BRIEF update

We just closed on our house. It's been an exhausting and emotional few days. It's been amazing to watch the Lord order our steps and provide what we need. We have a week of down time and then head to NJ next Friday. Hopefully I'll have the energy to post some pictures and real thoughts between now and then. But at the moment...I'm taking a deep breath and being relieved that we're through the process of getting out of the house and closing on the sale.

Guess who is going to be an aunt????????

Yup....ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jon and Jess are having a baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can keep up with them on their blog.



I've been itching to tell you...I'm glad I can now!! :)

See you later...part 2

This was a very common site this weekend...everyone walking towards the boat dock. We had a fantastically fun and relaxing time with Chris's family in South Carolina this past weekend. It was great to have the time with them and we were very thankful to have the downtime before the craziness of moving and closing on the house...




Morgan and Ree













Don't all those pictures just say "peaceful" to you...






Chris and I had sooo much fun playing on the jet skies!


Corrie and Stephen (is that how you spell his name Corrie?)






Yes - that is Emogene on the tube with me, Morgan and Corrie - it was awesome!


I purposefully went with Emogene so I'd have an easier ride - Eric wasn't quite so nice to these guys!




Eric had entirely too much fun with the fireworks - they were like little kids on Christmas morning getting them ready!




We went and saw the lake fireworks (we had a perfect spot) and then we went back to Karin and Eric's for our own personal fireworks show. Some of the best I've seen in a long time - it was so fun!


So Karin and Eric and crew....thanks for a wonderful weekend!!

I believe next time you hear from me we'll have closed on our house...I'll let you know how it goes! Toodles :)

See you later...part one

Unfortunately the time to say goodbye (which I am referring to as "see you later") is quickly approaching. We have been keeping busy with work (normal World Orphans stuff for me and Chris is building a deck for some friends) and of course...packing up the house. We are making as much time as possible for just being with friends and family. Last weekend we went to Marietta to say "see you later" to some of Chris's family. We're sad that we won't be an easy 3 hour drive away, but so thankful that we'll still get to see them!

Note: This may only be interesting if you are a Borders or know the family well :)


Always a pleasure to see Ed and Jo Chupp


Pop and Emogene...the ever gracious hosts (we get to be with them again this weekend in South Carolina...visiting with more of Chris's family!)

We had a blast spending all of Saturday evening with the Allgood Road Borders...

Madeline just loves Chris!


The kids are getting so big!






Queenie and Pa are doing well...it was great to have some time to sit and chat





The rest are pictures of all the amazing work Stephen and Beth have done to the house on the hill - another note: they may only be interesting if you have seen/lived in the house :)






Looking from the new room (where the porch used to be) into the kitchen


Kitchen fireplace


Stephen in his new kitchen!




The new room (where the porch was)


Another view from the new room


Living room fireplace


Living room doors...


More living room


Beth and her red front door! She's very excited about it :)


Madeline's (Kari's) Room (above and below)




Jackson's (Queenie and Pa's) Room


The master bath (above and below)




Master (Carolyn's I think) bedroom


Upstairs laundry room and Beth's secret prayer room


From the upstairs addition looking into the old part of upstairs


Upstairs (in addition) bath


Upstairs (addition) great room - love this picture of Beth!










Stephen and the kids playing...priceless

So...this weekend we're in Columbia South Carolina with Chris's family. We are looking forward to a relaxing time, before the craziness of final packing, moving and closing on our house (we close this coming Thursday, July 9). So...I'm off to take pictures and relax :) I'll attempt to get pics from this weekend posted before we close - but if not I'll get to it shortly thereafter. We're in TN for a week after we close staying with some friends (taking a deep breath and saying "see you later" to everyone there) and we're heading to NJ on Friday July 19th.

Ta-ta for now!

The Last Hurrah...

That's what I called the party we had at our hast last night....The Last Hurrah at the Borders. We wanted one last time to have people to our home before it doesn't look like home anymore as we start really packing.



We close in a little less than 3 weeks. Logistically things are coming along, which we are very thankful for. The reality of saying goodbye is getting harder...but we also continue to be excited about New Jersey.



Chris got his packet of info from Seton Hall and is even more excited about starting school.


Curt and Justin bolted out the door at the sound of the ice cream man. Turned out to just be the slushy man, but they were still excited :)









I didn't remember to take pictures of everyone :( But...it was wonderful to have time to hang out with people - certainly a significant part of the closure process...

Pictures of the yard...interspersed with more ramblings :)



Speaking of closure...it's been a good day. I was tempted to try to run around being productive, but Chris reminded me of how busy we have been and will continue to be and that a quiet day would be good.



And it's been great. I walked through the Maryville Farmer's Market and then went and got my favorite drink at the coffee shop downtown and sat and read my book.



Then after wandering through the cute boutique downtown I came back and baked a cake...and am about to watch a movie :)



Chris took his motorcycle and went to his favorite spot in the mountains and read for a while. After coming back here for lunch he's been riding and working on motorcycles with friends.


Cile, these are the ones from you!

So, I'm thankful we have both had the time to go to favorite places we may not go to again and have a restful day...


I'm pretty sure both the hydrangeas are from Chris's grandparents...

Busy week with work and packing ahead, but we have time with friends on the calendar and we're headed to Marietta next weekend...so it'll be good :)


I'm so thankful for Chris's work in the yard - I love it!

We went to the mountains...

Well, first we went to the Sunsphere! Located at the World's Fair Park in Knoxville (built for the 1982 World Fair) there is a bar on the 5th floor of the sphere (only there since last year - they remodeled the sphere around 2007-2008) that looks out over downtown Knoxville. I love seeing a city from the highest point, so this was definitely on my to do list before moving. We had a long week and a long day on Friday, but we put on our big kid shoes and had a nice night just hanging out. Unfortunately I got NO good pictures from the top...lighting was terrible. But trust me, it was cool.







Then Saturday morning we headed to Black Mountain, NC with Joe and LaDonna. I think it's impossible for Joe and Chris in the same space without taking something apart, changing it, and putting it back together again. So of course they decided they needed to modify Joe's bike before we left...




All packed and ready to go (Chris's is the cool looking bike, mine is the pack mule. Don't let the looks fool you, I can totally go faster than he can.)


Joe and Ladonna - all ready to go!



LaDonna took way more pictures than I did, but I think if I don't blog about this now it won't happen. So either I'll post more pictures when I get them from her, or I'll just send you to her blog :)

We stayed with good friends of ours, Breena and David, who live in Black Mountain. They very graciously hosted us and we had a great time hanging out with them.



Of course Joe and Chris found a car show...




I think they were drooling :)

So we headed over on Saturday, tooled around Black Mountain a bit (super cute downtown) then grilled out with Breena and David.



Sunday morning we slept in and had a leisurely morning at this awesome coffee shop, and hopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a lovely, leisurely ride home.





Like I said, LaDonna took more pictures than I did, so I don't have good scenery pictures. But...I definitely had a moment (a long moment) on the way home thinking about the mountains. I moved to Tennessee after graduating from college very unsure about whether or not I even wanted to come. Just the other day I was talking to a friend from college who said she remembered me debating over whether or not I wanted to move here (to work at Wears Valley Ranch) and she remembered me saying, "well, it's just a year - I can always do something else in a year." Well, here I am....SEVEN YEARS later, sad about saying goodbye to East Tennessee. She pointed out that you just never know what's in store...

So I realized that for some reason I'm really going to miss the mountains. (Not like I'm going to miss my friends, but still...) As I was driving through them yesterday I realized it's because they feel safe and secure. The trees and the rocks are so big and beautiful, they just swallow you in peace. Whether I'm hiking or driving through them or looking at them out the window of an airplane, the mountains are comforting to me.

As I was thinking about it I realized what about that I want to take with me when we leave. The reality is that just like New Jersey will always be a part of me because I grew up there, and Chicago will always be a part of me because I went to school there, now East Tennessee will always be a part of me because of the years I have spent here. And I hope we have more motorcycle trips through the mountains. But mostly I hope to remember that God is my refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1) So that wherever I am, longing for the sense of security I feel in the wooded mountains, God is my ever-present, never-failing refuge...regardless of what's around me.

Well....there's my thought for the day. And it made me think of this Thoreau quote:
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

Stay tuned...party on Friday!

Get ready....

...because Monday is National Ride Your Motorcycle to Work Day!



For some of you that may be more work than others (like if you have to go out and buy a motorcycle! :) For those of you who have one...ride to work on Monday!

And not as exciting, but get ready for my post about the date Chris and I will have tonight...266 feet above Knoxville. And...about our motorcycle trip to Black Mountain, NC this weekend! Stay tuned :)

Happy Friday!!

A day full of gifts...

Yesterday was a very full, but wonderful day. I've been worried that I'll get focused on either work or moving and one will suffer. Yesterday was well balanced and for that I'm very thankful.

I was super productive with work stuff during the day. Then I came home and....


Bonus: Hurray for fruit being yummy and affordable in the summer!


Chris was working on the attic, which was something I really wanted to get done. So...while I don't like that it's time to start packing, it is - and I'm thankful we got some organizing and packing done in a short amount of time. And then....


We went to a tea/coffee shop in Knoxville the caters to the vintage motorcycle crowd! Combining coffee and motorcycles - perfect for us :) The Time Warp Tea Room has a vintage bike night every Tuesday. We've been talking for years about going, and we finally went last night - it was super fun. So....to have a productive day at work, a productive few hours packing, and a fun date (that included a delicious iced mocha) all in one day...fantastic!


Lilies in the yard...


Flowers from my garden (read Chris's garden - he does all the work, I get to enjoy the flowers! I did make the arrangement though :)

And another gift from yesterday...Chris came home planning (but not wanting) to mow the yard. And....it was already mowed! We think it was an angel. It was probably our next door neighbor....but definitely a gift from the Lord!

We're really going to miss the yard...so we're really enjoying the flowers. If you're in Maryville you have to come hang out with us the evening of Friday June 19th (anytime after 5)...especially to see the flowers :)

That sinking feeling....

You know the one. You have a thought, you realize something you hadn't realized before...your stomach knots up and then drops.

I had that feeling yesterday. We were at church, the service was over, I was chatting with the sweet couple sitting next to us...and it hit me. We're only going to be at church 2 more times before we move! (Feeling worse as I write this...)

River Oaks has been home and family to us for the last 7 years.
Chris has been at River Oaks since 2001
I've been there since 2002
We met there and started dating in 2003
We got married in 2004
In 2005 we decided NOT to move away from Maryville...because of River Oaks and our friends there.

And now here we are...North Carolina next weekend (motorcycle trip with good friends)
Here in Maryville the weekend of June 20th
Marietta the last weekend in June (visiting Chris's family)
South Carolina 4th of July weekend (visiting more of Chris's family)
Final Sunday at River Oaks July 12th
Heading to NJ Saturday July 18th.

Craziness.

Some first lasts...

I had my first real good-bye already...a few of them actually. Some of the dear girls from church that I have walked with since they were in middle school/early high school are now in college! They are off to working at camp and going on mission trips this summer - by the time they are back in town we'll be in New Jersey...

Can't believe I forgot to take pics for the last time I'll see these girls before we move to New Jersey. But...good thing I've taken lots of pics over the years!





On a happier note...We got our last mortgage bill! We'll pay this one and the next time we hear from our mortgage company they'll be writing us a check - praise the Lord!! :)