Yesterday at about 5 am, Bryan, Ariane (my little sister) and I piled into my car to begin our journey to transfer orientation at Samford University in Birmingham, AL. We were honored to be able to play the role of 'parents' for the day and move Air into her dorm room :) During orientation also we had the opportunity to sit in on the activities designed for 'parents.' It was awesome and boring all at the same time. The Parent's Q & A session gave us great insight into the mind of a Samford parent. The first thing on their mind is where and when do I write the check - this was quickly followed up with 'how do we check our students grades?' Oh parents.

Upon arrival at Samford, Air began telling us about all the cool and unique aspects of the university and campus life. As we walked by the landscape crew attending to the flower beds, Air proudly exclaimed that Samford had an amazing plethora of plants in their PLANTatarium. To which Bryan replied, "Do you mean greenhouse?" Haha. As any good 'parent' would do, we informed her that the PLANTatarium on campus is actually a PLANETarium, where one would go to see planets, stars, or constellations :)  Oh Air, how we love you and will miss you terribly.

To the students, faculty, and staff at Samford, we wish good luck! :)  To Air, may your next 3.5 years at Samford be a time of great growth, learning, and friendship.

We are on box #43. #43?!?! what??? We have that much stuff?!!? While most of these boxes are relatively small, but I am pretty sure our possessions have a breeding problem! :) Just under 6 years ago Bryan came to college in 4 suitcases and I came in 2 suitcases and a box. Now we are at box #43, it is crazy how things accumulate! Stacks of cards from dear friends, t-shirts caught at Vandy sporting events, lightly used textbooks, 4 cans of silly string - you know, all of the 'essentials' - have all been carefully wrapped in bubble wrap and strategically put into a box. Photos and shelves have been stripped from the walls, dresser and bookcase emptied, couch and clock sold, I'm not sure if 'un-nesting' is the proper terminology for making your house messy/disorganized and your pantry baren, but I'm pretty sure that is what I have been doing all week. The countdown has begun - we are leaving Nasvhille February 2nd and traveling out west. Can't wait to see friends and family but we will miss our friends and church here in Nashville. 

Bittersweet. Webster defines bittersweet as "Producing or expressing a mixture of pain and pleasure." When I was a kid I always associated the adjective bittersweet with dark chocolate, but now I find myself using it to describe my last few weeks in Nashville. Yesterday started our bittersweet reality. You see, yesterday was my last day as an intern at Bell & Associates Construction. Even though I was just the intern, I was welcomed into the Bell family with open arms. I had grown to love working there and thoroughly enjoyed the company of my coworkers and friends. As my last day was approaching, several of my colleagues expressed that finding my replacement would be very difficult. So imagine my surprise when I walked into my office to find my replacement sitting ALREADY sitting in my chair!!! (see picture) :) Oh how I will miss my furry friends at Bell.

It snowed for the first time this year here in Nashville last week and Nashvillians were ready. Snow plows were on the road, work let out early on Thursday for many people, school was canceled on Friday, and of course the bread and milk isles at the store were nearly empty (apparently that is all the food you need to survive in a blizzard). This is all standard procedure when the weather man mentions the thought of snow here in the south. As you can see below, there was, well, less snow than you might have expected if you live anywhere that knows what snow is. Being from the west, we are used to dealing with snow, real snow, piles of snow, roof crushing snow. I love snow, I love skiing, I love sitting next to a toasty fire watching it come down and cover everything in a pure white blanket. It is funny to see how different people and cities react to the fluffy white stuff and how we can get accustomed to the places we live (Nicole left work early on Thursday along with her co-workers!). Hopefully we will get to see some real snow when we head out west in the next couple weeks (although the ski slopes still haven't opened in Boise). 
Much of Ethiopia is at a high elevation (the capital is above 7,500 feet), but the proximity to the equator means that we are not likely to see much snow. We are looking forward to the great weather (average high in the 70s and low in the 40s year round, with a dry and rainy season), but I will miss hitting the slopes on my skis.

PS - Just for the record, I beat Nicole down the hill every time we go to the mountain!