We go out to eat once a week, watch football together, and whatever else comes up.We are really enjoying our time with the wonderful people we have met and know that most of them will be lifetime friends.
2) OLD FRIENDS - We are also enjoying our time here with our childhood friends and others that we haven't seen in years. I go to lunch with Kay every Thursday and Tom hangs out with Brandy every chance he gets. We are trying to soak it up before we have to move away again.
3) THANKSGIVING - It was a busy day of driving and eating. Luckily, we were able to see and spend some time with everyone. We started out at Tom's parents' house and made our way over to my grandparents' house where my whole family was spending the day. We were also able to spend the day with Amy and Dylan. Even the dogs went with us. What a great day!
4) OUR GRANDSON DYLAN - What a great baby boy! He is so sweet and rarely cries. We had a lot of fun trying to make him laugh and smile.
5) ETHAN is graduating from high school in May 2009! He was just accepted to the University of Alabama and it looks like he is leaning towards attending school there. He is interested in a couple of other schools as well, but we should be making a decision soon. It's so hard to believe that he will be living on his own this time next year.6) AUBURN vs ALABAMA (IRON BOWL) - Speaking of Alabama....the game was a blow out, but it had to be expected after the #1 season that Alabama played. Fortunately for Tom, he is not a Alabama hater just b/c he is an Auburn fan. I bought him tickets to the Iron Bowl for his birthday back in September and decided that the ultimate experience would be for him to go with his best friend. I figured that I have him forever and could always be able to do something like this with him, but he may not always be able to do this with his friend. We will never live this close again, so it was the perfect plan.
They had a wonderful time together and Tom took some great pictures of the game.
7) TRIATHLON TRAINING - So, we are planning on doing this sprint triathlon in May in Gulf Shores/Orange Beach, but our training lately has been just short of nothing. We were really working on it when we first moved here, but then maybe because of the weather or the fried food coma, we have really been slacking. The only thing we have been somewhat consistent with is the lap swimming. We normally go on Monday/Wed/Friday and Tom even swam with a cast when he broke his fingers. But, it's now time for us to get back on the bike and start running off the extra pounds we've gained from the good old southern food.8) CHRISTMAS - We have both been in such the Christmas spirit this year. Not that we haven't in the past, but when you are hundreds or even thousands of miles away from your family, it makes the holidays very stressful at times with all of the travel and shipping and such. So, this year is a nice treat and I even was able to finish most of our Christmas shopping early. We had a great time with both of our families and enjoyed some more great cooking.
We enjoyed going to the ACSC Christmas party. Not because it was such a fun event, but because of all of the people we were there with. The food and the company was good.
9) RANDY OWEN - A couple of weeks ago, Randy Owen from the country group Alabama was at the BX for a book signing. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to have him sign my guitar. When we were living in California, we had 2nd row seats at a Willie Nelson concert and I had him sign my guitar. I thought it would be cool to have some of our favorite artists sign my guitar. So, I bought the book and waited in line with the book and my guitar, only to be denied of getting the guitar signed. Supposedly, the publisher didn't want him signing things other than the book or CD that just came out. So, they told me he would sign it later if there was time. So, I went to lunch and and came back around the time that he was supposed to leave and I managed to convince them, just short of begging, to let me bring the guitar again and he finally signed it. Who would thought it would be so difficult! After all of that, I made sure that I got a picture.
10) OUR NEXT MOVE - So, we thought that our next move was between Frankfurt, Germany and Stuttgart, Germany, but it's looking like we are probably moving back to D.C. At first we were disappointed, because we were dreaming about being able to live and travel in Europe for a few years. But, sometimes what you think is best for your life isn't always in God's plan. Everything has worked out very well so far, so I'm just going to have faith that God will continue to lead us. We are looking at the many positive things about moving back to D.C. :
a) We can now live close to work b/c we don't have to consider school districts anymore with the kids being in college.
b) We already have friends there and know our way around. Some of our friends that we were in L.A. with are moving there, so it will be a great reunion.
c) We can choose to live in a condo where we don't have to shovel snow every Winter or spend our weekends doing yard work or cleaning a house that is too big for us.
d) I will be able to easily get a job.
e) We can save a lot of money.
f) We will live really close to the airport and the metro.
And the list goes on.....
So, with all that being said..........LIFE IS GOOD.
