So long, Starkville...

Well, it's here-the big move! I can't believe it. Today is my last day at work, and tomorrow is my last day in Starkville. I don't actually think it's hit me yet--believe I'm in a stage of denial. Hope it doesn't have too many levels...

To begin with, I can't believe I've already worked a year at my job-that seems crazy to me! And I really can't believe how fast 5 years has gone by here at State. It's all a blur of football games, fun nights at the boys (now my...) house, Chi O functions, sweet memories with the girls, and a lot of time at First Pres, in addition to eating numerous restaurants that I will miss dearly...ha! And so many more memories that I can't start to reflect on otherwise it'll make it even harder to leave! Better to leave it as a blur for at least the next week or so-then I'll start to decompress all the stories, memories, and life experiences that Starkville has shared with me.

Quite possibly the scariest thing to me is not being in school once I get to Benning...Yes, I realize this makes me sound like a complete nerd (which I proudly accept), but all I've done for the last twenty years or so is go to school--what do I do now?! Oh wait, I get to take a class in the fall...life in academia isn't over yet for me! Long story on that one. Let's leave it at the Foreign Language Dept. of MSU sort of messed me up and I will now be taking my last class at Auburn, but my degree will be from State. The end.

Onto the moving saga! If any of you have been to my house in Madison, you will remember how large our front living room is. It's pretty big. Now imagine this: the entire room (and into the dining room...) is completely FULL of furniture and boxes, stacked so high that's it's taller than me! I tried to get a picture, but I just couldn't capture the scope of the madness. My wonderful grandparents/relatives/parents are showering us with furniture--the benefits of everyone being a woodworker in the family! Must...take...up...the...family...trade...I don't want the tradition to end! This past weekend the Pages came down and helped me move everything out of the Starkville house; I ended up having to make an impromptu trip home Saturday afternoon to take a load home, but it was good to see the family and appreciate the furniture store that is our living room. Brian and I are doing what's called a "DITY move" which stands for do-it-yourself. ("Yourself" in our case includes a little help from some family and friends...thank you in advance!)

Brian got to 'move in' to our house yesterday. By 'move in', I mean he's sleeping there...in a sleeping bag! What a trooper. And with no air conditioning...Really hoping that gets fixed before move-in day on Saturday, otherwise we are going to be some really hot and exhausted people! Southern Georgia in July...not really an ideal time for the AC to be broken. Especially when you live on the second floor. My goal this weekend is to get moved in and hopefully share some pictures of the outside of the house with you! I doubt I'll be done unpacking before I want to write another post.

In honor of my dear husband (still weird to think he's actually my husband now, after all these years!), I also decided to be blog-patriotic for the 4th. Happy 4th of July! Hooray for freedom. So thankful for those who provide freedom and protect us. A special thanks to all the armed servicemen/women.

Well that's about all I have time for today--onto writing a final, packing, cleaning, and spending my last precious hours in Starkville with friends!