Long Time...No Type To

Well, it has been quite a while since our last post. Quite honestly, I never knew what all was involved in moving. But, we finally got our internet up and running so hopefully the blogging won't be so sparse. And...since I am currently a housewife, I should have plenty of time on my hands while looking for a job.

Anyway, it has actually been almost 3 weeks since all of our personal belongings vacated our apartment in Smyrna. I don't want to miss the opportunity to say what a blessing our small group was to us. We rented a 26 foot Penske truck thinking that we would have plenty of room to pack up our small, 2nd floor apartent. Well, 16 people and 1 hour and fifteen minutes later, the Penske was packed full from floor to ceiling and our official "move out" was complete. WOW!

Thanks to Alison's genius, we simply formed an assembly line from the apartment to the truck. This worked great for all of the small stuff!
I just think this picture of my dad is hilarious! We all had to stop and laugh when we saw my dad standing there holding a pot of tulips and my other decorative branch thingy. It was quite funny!

Then there was the wok. The funny thing about the wok is that we had meant to pack it in a box for almost 3 weeks, but kept forgetting. In our small apt., the best place to store the wok was overtop of the kitchen cabinets...and there it stayed. We gave Dixie the assignment of making sure it got on the truck. And, lo and behold, the wok finally got loaded. It was the LAST thing to go on the truck. Sara had the honor of delivering the wok to the Penske.


Mom had a small surgical procedure the day before we moved, so she was unable to lift anything. So, she was put on Norah duty...a duty I know she was glad to have. She and Norah seemed to hit it off quite nicely!After all was loaded, we sat on the floor of our empty apartment and enjoyed each other's company and some pizza thanks to my mom and dad. It was fun to just sit around and talk! I am not entirely sure what inspired this face from Jansen, but I am sure that it was just his way of expressing the broken heart he feels with Jared and me leaving!


Let me just say that if you are not in a small group, then you should definitely consider finding one! I'll admit, at first Jared and I were skeptical about the whole small group thing. But, a year ago, when Brad and Alison asked us to be the first members of their small group, Jared and I decided to give it a try. And I can honestly say...we are so thankful! Not just because we had an army of people to help us move, but because we had a group of people to live our lives with. People who became some of our best friends.

That's enough of the Small Group plug...I just thought I'd let you know what you're missing out on!

Country Cookin'

Jared's parents are in town for a few days to help us finish up our packing, get the Penske loaded and get all of our stuff moved to Kentucky. So, when they got in town last night, we decided we wanted to go out for a nice, country dinner in the very charming little town of Bell Buckle. Jared's parents had never been there, so we thought it would be fun for them to go with us. All of the shops and stuff were closed by the time we got there, but the most important thing was open: The Bell Buckle cafe. Can I just say...I highly recommend the chicken fried steak.

If you haven't been to this cute little town, you should definitely make a day out of it. But, if you're interested in the Moon Pie and RC Cola festival, you will have to wait until next year. This summer's festival has already passed.

Going Out With a Bang!

Okay...I have one more story for you today. As most of you know, I only have about 1 and a half more weeks here at TBC. So, in the good ole fashion of "Katie-ness," it was about time for me to do something really dumb. So, as I ran out to my car in the somewhat pouring rain yesterday afternoon, I remembered that I had cracked my windows at lunch time before I came in from the very bright and NOT AT ALL CLOUDY outdoors. When I got in my car I discovered that my brand new Dee Henderson book was soaked. I know what you're thinking...that's not so dumb. Well, the story continues. Once I was done drying off my book, I started to pull out of my parking spot. So, I am backing up with my foot on the break, looking over my shoulder like the good, safe driver that I am, when all of the sudden I felt this huge jolt and heard a loud, not-so-pleasant noise. I pulled my car back into the spot and looked behind me where I saw...nothing. The thought running through my head: "Oh my gosh, I just hit a person." So, I jumped out of my car and ran around to the back of it only to find...nothing. As I am crouched down on the ground trying to figure out what in the heck I had just hit, a car a few yards down the parking lot began to back up to where I was. Apparently, his car was what the unidentified object that I had hit. Oops. The sad thing is, it was a pretty large car...something along the lines of a Buick or a Lincoln TownCar...and I never saw it! I don't know if it was the rain, a blindspot, or the incredibly fast rate at which this man is known for driving through our parking lot, but I totally hit a HUGE car and never even saw it. Wow. That's embarassing. Luckily, he didn't want to call the police or file a report or anything like that. So, other than a sore back, two sore wrists, and a badly beaten ego, I think I'll survive. I will try to post a picture of my scratched up bumper later.

What a Gift!

So, let me tell you a little story...
A couple of weeks ago, a good friend of ours (Kent Shingleton) was speaking at a church here in the Nashville area. His assignment was to do a morning worship service and an evening worship service. So, during the morning service, Kent talked about the mission trip his whole family (he, his wife and 3 kids) had just gotten back from in Brazil. He talked about trying to raise so much money for his whole family to go. Well, later that night when he went back to the church, the part-time youth minister's wife came up to Shawnah and said that she wished she had known Kent and Shawnah sooner because her husband, who does real estate as his other job, just got a bonus that they were wanting to give to some type of mission project. But, since she was too late to give them money for Brazil, she asked if Kent and Shawnah knew of any couples that were going to seminary this fall. Hmmmm...as a matter of fact, Shawnah said, we do. So, to make a long story short, Jared and I got a check for just over $2,000 in the mail yesterday from 2 people we have never met that just have a heart for ministry and that wanted to use their financial blessings to bless the hearts (and pocketbooks) of a young married couple who are learning to trust God for everything they need. So, let me just encourage you...God supplies everything we need if we only trust Him to do so. Much thanks to Kent and Shawnah as well as the couple who sent us the money...If they only knew what they have done for us! Oh, and by the way...guess how much Jared's tuition for his first semester of seminary is. Just over $2,000.

Here We Go Again...

So, this is my second attempt at having a blog. The first time we (Jared and I) decided that there was absolutely nothing interesting or exciting about our lives that was blog-worthy. We have no kids, no pets...you get the drift. So, after a few months we just killed our blog. But, Jared and I are moving to Louisville in about 2 weeks for him to start seminary. Surely a young married couple moving away from everyone and everything they know will have something interesting to blog about. We don't have much money (although we do have great families who will make sure we don't starve). I don't have a job and Jared is starting a HEAVY load of courses in just a couple of weeks. We are truly living on love...God's love for us, our love for Him and our love for each other. This should be interesting! For now I will leave you with this picture of the Seminary that we are going to. It really is a beautiful campus!