Staying Busy

So once we got settled into the house, I decided to start another project I had been wanting to do in Little Rock. I knew that I should wait until we got here and I was super excited to start this project...a Herb Garden!! 

Kyle and I went to Home Depot on June 25th and I picked out 6 of my favorite herbs to plant: chives, parsley, basil, cilantro, rosemary and oregano.

We bought a Jack Daniel's barrel that was cut in half. I thought it was really neat looking for our back yard.

I planted them in order of how tall they would get. I put the rosemary in the very back with cilantro and oregano on each side a little ways up. I planted parsley in the very middle, then put chives and sweet basil in the very front. I tried to make sure to split up the herbs that would look similar so I wouldn't confuse them when they grow. 

Below are the herbs on July 5th, a week and a half old. The basil definitely initiated the growth process. They are growing great so far! Each herb takes a different amount of time to really get going. The lady at Home Depot told me it would be anywhere from 6-9 weeks before they were all really growing.

Here they are today....almost 3 weeks old! The basil is still doing great and the parsley and cilantro is coming up! I cannot wait to stop buying these at the grocery store and use my own!!

I am so excited about this new project! There will be more pictures as they keep growing! =)

Moving to Tennessee

Ok....we are officially in Tennessee! We are celebrating being here for one month now! Life has changed so much in that past month, and I wanted to walk you through some of the big changes! To preface..there will be more pics of the new house decorated as I complete rooms, but I wanted to show you what they looked like during the process!! =)

This is what our living room looked like the day before we moved! The Razorbacks were playing baseball that day and Kyle didn't want to miss it, so the TV was packed last! It's the important things!!

This picture doesn't even sum up this moment! Thank you brother for capturing this sweet moment without us knowing! The good-byes were hard! As this picture was being taken, Mom reminded me of a saying I always said when I was little, "My can do it!" She said I was Miss Independent and never wanted anyone's help. Right as Josh took this picture, she looked at me and said, "Remember Sissy, 'My can do it!'" It was such a sweet moment!

This was at 6am on Tuesday, June 12th and we were about to head out of Little Rock!

The muscles of the moving crew! =) Couldn't have done it without Josh!!

                                      

Like father....like son!!

The sleep medicine the vet gave us for the pups KNOCKED them out. They were so loopy and confused! When we would stop to walk them, they would just wobble around and end up laying down in the grass. It was so sad and hilarious at the same time!

Saying "Hello" to our new home state!

The evening we arrived we unloaded one mattress and set out the rugs to flatten. If you remember, we came during spring break and set one whole room up, so all we needed was the one mattress for the other room to all get a good night's sleep. 10+ hours is a long drive! *That was Kole running through the house!

The movers got there at 8:00am and were completely finished with the moving truck at 9:38am. It was incredible!!!

Kyle helping the movers out along the way!!

Here is the living room...the couch was upside down so we could nail in the felt pads so as to not scratch the hard wood floors!

Kyle's office upstairs...notice the chair and ottoman are laying upside down! That's how the movers unloaded them...haha.

Our master bedroom upstairs...we have the 2 dressers in, but no bed yet! (However, we did sleep wonderfully the night before on our new memory foam mattress)

Kyle took this picture of me because I was so excited to have all of our bedroom furniture in our actual bedroom and have space leftover! (His chest of drawers was in our office in Little Rock because it all wouldn't fit in that room)

Kooper and Kole seem pretty settled in!!

This is the bonus room/game room above the garage! It is a project in and of itself...needless to say!! This was about 2 days into the move! It does look MUCH better now.

The kitchen pretty much unpacked and organized!

The guest bathroom upstairs...I had just steamed my new shower curtain! (I was really excited about this curtain...fell in love with in when I saw it at Target!)

The picture is exciting because we can now fit 1 car in the garage. My school supplies are occupying the other side right now until I get a job, so Kyle has to park outside until that happens!!

The master closet...I AM IN LOVE!!!!

Saying good-bye to the Penske!! I was not sad to see it go...that meant we were finally in our new home!!

The first family pic at our new house!! The pups love their new yard so much!!

We were invited to a Urology Resident dinner our first Friday night, so we finally got a chance to get out of work clothes and get all fancy for the first time! We had an amazing time and met so many wonderful people while we were there!

Now that it is a month in, we are completely settled minus a few pieces of decorations here and there and the game room! There were a lot of rooms I did not get pictures of yet, but they will come! I hope to update soon with the whole house all finished! Kyle is loving his job, but is super busy! He gets up early and comes home late! I am staying busy by working out, cleaning, cooking, running errands and doing everything I can to stay out of this heat right now!! =)

We are blessed beyond belief and thank God everyday for these awesome blessings! We love our new house and are meeting some wonderful people along the way!! These 5 years are going to fly by!!

The Past Few Months...

So much has happened the past few months, and I am terrible at keeping this up to date! I am making myself promise to try since so much will be changing in the coming months! Since it would be impossible (well...not impossible, but take forever) to update you since last August, I will start with this past March!!

My Mom decided she wanted to run/walk the Little Rock 5k, so Kyle, Josh and I decided to join in the "fun"!! And by "fun", I mean...let's get up at 6am to go jog in the cold with 1,000,000 other people who are way faster than you! That sounds "fun"!! I did end up having a great time and met some awesome people along the way! I'm not sure if I'll do one again, but I can at least say I have be in a 5k now....mark that off the bucket list!!

Kyle recently decided to pick back up his hobby of shooting, and what do you need in order to shot?? Oh yes...guns!! He purchased 2 new guns over the past few months. When we were up in NWA, he taught me how to shoot. I can't say I'm great, but I am not terrible!

He really wants me to enjoy this hobby with him, so to persuade me, he bought me a PINK P22 Walther! I had told him the only way I would own a gun is if it was pink, and he researched until he found this one! I suppose we will be having dates at the shooting range now! =)

As many of you know... we have a new home that we will be moving to in just ONE month!!

It is hard to believe it is so close, and what a ride it has already been! 

Our new house we bought in beautiful Knoxville!

We went out on Spring Break to move one load and to have the fence installed (which I am IN LOVE WITH)!!! Here is a picture of us standing in front of it one evening while we were out there!!

The fence making its way up...the company was so detailed and did an amazing job!

We had to leave before they completed it, but the owner sent us a few pictures of the completed fence for us to see.

This is the view of the Smoky Mountains from our backyard! It is an amazing view and one I look forward to seeing everyday!!

Here are a few exciting things about Knoxville:

This is where Kyle will spend a lot of his time during our 5 years there....the University of Tennessee Medical Center!!

This is where I will spend a lot of my time during the next 2 years....the University of Tennessee! I just got accepted to their Graduate School for Educational Administration! I am super excited about the opportunities that will come from this! All of my classes will be online, so I will never actually go to the campus (which will be new and interesting for me)!

I also want to make sure to list my New Discoveries that come with our journey, so here are the ones I have so far:

1. Knoxville does not have Krogers! =( 

2. There is a Target about 10 minutes from my house! =)

3. There is a huge Tanger Outlet (think Branson x3) only 30 minutes away!! =)

4. There are a million different restaurants to try!

5. I'm am to OCD to pack a house up...this will be my biggest struggle!

6. Leaving friends is going to be harder than I thought!

Kyle and I are definitely praying about this journey and asking for your prayers too! It is going to be so bittersweet!! I "promise" to try and keep this updated as much as I can over the next few months!!

Until next time...