CONTEST: New Blog Title

With the move to MN coming soon I am going to need a new Blog title!! On the 12th of June I will no longer be Jillian In Georgia. With that said.... what should my new blog title be??

Starting today, I am holding a contest for the best name. Whoever gives me a great idea for a new blog title and I pick it...I will send you a $10 gift card to Starbucks. Start thinking!! You have until June 5th to post a comment with your idea.

Things We Wont Miss

This list is kind of petty... but I had to put it out there.

• Pollen!!!
• No alcohol sales on Sundays :)
• Having to spend money to travel home for the holidays & being away from family
• House maintenance
• Big bugs, cockroaches, fire ants and snakes! 
• Bermuda Grass (I know, its weird...but I miss the feeling of soft lush grass on my feet!)
• Red clay and no sand
• Having to dress up for football games....not that we ever did it, its just the principal
• Humid oppressive hot summers
• Being called a Yankee :)

Things We Will Miss

A lot of emotions have been flooding through me this last week.... excitement, nervousness, stress, and sadness. In the last week I have resigned from both of my jobs, had a yard sale (we made $300!), started packing, had a party to say bye to some friends, and returned the canoe and several other items to Eric's brother. Moving away from Athens after living here for almost 5 years will be tough. We have a lot of great things to look forward to in Minnesota but we will miss a lot of things here as well.... I guess that just means we will have to visit every once in a while!


Here is a LONG list of the things we will miss...

• Friends!!
• Our CSA from Roots Farm
• Pizza from Transmet
• Being close to the mountains and the beach
• Spending time at Sandy Creek Park
• Canoeing, camping and hiking with Michelle & Kelly!
• Movies on the lawn at the Kelley's 
• Hiking through the Botanical Gardens (Greg & Eric do this pretty regularly, I know Eric will miss it!)
• An early spring (with all the beautiful trees and flowers in bloom)
• The Founders Garden at UGA
• ZUMBA classes at the YMCA and all my friends there!
• Our church small group
• Eating out at The Last Resort, Taste of India, Farm 255, La Dolce Vita, and several other restaurants
• Our first house
• Great Coffee from 1000 Faces
• Going to UGA football games... GO DAWGS! 
• Warm summer nights



Michelle, Kelly, Eric and I on one of our hikes on the AT



Val, Greg & Eric at Trappeze

One of several trips to the beach, this time in Savannah

Veggies from Roots CSA

Camping on the Altamaha River

Dinner at Transmet: Jason, Bethany, Me, Katie & Matt

Saturday's in Athens

Ode to the Canoe

Well, as you know we have LOVED having a canoe while living in Athens. It was a great cheap way to have fun and explore. We paddled the Altamaha River, Oconne River, Lake Jocassee, and other small lakes around Athens. Unfortunately, the canoe belonged to my brother in law and with the move we had to give it up. It left our home on Sunday and I am going to admit I cried. Not because of the actual canoe being gone but because it was like this chapter of our life had ended. It was a sad moment for me to realize we wont be paddling around Georgia anymore with our friends Michelle & Kelly. So this post is an ode to the canoe....we enjoyed having you around!

Update: The House

Well folks, our house is officially under contract! This has been an amazing experience and a HUGE answer to prayer! So far things have gone smoothly (knock on wood) and we are all set to close on the house on June 10th!!!! Which means....

We are moving back to MN! We have been wanting this to happen for SOOO long that it still feels like a dream. It will be bitter sweet leaving Athens, our friends, and our first house but we are ready to go back home to be with family and friends in MN.

We are officially leaving Athens on June 11th. We would love to see all our friends in Athens again before we go... please email or call so we can plan something soon!

Thank you all for your prayers and support through this whole process.....we are very blessed!

Lake Hartwell

Last weekend we had a wonderful opportunity to go to Lake Hartwell. One of Eric's fellow grad students has a family home on the lake and invited the Philosophy department up to the lake. It was so wonderful to be on the water! Eric and I miss our times on lakes & rivers and we couldn't pass up this opportunity.

One of the best parts of this trip was that we got to spend some quality time with Greg, Val & their new baby girl Isla. She is sooo adorable and was great the whole weekend! I was very impressed that she wasn't fussy or upset at all (I am sure mom & dad noticed a little)!! It was a weekend of firsts for Isla.... first month, first vacation, first boat ride, and first time out of state!

I can't wait to see how this little girl will grow up and what she will become. Val is a talented artist and Greg is a philosopher. Isla is one lucky girl to be the daughter of these two wonderful people!

The weekend at the lake was fun and relaxing! I enjoyed the sun, drinks, conversation, and meeting new people! :) Thank you to Brooke for letting us stay at her family's house.

Greg, Val & Isla

Me & Eric enjoying our 2nd boat ride of the year!

Charleston



Eric, me, Justin, Grandpa, Becky & Dan



A couple weekends ago we were able to go to Charleston for a long weekend. Eric's brother lives in Charleston with his girlfriend Lindsay. Eric's mom, step dad & grandpa came down from MN to visit as well while we were there. We had a great time exploring Charleston and enjoying the company of family! On our first day in Charleston we explored downtown a little. I just love all the private gardens around and the architecture.





One of the many private gardens around Downtown

 On our second day in Charleston we were able to take a boat ride around the inter-coastal waterways. We drove under the Cooper River Bridge. I love the lines on the bridge.

 



Cooper River Bridge



Boats at the Marina



Grandpa & Eric/Iowa vs. Minnesota

 This trip was great because we were able to celebrate Mothers Day with Eric's mom. We haven't been able to do that in 5 years! I, of course, missed my mom but it was great to be with family. We celebrated by going to church, having an amazing brunch on Isle of Plams, and then spent some quality time on the beach.



Justin, Grandpa, Becky & Eric - 3 Generations




Lindsay, Justin, Dan, Eric, Nan, Becky, Grandpa & Me

 


Dan, Grandpa & Becky at the beach




Justin and his girlfriend Lindsay now live in this great house that is close to a chain of lakes. The picture below is of their backyard. It was a great place to relax over the long weekend!





 



I have a LOT to blog about....

Well, I have a lot to blog about and I promise that it will be coming soon! Lately, we have been to Charleston to visit family, at a lake house on Lake Hartwell, and we have some exciting news about our house that I will be sharing soon! We have been so busy I haven't had the time to blog!!

Athens Twilight

Karen, Kelly, Me & Ally

Athens Twilight is always the highlight of the Spring for me. It is sooo much fun to go downtown and watch the bike races. This was my first time staying for the entire womens and mens races.

Last year we got rained on so we didnt stay too long. This year, the weather was great! Not too cold, not to hot, it was just right!


We did see one crash...it was a pretty nasty one during the girls race. It was tough to watch as 5 or 6 girls crashed into each other.

I was able to get some pictures of the womens race... although I am not used to taking action shots. These ladies sure go fast!

When the mens race started it was too dark for me to get any clear pictures. However, I did  get some shots that I think look more on the artistic side that I like...even if they aren't in focus.

Overall, it was a great night!

Womens race going down Clayton

Kelli, Michelle, Kelly, Karen, Me, Eric, Ally & Alen

Kelly was also taking pictures of the races....his are a lot better than mine :) You can check them out here.