North Carolina.

Last week Dane and I moved to North Carolina. We are renting a great townhouse style/duplex that we love. Dane started Duke Divinity School today and life is just moving on.

The move was pretty intense. We literally packed up all of our belongings and drove them across 1/2 of the U.S. Both of our dads helped, Corey helped, and Beth helped with the first half of the journey. Callie helped at home the night before we left (basically all night).

We had to put the house we were staying in at Plumerville back together. We were renting a parsonage that belonged to the Baptist Church. It was a great house. However, it was fully furnished with towels, dishes, pictures, etc when we moved in. To live in the house we had moved everything to one room to store. So then when we moved out we had to put it all back. Callie was a huge help, because by the time we started reassembling the house we were exhausted.

We rented a Budget truck to carry our belongings (and tow my car) and we then drove Dane's truck and my Dad's truck. My Dad recently bought a truck with a very comfortable spacious interior so I managed to sleep in the passenger seat ~50% of the time. ;)

We stopped in Nashville to break up the trip. Dad and I stayed at Beth's apartment and the Womacks rented a hotel.

We left Nashville at 6am and we arrived in Durham around 3 or so. Unfortunately our electricity was not yet turned on and our house was a little warm during move in. However, the electric company came around 8:30pm and finally turned in on so we spent our first night at home with our dads and Corey.

They stayed another night to explore NC. We ate pizza at a fantastic restaurant Satisfaction. It was very very good pizza. They have a special sauce, yum. We were sad when our dads and Corey left and we are looking forward to their visits later this year. Saturday my sister is coming to visit!!! Awesome. She moved to Nashville this time last year. She got a round trip direct flight for $99. We are excited.

I know Dane is having a wonderful first day at Duke. I am currently sitting at Panera sipping a frozen strawberry lemonade in this wonderful 83 degree weather. We went to a Durham Bulls game last night and I got chilly outside. It has been a long hot summer and I am ready for some fall weather!!

Mom's 50th Birthday, Angie's Birthday, and Graduation

Life has been crazy.busy. Can you say crazy.busy.

My mom turned 50 on July 26th. We waited to celebrate until Beth made it back from her 3 weeks at Stanford in sunny California. We had a simple celebration with dinner at Coltons in Batesville and then cake at home with Julie and Sam. I love a good birthday party.

Last weekend (August 8th) my dear friend Haley Heath married Chris Burks. We had a great time. Haley was a perfect bride. She was very happy and we had so much fun. For example, over the course of one bachelorette weekend and one wedding day we practiced the Cupid Shuffle 3 times. You know life is good when you have an excuse to do the Cupid Shuffle 4 times (including the wedding) in 2 weekends. ;)

Yesterday, we celebrated Angie's Birthday at the Womacks house. Corey is home for a few weeks. (He is also helping us move to NC!!). Jody, Ritchie, Mert, and Vaughn were there for the party too. We had sandwiches and one of Dane's awesome salads. Birthdays are fun.

I am graduating tomorrow. Yes, that's right. GRADUATING. I am very very excited. My parents, sister, Julie, Sam, Poppy, Dane's parents, and Corey are all going to be there. It is going to be a great day.

There is one person I will miss terrible tomorrow. My Gran. Ok, I miss her terribly every day. Graduation will be particularly tough though. Gran supported me throughout the entire journey of my undergraduate and graduate coursework. She reviewed my papers for me, encouraged me, inspired me. I miss her today, tomorrow, everyday.

Here is a picture of us at my UCA undergraduate graduation. I would love another hug tomorrow. I am thankful for the person she was/is to me.

7.4.11

For the 4th of July Dane and I went home to celebrate with family. Friday night we stayed ate at Whole Hog then we went the movies in Conway. Saturday morning we started cleaning up around our house and I went through my clothes to give some away. Then we headed to my parents house. Dad cooked us (minus Beth) steaks for dinner and mom made some great sides. Sunday we got up and headed to church with Dane's parents. Sunday night we had a big cookout with Dane's combined extended family (minus Corey and Sara and Kyle). Monday morning Mom and I went to Batesville to attempt to get a pedicure but every place was closed! Oh well, we had a good time together.

My parents on Sunday morning!

Cook out at the Womacks

Dane and Vaughn

Reid

Jody and Mert

Last weekend (July 9th) I went home to see my sister before she headed off to California. Julie and Sam also came over and visited with us. Sam and I also worked out a deal to sell Dane's boat. Sam is working for Duckett's Auto Sales as a Sales Associate. His 14th birthday is July 23.

Beth and Julie with Ross

Plummerville UMC

Our last Sunday at Plummerville UMC was Father's Day June 19th. The church hosted a reception for us on Sunday June 12th. It was very difficult for us to leave. We made some wonderful friends, people who I know we will keep in touch with throughout our lives. In his last sermon Dane said that he felt like he grew up at PUMC. I guess really we both did. The people have been so patient with us and so forgiving of our shortcomings. All of our ministry firsts happened at PUMC. Dane is close to several of the men and I love the women in our Women's Bible Study. We both particularly enjoyed our Sunday School class where we studied Genesis and Romans. Plummerville will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Dane with Charles and Coco

Janet, Stephanie, Matt, Amanda, Matt, Martha, Landon, Madison, and Grey

Martha and Grey

Andrea and Becky

Me with Helen and Nina

Ellen and Charles, Jessica, Coco and Joann

The previous pastor and his wife - VonDell and Wilma

Stephanie, Amanda, and Madison

Dane and Madison ;)

Jessica

Janet, Andrea, and Becky

Bob and Sally with Jamie

Dennis and Becky

Shirley, Ann, and Tracey

Dane and John

Qualyn and Charles

Kayla and the pies!

Bernie, Pat, Bill, and Eula

Pete

Father's Day 2011

Father's Day fell on our last Sunday at Plummerville UMC this year. We really wanted to see both of our Dads and they wanted to see us. We planned to meet in Searcy for dinner and decided to eat at Chili's. My Dad drove in from visiting Beth in Nashville and made the extra trip to Searcy to see me. Mom stayed in Nashville but Angie was able to eat with us.

I am so thankful for my Dad. He would honestly do anything in the world for me (and Beth and Dane). He is exactly the type of person who would leave Nashville in time to see me so that he could see both of his daughters in one day. He was/is very involved in my life. He is a hard worker, but he always made time for us.


I am also thankful for Dane's Dad. He supports us and loves us. Oh, and he raised a pretty terrific son. Dane still calls him to ask for his advice at times.

Dane and I love our fathers. We do not tell them enough just how special they really are.

Memories

I recently found a copy of a CD of pictures that my great aunt Nancy took at our Twilley family reunion in 2008. What a blessing!

2008 was a great year. Dane and I were married in January 2008. I graduated in May 2008 and celebrated with all of our family. We went on vacation with my family and then with Dane's family that summer. I had a break from school before PT school. And we had a wonderful family reunion at the TimberRidge Lodge during the hot summer.

The pictures are particularly beautiful to me because there are some great pictures of Gran. I miss her so much. I miss everything about her. I miss her words of encouragement and her laugh. I love pictures of her smile.

Break in Nashville and Last Clinical Rotation!

Last weekend I had a five day Memorial Day break. It was much needed. We had not had a single day off of our clinicals since January. I have really enjoyed my clinicals, my CIs, and my patients. But a girl needs a break every now and again! :)

I went to Nashville in the Wednesday night after work. I left around 4:30 and headed east. Unfortunately, there were storms in AR and TN and they basically followed me to Nashville. It was crazy. Dane, Dad, and Beth were calling me with updates telling me to stop and then telling me to push through the storm. Ha. I was also listening to the radio the entire time and especially around Memphis the meterologists were very concerned about a possible tornado. There was no tornado that night and I was very thankful to make it safely to Nashville around 11:00pm. (When I got in my car my GPS eta was 9:30).

Beth and I went to Vandy to do a little homework on Thursday and I was able to meet several of the people in her program. It was great to put some faces with names. Thursday night we headed to a music venue 3rd and Lindsley to listen to a music duo that was recently on The Voice. The group's name was Elenowen and they are very talented. The great thing about the venue was that there are tables for 250. That means that we got to eat AND watch a show. Talk about a great night. The food was good too and fairly priced.

Friday started with Ross's canine therapist. Ross is receiving rehab for his hip surgery and he is doing well. This guy was great. He is a PT but he also completed a certification through UT Knoxville for animal rehab. Ross is doing well and progressing appropriately. The therapist showed Beth how to do weight shifts, single limb stance, stair training, scar massage... you name it.

For lunch we went to Cheesecake Factory. Good grief that place is awesome. It was my 2nd time to eat there. This time we had the cookie dough cheesecake. Talk about speaking my love language...

Friday night we just relaxed at home and watch a little Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. We kinda realized that maybe our lunch feast was a bit excessive at that point.

Saturday morning we packed up and headed to Plumerville. We accidently stopped at Krispy Kreme on the way out. While picking her donut up from the box Beth noted that "Jamie Oliver would not be pleased." ..oops.

We made it back to Plumerville around 6pm, just in time to go to the local diner with Dane. And then, of course, we watched 48 hours.

Sunday morning we went to PUMC. We took some pictures outside of church. We only have 3 more Sundays at PUMC. We are really going to miss the people there and the friendships we have made.

After church we headed to CC for a little family gathering at Mom and Dad's. Julie, Sam, and Pop came over for some of dad's BBQ steaks and burgers. It was wonderful to see my familiy. Of course, we missed our dear Gran. Afterwards Dane said that he felt like the room was just empty without her sweet personality.

Monday (Memorial Day) we went to the cemetary with Julie to plant a rose bush in a giant pot beside Gran's grave. That was really hard. The bush looked beautiful. It was very sweet to me that Gran taught Mom and Julie so much about gardening and then there they were helping make the cemetary look pretty. But really.. we just miss her and would rather not plant a rose bush in memory of her. I know she is in heaven and it is much different there, much better.

Monday afternoon we celebrated the day with Dane's parents. They smoked BBQ and ribs. The food was wonderful and it was good to see them. I was really missing them. It had been far too long since I had spent any time with them.

Tuesday was a huge day for me. I started my LAST CLINICAL ROTATION. :) ...and even better.. it's at Arkansas Children's Hospital. :) How awesome is that? I have two CIs and they both taught some in our coursework at UCA. They are exceptional therapists and I have already learned a great deal. I am very excited about this last rotation.

Friday (yesterday) I came home to visit with the family because Beth is still here from Nashville. And I think that finally catches me up... Tomorrow Dane and I are headed to Annual Conference in Hot Springs.