One year

Today marks our one year anniversary in Texas.

They say the first year of marriage is hardest, but I completely disagree. The first year you live away from almost everyone you know is the hardest. We miss our family and friends and that wonderful, crisp autumn air that is abundant in Tennessee right now. But we know that for this time, this is the place God wants us. To celebrate our first year, I thought it would be fitting to document some of the things I (we) love most about our new home:

1. Our Church - we absolutely love our church. It is a place where you can just be yourself, no matter who you are. God is doing some amazing things in the lives of those at our church and I can't wait to see what He has in store!

2. Our Texas friends-Clay and I were fortunate enough to know a few people when we moved to Texas and it has been great reconnecting with them. Even more special have been the people we have met here. I have been lucky enough to have a couple of best friends who have "been there since back in the day" so in Knoxville I never really needed anyone else. Now, I have been so much more open to meeting new people. At 26, I honestly haven't "made" a real friend in a long time so sharing experiences over lunches or walking through the neighborhood with a new friend are really some on my cherished times in our new world.

3. Cheap furniture- okay, the first two were fairly serious so I needed to have a little humor. But seriously in Texas you can find some great wood furniture for next to nothing. Today, Clay and I found several pieces that we love. When we returned home, Clay found similar furniture on the internet for double the price. We plan on buying out the store as soon as possible!

4. NASCAR- not really, but I couldn't do a post today without telling you that Clay and I spent Halloween in a box at the truck race at Texas Motor Speedway. Clay's work had a box and lots of tickets so off we went.... Honestly, it wasn't that bad. We had free food and drinks and didn't have to set with thousands of drunk rednecks. We only stayed for about half of the race ( I mean, how many times can you watch them go around) and while there were a few exciting moments (a pretty big wreck during the second lap) it was pretty uninteresting. I was surprised by how large the track/infield were as well as how loud it was. I think that will probably be my one and only NASCAR event for my lifetime. :)