A New Home, A New Blog

I've always loved this blog, mostly because I did the design myself and I love web design, but now I've started a new blog journey.

Recently, I started a new blog called "It's a Veggieful Life" where I'll be journaling about my journey to live a healthy, wonderful life. The name of the blog came from two things: my wanting to live a healthier lifestyle (eating wholesome foods, more fruits & veggies, beginning a fitness regime with a fitness coach at a local gym) and my all-time favorite movie "It's a Wonderful Life." I joined the gym in January 2010 and immediately started my new blog.

Thanks to those of you who have followed this blog! If you'd like to follow my journey, as well as get occasional updates on "The White Family in Minnesota who are now living in Tennessee" then please come on over!

Life in Tennessee

At some point, I guess I'll have to change the name of this blog since we aren't in Minnesota any longer. But for now, I'll leave it as it is. Tomorrow, there's a "winter storm warning" for the Knoxville & Smoky Mountains areas. Wow! They're predicting a possible 3-6" and it's amusing to see how serious they take it down here in the south. It's been in the 40's which felt cold to me until I remembered what COLD really feels like in Minny. It's in the 20's up there and it'll just get colder. I certainly don't miss that aspect of Minnesota, but I do miss everything else.

Adapting to Tennessee has been difficult. And I'm not rushing to do so. There are rumors that the company my husband works for may be sold AGAIN, so forgive me if I don't finish unpacking!

Nicholas is enjoying school, and we were lucky to find a house to rent in the school system that we wanted, so I'm thankful for that. He was adapting to life here very well until his best friend, Hayley, had to move away to New Jersey in November. Not a day goes by that he doesn't mention her in some way. When we pass by her townhome development, I see him from the rearview mirror looking out the window with misty eyes. It breaks my heart. How he feels about Hayley leaving is how I continue to feel about leaving Minnesota.

Although it was extra cloudy, this is a

beautiful view in the Great Smoky Mountains (October 2009)

Nicholas and his "blue puppy"

Anyone remember Nicholas' puppy? He's had it since he was a baby, and he used to suck on it's right paw. He never sucked a pacifier or his thumb - it was always "puppy." When he was around 3 & 1/2, the dentist said it was time for puppy to go bye-bye because his sucking on the paw was making him get an overbite. So, after many attempts at getting him NOT to suck on puppy, we had a discussion with Nicholas about puppy going away on vacation to Bermuda. Donald and I had gone to Bermuda when I was in my 2nd trimester with Nicholas, so I thought Bermuda was a wonderful place for puppy to go! We put puppy in a Priority Mail box, I "addressed it" and off he went....(into my closet).

We actually had four puppies total, all of them originally purchased from Target. I had to buy a few off of Ebay because Target was no longer carrying that product when I needed to buy back-ups for when puppy was in the wash. Every few years, Nicholas would ask if puppy was really in Bermuda and when he might come home. Could puppy come home if he promised not to chew on him? Interestingly, he brought puppy up right before we moved from Savage, Minnesota to Maryville, Tennessee. We decided that puppy should come home from Bermuda and meet us in Tennessee. It would be a good "transitional" item for him.

The night we arrived at our new home in Maryville, Nicholas asked if we thought puppy was there yet. Well, he was...in the priority box he'd been sitting in for nearly three years (along with his other "puppy" friends). See, I'd packed puppy's Priority Mail box in Donald's suitcase so that he'd be there to greet us. :)

Upon explaining that puppy had several friends and that his friends had always been there for him when puppy needed to get a washing, Nicholas was happy to have puppy again. He picked out one of the puppies that he dubbed the "real puppy" and the others were just puppy's friends. How he decided which one was the real one, I have no idea! Puppy went with us to dinner that night:

Reunited and it feels so good...


A happy little boy...and puppy seems happy too!

Packing Day!

The movers are here, packing away. I think I've done my best to get everything we need separated from that which will be packed. The packers are doing a big job - only two packers for an entire house full! Nicholas has gone off to his friend Evan's house for a few hours. Donald and I should be doing something productive, but we're not. Donald is napping - he's good at that - and I'm on the computer. I'm listening to Adam Lambert on my iPhone and, of course, writing on my blog. Even without cable last night, I was able to watch last night's episode of HBO's "True Blood" on my computer, for free, this afternoon while the packers did their job. How did the world ever function without the internet??

Don & Gracie - life is hard, ain't it?

I will be taking pics later of the house in all its "boxy" glory, then posting them on the my blog (here) or on Facebook. Tomorrow is the big MOVING day. As I drove down South Park Drive this afternoon after doing some errands, I found myself getting teary eyed. I have become more attached to this place than anywhere else I've lived and it's very hard to let go. I know God has things under control...but, as I've told Donald numerous times before, God has things under control even when the plane is going down. I guess I should remind myself that, whether the plane has a soft landing or burst into flames, at least I'll be in God's hands. Right?? :)

Less Than Two Weeks to Go!

Things are moving along here at a quick pace. I am feeling very overwhelmed & excited all at the same time. I've made my list, and checked it twice...Santa's not the only one who does that you know! :) And now I'm getting things done - when I'm not goofing around on Facebook...man, that thing is a time sucker! I still have some cupboards to sort through, then it's on to packing bags and getting things set aside to take with us.

Donald is in Tennessee until the 26th and then will be flying up to Minnesota for the last time before we move. Yay! The movers come to pack up our house on the 29th and then load up the moving truck on the 30th. We will be leaving town shortly thereafter. Our van will be loaded with things we'll need for the week - we'll be staying up in the Smoky Mountains for several nights once we get down to Tennessee and then we'll need some essentials at the house to tide us over until the boxes and furniture arrive. How many times have I been through this? Too many. This will be my fourth move since 2000 and I'm wondering where my final "resting place" will be...not to sound morbid or anything!

Once the packers arrive, I will be taking lots of pics to show the progress. And, of course, there will be lots more pics on the other end showing the progress of moving in.

The most important lesson I've learned in all these moves is this: Take the coffee pot with you instead of letting the packers pack it. Move-in day requires coffee and if you can't find the coffee pot, then all is lost!