HI everyone! This past Friday we bought our very first home! Moving day was crazy and it really was a blessing that everyting fit on the 24-foot truck (which I drove from Atlanta, through Athens, and down on to Statesboro). Man, I feel like a woman!

It's great to know that we will (hopefully) live here longer than anywhere else. So far the record is just about three years (Athens, GA), although we also lived in Tuscaloosa, AL, and Statesboro during that time. We love our house and it's been fun to think of all the great deccorrating things I can finally try out! It feels great to know that we are moving up the property ladder. This house is considerably nicer and roomier than any place we've lived. We now have a record-setting three bedroom, two bathroom home with a big living room and 10-foot ceilings. 
It feels great to leave those renting days behind us! The windows let in so much natural light and we finally don't have to turn the volume way up on the tv when the A/C comes on! We are also the proud new owners of a sizable 1/2 acre yard which Jesse is excited to mow (just kiddin' Jesse)! We invite anyone to come visit and we can head for a day at the beach because we are only 2 hours from Hilton Head and St. Simon Island! (two very great beaches!) And we are only an hour from Savannah, which is an awesome place to visit.

Right now we are taking our time to move our stuff in because we have been too busy with other things like going to the beach...what a bummer huh?! It has also been hard to want to do anything other than read Harry Potter, which I wasn't able to start until we got to the beach. I thought I would be able to take over the book since Jesse was taking the Bar the following Tuesday and Wednesday after the book came out - but that didn't stop Jesse! He finished the book in two days! I think he didn't want to overhear any Potter gossip during the breaks while taking the Bar. It was great fun to go the the Book 7 release party at Barnes & Noble! We dressed Gracie up as our house Elf and apperated to the festivities...hee...hee! There were an unbelievable amount of people at the bookstore that night. It was awesome to see how one book can bring together so many different types of people. J.K. Rowling is a genius! Alas, I still haven't finished the book....
The Beach

The beach was a blast! We went to St. Simons Island off the coast of Georgia. Gracie came home talking all about sand and the ocean and water. She was afraid of the waves, but we finally got her to sit down in a tide pool. The first day we arrived at the beach a nest of sea turtle eggs had hatched. I could kick myself for not bringing the camera - it was amazing to see the tiny turtles, maybe 2 1/2 inches long, work their way to the ocean. It was unforgetable how hard these little turtles had to work just to move a foot, and the ocean was a good 30 yards from the nest. And to think that once they got to the water their fight for life had just begun. It was an amazing sight!
We hope that everyone who reads this is doing well! We miss you all and are hoping to get our house together so y'all can come visit!