Here we go

Well, last Wednesday, we took Jessica to UT at Chattanooga. It was a bitter sweet event for all of us. And the day didn't transpire the way we thought it would. First, we got a late start, no surprise there. We made it to the college with no problems and got through registration fairly quickly. I had expected to stand in a long line. But then we get to their room. Well, evidently, the summer semester students didn't have to be moved out until Tuesday. What sense did that make?! So, needless to say, their apartment was not ready. Mark, Jessica and Jamie spent two hours in the office to file their complaints and see when some things could get fixed. While they did that, Jamie's mom, aunts and I cleaned the place so we could get their stuff moved in. We went through two containers of Clorox wipes, two rolls of paper towels and almost a whole bottle of cleaner. At least I could feel comfortable leaving her there knowing it was clean. Then we had to get their stuff moved in, everything unpacked and settled. Mark had to get their computers hooked up to the schools network. And we made their first trip to the store. It was exhausting! Then we had to say goodbye. I don't think I need to explain how hard that was and continues to be. But I am proud of her for making this step and I'm anxious to see where her life takes her.

Jessica's room

Here is Jessica's room. I think she did a great job in thinking through her theme. It is kind of hard to tell from the photo, but she has a Paris chic theme. The picture over her bed is a collage that she did of images from Paris, b/w movies and the 20's thru the 40's. It looks really neat in person. She has since gotten a bedside table and curtains but I don't have a picture of that yet. Her colors are taupe, aqua blue and chocolate.
I am proud of her for knowing what she wanted and pulling it all together.

more photos

Here is Courtney and Kirsten helping put the groceries in their pantry.

And the second photos is Jessica and Jamie's bathroom. I am so thankful they don't have to share a bathroom with other people!

Jamie's room

Here is Jamie's room. It is very fun and colorful, just like her! I think they both did a great job decorating their rooms.

The Living Room

This was after a run to Wal-Mart to get their first load of food and some forgotten items and before we said our final goodbyes.

Here is Jessica and Jamie on their couch! There is plenty room for personalization here!

The Fair!

We attended the Sumner County fair last night. Lucky for us, the heat had let up a bit but it was still pretty hot!

We went with Mark's dad, Mark's brother and his wife and their son, Lucas. Everyone had a great time with the rides and games. Of the three kids, Kirsten was the most fearless! She wanted to ride everything! She was most excited about the ferris wheel. The other two had no interest! Courtney's favorite thing was the games. And Lucas seemed pretty happy with everything!

It is interesting to watch our kids experience something that we all experienced as children. There aren't many of those moments left! All of us adults agreed that the rides and the fair itself seemed much bigger when we were small!