Introducing "Duke"

We want a dog.  Like real bad.  But the timing just isn't right...we're living in a basement, we're gone all day, we're going to be in a rental living situation for the next year with no yard... 

So instead of getting a puppy, we satisfied our puppy fix by going in with TJ and Jamie to get a puppy for Matt for graduation. 

Meet "Duke".

We have all grown quite attached and Matt has become quite the proud parent.

Ryan and I found out about the puppy from a friend whose aunt and uncle had a litter...in Florida. Since we couldn't have a dog, I mentioned it to TJ since the farm was not far from Gainesville (FL).  Now isn't the best time for him to have a dog either (with a full time summer job and then another semester left of school), so we talked about maybe getting it for Matt for graduation. TJ went to see the dog, of course couldn't turn down his little puppy eyes, so with a week left of school, he took him home with him.  In that week TJ got pretty attached and wanted to keep him, but in reality, he knew Matt would have more time to spend with him, so he decided to give up the pup so we could all give him to Matt as a graduation gift.  

He brought him home that weekend, handed him off to me and Ryan, and we drove him up to Durham to Matt.

TJ saying bye to Duke. 

 That baby just laid on my lap or at my feet the entire 5 hour drive.  He is sooo sweet and has such a good personality!  We drove straight to Matt's track meet and the little guy sat through the rain and watched Matt run before getting to meet his new "dad".  

check out the cow-lick on his tail!

He cheered Matt on in his race

Matt got to meet "Duke" after he ran his prelims

On Saturday, Duke sat through another day at the track meet.  Instead of rain, we got heat...he tried staying cool by sleeping under the shade of the bleacher. 

Isn't he cute??  I want a puppy!

Matt started working with him right away on sitting, staying, fetching, going outside to pee...

I think he likes his graduation gift.  He was just lucky that we were needing a puppy fix ourselves, but couldn't have one of our own. ;)

A blog post...what?

Well heeeey there! It's been a while...

We're clearly not "all about our North Carolina life" anymore.  It's clearly no longer football season.  And I've clearly abandoned our blog...which is clearly in dire need of a makeover!

But I just thought I'd pop in and give a lil' Georgia update and maybe catch up a tad.

In short...life is good.  We've gotten settled into our "terrace level suite" as we like to refer to our basement lodgings at the in-laws house.  We are soo so thankful that they have let us stay with them so long while we sold our house and have tried to find a place to live in Atlanta.  Thankfully the selling the house part was easier than deciding on a place to live here...imagine that (and Praise God)!  We have at least narrowed our choices down to a couple of options and should hopefully be getting moved into something soon.

Ryan is liking his job at JLL, but he stays really busy and gone a lot, partly due to his outrageous commute everyday.  I started working recently for a company called Roam Atlanta (you can check that out at www.roamatlanta.com ) in Alpharetta and also have about a 50 minute commute each way.  So we are definitely anxious to move closer.  I am really liking my new job a lot though!  It has given me a great opportunity to meet all kinds of interesting people...mostly entrepreneurs and small business owners.  Every day is interesting and I love all of the people I work with and get to talk to every day. 

Other than the major updates (living and job situations), we have stayed busy lately with weddings of a couple of our good friends... Ryan's roommate from college got married in Pittsburgh, so we had a miniature Duke reunion with a lot of friends up there, and then one of my best friends from high school and college, Breanne, got married a couple of weekends later.  Between bachelor/bachelorette parties, showers, rehearsals, rehearsal dinners, and actual weddings, we got to spend a lot of time with friends and had a lot of fun reconnecting and catching up with people we've missed over the last couple of years.

As for other things going on...TJ is home for the summer, getting to experience an actual summer break for the first time in years.  The same goes for Matt now that football is over too.  He is still at Duke finishing up his one and only track season, then he'll be joining TJ on his first ever true summer break as well.  Jamie is finishing up her freshman year at UGA and will also be heading home after finals.  It's crazy that all four of us will be home this summer! 

Ryan and I made it to Duke last weekend to watch Matt run in the ACC Track Championships that were hosted by Duke.  It was so fun to see Matt run!  The last track meet he ran in was his senior year of high school.  He won state in the 200m and was 1st runner up in the 100m his senior year and I was on a plane headed to New Zealand for my study abroad and missed it!  Now that his football career is over, this was his first spring free of football workouts and spring practices, so for fun, he decided to squeeze in a track season after four years of not running just to see how he would do.  He was hindered for most of the season by a pulled hamstring, but he still did well in the ACC Championships and Duke was really excited to have him on their sprint team this spring.

Day 1 of prelims was nasty and rainy out, but he won his heat in the 400m and got 2nd place overall.

Matt ran in the finals on Saturday and placed 7th in the ACC in the 400m. 

We stayed with our good friends, the Densmores, for the weekend and got to celebrate Easter weekend with them.  I helped Marnie put together the Easter baskets after Caden (4) and Asher (13 mos.) went to bed and didn't realize until the next morning that one of them had been for us.  Ha, Marnie and her slyness! We did enjoy that basket of candy on the ride home though!

It was so fun getting to spend some time with their sweet kids too.  Caden and Asher are seriously two of the cutest and funniest kids I've ever been around. 

Just look at Asher.  Those eyes!  And couldn't you just eat his cheeks??

And that Caden...he holds a special place in our hearts.  He can be really shy around people and take a while to warm up.  But he became comfortable around us early on in our friendship with the Densmores and rarely gets shy around us.  Even after months of living in Georgia, he was still excited to see us and acted just like we had never left.  Marnie said that when we were driving up, he was asking when we were going to get there.  :)  I just love him!  He's so funny too...the second I pull my camera out, he gets camera-shy and tries to hide from the camera.  So I try to catch him when he doesn't realize I'm trying to take a picture of him. 

And on a side note...this kid is a trooper.  He sat through two days of the track meet, including Friday in the rain... and apparently runs around his house with a baton and hurdles these days.  ;)

But once this weekend, just out of the blue, he turned around and said, "hey, take a picture of me running" and then just took off running down the sidewalk.  haha! 

After Marnie explained that if he would let me take his picture, he could see them on the computer later, he finally warmed up to the camera.  For the first time ever!  His big ole' personality completely came out of his camera-shy shell and gave me some goofball Caden poses. :)

Ha, Charlie told him to do a "hang ten", but he got stuck on the "hook 'em horns"...

but then he got it! :)

and a "real ten"

 Cute, cute, cute!  We miss you guys...and all of our other Durham friends!!!

Welcome to the Peach State!

Well, we're here!

And as usual, it takes me a while to get around to updating the blog, but we've been back in Buford, GA for a full week now.  And I will finally say it.  "It feels good to be 'home'".  Maybe it's because it's Christmas time.   Maybe it's because we haven't been away from Durham for too long yet.  Maybe it's because it's only been a week since we've seen all of our Durham friends, co-workers, and been to the Summit church, but so far, it does feel good to be here.

I know I alluded to it being hard to leave even though we were moving "home", but it was actually really hard for me.  Close to awful, actually.  That last week in Durham was just sad.  It was sad because it was such a great week filled with all of our favorite things that it made it just that much harder to leave.  The last day we were there was Sunday and I literally was on the verge of tears the entire day.  It started with the first song at the beginning of the church service and I finally did burst out in tears when we bumped into some of our friends from our small group on the way out.  We stopped by our friends' Adam and Melissa's house for a little bit that afternoon, then had Matt, Wes and Adam over for a steak dinner Sunday night - "the last supper" we called it.  boo. hoo.

Anyways, even though we were headed home, I just dreaded it.  Surprising, isn't it?  I always thought I wanted to live back in Georgia eventually, so why was it so hard to move back?  I think because God blessed us tremendously during our two and a half years in Durham with amazing friends who became our family while we were there, with an incredible church that is serving that community in awesome ways, and just surrounded us by great people that were SO hard to leave.  Not only did He provide for us in so many ways, but He also taught us so much while we were there.  If we stay in Georgia for the rest of our lives, I'll always be thankful for the two and a half years we had in Durham.  I think being away from home was the best thing for us and for the start of our marriage.  We really learned so much these last couple of years and have learned to depend on each other and fully rely on God for everything.  And those lessons have been priceless.

We got a late start headed south last Monday, and didn't get here until that night.  But ever since our arrival, it has just been nice to be home.  We unpacked and visited with Ryan's parents on Tuesday and ran some errands at the mall for things Ryan needed to start his job.  He started working on Wednesday, so I've been on my own.  I thought having the days to myself, being alone and without a job to keep me busy right away, would be the worst thing since I was away from everything I had just left behind, but I have actually stayed really busy and friends have just so warmly welcomed us back.  Some things that have kept me busy and also helped the transition tremendously over the past week have been:

• Going to lunch on Wednesday (Ryan's first day of work) with two of my best friends from childhood, Erin and Julie.
• Taking an afternoon on Thursday to visit the old college campus and have lunch with Jamie in Athens...and check out her dorm, buy a new "UGA Alumni" car decal for my car, and get frozen yogurt with her and Jennica.    
• Christmas errands and Cheesecake Factory with my mom and her best friend, Lisa.
• Making it to a Friday night Buford football game.  They're still good - playing in the state championship on Friday!
• Going to my good friend Susan's baby shower for the twins that we have prayed for and waited for with Susan and Chris for years. 
• Watching the SEC Championship game with good friends (and Auburn grads), Julie and Rob.  {Ryan has had his heart set on a German Shepherd for two years now from being around their dog, Bo.  Being with them Saturday only made it worse!}
• Decorating the Wood's Christmas tree by the fire...ahh, love it!
• Going to church at Blackshear Place and seeing so many family friends
• Decorating my parents' Christmas tree and hanging the stockings on the fireplace
• and of course, some Christmas shopping at the good ole' Mall of Georgia!

And this weekend, we have - well, just on Friday alone, we have the Buford State Championship game at the Georgia Dome, then Ryan's company Christmas party (any advice on what I should wear for the "South Beach Chick" attire??), followed by a tacky Christmas sweater party with some friends in Atlanta we haven't seen in a long time.  Then on Saturday, we have an engagement party for one of my best friends, Breanne and her fiance Knox.  ...so a lot going on!

Lots of fun stuff to welcome us back and make it feel like we never left.  Lots of friendships that have picked right back up where we left off two and a half years ago.

Still to be determined though... a job for me, where to live in Atlanta, and what church to get plugged into.  Anyone hiring? :)

The way to travel...

It's 10:25 pm (well, it was when I started this post - I got a little sidetracked between then and now though...) and we've been home from Georgia Tech for two hours already.  Team travel is the way to go.  Seriously.  If I could travel everywhere like we traveled this weekend, it'd be amazing and I'd be fat.

We had planned to drive to Atlanta for the Georgia Tech game, but when I mentioned our plans to Stan, one of the guys I work for, he made arrangements for us to be a part of the travel party and travel with the team to Georgia Tech.  Talk about the way to travel - it's like VIP treatment!  Stan hooked us up since he knew it would be way more convenient for us than driving, but also as a fun last hoorah before I leave. 

Apparently guys are a little less detail oriented than us girls because none of them...not Ryan, not Matt, not TJ...has ever mentioned the treatment they get on away trips before. 

It all started before we even departed from the airport.  We parked at general aviation, never even stepped foot in a terminal, just went through a single line of security set up specifically for our travel party.  Then we walked straight up to the airplane and boarded via the stairs.  It reminded me of the President boarding Air Force One...on a smaller, less important scale of course. :)   Before boarding the plane, we grabbed a food bag and chose between the sandwich, philly cheese steak and chicken fingers.  When I opened my bag of food on the plane, it was never-ending!

 
Then, when we arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson in ATL, one of the busiest airports in the world, we got off at a separate area - not a gate- where the charter buses had pulled right up next to the plane.  We had a police escort to the hotel and this may have been the craziest part of the whole thing.  We got on 285 during the middle of 6 lanes of stand-still traffic and the police just stopped the cars in all lanes and we made a beeline for the HOV.  Once there, I was like well that was cool, but what now...no one in front of us can go anywhere and it might as well be a parking lot.  Cars weren't moving.  Well, with that police escort, cars pulled over out of the HOV lane and we went right on ahead.  When we reached our exit, the police blocked off the lanes again so all four buses could just dart over to the exit.  It was like the parting of the sea lol.  The cars in all lanes just stopped on the middle of the highway for us to cross. 

When we got to the Westin Peachtree Plaza, we got our room key and to the horror of my elevator phobia, our room was on the 36th floor. Juuust wonderful! Actually, these elevators weren't too bad and the view wasn't at all bad, so it was fun.  Seriously though, my second thought after Stan made arrangements for us to travel was "oh crap, the Westin is one TALL building - I sure hope we're not on a high floor".  And I was legitimately concerned about it until we got there.  Crazy and stupid, I know. :)

view from our room to the left - downtown Atlanta

...and view to the right - my beloved Georgia Dome, where the Falcons play! :) ...and CNN Center, Centennial Olympic Park, etc.

  Several of the parents greeted the team (my parents and Wes' parents who were staying at my parents' house included), so Matt and Wes came down and we all hung out for a couple hours before dinner time.  For dinner, Ryan and I went with a large group of athletics and campus administrators to Ray's in the City - delicious!  Then we hung out in the Sun Dial room afterwards until we headed to bed.

At Ray's in the City with Stan and Ramona

After a Starbucks breakfast in the hotel, we once again loaded the charter buses and headed to the stadium with our police escort.  We hit a couple of tailgates - one with some football alum guys and one with the player's families.  Then Ryan and I headed up to the AD's box for the first half of the game, which included...of course...more food!  We moved down to the stands for the second half to sit with my parents, Jamie and a couple of her friends.

Ryan and I in the visiting AD's suite

Duke Athletics ladies I'm going to MISS!!!  Cindy, Nina, and Ramona! ...and "Bubba King" in Nina's belly! :)

Matt and Banks' high five ritual before kickoff

and Egboh making a play!

After visiting with the players after the game, we loaded up and headed back to the airport. 

Mom, Dad, me, Ryan, Matt and Jamie + Summer and Jamie's friends Alysha and Elizabeth

Banks and Matt showing off their 'staches for no shave November.  Wes really has the best mustache going on, but he was already on the bus. 

This picture is majorly lacking TJ!!

 Again, we walked straight onto the plane after grabbing yet another heaping bag of food, which was followed by Dove ice cream bars that the flight attendants handed out once we were in the air.  And by 8:15 pm, we were back in our car, headed home! And with our days in Durham dwindling, we gained a much-needed free full day by being in Durham all day tomorrow instead of spending our day driving back. 

It was so fun to experience traveling with the team - to see what it's like from the player's perspective.  With Ryan, Matt, and TJ doing this on a regular basis, it's fun to see what game weekends are like to them!

The Move (and all the details!)

Well - it's official.  Official because it's now been posted to facebook...and everything becomes official at that point right?  So, for anyone who missed it on facebook...

We're moving to Atlanta!!!

In two and a half weeks! 

And I am just a mess of all kinds of emotions.  So excited yet SO sad! We're going to be close to both of our families, and the parts of our families that are not in Atlanta (TJ in Gainesville, FL, and Norrises in Tuscaloosa, AL will be 5 hours closer than they are now. TJ 5 hours away instead of 10 and Norrises 3 hours away instead of 8.  But Matt will go from being a couple minutes down the road to 5 hours away...until he graduates in May anyways.  At which point, he better move to Atlanta too because I've become quite attached to having him close-by. 

Ok, so here's the scoop.... So, first of all, we bought a house a couple months back, that I've mentioned in passing on here, but not given the details of yet.  How's that for crazy timing??  We've lived in it and become quite attached to our "first home" over the last couple of months, fully unpacked and decorated it and made it home.  And let me mention that I am NOT A FAN OF MOVING!  yuck!  It was my first ever big move in my entire life and it was not fun, so you can imagine my excitement at having to do it again in such a short amount of time! (any volunteers??? haha...i'm kidding.  kinda :))

So, we buy this house, then out of the blue...Ryan gets an email from a commercial real estate company in Atlanta saying that they are hiring for a position and had his resume on file and that they'd like to interview him.  First question we had was "where did they even get his resume?"  He did have a couple of contacts in that company, so looking back, we remembered that before he graduated and secured his job here, he had set up some meetings over Christmas break two years ago with some people in Atlanta just to network and one of the meetings that never worked out had asked for his resume to keep on file, so we assume that is where it came from.  So they still had it and I guess it got put in the stack of resumes when they started the hiring process for this position.  Both being from the Atlanta area and with that being where our families are, we had hoped to end up back there sometime down the road...although the longer we've been here in Durham, the more we were getting settled here.  So we weren't sure how serious we were about the position initially, but how do you turn down an interview like that, in our hometown and everything?  So, if for no other reason than networking for future opportunities, he went down to interview.  Long story short...three trips to Atlanta, and lots of prayer later, we felt that it was a really good opportunity for him and the direction we should go.

So............. 
the house goes on the market and it's time to pack up everything I've just finished unpacking!
(can't you just feel my excitement??) ;p

And since everyone is asking what comes next for us, here is the plan for now...

Ryan starts his new job, working as an Industrial Broker for Jones Lang LaSalle in Atlanta, on December 1st.  We are both going to work until theWednesday before Thanksgiving, then we'll be here through that Saturday for the Duke/UNC football game - Matt's last college football game! - and then we'll move the next day on Sunday, he'll start work that Wednesday.  We're planning to live in Ryan's parents' basement right away to give us a little time to sell our house and scope out the areas that we could live.  The debate is between living in the city (and if so, what area...Buckhead, Vinings, Virginia Highlands have been recommended) or living outside the city in a suburb of Atlanta (Alpharetta, Marietta, Smyrna...??), but not as far out as our families because that would probably be way too much of a commute when you factor in rush hour traffic. 

I don't have a job lined up yet and have not quite started searching yet.  Between having a ton to wrap up here at work and feeling like I'm running out of time to finish it all and then not having any idea what area of Atlanta we'll be living yet and since the move is only a couple weeks away, I'm going to wait til we get there and see where we think we'll be living before starting to job search. 

There are a ton of unknowns at this point - not having a clue where we'll live...not even what town, not having a job lined up is kinda scary, and then of course... finding a church, making new friends, finding a new "community".  While it sounds like we're just "moving home", we will actually likely be 45 minutes or more, depending on where we land, from our Gainesville/Buford community, where all our family and friends are, so while we'll be much much closer to them than we're used to being, we'll still be far enough away that we can't just stop in and visit on the way home from work or do dinner on last minute notice.  So, we'll definitely be starting over in the sense that we'll be finding a new church and new "community" of friends closer to Atlanta, wherever we end up living.  That's the part I'm most sad about leaving here - we've found such awesome community and close-knit friends here that live right around us and moving there all of our friends will end up being a good distance away.  It'll be such a tease to live in Buford for a little bit so close to everyone just to move farthur away soon after.  But we know that the Lord has guided and directed our steps our whole lives and throughout our marriage so far and we know he will continue to guide and direct us in this situation as well.  So, we're moving to Atlanta and just trusting Him to provide all of our needs and enjoying the peace of knowing that He is in control and He has a plan (Jeremiah 29:11...one of my all-time favorites!).

In light of moving away, I thought I'd do a series of posts on things that I love most about Durham. For those of you who have never been here, it'll be an introduction to all our favorite spots, people, things we'll miss, etc... but for me and Ryan, it'll be a good way to record and remember all of our favorite things about Durham that we can look back on.  I'm holding myself to actually blogging about this one, so y'all hold me to it too! :)

And for all of you who have been asking "when are you going to put pics of the new house on the blog?", they're coming!  The house is one of the things we'll miss about Durham, so there will be a post about it. 

Also, to all of our friends in Gainesville/Buford - we're excited about seeing you in December!  And to our friends in Atlanta - we're excited about hanging out and having y'all show us around! :)