i watched a LOT of friends on dvd. enough to give robyn a run for her money on the friends trivial pursuit game. (not really. i could never beat her. never ever.)

so now the funny part (it's really not that funny. just to me i guess, in that ironic "are you kidding me?" kind of way). for the past 6 years, i've been getting on board with and adjusting to living in states where our families aren't. learning (slightly) new cultures and how to thrive in a city where you haven't known anybody for much longer than 5 minutes and don't have a built-in babysitter that shares your DNA. i think we are proud of ourselves. well, maybe i shouldn't speak for your daddy. i'm proud of us. and donnie's proud of me. he was kinda used to being more independent and living somewhere very different from what he's used to and getting made fun of for his accent ;) new haven, connecticut had little in common with kennesaw, georgia...

so it's just FLIPPING HILARIOUS to me that after all of that, and after all the intentional excitement over what we thought might be a move to colorado or maybe even new mexico (or maybe even alaska?!?! thank you Jesus for sparing us that...), we're heading right back to atlanta, georgia.

when your daddy first told me that georgia state had called him for an interview i was completely silent for a minute. then i started laughing. then my mind started going CRAZY trying to adjust to the thought of moving back home.

and now i'm there. i'm adjusted to the idea. and excited about it. excited to know my nieces and nephews better and to live daily life with our brothers and sisters who we love so much. to let the people that we love pat my pregnant belly (whenever that happens again; no that time isn't now) and to pat the pregnant bellies of the sweet girls that mean so much to me.

and it's important to note that this move is expected to be permanent. the job at georgia state is practically perfect for your sweet daddy. it is no doubt a gift that God is giving us, that the first job daddy gets out of grad school is one that he could see himself in forever. we are so thankful...we feel that, through all the ups and downs of the last 6 years, God has put us exactly where He has wanted us. He's always taken care of us and we never doubted that He would continue to do just that. and although it's surprising, we believe that He knew this was coming and He planned for atlanta to be our next home, again. i like the way He is surprising and mysterious. i would find it very hard to trust a God that i could figure out. and predict His next move. i just pray that He would continue to teach us to hear His voice and give us the courage to follow where He leads.

we do love you Lord. we feel You in this move and are so excited to see what You have in store. thank You for your good gifts.

i love you sweet catherine. i'm so thankful you're along for the ride in this journey of ours. you are SUPER excited that we are moving to "jor-ja" because that is where gigi and grandaddy and grandypa live. that's all a little girl needs, right? grandparents to spoil her rotten??? ;)

mommy

ps-here are some pictures, because what good is a post without pictures??

here you are in the back seat of the car. next to your car seat. and you thought it was the coolest because you could pretend to be wearing the big seat belts and roll the window up and down. (i'd like to assure you that the car was in park in a legitimate parking spot. and it remained in park until i convinced you to get into your car seat and buckle up...)

i'm not completely sure what to say about this next video, but it makes my heart want to burst with happiness and love for this giggly little angel...

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

and here's a video of you and daddy looking for your easter basket last sunday...

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

and here's a video of you singing "head and shoulders knees and toes" in our hotel in atlanta (we got to keep daddy company when he went to atlanta for his georgia state interview...)


i love you sweet baby. off we go to atlanta...