-- Happenings - Part Two --

Whew.  When I started my last blog post I honestly didn't think I had this much to update on.  But, after looking through my journal and pictures it seemed best to break things up a bit.  Here's the rest of the 2012 story.  I'm thinking 2013 is going to be a Part Three.

July 2013:

• July was chock full of heartbreak as we lost a wonderful man, a wonderful grandfather.  Our lives are significantly emptier without him.

• July was also when we packed our home in a UHaul and waited, very impatiently, for the legal paperwork required for our move to the US.  Luckily I had my mom around to keep me sane as well as Lucas' brother and father to help with the heavy lifting.

August 2012:

• We made the trek from Toronto, Ontario to Chattanooga, Tennessee on August 1st.  Lucas, me, Izzy, Lucas' dad and my parents helped us with the drive and the unpacking in our new home.  Leaving our parents at the Atlanta airport was incredibly difficult.  It become truly real that we were starting a chapter of our lives *really* far away from our families.

Mom and Dad enjoying the hot sunshine at a downtown restaurant in Chattanooga.

• I started my position at UTC and classes started much earlier than I was used to.  We also spent time unpacking our things (though we did leave a mirror on the floor for a very long time because Izzy liked gazing at her own reflection) and exploring a bit of our new city.

September 2012:

• Had our first visit from family.  Lucas' aunt, uncle and cousin came for an overnight.
• Settled into our back deck and Lucas learned our new Big Green Egg BBQ.

• Continued our exploration of our city... on the motorcycle and some old-fashioned 2-wheelers :-)

•  Played hooky for a day at the 'beach'

• Took in our first college football game! 

• Learned that Izzy actually enjoys brushing her own teeth.

• Finished out September with even more heartache as we said goodbye to my wonderful Papa.  I didn't know hurt like this until it happened.  

October 2012:

• Our first Tennessee hike.

November 2012:

• My new office - with a window!

• The arrival of a new family member!  Welcome to the world Jaxon!!

December 2012:

• Celebrating the end of my first term as an Assistant Professor!
• Christmas visits with BOTH families!! Featuring cuddles with the newest member of the family...

Seeing this amazing little one go from being a toddler to be a really awesome kid - and such a great big sister!

Someone was not happy about finding clothes in a fruit snacks box!

2012 finished off with both of us being incredibly sick with sinus infections.  Gross.  I can thoroughly say that we were incredibly happy to welcome 2013.  2012 was a year of heartache, fear, new and scary opportunities and some loneliness.  We have never been so happy to put a year behind us.

2013 though?  Its been a blast so far!

-- Happenings - Part One --

Its been over a year since I posted on this blog.  Its been quite a year but I think I'm ready to start sharing a slice of our life here again.

Here are the major happenings in the first part of 2012 (I'll get to the rest soon):

January and February 2012:  

• On the job market.
• Lucky to have several phone interviews and visited a couple different campuses in the US.
• Incredibly fortunate to make a couple good impressions and had to choose between 2 job offers - the closest being 14 hours away from where we were living currently.

April 2012:

• Signed a contract with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.  An incredibly scary undertaking (and one that required a good bit of convincing to get Lucas behind the decision) but it really did 'feel' right.

• Had an awesome visit with my sisters, we shopped for dresses for my little sister's wedding and went to Raptors basketball game!

• Finished some minor house updates and put our house on the market.

 May 2012:

• Accepted an offer on our home - exactly one day after I wrote the entry below in my journal.

June 2012:

• Had an incredibly difficult time finding a rental house in Chattanooga... I seriously spent several days on Craigslist just refreshing my screen hoping something would pop up.  Each time we would get close, it would fall through.  Eventually a place worked out though...

• Saw my little sister marry the guy of her dreams and my sweet little niece as a rockin' flower girl!

That seems like a pretty happy place to leave off.  Coming up is the big move, several heartbreaking family losses, and a pretty phenomenal family addition!