wallpaper decals

This marks day 3 without Internet in our loft. Which would be no big deal if I weren't counting on these days to get all of my work done before we travel for Thanksgiving. But not to worry I've found some free "wiffy" as Nick would say on New Girl.

It is snowing, I found a coffee shop with free wiffy within a very short walking distance. Even the fact that my bag carrying my laptop broke and landed hard on the sidewalk can't bring me down today. If I'm being honest this is just how I pictured life here. Always with snow.

We've settled in. Minus our bedroom. Our luggage is still full of my shoes which I don't know what to do with, I suppose a shoe rack is in order.

My Christmas cards are addressed ready to be mailed!

Drew's commute is now 15 minutes as opposed to an hour and I haven't driven anywhere since I drove here Friday. Going green baby.

Ike is still adjusting. He hasn't been able to get all of his energy out but he makes a friend every time we step outside of our building. He is popular on Kirk Ave. to say the least.

I am going to need some practical wardrobe additions living here:
1. Rain coat
2. Snow boots
3. Sturdy backpack
Guess those will be my Christmas presents.

Also, I kicked ass in fantasy football this week. That doesn't happen often so I'm gonna brag.




And lastly, I'm a hipster in the city. It helps keep my ears warm.



Clearly, I can no longer string together cohesive thoughts. Sorry friends. This is my end of the semester brain. I'm an expert on reading strategies at the moment, not blogging.

Tomorrow we are heading home for turkey, family, friends and plenty of things to be thankful for. Hope you all have an awesome holiday.

Seeing that this is the week/month of thanks I suppose a thankfulness post is in order.

I'm thankful for

• Friends who will kill themselves helping us move.

• A puppy dog who is adjusting to life without a yard.

• Parents who will drive to Roanoke for one day to help unpack and bring a new coffee pot.
• Siblings who love Jesus and spent the weekend together worshipping him.
• Friendly "hellos" in a new city.
• A husband who is on this journey with me every step of the way.

• 7th graders who are full of questions.
• Gas logs.
• The hope of new adventures for friends whose lives are changing rapidly.
• Pictures of these 2 cuties and for the ability to travel home and see them in person this week!

Thank you Jesus for placing us in this city. I am nervous about how it will all shake it out, but there is no doubt that this is where we are supposed to be. Be thankful friends!

Happiest of Mondays to you. Mine started out with a bang when I literally fell into Auburn Middle School this morning. I honestly fell in the front door and landed on hands and knees. I currently have ice on my right knee and my pride is sorely bruised.

We move on Friday and I am way behind on school work but my recent injuries lead me to believe I need relaxation time. So I'm blogging and watching MNF.

Thankfully I got in some quality baby time this weekend and some good friend time this afternoon (which was meant to be a study session but turned into a social hang instead).

Our walls are bare so it kinda sucks to be home because it's depressing and dirty. I should probably be cleaning but that isn't happening either.

If anyone out there needs something to do the remainder of this week and is particularly good at reading strategies or magic erasers come visit. I'll pay you in flower pots and Christmas trees (both of which I need to get rid of before the move). Also, a desk is up for grabs if you're interested.

Or there is a sweet pizza warmer currently in my possession, I could be swayed to give it up if the right offer came along. I'll trade it for 3 barstools or a personal trainer.

Just a glimpse into the thrilling life of a grad student who decided to move in the most hectic week of the semester. Give thanks friends.


Also, are there any SOA fans out there? I'm curious to hear your predictions of how this will all end.


There is truly no cohesiveness to this post. Apologies.

It's something like the last supper but not as important. I mean you don't need to break bread in remembrance, although that's precisely what we did this morning for brunch.

Next weekend we will be traveling home to haul about half of our material possessions to my parents and the next weekend is moving weekend!!! Therefore this was our last weekend hoo-ra in the Burg.

Unfortunately, it didn't dawn on us Friday night that it would be our last weekend so we stayed home and did this:





Saturday morning we made our usual family trip to the Farmer's Market. And Ike made it a memorable one by shitting everywhere and after Drew cleaned him up with leaves, he could not select any fruits or veggies because his hands were "contaminated." It's probably best we're moving, we couldn't show our faces at that particular farmer's market ever again after yesterday.

We should have known by him making this face for our picture that it would be a memorable trip.

After we recovered from our shame we went for a hike to the Cascades.



Last night we stayed in and ordered our favorite pizza and watched the Hokies.

This morning we had brunch at our very favorite place. And it did not disappoint.



The rest of my day will consist of packing and attempting to get some work done but it's been a perfect farewell weekend. I love you, Blacksburg.

P.S. These farewell posts will likely go on for 2 more weeks.

This town has been soo good to us. Drew has been here 6 and 1/2 years and I have been here 2 and 1/2. It will be so hard to leave, even just to go an hour away.




Blacksburg is where:

We adopted our puppy.
We made dear friends.
We discovered we like sushi.
We grew in our faith beyond belief and discovered our callings.
We survived a derecho.
We grew our first garden.
We became environmentalists.


There is so much that we will miss about this beautiful college town that is so filled with life. We've said all along we want to leave Blacksburg while we are still in a love affair with it, that way we always have the option of coming back.






The New River Valley has given us so much pride in our Appalachian heritage and the beauty that can be had when progress and heritage come together.

We can only hope that the winds blow us back here one day, it would be an honor to call this place home again.