Farewell Fayetteville

Wow. I can't believe it's finally here. In about a week, we'll be loading David's truck and making the move back to Birmingham. I've been longing for the day that my family can move back to Alabama. And now it's here. AND..... I'm kind of sad. So weird. I've wasted so much energy on hating Fayetteville, that I let our time slip by not realizing that I actually like it here. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm still thrilled that we are moving home; I just didn't realize that I would have sentimental attachment to "Fayette-nam" as many call it. 

I've been so focused on the negatives, that I didn't realize that there are positives that outweigh each point:

There are not many good restaurants here... Welllll, I cook most nights anyway.

I miss my family... We definitely talk WAY more when I live far away than when I live in the same town. I speak to my mom and dad nearly every day, if not several times a day. I prefer face to face, but we listen and share more via phone.

I have no friends here... Guess what, it's because I was so caught up in not having friends that I never tried to make any. I have actually met some amazing people since we've been here. First, we met a fabulous lady named Wendy and her beautiful daughter, Julia, at our Kindermusik class. We had so much fun with them and even attended Julia's first birthday party. But then we went to Alabama for a few months and never reconnected when we returned. 100% my fault. (I'm trying to line up one more play date before we leave again because I miss them!!)

With our second kindermusik session, we met a sweet mother and daughter duo, Laura and Josie. They were so friendly and Charlie took to Laura (the mom) immediately. He would go crawl in her lap during class and always gravitate towards her. Charlie loves the blondes! We started talking one day and I mentioned Auburn and it turns out, Laura was doing an online MBA program at Auburn. She was planning a trip and I was so excited to tell her all about the Loveliest Village! They had a great time in Auburn and sent me this picture from their tour of the campus and athletic facilities:

How cute is Josephine??!!!

There are a lot of great couples here with babies close to Charlie's age. The Jungks came over for the Iron Bowl with their sweet little boy, Rory. They are such a loving, sweet family and I enjoyed our time with them so much. Here are Charlie and Rory enjoying a wagon ride during halftime:

And, with 2 weeks left, I finally spoke to some ladies in my zumba class that I see at least 3 days a week and ended up having a wonderful lunch with them and going to our fabulous instructor's birthday celebration. Why didn't I say hello a year and a half ago?

Moral of the story: don't be so self-consumed and negative that you miss the everyday positives.

Fayetteville will always hold a special place in our hearts. Charlie was born here. We learned how to be parents here. Charlie took his first steps here. I found the best gym and zumba class EVER here. I got to stay at home with Charlie, which may never happen again once we move back. So much joy in this place. I just hate that I didn't allow myself to embrace it until it was time to go. I will miss this town and I never (ever) thought I'd say that. Would I move back to Fayetteville if I had the opportunity? Probably not. But I will cherish the time that we had here and try to only remember the positives.

Side note... I have some prayer requests:

• My cousin Cristopher's brain tumor IS in fact cancerous. The initial biopsy was for a portion of the tumor and apparently the other portion is malignant. It's called a mixed germ cell tumor, or Mixed Germinoma of the Brain. It is extremely rare to be in the brain. It's typically related to testicular cancer, but after body scans and ultrasounds, they've determined it's only in the brain. Hallelujah. He has had some set backs with swelling complications and pressure in the skull being too high, but he seems to be doing well now. They are planning to put in a port while they have him in the hospital so that once his strength starts coming back, they can begin treatments. Please pray for Cristopher and his wife Dailee, who is due next month with their baby boy, Rhett. Also pray for Cristopher's mom, Wendy, and sister, Carly. They all need our love and support!
• My sweet Mamu has been having extremely high blood pressure and questionable potassium and sodium levels. She has been in and out of the ER and hospital and doctor offices and so far, they have not been able to regulate her levels. I pray that the doctors will communicate and prioritize Mamu's health, safety, comfort, and well being. 

Thanks guys!

Christmas

Christmas vacation started with a couple of quick days in Birmingham.

We played at the park in Trussville:

Went to see Maggy and Masen in their Christmas program:

Then we headed to South Alabama. It was a heart wrenching trip for me. Reb got spooked by gunfire in between storms, jumped through the screened porch, and took off. He was gone for 19 hours. David rode around on the 4 wheeler and I walked the perimeter of the 160ish acres. No sign of my Reb. I was a mess. Luckily, he came back at 5:30am and Dr. Palmer let him in our room.  I've never been so happy to see a wet, soggy, stinky dog in my life. He slept so hard all day and only really got up to eat and go to the bathroom. He was stiff and sore and covered in tics. We pulled off a total of 36 so far. That same night, David was working in the attic of his dad's vet clinic and his wet boots slipped. He hit his head on a rafter and his dad had to come stitch the cut above his temple.  He chose to not tell me until the next morning because Reb was gone and he didn't want to add to my worriment and anguish!

Despite the dramatic events, we did have some fun! Charlie got to play with his Granddaddy, Uncle Joseph, Uncle Phillip, Aunt Tara, and cousins Laurel and Baby Hugh. He had the best time playing!

 His favorite things to do were riding on the 4 wheeler and tractor and mooing with the cows:

David and I attended Jody and Tara's tacky sweater party:

(Kara was kind enough to remove a heal so that I didn't look so short. That's what best friends are for.)

Christmas Day pictures:

We started Christmas at LaLa and Grump's house with a visit from Santa and a delicious breakfast with the Mooneys and Melvins.

 Then we went to Aunt Dawn and Uncle Jay's for a yummy late afternoon dinner.

We had a play date at Blaire's house to get everyone that was in town together. Kingsley and Matt, Leigh (Jack was with fam), Blaire and Will, Whitney (Ingram was at work), Emily and Kent, and David and I all met at Blaire's to let the kids play and let the mamas catch up. We all then met Melissa and Lee, and their niece, Ann Fulton, at the Birmingham Zoo for Zoo Light Safari. It was very chilly, but we had so much fun!!!

We went to Auburn to work on the house and stayed with Ray and Joanna. Charlie played with Hollis and Reed, ate A LOT of food at Byron's, and had an awesome time at Mason's second birthday party. He wouldn't let me get off of the choo choo train. We rode 3 times in a row before he'd let me budge from the car.

Back in Birmingham, we had a great time playing at the park with our Giig!! (or Geeg... she can't decide how we are going to spell it). We went to triangle park in Forest Park and they had SO many trucks and bulldozers for Charlie to play with. He couldn't decide which one to play with first. He just went from truck to truck, until he decided on a dump truck. He pushed that dump truck all over the place, including in and out of the "giant" hole. He had so much fun!

(Above: his sign for "please." He kept going from truck to truck signing "please" because he didn't know which one to play with first!) 

We had a scary series of days while we were in Alabama as well. My sweet cousin, Cristopher, was having really bad headaches. He and his brother, Coley, were going hunting and Cristopher collapsed and temporarily couldn't move the right side of his body. He spent 5 hours waiting in the ER and when they finally scanned his head, they found a 3 inch mass on his brain. It was absolutely terrifying. For those that have not had the privilege of meeting him, Cristopher is the most precious, loving, huge-hearted, caring, hardworking man. He and his wife, Dailee, are expecting their first baby in February. The doctors at Brookwood operated for 6+ hours. The tumor was a different texture than expected. They had to chip away at it with a laser and sent away samples for biopsies as they worked. THEY REMOVED ALL OF THE TUMOR AND IT WAS BENIGN!!!!  PRAISE THE LORD!! It will be a long recovery process, but we are all so thankful to continue celebrating life with Cristopher and can't wait to see him hold baby Rhett in February! He will be a wonderful (and healthy) father!

Lots of Christmas blessings!

Looking forward to our last month in Fayetteville, and of course the BCS National Championship Game!!!