WARNING: Eternal Posting

This is an interpretation of what my life has been for the last 2 months.
















Sorry, this will be long. In my continual habit of needing to play catch-up, I have waited too long and now have much to share. Feel free to skim.

Mostly this will just be a lot of pictures. First of all, some pics of our last days in the Las Vegas:

This was our POD- the container in which we shipped all of our stuff. It was crazy how they dropped it off. The only word I can think of for that kind of truck was, HUGE CONTRAPTION.

I love these women with all my heart (and the men they come with, but, sorry, only the girls made it to the blog). These are my cousins, Emily Montague and Brooke Duke, and my Aunt, Ruth Pooler. I think it is pretty self-explanatory why I love Emily...we tend to take pictures the same way. I miss them like crazy.
Our good friends Brandon and Kelly Albright. I went to college with Kelly, and Brandon and I were in Aida together last summer. Great people, and we miss them too. Good luck in the NYC, you guys!
This is Rochelle Hendricks, and she is one of my favorite people, and it was really hard to say goodbye to her.... and I quote from a famous film named "Legacy:" "If we ever meet again it will be Zion to me!"




The last day arrived... so weird.



We towed my car the whole way. So glad we bought that truck a year ago!











This is our home. I miss that house. Sigh.

















About halfway, we stopped in the Dallas, Texas area to visit family on both sides. Cristian solidified his title to Favorite Uncle even more by playing video games and Monopoly for hours on end with my nephews Tristan, Gavin, and Caden. Awesome. Caden loved him, and in fact totally snubbed my sister Carolynn in favor of always holding Cristian's hand when we went to the Aquarium! They were buddies. We had a great time with Cristian's family too, and didn't really want to leave. But, alas, we were needed elsewhere. Like South Carolina.

We stopped in Vicksburg, MS for a night. Vicksburg is the site of a pivotal battle in the Civil War, so it had a lot of really cool history. Like the Military Park, with a full run down of the Battle of Vicksburg on a CD that we listened to as we drove through. I don't remember what states these memorials were for, but we liked them. Cristian looks pretty sweet.




















We also saw the USS Cairo, and ironclad warship that sank in the Yazoo River during the battle. It was found and brought back up a few years ago (like, 10 or 20 years ago) and restored. It was cool.















Of course, leave it to me to find something humorous on a landmark location....and to take a picture of it.
Sometimes I think I am Eva Peron. ("Evita" reference, for the non-theater peeps) Actually, I am just standing in the spot where Jefferson Davis (the President of the Confederacy) gave his last public address after being released from prison after the Civil War. This house is called Anchuca, and it an antebellum home built in 1830. It survived the War, and even served as a hospital at the time. It is now a lovely Bed and Breakfast, and Cristian and I stayed there.




When we got to Clinton, my brother Dave and his family came to see us for a day. Emily and Caleb helped Cristian put up our Bowflex, then felt inclined to test it out for themselves. They can pull some weight, I will tell you.




























Then we went camping. In August. In South Carolina. It was hot.

In the month of August, we just gradually moved in ($$$, Holy Crap!) and got all the business that moving entails squared away, like insurance, etc. I visited Dave and Becca at their home in Charlotte, a mere two hours away. I also reunited with my friends Tiffany and Nellie Cheney, who I have not seen in years! So excited to see them more often. Cristian started work at Presbyterian College the last week in August, and after a job search of my own, I landed a position myself at PC. I started work Sept. 7. I work in Administration, and I enjoy my job. It is really nice to be employed again; although, I was really getting used to the unemployed state; it is not so bad at all. Cristian's parents stopped by for a weekend on their own move from NY down to Texas, and it was so fun to see them.

Sooo, in September, I flew to Newport Beach, CA for a Girls' Weekend! It was amazing! We all turned 30 this year, and we wanted to celebrate it, dang it!
This is some of us on Balboa Island. From left:
Me, Katie Hill, Jen Jacobsen, Kristi Christensen, and Beth Rustand. Chalyce Bohne was not there yet, and Kristin Andrus had to be at another obligation that day. We went shopping on Balboa Island. I have not laughed so hard for a really looooong time! By the way, we were cute in high school, but we are all cuter now. Love what getting into the prime of your life does for you. The only person we were missing was Nellie. Boo.






Freakin awesome. We all went to high school together, and some of us have known each other since we were 2 years old. That is friendship.

Jen is a photographer, so she was all over the photo shoots. Mostly of Beth and Katie. Kristi and I didn't make the cut. So we drowned our sorrows in candy, what else would we do?


























Well, can you blame Jen? Look how cute Beth is!
What a Hot Mama.








Again, leave it to me to find the most random thing and get a picture. Don't you remember when these horse rides were in front of grocery stores? You pop in a quarter from Mom, and your day is made. They were the best! So I reverted a litte, don't judge. It was a fabulous weekend, and I love those girls to pieces, and can't wait for our next trip, whenever that may be.

The last thing I will mention happened this weekend.

Squealin in the Square.

Laurens County hosts this BBQ competition every October, and people come from far and wide to compete and enjoy. We found ourselves on Main Street in Laurens, eating a huge smoked turkey leg, french fries and funnel cake. We listened to one of those rock bands that you would never buy a CD of, but they are so fun live and in a festival atmosphere. I was dancing and loving it. It was our first real community experience here, and so fun and so tasty, as evidenced by Cristian.


So, there you go. At some point I will talk about a few things I did last summer before we moved. But not tonight.

We are really liking it here. We are grateful for our jobs, and the people who have been so kind to us. We feel really lucky to have landed at a college where it is ok to talk about and worship God, where the values are very similar to our own. It is beautiful in South Carolina, and I have found a love for this small little town of Clinton already.

Until next time I have to catch up on something. If you have made it this far, I salute you. You are a true friend. Told you it was long.