A Sampling

This is Atlanta--but still, very reminiscent of Carrollton.

Replica of the Oval Office at the Carter Center in Atlanta.

Stone Mountain in Atlanta.

We're here.

There you go--Dreamland in Birmingham.

The Univ. of Bama's football stadium had a gate open on the drive through to Georgia.

A building with just a public restroom in Carrollton. Just had to put that (Lauren does not think it is funny; but it is, nonetheless). Two blocks from our loft.

Did we mention the people are laid back in Carrollton??

Do we need two stop signs?? Well actually after looking at it, I think there is a reason--but funny nonetheless.

Well, we finally got the wireless modem in today--so we thought we would share some pictures we already had on the comp. and some we made tonight. In the days to come, we will share more pics from around town. Did we mention that Carrollton is a beautiful place? It absolutely amazes us each day. And the people--they amaze us, too--they are so incredibly nice and talkative.

8:00, 7:00 central

How many times have you heard that a TV show is coming on at, "8:00, 7:00 central." I have just always blocked the first time off and listened for the central time zone. Not so anymore--we had dinner at the coolest little restaurant in downtown tonight (I most def. had one of the best cheesesteaks in my life--nowhere close to a Waffle House cheesesteak, but still). A baseball game was on and it flashed something across the screen about something coming on TV at 1:30 a.m. eastern. My first thought was that meant 12:30 (central)--but no more, my friends--we do not have to subtract an hour anymore!

We felt like real Southerners today--the first Waffle House dining experience for us since the move. Martha (Lauren's mom) came in today. She had never ate at one--so, of course, we had to take her to one--in Pell City, Alabama, on the way back from the airport.

I am pretty sure that we are in a magical place--the exit we take off of I-20 coming back from the airport has a Waffle House on BOTH sides of the interstate. You have got to be kidding me.


--be

A Few Observations

Lots of trees, lots of hills. I have been surprised that there are some places in town where trees are cut down enough to see some sky. There are many spots where we just step back and say, "Wow."

Everyone that we have come into contact with in GA is very friendly--very conversational. Everyone that has come by to work on various things spend lots of time talking with us. We have had a number of people drop by so far--church members and others.

There is the coolest little building here in town--in downtown. It just has a sign out front that says, "Public Restroom;" and then there is a door with a long hallway leading to something, hopefully the public restroom. Need to check that one out.

Until next time . . .

--be

Another Day, Another Dollar

We ate at Texas Roadhouse tonight--helped us remember where we are from in the midst of a foreign land :)

A Day in the Life Of . . .

Sorry for the delay in our blogging. We have been internet-less for a few days. We sort of have the internet now (they sent the wrong modem). Speaking of wrong . . . we are without a fridge. The cable guy spent three and a half hours here yesterday trying to hook up the dish. Oh, he'll be back again this morning to spend some more quality time with us. It was quite a day yesterday. We had all sorts of new friends running in and out of the house--putting up lighting, attempting to fix the fridge, attempting to get the dish going. Twas a long day. But a good day--we got lots of stuff put up around the house.

The day before--our friends Joe and Perry unloaded all of our stuff here. It was unbelievable having people move you--we did not sweat a drop until all of the boxes were dropped off.

Today more of the same this morning. If our friend Warren can get the dish hooked up today, we will go over to Douglasville to do some shopping (which completely and totally excites me--or not) and hang out for a while--try to relax some. We were wiped out yesterday. I had not been so tired since . . . well since, Mission Trip :)

Night before last was the first night in two weeks I slept in my own bed. It was a whirlwind tour around the country in between those two weeks--with mission trip, moving, etc.--but it was such a fun, worthwhile two weeks. But now we are home.

Sorry for the lack of pictures--we have tons we want to share with you. But since we did not get sent a wireless modem, we cannot share our new pictures with you from the laptop. Hopefully we will be able to soon.

Hope all is well with everyone out there in internet land. Like a good friend mentioned the other day--we are not far away now--just 10 minutes east of Dallas . . . via the internet!

Onward and upward.

--Brian

We're Here . . .

Check out our new pad. This is our new loft. We even have a toilet! We do not have to use the outhouse. We made it into Carrollton today (after messing around Atlanta for the morning--checked out the Jimmy Carter Center, drove through the MLK center and downtown area, ate lunch at the good ol' Varsity) and cleaned around the loft (it was not exactly clean when we found it). Now we are at the hotel awaitng the 8:00 a.m. drop-off of all of our belongings at the loft (what a weird feeling to be apart from all of your belongings for that long--kind of freeing actually).

Carrollton, Georgia--quite a beautiful place to be.

--Brian (with Lauren looking over his shoulder and disagreeing with wording of certain things but still being okay with it)

Yep, We Were Right

Yeah, that's Larry McMurtry (see the first blog entry). We just learned how to add pictures to this thing. We will add pictures as we go; but we are way too tired now. It is 10:15 p.m. (Atlanta time) and we are completely worn out.

We left Meridian, Mississippi and went by Univ. of Alabama and saw the ginormous f-ball stadium and the original Dreamland in Tuscaloosa. Then we ate at the Dreamland in Birmingham. Got to Atlanta mid-afternoon. We are in the Amerisuites in downtown Hotlanta tonight. Not really all that hot, though. Had us some good southern cookin' at Mary Mac's tea room tonight--cheese grits, real mac n' cheese, something called pot likker (still don't want to know what that was--but Lauren said it was good).

If you are wondering about this entry's title, we stopped at the Georgia Welcome Center when we crossed into our new home state--to pick up some hotel coupons (which we used tonight!). Lauren was talking with a man from Roswell, Georgia--she told him we are from Texas, to which he replied, "That is a nation, isn't it?"

That's right--Texans in a foreign land. Here we go. Off to Carrollton tomorrow.

Onward and upward.


--Brian & Lauren

the week that was

Last week, Lauren spent her days preparing, packing, cleaning all of that stuff for the move. Bless her heart. She worked her tail off all week long. I was living it up on mission trip with the youth--Mission:Penitas--we traveled to the Rio Grande Valley and ministered to people at a church in the area, then finished the week up on South Padre Island Beach. Then, I was ordained on Sunday, we had our final day at the church, said our good-byes, then there you go.

a heck of a week.

meridian, mississippi

First night of our new journey finds us at the Sleep Inn in Meridian, Mississippi. We left Hamilton at 8:30 a.m.'ish and got here around 7:00 p.m. A breakfast at Burger King in Glen Rose, lunch in Longview, and just a couple of quick stops. Not too bad. Tomorrow-off to Atlanta to spend the night there and see a few sites before in to Carrollton on Wednesday afternoon to prepare the loft for the movers on Thursday.

A day full of excitement and sadness, hope and mixed feelings. The next part of our journey begins; and we anticipate all the things that come our way.

--Brian

Ready or Not, Here We Come

Today is Tuesday, July 10. 9:55 p.m. In three days, I leave Fort Worth for good--for a weekend of preparing for Mission:Penitas (mission trip with FBC Hamilton, TX Youth Ministry), then the week of Mission:Penitas, then my last day at FBC/ordination service, then, depending upon when the movers get there, heading eastbound on I-20.

Lauren will be around FW for another week, finishing things up, saying goodbyes, etc. She will meet me in Hamilton next weekend; and we will go from there.

We are excited and nervous. Sad and happy. Ready to go and sad to leave TX behind. Ready or not, Georgia, here we come. I look forward to getting settled in Georgia, beginning work with a new youth ministry, getting Lauren settled into traveling into Atlanta. A new beginning. A new start. Yet it's the same ol' Lauren & Brian. Good things ahead.

My friend, Jeremy Johnston, and I traveled to Archer City today to a gynormous used bookstore--run by Larry McMurtry. Got my picture taken with him. If I knew how to upload pictures on this thing, I would share it with you. But alas, I am not nearly smart enough to do so.

So, until next time . . . onward and upward!


--Brian