Our move to North Carolina

It's hard to believe Nolan and I have already been here two and a half weeks! Here's some of my favorite pics from our moving day:

I thought this pic was so cute of us, but when I showed it to Nolan, he asked "What HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM?!?!"   It took us a few minutes to realize that my hand was resting on his shoulder, and Nolan's hand was hanging on to the ceiling of the truck.  No, people, I do not have super long, ALIEN arms. Ha. I think we are lookin' pretty good for 5:45 in the morning :)

We hit the road about 6 a.m. after a bittersweet good-bye with Nolan's momma and Sarah Beth and Nathan.  They were so sweet to send us off from my parents' house so EARLY in the morning. I really feel like I have the best family in the world- we are SO blessed.  After awhile of driving, I took a picture out the window of the car: This picture says "Yay! We made it to North Carolina!"

The mountains of North Carolina are breathtakingly beautiful.  Nolan said he felt like he was in Jurassic Park, and that he just might see a giant dinosaur stomping over the mountains any minute.  Dad was driving the moving truck- that's him fixing to go through the tunnel.  As mom would say, he drove that truck "like a boss!"

Hold your breath! We're going through the tunnel! What a responsible mom: One hand on the wheel, holding her breath, and yet her eyes are STILL on the road! You go, momma!

Our sweet kitty-child did SO well during the eight hour drive! I was pleasantly surprised- I was so worried that Roni was going to turn into Kujo-Kitty on the way there.  Here he is sleeping on his favorite blanket in the backseat of mom's car.  He didn't last very long in his carrier, but did just fine resting in the backseat. 

Here he is again- just chillin' in his litter box.  I think Roni almost fell asleep in there! Our cat is SO weird sometimes. The litter box was clean, so I guess there was no harm in letting him lay there, right? :)

Mom and I were SO STINKIN' TIRED of looking at this single mom and her two girls by the time the trip was over.  WoooWeee... I hope I don't have to see them again for a loonnngggg time!

Hallelujah! We made it! By this time, we were all anxious to arrive at our new apartment and start getting to work. Thankfully, we hired two guys from a moving company to help us unload all the heavy items from the moving truck.  We began unloading the truck around 4:00 p.m., and by 5:15 p.m., it was DONE. 

Here's where we'll be calling "home" for the next couple years! We are only about five or six minutes from Southeastern's campus and located right in the middle of everything.  We are really enjoying this place so far!

After a night of unpacking boxes, we took the next day to relax a little bit and enjoy the day.  We gave mom and dad a tour of SEBTS and then had lunch at Las Palmas, a local Mexican restaurant.  I think this next one is a great picture of them. :)

Dear Mom and Dad,  I know I told you this through my tears right before you left, but I have to say it again, just so you know how much I mean it.  You have done nothing but give and give of yourselves during the last couple months and throughout my whole life- your love has been such a perfect picture of Christ's love for me.  Thank you for pointing me to the cross and for playing such a big part in preparing my heart for God's call on my life.  Thank you always for your unconditional love and support.  I know it hasn't been easy, but it's been good and right. Having you for parents has been one of the most gracious gifts I've ever been given.  I love you through and through.