i won't miss the chiggars

Seems like just yesterday, I wrote this post about moving across the country to a new place where I didn't know anyone and everything was so different.  It's now been 5 years and this summer we're moving back across the country to Phoenix, AZ.  It has been a fun and happy time living in the South, but we're happy to be moving on to a long-term job and exciting career for Wade.  I always read and re-read my posts many times and as I read through the paragraphs below I'm blown away by how much I will miss about this place!  If you ever have the chance to live in Nashville, TN, I highly recommend it.

Courteous drivers-  People don't try to speed up and cut you off, they are very willing to let others in. Rarely do I see anyone speed up to try and make it through a yellow light.  I lost count of how many times people have waved me on at four way stops, rather than hurry and try to be the first one (even legitimately being first, but still let me go).   Basically, drivers in Tennessee are not aggressive and it makes for a much kinder commute.

Percy Warner/Edwin Warner Park- These two parks in Nashville have given us endless hours of hikes, runs, bike rides, marshmallow roasts, bird-watching, firefly catching, flower photography, and on and on.  They have a fantastic Nature Center with programs for kids and adults.  Most of the programs are free and we've been able to do everything from searching for salamanders in the creek bed to kayak down the Harpeth River, all with amazing staff and for free!

Spring Runs- After a dull winter, it is invigorating to run outside and see the flowers blooming, and trees turning green again.  Nothing like a spring run in Percy or Edwin Warner park! Don't forget the muddy shoes/legs.

Fall Runs-  I've loved running through the gorgeous scenery of colorful trees in perfect warm weather, especially in Edwin or Percy Warner park.

Sweet CeCe's- A cup full of original tart frozen yogurt, topped with strawberries, blueberries, pinneapple, coconut, and finished off with hot fudge. Best yogurt ever!

Trees- At first it was strange to have so many trees everywhere.  You can't see very far because of the thickness of forest.  I still love going out West and being able to see for miles, but I know I'll miss the trees when we're gone.

Rain- I'm talking about those crazy TN downpours and the big fat rain you can't go outside in without getting drenched through. Makes everything so green!

Spring- Even after 5 years of living here, I'm always surprised how green it gets in the spring! The best are the blossoms everywhere!  It is like a new world every Spring.

Fireflies-  I feel nostalgic when my boys run around outside in the summer catching fireflies.  Even though I had never even seen one until we moved here 5 years ago, it just feels like something that every child should get to grow up doing.

YMCA-  Our local YMCA is the best gym I have ever seen.  It has literally saved my sanity.  I joined when the twins were about 2 and it has provided a fun/safe place for them to play while allowing me to de-stress and get in shape.  It's value cannot be underestimated for me and my life during this time.  I've loved the classes (particularly spin, yoga or pilates, sculpt or bodypump).  I also couldn't have done my running training without it.  I can't say how many miles I've logged on those treadmills.  Not to mention the kid play area and the people who work there.  It's a first rate set up with an outdoor playground included.  My kids almost always love going and are a little disappointed when it's time to leave.  We've also had swimming lessons and numerous family swims at the indoor pool.  The icing on the cake is the income based monthly fee :).

Volleyball-  A group of women in our church would get together every Monday morning and play volleyball. None of us were any good (correction: MOST of us weren't any good), but it was a great way to build friendships and burn off steam while the kids played together.  It was a very important part of my life for some months when I needed an extra dose of adult interaction during the week.

BBQ-  We'll miss the abundance of smoked meat available at many bbq joints.  We particularly liked Whitt's BBQ, but there are many others.

Music- One of our favorite spots is the Station Inn, but we've also visited some of the many other places in Nashville that you can go and see amazing live music almost any night of the week.  It's truly a great place to be if you are a music fan (and not just Country music).  During our time here Wade and I were introduced to some amazing Folk, Bluegrass, Newgrass style music that we love and will be fans for life.

State Parks-  Tennessee has been called the the state with the best state parks system.  All of them are free to visit and there are so many amazing places that we've gone to over and over.  Some of our favorites are Fall Creek Falls, Big South Fork, Radnor Lake.

The Great Smoky Mountains-  They are as amazing as you think.  If you ever get a chance to visit in the Fall, do it!  It's a great visit anytime, but the Fall in particular is spectacular.

The Four Seasons-  Okay, so my favorite by far are Spring and Fall.  Absolutely gorgeous green Spring with blossoms everywhere and beautiful weather before it gets too hot.  Fall is unbelievably beautiful with the colors and trees everywhere.  Winter is rough since it gets quite cold, but doesn't snow often and all the leaves are gone from the trees.  This makes for a dull and brown, cold winter.  Luckily, winters in Nashville are short with warm summer weather well into November sometimes and spring starting as early as February.  Summer wouldn't be so bad but for the intense humidity.  There are some days you just have to stay inside or in the pool since the shade doesn't really help with the humid air. It also stays quite hot at night which means no cool air and windows open :(.  I don't mind the summers, but Spring and Fall are definitely going to be missed most!

Nashville Public Library (particularly the downtown library)- Admittedly, we did not take advantage of it as much as we should have.  Nashville has an amazing library and story time with puppet shows and live music, etc., etc.  We've also come to watch movies for free with popcorn and treats for everyone!

Our church congregation and ward, dear friends, and new acquaintances-  We have made some very close friends in Nashville that we will always keep in touch with.  Our ward has been a great place to learn and grow the past 5 years.  We will miss it.  We will miss you.

farewell to tennessee and a pickin' party

Hmmm.... I haven't posted in a long time because, 1: we just moved across the country and packed/unpacked all our photo and computer equipment and couldn't find the card reader to put photos on the computer and then lost internet connection to the only computer that we could put the photos on, and 2: I've been dreading having to write a post about leaving Nashville. :(

As suspected, we loved living in Nashville, made many dear friends and are sad to have left.  Our last few days in Nashville were spent doing necessary and stressful things like packing, scheduling moving trucks, car pick-ups, making phone calls about housing arrangements, address changes, etc., etc.  I don't remember actually saying goodbye to anyone, although I'm sure we did.

If we missed you, well, goodbye.  It was nice knowing you and if we didn't know you, I wished we had been able to get to know you better.  Maybe next time ;).  I feel especially blessed by friendships made in the places we have lived.  Particularly those friendship that were meticulous in the making.  I'd like to think that I could be very dear friends with almost anyone if I had all the time and situation to do so.  I love learning about new people and attempting to understand different opinions, circumstances, beliefs, and traditions.  I wish I had the social skills to make friends quickly and instantly, but for me it usually takes time, often years to make a dear friend. I wish I had many more years in Nashville to make dear friends of everyone.  On a happier note, we have already met many wonderful people here in our new city and I have high hopes for making some dear friends (sometime in the next couple of years :).

That aside, we did leave Nashville in mid-July. We drove across the country to a new state, city, and home (our very first home as a matter of fact!).  The house was even better than I remember and we are enjoying it here, but more on that later.  Here are a few photos of our last days in Nashville.  One of the highlights of our summers there were the Full Moon Pickin' Parties.  There are scheduled bands that come and play bluegrass music and lots of local people who come with their instruments and just stand around playing bluegrass music or "pickin'" as they call it!

Last night in Nashville, TN.

We'll miss this little old house (but not the goofy boys- they came with us!).

One more bedtime story.

Fun with glow sticks at the Full Moon Pickin' Party. 

 

"Pickers" at the Full Moon Pickin' Party.

One of the scheduled bands at the Full Moon Pickin' Party.  This photo was taken by Jack who offered to walk up to the stage and snap some shots!  He really got into it.

southern 4th of july recipe...

  ...Old Glory, check.

 ...a patriotic parade in Pegram, TN, check.

 ...boat loads of candy, check.

...parade popsicles, check.

...moonshine, hmm, I think I'll pass just this once.

  

...sonic speed bike riding, check Pete.

...check Ben.

...check Jack.

...fireworks in Downtown Nashville, check.

 

...from the cheap seats 

(across the freeway, on a hill, near the road, in the grass, with the chiggers), check.

...neighborhood fireworks, check.

 ...a farewell gathering with Wade's boss, Chuck Sanders, wife Becky and lab co-workers, check.

...swimming and lunch with friends (Millers), check.

...cookout with more friends (Bylunds), check.

...broil at 92 degrees, with 70% humidity for 6-8 hours, check.

...and you've got the recipe for a great 4th of July,
and a few of the things we'll miss about Nashville (except for the chiggers, of course)!

may=fun

Between a house-hunting trip to Phoenix, a baptism, two birthdays, 8 extra family members staying in our home, lots of fun activities with family, preschool graduation, the end of 2nd grade, and beginning of summer break, it has been a busy month of May!

Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins came to have some fun.  The kids loved catching fireflies!  

catching fireflies

Peter and cousin Brielle (They absolutely LOVED playing together).

Caught one!

Playing.

 

Couldn't get a better picture than this!

 

They filled the jar with fireflies!

 

Letting them go.

Storytime with Grandma V.

grandpa danny visits tennessee

My dad, Grandpa Danny, came to visit for a whole week! We had a lot of laid-back fun, but with three little boys, there was plenty of excitement too. Grandpa took us all around Nashville and we showed him some of our favorite spots. He also spent plenty of time "wrastlin" the boys, playing games (Monopoly seems to be Pete's favorite lately), and generally spoiled us all! We sure did enjoy having him here.

Me and my Dad

The three musketeers with Grandpa Danny

We took a day trip to Fall Creek Falls while Grandpa Danny was in town. It was so beautiful during the fall and we enjoyed some hiking and driving.

I love this photo. It makes me happy!

From the base of the falls

Our family (and the sheriff)

With Grandpa

Pete took this photo of a dragonfly. Pretty amazing!

Ben

Mom and Ben

Jack

Pete

I love this candid peek at the boys playing together.

I guess Ben won

Amy Foote Rock
(Peter named it after his aunt, because he thinks it looks like a foot)

great pumpkin roll

Ready

Roll

Chase

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

Ben

Jack

marrowbone lake & canoeing the harpeth river

July 3, 2010- Our first fishing trip in Tennessee! We had to buy all the gear: fishing license, poles, bait, etc. Since Wade is outfitted only for fly-fishing, even he needed a fishing pole. We brought some lunch and headed for a nearby family fishery called Marrowbone Lake. It was a great success. All three boys caught 2-3 fish each and absolutely loved it. The fish were small enough to make it necessary to throw them back (much to mom's relief) and the boys were happy to do so. I loved seeing how excited they were to reel in the fish and see what they caught.

Fisherman Jack

Food + Fishing = Fun!

Fisherman Ben


July 5, 2010- Our first family canoeing trip!

We took the boys canoeing on the Harpeth River with some friends. It was so much fun. We'll definitely be going again sometime (maybe a longer trip without kids).

There were plenty of places to stop and get out to play in the water.
The boys had a blast riding in the canoe and getting wet.
Jack and Ben playing in the water

Jack on the Harpeth River