i have arrived

Well ya'll- I have arrived.

I'm officially here and sleeping underneath this humongous Texas sky. It's beautiful, by the way.

My last few days in Murfreesboro were bittersweet in the most real way. I guess it isn't until you start to leave a place that you realize how invested you have become in relationships even in the span of just one year. It feels in my heart like I've been there my whole life. Funny how everywhere I live, I feel that way when I leave. It always seems like I'm never going to find equal or adequate new friends or family, but everywhere I go, God provides just that. My heart grows to fit more people in it every time. It's crazy.

I feel like a picture blog is much more appropriate for this post, so that you can get a good look at how blessed I am. On top of numerous going away gifts and notes of well wishes and facebook posts of encouragement and prayers, here is how Delilah [my kitty] and I spent our last few days saying "See you when I see you." [which is my preferred alternative to the traditional "goodbye"-- I'm not much for traditional, but I would imagine you already knew that].

Last night of work on 4 west.. my amazing coworkers threw me a party, gave me advice, and prayed over me the next morning as they sent me out. They have been so encouraging and supportive.. I don't even have words to say how thankful I am for each of them.

My fabulous siblings surprised me and showed up, along with my aunt Debi and uncle Jimmy, my parents, and my Nanny, at my aunt Margrey and uncle Roy's house for a going away dinner the night before I left. [Everyone except Sis and Hunter, who sent me the sweetest package in the mail]. They're the best, obviously.

The moving process went fairly smoothly... I hired a couple guys from a moving company to come put my stuff in a U-Haul for me. They were worried to death about not being able to fit all my stuff in the trailer.. finally I had them stop and look at me and I stated "Listen guys. This is just stuff. I'm moving to Texas, with or without it. So do what you can, and I'll replace the rest." And that was that. I made it out with almost everything.. I had to leave behind my dining table and chairs and my craft pallet table. The sacrifices we make, eh? Totally worth it, by the way.

Delilah enjoying the jungle gym the boxes created before we loaded it all. She was so confused about what was going on.. not sure why? I've been telling her daily that we are moving, guess it had to happen before she believed me :)

And then, at 9pm I picked up Sam from the airport in Nashville, we had a quick ice cream double date with a couple friends who have recently moved back to the Nashville area, and we drove back to Murfreesboro. Last minute cleaning and packing complete, we set out bright and early at 6am the next morning to make the journey.

this is what we look like in real life.

and this is us in our fake life when we're nearing the end of a more-than-half-a-day car ride.

It took 14 hours. We couldn't go over 60 mph because of the U-Haul. We stopped 5 times to eat and stretch and pee. We ate candy and chips and drank caffeine. We rocked out to tons of music. We played the alphabet game with animals. We made up acronyms from license plates that passed. We played 20 questions about 20 times. We were quiet some, but not much. We held hands and I picked at his whiskers and we burped out loud and I complained that his stink, cause they do. And we laughed so hard and so many times that by the time we made it to our destination, I had no more eyeliner left. It was fabulous.

And I know many of you are wondering about Delilah.. you should know she tolerated the trip like a champ. Best cat ever. She rode in her carrier the whole way, no crying, no messing in it. She's adjusting well. Such a good kitty.

We have been greeted here in Plano by an incredible outpouring of love from new friends. We are currently staying with a friend and coworker of Sam's because the apartment won't be ready for moving in until Oct 9thish. Friends helped move my stuff into a storage building, and have already been asking when they can help move it into an apartment. I am doing my best to learn new kids at church.. my goal is 5 a Sunday until I know them all [or most of them]. We have spent the weekend at church or eating out or watching New Girl.. so much fun. It's so nice to be just be in the same place. And to know it's not just for a week or a weekend.

Oh, and I know I've told you before, but I have an Ebenezer that I'm building [a concept from 1 Samuel 4-7]. It's a glass vase full of flat rocks covered in sharpie that declare specific ways that God has been faithful. They read things like "Graduated nursing school" or "Karis learned to walk" or "Nursing job in Dallas." It serves as a visual reminder that God provides, exactly what we need, exactly when we need it. It's so much fun to be reminded of that, especially when things appear to be unraveling or up in the air. Anyway, I added another stone last week.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the new Junior High Youth Minister at Prestonwood. I have never been more proud of him. And I am so excited to be here to watch him change lives as he disciples kids and teaches them about Jesus. He is going to be great.

I guess that's enough for today. If you're still hangin in, thanks for reading :) I start my job October 7th. Until then I'm just basically doing whatever I want. So thankful for all of you and your prayers and words of encouragement.. they are all felt and appreciated like you wouldn't believe. Until next time... Love from Texas!