Saturday, June 25, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Picture Diary of the move... on the road
These pictures were taken at around 75mph in my car. Dont worry, I wasn't looking through the viewfinder. Safety first :)
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| This is what I looked at for the whole trip |
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| The biggest tires I have ever seen |
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| Leaving GA and entering TN. We have decided we like TN even though it was the sight of the tire mishap. |
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| Another state down. Leaving TN and entering KY. |
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| This kind of thing makes driving into the night almost worth it. |
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| Kentucky boys are serious about their tractors. |
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| Officially entering the west as we pass through St Louis |
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| Had to drop the phone in my lap while I was talking to Carly so I could take this picture. Another state down! |
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| Authentic Kansas City BBQ... and it was REALLY good :) |
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| Almost there. At this point we had driven 20ish hours and only had about 2 more to go. |
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| And this was the next 2 hours. FLAT and STRAIGHT through eastern Colorado |
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| Bug Carnage on the car top carrier from across the country. |
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Picture Diary of the move...
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| Leaving Lynchburg with the apartments packed up |
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| The ole Hyundai loaded down |
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| Unloading in GA so we can REload more stuff |
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| making the ole girl road worthy |
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| Trying Turkish coffee for the first time... thanks Bethany :) |
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| believe it or not ALL of this fit in our two cars |
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| Laundry... |
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| ... lots and lots of laundry |
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| we crashed |
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| the last few things |
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| Don't worry, I got my window closed |
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| I'm the MR and you're the MRS :) |
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| We got a lot of smiles and thumbs up from our check list and "JUST MARRIED" on our cars |
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| Pulling out... CO here we come |
From the Springs
The detailed, day-by-day schedule that we’ve been following since May 12th is now completed. June 5th has come and gone. We’ve arrived in Colorado Springs, Colorado and are surrounded by truly majestic mountains that we know as the Rockies. With the reality that we’ve finished this detailed schedule and now step into a good bit of unknown, I’ve had several thoughts come to mind about this time and thought I’d share some.
O' how beautiful marriage is! It is so sweet, but also the most challenging thing next to our walks with Jesus Christ that we have ever committed to individually or together. This is Laura writing... I figured it was about time I added my contribution to the posts Taylor has started. One of the things I love about Taylor is just that... his creativity in the ways he seeks to stay connected to our friends and family. And he says I'm the creative one! Taylor, you give me a run for my money, my love. Our hope is to use some of the money we received as wedding gifts to purchase a video camera to document our journeys out here in the beautiful West. So stay tuned. Ok… back to the thoughts.
I have to say... a little over two weeks of marriage and I have come to learn so much through the everyday moments we've walked through together thus far. Taylor's heart is so deep and our unity in marriage has allowed me to experience that in literally a life altering way! Jesus Christ was so right in giving us marriage to model the relationship between He and the church! Marriage will change your world! Sadly, many people only know this change to be a change for the worst. O' how this grieves my heart. It does so because of how good, powerful, and beautiful the Lord has made that change for Taylor and I! Don't hear me wrong that this has been an easy breezy two weeks or that we’ve handled everything with perfect responses, roses, and candlelight. Whew! Not reality! But the change that marriage brings about emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually is one that I believe that Scripture intends to be for our good and satisfaction. However, if I tried to fit the good and satisfying things we're finding in marriage into society's definition of "good" or "satisfying," it would kind of be like Taylor and I attempting to pack all of our things into two cars. Doesn’t fit!
After all is said and done with the wedding, our marriage is redefining our reality! If growth can be felt (rather than just reflected upon), we are feeling it each day. Tears have welled up in my eyes. Selfishness continues to remind both Taylor and I that we still have a flesh nature to battle. I've been tongue tied and lost for words with emotion and thoughts. But! I have been lavished by the incredible, affirming, and satisfying love of a man who knows deep things about me that no one else will know. I have never felt more beautiful, confident, and worthy of love not only because of my husband but because of the way I understand the love of Christ better. All the preparation and words of wisdom from those around us during this time are so helpful and we cling to words such as, "always communicate," "keep Christ at the center," "always remember to seek out community and don't isolate yourselves," "value honesty and sensitivity." However, experience is truly a powerful teacher!
These are beautiful days as we pray for patience, joy, and love to flood our hearts!
Savoring these moments,
Mrs. Eley
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Trans America Adventure Day 1
Day 1 certainly kept us on our toes. We have some pictures but I don't know where we packed the camera cord so they will be posted lated. I will try and do the story justice in an abridged version.
Two days ago we had to get 4 new tires and an allignment on the Hyundai, our first big purchase as a married couple, to prepare for the trip out west. This was unexpected and set our departure back another day. The delay was welcomed and allowed us to spend more time with Laura's parents and grandparents, which is always a good time.
We got on the road around 9 this morning and soon after we got on the interstate I noticed a chatter on the right side of the Hyundai and the allignment was pulling to the right. I personally think driving a car that is out of allignment on the interstate for hours on end is one of the most annoying things in the world. I didn't think too much of it until we were somewhere between Chattanooga and Nashville and the chatter was getting worse. We found another branch of the same tire dealer and pulled in for them to take a look at it. They put it on the lift and looked it over the one of their mechanics and their service manager looked at it and said the couldn't find anything wrong with it. With a clean bill of health we got back on the interstate to give it another try. Once we got through Nashville my car sounded like it was going to fall apart at 75mph so we pulled over to look for a service station in Clarksville, TN. Apparently all service stations close at 3pm on Saturdays and we got in town at 3:45pm. Not good! We ended up getting the car towed to SEARS and when they went to take a look at it they found that the right front tire was about to fall off. Apparently the mechanic that installed my tires in Georgia two days ago never torqued my lug nuts properly so from Georgia to Clarksville, TN they were slowing backing themselves off as my tire wobbled more and more.
The final damage was three stripped studs, a chipped brake rotor, 6 hours of lost travel time and two near meltdowns.
We have been encouraged through the whole process today because of how well we have worked together. We have remained sensitive to each other so that we could get through the hickups and we are seeing a unity and oneness build between the two of us already.
The plan was to get into St Louis around 5pm, walk around downtown a little before we worked out and went out for supper. Instead, we arrive in Marion, IL just before 10pm, about 2 hours short of St Louis. Tomorrow we have 10 hours of driving time in order to make our reservation in Hays, KS tomorrow night.
The good news is that Laura and I worked really well together today, even when emotions were running high and patience was wearing thin. As much as parts of today were not fun, they were good and served as a good start for Laura and I's life together out in the wild west.
Thoughts from the road:
I think rich people in their really nice cars try to recreate car commercials by driving really fast through mountain roads.
We appreciate the hospitality of Tennessee again.
Illionois has really big bugs that make really big splats on my windsheild.
Two days ago we had to get 4 new tires and an allignment on the Hyundai, our first big purchase as a married couple, to prepare for the trip out west. This was unexpected and set our departure back another day. The delay was welcomed and allowed us to spend more time with Laura's parents and grandparents, which is always a good time.
We got on the road around 9 this morning and soon after we got on the interstate I noticed a chatter on the right side of the Hyundai and the allignment was pulling to the right. I personally think driving a car that is out of allignment on the interstate for hours on end is one of the most annoying things in the world. I didn't think too much of it until we were somewhere between Chattanooga and Nashville and the chatter was getting worse. We found another branch of the same tire dealer and pulled in for them to take a look at it. They put it on the lift and looked it over the one of their mechanics and their service manager looked at it and said the couldn't find anything wrong with it. With a clean bill of health we got back on the interstate to give it another try. Once we got through Nashville my car sounded like it was going to fall apart at 75mph so we pulled over to look for a service station in Clarksville, TN. Apparently all service stations close at 3pm on Saturdays and we got in town at 3:45pm. Not good! We ended up getting the car towed to SEARS and when they went to take a look at it they found that the right front tire was about to fall off. Apparently the mechanic that installed my tires in Georgia two days ago never torqued my lug nuts properly so from Georgia to Clarksville, TN they were slowing backing themselves off as my tire wobbled more and more.
The final damage was three stripped studs, a chipped brake rotor, 6 hours of lost travel time and two near meltdowns.
We have been encouraged through the whole process today because of how well we have worked together. We have remained sensitive to each other so that we could get through the hickups and we are seeing a unity and oneness build between the two of us already.
The plan was to get into St Louis around 5pm, walk around downtown a little before we worked out and went out for supper. Instead, we arrive in Marion, IL just before 10pm, about 2 hours short of St Louis. Tomorrow we have 10 hours of driving time in order to make our reservation in Hays, KS tomorrow night.
The good news is that Laura and I worked really well together today, even when emotions were running high and patience was wearing thin. As much as parts of today were not fun, they were good and served as a good start for Laura and I's life together out in the wild west.
Thoughts from the road:
I think rich people in their really nice cars try to recreate car commercials by driving really fast through mountain roads.
We appreciate the hospitality of Tennessee again.
Illionois has really big bugs that make really big splats on my windsheild.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
1235 miles out of 2654 done
Graduate... check
Get married... check
Move 1400 miles across country... checking :)
We have begun our journey of driving over 2600 miles in two weeks. We have driven round trip to Tennessee for our honeymoon, returned back to Lynchburg to pack our two apartments in our two cars and we have convoyed down to Georgia for a few days before we take off for the Rockies.
Tennessee took us by surprise with how much we enjoyed our experience there. People that we met along the way were incredibly friendly and it is, to say the least, a beautiful state. We stayed for a night on the Big South Fork Canyon. It was the first time I have ever seen a canyon and it seems like I am just a much a fan of mountain size hole in the ground as I am a mountain.
We found an awesome coffee shop called Remedy Coffee and Conversation that became a haven for us while we were there. It is second only to our favorite coffee shop of all time, The White Hart, in Lynchburg, VA.
We got to Georgia with our two apartments packed into our cars and now they are spread out in the garage waiting to be packed up again. Hopefully we can pack them tighter this time so we can get the last few things in our cars and still be able to see out of our passenger window :) Today we are off to get lunch at Matthew's Cafeteria and then off to Grami and Dun Dun's to see them and to swim a little. Tomorrow we are hitting the road and shooting to get to St Louis, MO for the first night.
*** I have pictures to put up with this post but Blogger has been weird so they will be put up later.
Get married... check
Move 1400 miles across country... checking :)
We have begun our journey of driving over 2600 miles in two weeks. We have driven round trip to Tennessee for our honeymoon, returned back to Lynchburg to pack our two apartments in our two cars and we have convoyed down to Georgia for a few days before we take off for the Rockies.
Tennessee took us by surprise with how much we enjoyed our experience there. People that we met along the way were incredibly friendly and it is, to say the least, a beautiful state. We stayed for a night on the Big South Fork Canyon. It was the first time I have ever seen a canyon and it seems like I am just a much a fan of mountain size hole in the ground as I am a mountain.
We found an awesome coffee shop called Remedy Coffee and Conversation that became a haven for us while we were there. It is second only to our favorite coffee shop of all time, The White Hart, in Lynchburg, VA.
We got to Georgia with our two apartments packed into our cars and now they are spread out in the garage waiting to be packed up again. Hopefully we can pack them tighter this time so we can get the last few things in our cars and still be able to see out of our passenger window :) Today we are off to get lunch at Matthew's Cafeteria and then off to Grami and Dun Dun's to see them and to swim a little. Tomorrow we are hitting the road and shooting to get to St Louis, MO for the first night.
*** I have pictures to put up with this post but Blogger has been weird so they will be put up later.
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