Author Archives: Franci

Happy Friday From the Friendly State of Tennessee

Black and White text mural that says, " Nashville Looks good on you"
Mural by thenash.tn found in 12 South Neighborhood in Nashville, TN

So much has been going on around here. I have been making a list of all the things I want to share with y’all.

  1. First, people in Tennessee are so nice, I mean they go above and beyond nice. Our neighbors invited us to a potluck right off the bat, another neighbor brought us homemade cookies, and another neighbor and I have weekly coffee dates. It feels so nice to already be making connections since we are so far away from our Oklahoma people.
  2. The fences in Tennessee are so gorgeous. Full of history, made with beautiful materials, and so picturesque. Stone, picket, civil war style to name a few.
  3. Do you have a budding little typist? My friend, Heather, shared an awesome website that teaches the keys to the computer keyboard.  It’s free, too.
  4. I’ve been listening to the audiobook Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis. I recommend it. I also was able to watch her movie in the theater, Made for More. In her book, she talks about how important it is to not break promises to yourself. So many times we keep our promises to others but don’t follow through on the things we’ve promised ourselves. (more…)

One Week Time Span – New Job, New House, and New School

In May, my husband, Brent, and I sat down at our dining room table with a yellow legal pad and wrote down all the steps it would take to move to Nashville. At that time we had no place to live, no job, and no school in mind for Grant. It was overwhelming, to say the least. We started researching more thoroughly and found the house prices to be 2 or 3 times more what we paid in Oklahoma. The promise for a good elementary school in a neighborhood we could afford seemed hopeless.

pen outline drawing of Nashville, TN

 

We took this leap of faith because we have always wanted to live near Brent’s family. We loved the years we spent in Oklahoma and when we got married we said it would be nice if we could spend some time living near my family and time living near Brent’s family.

Even though we felt at peace about the move there were many obstacles ahead of us. Brent would have to quit his job, we would live off of savings for a few months or until he found a job, we had to sell our Oklahoma house and all the details in Tennessee would have to be worked out. The funny thing is that this was not our first time to move to a new city without jobs. We did it when we moved to Los Angeles and when we moved to Oklahoma. Somehow since the Lord had provided for us in years past it was easier to trust that he would do it again. Although, I did have moments when fear and uncertainty got the best of me.

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A Fun For All Family Weekend at Lake Eufaula

Wood Cut out of Yogi Bear with two holes for kids faces.

For our annual camping trip, we went to Lake Eufaula this year. It’s located in southeastern Oklahoma and is the largest lake in the state. Since we had such a great time at a Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Resort in Texas last summer with some old friends, we thought we would try one in Oklahoma.

The campground has RV spots and fully outfitted cabins (except for linens). The cabins were clean and simple with a picnic table, grill, and a fire pit outside. We had a little front porch with a view of the lake. Since the campground is not very big it is easy to walk to and from all the amenities. We played mini-golf, slid down a huge water slide, played bumper boats, and swam in the pool. Although my favorite by far was the Wibit, an inflatable playground on the lake. It felt like we were on Ninja Warrior!

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