Jul 30, 2009

Time

Time flies when you're......

...working a lot! I'm really enjoying my job. I'm working a lot (but not a lot of over time) and things are busy (but not too busy)! We did our first audit last week and that went well. I think. My manager had 5 pages of review notes today (most of which weren't mine and that made me happy!!) We are going out on our second audit next week and we'll be staying the week in Johnson City so I'll be hopefully visiting with friends at night while we're in town! We'll probably be there all week but we might be coming back Thursday night. I'm looking forward to traveling and being out of town for the week, even though its for work.

...really tired. I'm beat. Tonight I worked out with a trainer and she totally kicked my butt. I'm so tired, it's going to be a battle to get dressed in the morning. We did pretty much all arms/shoulders/core and I am worn out. It's not even 10 and I think I am going to bed. It was a GREAT workout! I felt like I'd worked out with Holly!

...looking forward to the weekend! This weekend should be fun. I'm going to have a girls night with some friends tomorrow night. Saturday Joetta and Justin are driving through on their way to Charleston for the week and I am super excited to see them. I haven't seen Joetta since her wedding last April! Almost a year and half ago! Sunday I'm planning on going to Redeemer church. It's so similar to Downtown Pres. It's a PCA church and it's downtown and close to campus. I visited there last week and really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to going back this week!

Jul 27, 2009

Recently Reminded

I've recently been reminded of the story of the Prodigal Son from Luke. Most of my life usually when I've heard a sermon on this topic, it's been about the younger son, the one who ran away. But over the past week especially, and really over the last few months, I've heard lessons on the older brother.

The post below this one references a Stuff Christians Like post that is about this same thing. This past Sunday I went to Redeemer Church in Knoxville. It was so good. It was almost just like being back at Downtown Pres. The speaker, who is a friend of Brian's from DPC, did a great job with this lesson. He said some things that really stood out to me.

The desvestating truth is that the older brother, the duty-do-er, is more lost than the younger brother. He confuses faith and duty. This is totally me. I generally follow the rules and do what I'm supposed to do and forget that I am not the one that determines my relationship with Jesus. Both sons are blind to who their father really is. I definitely sometimes forget and don't remember who the Father is. We are generally suspicious of Jesus' love. This can only be changed by the astonishing certainty that JESUS LOVES US!!! No one has ever or will ever love me like Jesus. I do not determine my relationship with Jesus. This was huge for me to realize. It is not up to me!

"God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to." - Elisabeth Elliot

Jul 23, 2009

Worth Checking out

It's kinda long but so worth reading...

Stuff Christians Like

Jul 22, 2009

Culture Shock

I dont know that it's really culture shock but it is in a way. Every day while I'm driving home I think, man, I can't believe that I really live in Knoxville now. I'm not here just visiting friends or hanging out or going to a wedding...I actually live here!

I love Knoxville! I love my job! I love the people that I'm working with! I love seeing college friends on a regular basis and without the rushed need to see a lot of people all in one weekend! It's so great. It's great to be able to drive a short distance and be able to see most of my friends that still live in the area. It's great to connect with old friends. It's great to drive less than 3 miles to work and the gym. It's great to have 3 sessions with a personal trainer. I love my new home! I think I've finally got it like I want it, with the exception of the downstairs bedroom. Who knows what I'm gonna do with it. Eventually I'd like to get some furniture in there and have it be a real guest bedroom. Right now it's the "everything-that-I-dont-know-what-to-do-with-goes-here" room! It's great to have friends who come to Knoxville (Jennie) often and that I can see because I live here now! It's crazy! It's great to be 2 1/2 hours from Nashville!

However- I REALLY love Greenville! I miss my family. I miss seeing BopBop every day. I miss being the family babysitter. I miss stopping by to see my grandparents. I miss eating food from my parents garden. I miss Downtown Pres. I miss Downtown Pres and the people there and my little group of folks who always hung out and my CG. I miss Sunday nights at Barleys (there is Barleys in Knoxville but it just wouldnt be the same). I miss Sunday mornings with Brian's teaching. I miss living downtown and walking everywhere. I miss Chicora Alley. I miss Spill the Beans and the Blueberry Frog. I miss Oysters on the West End. I miss the Paris Cafe for lunch with Nellie. I miss living 1/2 a mile from the park. I miss Downtown Greenville - there's something captivating about that place...

I have some real mixed emotions about being here but I'm so excited about "starting over"!

I stole this from my friend Lindsey's blog:

Here's to
d o i n g
things you never
thought you could or would,
o b e y i n g
that voice inside you
that tells you big things only
happen when you take big risks,
and
b e c o m i n g
the person you know you're
supposed to be...
even when you don't want to.
Time for a new chapter.

Jul 17, 2009

Quiet Friday Night

So tonight has been good. This week has been insane. I've worked late and hard all week (mostly because I have no idea what's going on). I've cooked dinner, visited with friends, met new interesting neighbors and learned even more about Knoxville. I've also gone to bed by 1030 almost every night. I'm worn out! But in a glorious way!

Tonight, I left work around 530 and came home, completely exhausted. I talked on the phone (a fav activity) to several different folks and then decided that I needed to go to Super Target. It's huge! I did that and then went to the Kroger Marketplace. It's HUGE too. I did my grocery shopping for the week. It was nice to just take my time and take it slow and the grocery store not be crowded (partly because it was Friday night - wow, am I a loser?)

Things are good and I love Knoxville!

Jul 13, 2009

Living Life

So, the move went GREAT!! Thanks to Jason, Michael, Ben, Chris, Mark, Lauren, Chandler, Jerry, Katharine, Phelps, and my parents. I hope I'm not leaving anybody out! These guys met me at the storage until at 930 on Saturday morning and everyone was gone by about 1020! What a great crew of folks to show up and help me move! My dad drove the truck to Knoxville and arrived about 245. The Reillys - Kevin, Kathy, Sean and Jake, Joseph, and Ashley H helped me move and did a fantastic job! :) We had the truck unloaded by 310! It was awesome! My A/C was broken when I moved in and so it was a little more than warm on Saturday and Sunday. I sweated a lot but I figure that it's good for me!

I'm still working on getting things settled and I'll put pics up here sometime soon!

Thanks again for all your help with the move!

More to come....

Jul 10, 2009

Adventures in Knoxville

I've been meaning to write all week but things have been INSANE! I haven't had a moment to myself. It's wearing me out. It's all be really great though! I had a great time with Diana on Monday and Tuesday. Her place is really cute and she lives in a great area in Maryville (Prounounced Mur-vul). Nick was a lot of help Monday afternoon while looking for a place to live. Monday there wasn't really a place that I was super excited about. I got up early Tuesday and went to run (so proud of myself) and started at 930 AM looking for a place to live. I visited 7 places and found my new home on my last visit!


It's a townhome close to work and in West Knoxville. It's about a mile from my friends, Matt and Whitney. It's in a great location. I hope you can see the pic of the outside I'm attaching. It's super cute. 2 bed 2 bath. The 'master suite' is upstairs with a washer and dryer.

Wednesday night and Thursday night I stayed with Matt and Whitney. It was great and close to work. They have a black lab puppy that's super cute. She's a mess and she's really sweet. Her name is Lady. I think she's probably sad tonight because I'm not there to keep her company!

Work is going good. All training all week. I'm looking forward to getting to work next week. I like the people that I'm working with and for, so that really helps! I just know it's going to be great!

I may write more later when I can think! :) I'm so tired - physically, emotionally and mentally - but its all from good things! Things are really falling into place and I give all the glory to God with Thanksgiving for his grace and peace.

Jul 5, 2009

New Blog Title

So, since I'm moving to Knoxville the name of my blog can't exactly be Displaced Downtowner any more. I mean, I still am, but I feel like I need to rename my blog. I'm liking the alliteration though (DD). Any suggestions?

Jul 3, 2009

Whirlwind

Wow! This week has been such a whirlwind! It's been the best week I've had in a really long time and I feel like I've spent 1/2 of it on the phone. I'm pretty sure that I put my phone down barely long enough to eat dinner Tuesday. I was just so excited and had to talk to everybody!

My worries have totally changed! On Monday, my worries would have been "will I ever get a job? what about the condo? what if neither job in Tennessee works out? I'm going to be back to square one. what am I going to do?"

Tuesday and the rest of this week, my worries have been "find a place to live, find a place to live, find a place to live, what about the condo?..."

I was totally stressed out and overwhelmed by CraigsList and the abundance of apartment complexes in Knoxville! One of my friends in Knoxville and has been a lot of help with looking and giving me ideas. I made a list the other day and it had about 15 complex/condos/townhomes and stuff to call and I just went online, picked out my favs and crossed off the rest. I am going to Knoxville on Monday and Tuesday to meet with about 6 of them and pick one for my new home! All of the places I've looked at have been a lot cheaper than what I was living in in Greenville. Although I walked to work, grocery and eat out. So I'm confident one of these will work out!

So many of you have asked about the condo that I bought. I dont know if everyone knows but I bought a condo on Friday, October 31 and lost my job on Tuesday, November 4. SO...I bought it from my brother and there was a guy renting it through March this year and I was going to move in. Well, when January rolled around he called and said his contract with BMW had been extended and that he would like to stay for another year. At the time, I was pretty upset because the plan had been to be with my parents short term and then go ahead and move into the condo in March, more than confident that I would have a job by then. Well that wasn't the case but I let the guy stay through May next year and so I'm not going to worry about it right now. In the Spring, depending on the market, I'll probably put it up for sale and if not, I'll try to rent it out again.

Also, things ended well with the job possibility in Johnson City that I interviewed with at the beginning of the summer. I called them Wednesday and said that I would just like to know where they were in the hiring process and when they called back I told them about the job offer in Knoxville and that I was going to take it. He said that if I ever needed another job even if its in 2 or 5 years, to be sure to give them a call because they were interested in me and were intending to invite me back for a second interview. So I feel good about that situation and that no bridges were burned in the process. I was nervous about making that phone call and it went really well.

OK, well I think that might be all the update for now. I'm headed to Knoxville Monday to start looking for a place to live and will start work on Wednesday! Woo-Hoo!!! I'm SO excited!