The New Year

It's been awhile since my last update, but not too much has happened. Brock and I are starting to get comfortable in the new city and are getting a little attached! We really enjoy the area we live in and are finding more and more to do around here. We've enjoyed several Predators games (Nashville's hockey team) and got to go to the Trans Siberian Orchestra Holiday Concert which was interesting to say the least. It's definitely starting to feel like home.



This year for Christmas, we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Brock's family and then Christmas night with my family. We enjoyed doing each other's stockings for the first time and really enjoyed making Tucker a stocking:) ....Can't leave him out! But we had a wonderful Christmas with both our families and were very happy to spend some time with everyone.


We also went to the Dicken's Christmas in downtown Franklin this year where hundreds of people dress up as the characters from the movie and walk around. They do little performances like dances and some of them bring their instruments and play Christmas tunes. A lot of them take this really seriously and do it every year. There were booths to shop and look at and plenty of fair food! It was definitely interesting. Here's a guy that was probably dressed up the best--


The latest news is that Brock and I are getting another dog! Yes, it finally happened. We had been talking about getting Tucker a friend for awhile now (I think we just used that as an excuse!) but we found a little black and cream boy from one of the breeders that my mom uses to buy some of her dogs. We're picking him up over MLK weekend so I can have an extra day with him. We don't have a name yet--just a long list of potential ones. If you have an suggestions, let me know. Here's a picture of him that we have.


That's all for now. We had a wonderful Christmas and a much needed break! Instead of leaving you with a Tucker picture, here's a very festival (and funny!) picture of Brock and me. Next time, look out for pictures of Tucker and the new puppy!

Pumpkin Festival

This past weekend was the annual Pumpkin Festival in downtown Franklin. All the little kiddos were dressed up in their Halloween costumes and there was kernel corn, corn dogs, candy, and the whole thing. Ironically, it seemed like all the dressed up dogs were getting more attention than the kids:) We were going to take Tucker in his hot dog outfit, but he never quite got over the whole "I think it's a toy" thing, so we settled for a sweater.



Here are a few other pictures from the eventful day.


So apparently there's a large group of men who live for the Pumpkin Festival every year because they get to dress up in their homemade Star Wars costumes. Go figure.

This creepy one walked through the streets scaring people.
Of course when I pointed the camera, it started coming after me. I screamed like a baby and started running toward Brock who at a moment's notice had darted to the other side of the street. "I knew it was going to chase you, so I bolted." Whatta protector, right?!

This one's for Greg: his two favorite people.

And this one's for Brock, my Dad, and Greg:
their role models!

We also had a "celebrity sighting" at the festival. Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman, and their new baby walked right beside us at the festival. Everyone looked, but left them alone. Kinda cool. I guess that's what you get when you live in Franklin, TN.
Work's work.... We're tugging along and looking forward to Thanksgiving when we get to see family. Leaving you with another Tucker picture--this one is of the Tuckster after his long day at the Pumpkin Festival. Love you all.

I swear he thinks he's human.... I wonder who let him think that?!

Happy Fall!

We love the fall time!
Georgia Football... cool weather... beautiful scenery...
What more could you ask for?! The trees are just now starting to change and it's gorgeous around here with the hills full of color. Just beautiful. I'm leaving to go home next Thursday for fall break and I can't wait to drive through the mountains. I think I'll hit it at just the right time to see all the colored trees.

Brock's done a little bit of travel here and there over the past month. Knoxville, Atlanta, and he leaves for Arkansas next week. He still in the adjustment stage of his new job, but he's getting there. Ya gotta learn the ropes first.

School's going pretty well for me. I'm enjoying math a lot more than I thought I would and I'm actually starting to hope that I have another math position next year so I can give it another shot. I got a good group of kids this year and I'm afraid that I'm going to be "that teacher" who cries on the last day of school! I've definitely learned a few things so far:
1. Kids love to call you out on things.
2. How to admit when I'm wrong.
3. What to do when I'm wrong...... Are you noticing a trend here?
Teaching has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. I work long hours on most weeknights and planning eats up my weekends, so I earn that paycheck, baby. Like my dad said, "Teachers are the very unappreciated...." I think I have to agree. I never knew how hard my teachers worked until I became one. But maybe I'm biased:)

I think I'm finally starting to get homesick now.
I missed Georgia, but it didn't really become a home "sickness" until I started really missing my family and friends. Don't get me wrong, I missed them from day one, but now it's to the point of almost unbearable. Brock got to see Mom, Dad, and Greg this week and I have to admit, I was a little jealous. I'm going home next week and I think it's going to be hard to go back. Brock divulged his "sickness" a few weeks ago, too. But I know there's a reason for everything and this is making us stronger together.

Here's a few Tucker pictures til the next time.
Love you all,
Laura

An official Hallo"weenie"
Tucker's new Halloween costume that he will wear the Halloween festival this year!

Tucker's new sweater for winter. I just can't help it, he looks so darn cute!

So this is life!

The first couple of weeks of school have been crazy, busy, and mostly tiresome. I'm teaching 7th and 8th grade math (pre-algebra and algebra) and the hardest part has been relearning all the material. I find myself going back to language arts all the time. "So what word do you see in the word reflexive?!....And what does that mean?!" I can't help but incorporate some language arts, but I guess it's a good thing! Unfortunately, sometimes I think that the kids know more than I do! I ended up getting my own classroom (yay!) so that's made life 1,000,000 times easier.

Brock's been gone for two weeks now for training and has one week left! He's enjoying himself and making new friends, but I think he's ready to come home. He misses Tucker and little does he know that Tucker has completely taken over his side of the bed!

Mom came up for the weekend to hang out with me and visit the Nashville area. We did as much sightseeing and eating out as we could! She brought Cooper and Ginny to give Tucker some company and we all had a great time. I was so happy to see my mom and have some company. Here are some pictures we took of the dogs:)

Cooper

Ginny

Tucker

Tucker and Ginny spent some time cuddling together in our bed, so here's their lovers picture!That's about it for now:)

Ok.. It's been awhile!

Not too much has happened since the last post!
I did get a new job! (That's the best news I have!) I am now officially a teacher at Brentwood Middle School about 15 minutes from our house. I'm a floater this year, so I don't have a classroom and I float to different classrooms teaching different grades and subjects. Needless to say, it's going to be a busy year, but I'm really excited:) Tomorrow is my first day. This week is inservice and the kids come back next Monday.

As promised, I have some pictures of our apartment!:

The living room

Our bedroom

The kitchen

The front door! (Sorry, it's dark, but take note of the little UGA!)

Brock has one more week of summer until work starts and it's a good thing because he's getting restless. He's ready for something to do! His first three weeks will be Atlanta (ironically!) and then we'll see where he ends up from there.

Brock and I had lunch and went to the fair with one of my old friends from back in middle school, Rachel Likens. Rachel and her husband, Dustin, moved up here at the beginning of the summer and since I hadn't seen her since 8th grade and none of us really know anyone up here, we all decided to get together. It was nice to see old friends. Hopefully we'll get to see more of them:)

Tucker is doing well. He's enjoyed having us around all summer, so I don't know how he's going to react when we head to work. He'll have to be like every other puppy. That's about it for now. But here's a picture for your Tucker-fix :) Love you all!

He loves baths, can't you tell?!

"We're there!"

Well...
We made it.

We've moved in, started unpacking the boxes (we're almost done!) and painted a few walls. I'll post some pictures of the new place as soon as we get everything in it's place.We had hoped for no rain the day we moved in and luckily it didn't rain, but we forgot about hoping for cool weather. It was blasting hot our first day up here--it seemed like we were still in Hotlanta--and so far, it's still been warm, though not humid:)


Yesterday, Brock and I went to the Department of Transportation to get our new driver's licenses. I think that was when it finally set in that we're up here for good! It was definitely a little weird not only changing my name, but also getting an out-of-state driver's license.

I'm still looking for a job, but I have a few prospects, so we'll see. Our friends, Mike and Lisa, (Mike was one of Brock's groomsmen and Lisa is his wife) are coming to see us in two weeks, so we're really excited to hang out with them and see some familiar faces:) Other than that, life is good and as for Tucker and his new home...well, this picture speaks a thousand words:

We're moving!

The packing and cleaning up process hasn't been as glamorous as we had hoped. We realized that we have a lot more stuff than we thought. It's pretty simple when you move yourself, but moving two people is twice the junk--of course Brock has a lot more than I do;)

We're moving in less than 2 days and the pressure's on! There are a lot more dust bunnies in each corner I clean. And the space in our apartment is getting smaller and smaller.

Tucker's a little confused with what's going on! I think he thinks we're leaving him behind. Brock shut him in a box as a joke, but neither of us (Tucker and I) thought it was very funny...

We'll let you know how the move goes once we finally settle in and get going!