Success...Kind of :)

Today began much earlier and brighter than yesterday. Very thankful that the sun was out today. After a bowl of Special K and a leftover doughnut, we were ready to hit the road and find a place to live. First stop Southeastern Baptist Seminary: Financial Aid - check, Student Activities - check, Student Housing - check. That's right, we decided to check out student housing, filled out the application for Fletcher Village (pet friendly) and took a look around. Here are some photos of the seminary and student housing.






Aaron took this picture because it reminded him of ALABAMA!!!


Fletcher Village


The Kitchen


The Living Room


Headed Upstairs - Gracie will love this, she loves to run up and down stairs. She could be one fit kitty.


Bedroom 1 - The Second one is exactly the same, it is in the front of the house.


The Bathroom - there is a half bathroom downstairs in between the kitchen and living room.

Our next stop for the day was North Forest Apartments, I have no pictures of this place because they are all occupied. The manager was extremely helpful and nice. It is a small apartment complex, four apartments in each unit. This complex is extremely close to the seminary, which is a plus.




So we did have success today. We found two places that we could call home. The seminary housing is larger and costs less but we won't know if we will get our first choice or third choice (our third choice is not an option, we wouldn't be able to fit our bed in the place) We won't know where we are placed until the end of April/beginning of May, so we found North Forest and can hold out until we know something about seminary housing. If seminary housing doesn't pan out, then we have a place at North Forest.

The rest of the day was used for more exploring, shopping/looking and relaxing. Then the never ending question: What are we going to eat for dinner? Now since we are in a new place we wanted to try out some of the local flare. On to Smithfield's Chicken N Bar-B-Q, because my husband does love BBQ.




Aaron's Plate


My Plate - which according to Aaron was tastier than his BBQ. The sweet tea was fantastic!

All in all a successful day. We head back to Alabama tomorrow, which means a lot of time in the car. Hopefully the day will be beautiful and enjoyable.

Saturday's Adventures

Today began, quite late actually. We didn't actually get up and start moving until 11:30 EST. Needless to say, the 10 hours in the car and excitement of the adventures of yesterday, we were tired. After breakfast, we set out to scout out the apartments we had found via the internet. With two phones, a GPS, and iPad, we were ready. We spent several hours driving through the rain, looking at places, narrowing down the search, and finding new places to check out. Before long our stomaches began to speak and it was time for an early supper. At the request of my husband, who has been craving a "good, thick, grilled hamburger" we headed to Red Robin's YUM!!!! It really hit the spot.



Now let the search continue. We got back to our room and did some more searching. Found some houses/townhouses that were in our price range and available. So out the door we went again.



After driving around Wake Forest, finding some of the places and once again eliminating others, it was time to reward ourselves with can you guess what...



That's right the HOT SIGN WAS ON and who can resist such a great treat. 1/2 a dozen of the HOT ones and 1/2 a dozen assorted doughnuts, along with two cups of coffee. Once back to our room, we settled in to watch our Sunday evening show, "Once A Upon A Time" and enjoy the joyous taste of fresh HOT doughnuts.







Our goal for tomorrow to find the place we are going to call home. We have our checklist ready, camera and iPad charged, and plenty of gas in the car. Please pray that we find the "home" God has for us and enjoy another day of adventures.

Let the Adventures Begin

Spring Break has begun for Baldwin County Public Schools, which means that I am one footloose and fancy free teacher. I couldn't be more excited about getting a break and enjoying whatever adventures may lie ahead. Well the adventures have already begun:

Aaron and I are currently in Wake Forest, North Carolina, on a hunt for a place to live. Yes that means I have spent 10 hours in the car today. Now in case you don't know, I HATE riding in a car for an extended period of time. On any long family vacation, I was the kid who would go to sleep and wake up when we arrived at our destination. Well now I can't seem to do that. I just tend to get extremely restless and BORED. Needless to say, I was able to entertain myself and even had the privilege of driving for a while. Most of the drive was quite pleasant but by the time we arrived in Charlotte, NC, the storm clouds had rolled in. Here's what the sky looked like:

Then for 45 minutes we drove through a serve thunderstorm. It begin to rain extremely hard and THEN hail began to fall. If you look closely in the following picture you can see the hail on the side of the road.

We have finally arrived safely at our home away from home. We've had our Chick Fil A and are doing a bit more research on the apartments here. Tomorrow's plan is to relax and explore. More time in the car, but not as much as today. Until tomorrow...

Update on Life

It's offically OFFICAL!!! We are headed to seminary, at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. We are excited, nervous, happy, sad, you name the emotion, it has probably been felt or will be felt sometime during this process. We have resigned from our jobs. I will finish the school year and I am already in the process of looking for a job in the Wake County Public School System. Aaron will work until we move at AT&T and last Sunday was our last Sunday at Crossroads. We are searching for an apartment and will be going to Wake Forest soon to find our new "humble abode". Side note: Gracie (the cat) is super excited about the 12 hour trip in the car. Doesn't that sound like fun. Which brings me to the reason for the update:

Today was the first Sunday since we have been married that we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn and head to Daphne to be ready for the Sunday service. First let me say that our time at Crossroads was amazing and we learned a lot. We are so blessed by the people and students who came into our lives and we will be for ever grateful for all that they have done for us. We had an amazing send off last week, serveral of the ladies in the church organized a luncheon in our honor. We were able to eat an delicious meal and visit with the church family. An excellent way say our thank yous.

But today we had no agenda, and we have taken full advantage of that. We slept in, which I don't think either one of us has done is quite some time. We took our time getting ready and then headed to Spot of Tea, in downtown Mobile for "brunch". We enjoyed a wonderful meal, took a side shopping trip, and came home. We have been able to enjoy some good quality time together and really just enjoy the day. And wouldn't you know, today is the first day in about two weeks where the sun has actually been shining. That made the day, 1,000 times better.

As I sit on the swing in the back yard, I am trying my best to just enjoy the day, but alas, I have a checklist of things that must be accomplished and now seems like as good a time as any. Just putting everything aside even for a little while seems to be so hard for me these days. I am constantly making a list of things that need to be accomplished, that I sometimes forget to enjoy the moments I have right now. I am so thankful that my husband constantly reminds me to just take a break. He is much better at that than I am, but I am learning. :) So as we embark on this incredible journey ahead of us, keep us in your prayers. Our hearts desire to follow after God's will and do His work, for His glory!

with love,
Laura and Aaron