Letters From The Heart

Warning, this is an overly sentimental blog post, so continue at your own risk! 

I've begun many posts over the last couple of weeks, but there is so much going on that it all sounded very disjointed.  So instead, I decided to write small letters to my family, so that we can remember in the future, how this move felt to us all!

Dear L,
You have perhaps grown up the most since we've lived here.  You started Kindergarten here and went from being a baby to being a boy.  You are such a homebody and would be happy for us all to stay home together every day and snuggle on the sofa watching TV.  You are so happy being with our family and your brother is really your best friend.   Our neighbors' girls have also been a huge part of your life here (and all of ours).  I love seeing you play with them and treating them so nicely and respectfully, I truly think they have made a mark on you that will last for your lifetime.  You are not really a fan of the outdoors, but these girls always make you want to actually go outside and play, which is fabulous!  You tried some sports, but are more interested in the snacks than in actually playing!  But L, you are truly AMAZING at building lego and solving puzzles.  Age recommendations are meaningless when it comes to you.  Your concentration levels are incredible and you will sit down for as many hours as it takes to build something.  You excelled at Robotic Lego Camp which you absolutely loved, your attention to detail is so much more than I could ever give.  You are devoted to your big brother, as he is to you.  When he cries, you cry.  When he is upset, you are equally as upset, if not more.  Your commitment to each other always makes me emotional, and again, I'm sure it will last for your lifetime.  At 7 years old, you are already talking about when you and C will live together both during and after college!  Although you have grown up a lot, you are still incomplete without your 'blankie' from Korea.  That brown, furry thing grosses me out, but you are seldom without it.  I love seeing you first thing in the morning, said blankie wrapped around your shoulders.  It has traveled to so many different places with us, probably more places than the average person!  And even though you're not too excited about outdoor activities, you like nothing more than to go camping as a family, and hang out by the campsite all weekend.  It will be tough for you leaving your friends and your teacher here, and I know there will be tears shed, but L, I know that ultimately you will be fine because of your love of us all being together. xxx


Dear C,
My tender hearted boy!  I think it's going to be the most difficult for you when we leave Tennessee.  You have loved and enjoyed all our experiences here and have become a thoughtful, clever and sporty boy.  You are so kind and considerate to everybody.  When your brother hurts, you hurt more because you care about him so much.  You are so concerned about the well being of others and you are equally as happy with your boy friends as you are with your girl friends - especially our neighbors' girls who you love like sisters.  You are the sporty one of the family.  It's true that you can fall over fresh air and are a wee bit clumsy sometimes, but when you're participating in any kind of sport, a change comes over you and you are one with whatever it is you are doing!   Basketball, gymnastics, you name it.  You excelled at soccer as soon as you started playing.  So much so that we signed you up for Strikers last year, something that you love passionately and are totally committed to.  You watch the Premier League on TV, you memorize the pages of the Match books and comics that Granny and Papa send to you, and you can answer any question about soccer players and teams worldwide.  You practice constantly in the yard.  You get so anxious before your games which kills me, as I know how much you actually love playing, but hopefully you will grow out of that!  You absorb everything at school and I rarely have to help you with your homework.  So much so, that your teacher wants to have you tested for being gifted.  You are already sad that you will be leaving your friends, your teacher, your beloved Strikers and your amazing coaches, but I know you will quickly get used to life in Seattle.  Your heart will break saying goodbye C, but you know that at least, you are moving with your best friend - your brother.  I have thoroughly enjoyed watching every one of your soccer practices and games and look forward to more at our new home! xxx,


Dear A,
You have grown up so much since we moved to Tennessee, but thankfully, you are also still my little girl.  You are sweet, helpful and always happy to help around the house.  You love nothing more than to make everyone's beds and make us all breakfast.  You took over responsibility for the dog here - feeding her and taking her outside - not once have you complained, even when it's raining!  Although you do like to wind your brothers up sometimes, I know you love them and always look out for them. They don't know it yet but they're extremely lucky to have you as a big sister.  I love watching you with our neighbors' little girls, you love them like sisters and are always happy to play with them, despite the age difference, which matters not a jot to you!  You would play outside every minute of the day if you could and you just love hanging out with your friends.  In fact, you experienced your first big girl sleepover here with another of our neighbors who you are also going to miss!  We feel blessed that you are such a "go with the flow" girl.  You admit that you're going to be sad leaving here, but you are also truly excited for our next adventure.  You've matured so much since we've been here.  You're very responsible and you actually love going to school - I sure hope that lasts!   Your confidence has also grown here, firstly through gymnastics, and then you discovered something you are very passionate about and excel at - karate!  I'm so proud when I watch you execute your katas and moves, and you pay such close attention to your sensei (unlike your brother)!  You were selected for the Demonstration Team and loved performing your moves at various venues around town.  We so enjoyed coming to watch you!  You also began yoga classes which brought you to a love of yoga, just like your Mummy.  You are definitely a rule follower and everyone you come in contact with, comments on your beautiful manners, your good behavior and your sweet nature.  Daddy has been gone for most of this move and you've helped me out so much.  I will be forever grateful for you A, thank you for everything you do, every day xxx

Dear J,
I'm not going to lie, I was very skeptical about moving here when you retired from the military and took a job with Amazon.  I'd never even heard of Murfreesboro and didn't really know much about Tennessee apart from country music and Nashville!  It was kind of scary that we were going to be miles away from the nearest base and there would be no more shopping at the commissary or the BX.  But...  I can't even begin to say how proud I am of you and how grateful and happy I am with our life together.  You sucked up several months on night shift which was hard on all of us, but we managed and made the most of it.  Daytime dates were actually fun!  We had fantastic weekends exploring the countryside in and around Murfreesboro and took the kids on several hiking, boating, camping and mountain biking adventures.  You would always surprise us with some new place you wanted us to visit, and we have had so much fun being tourists and exploring.  You have worked your ass off (as usual) and you were promoted after your first year with Amazon.  You then went on to be promoted again just before Christmas last year which led us to this move to Seattle.  You are so committed to us, your family, that it still amazes me.  We are truly a team and I love that our best friends are each other.  Although I'm sad to be leaving our friends and our life here in Tennessee, I am also excited for our new adventure - and we have already been amazingly lucky to have had so many adventures in our life together!  I've missed you over the last month and I'm so excited for us all to be together again and begin our new chapter.  Love always xxx

So my friends, there you have it for this week.  Yes, I'm an emotional wreck!   Tennessee friends, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the amazing friendships and experiences we've had with you all.  Not only have you made this place one of our most favorite places we've lived in, you also made our transition to life in the civilian world so very easy, thank you so much!  We love you all and hope to see many of you again in the future.  Till next time... xxx

A Tennessee Sunday

Most Sundays we like to load everyone (including the dog) into the van, drive someplace new, do some hiking and then reward ourselves with some good food and drinkies afterwards.  Because we're not from here, we still feel like tourists because there's always somewhere new to go!  This past Sunday we drove to Edwin Warner State Park near Nashville.  We were originally headed to Percy Warner State Park but we couldn't find the entrance (bloody GPS), so Edwin had to do.  Rain was forecast so we'd picked this place mostly for the tree cover, just in case.  It was a scenic and easy drive up there and the sun was shining.  We parked at the huge nature center, headed into the woods and hiked on some great trails for around 4 miles, stopping to mess around in the river and climb some rocks.  Happy kids and happy hund!   

We planned on going to the Loveless Cafe afterwards, just a few miles further up Hwy 100 and close to the beautiful Natchez Trace Parkway.   It was almost 3pm when we got there and we knew it was likely going to be busy, but there was already a 1 hr 30 min wait!  We messed around outside, tried out the rocking chairs, played some cornhole and bought some bbq rub in the store to kill time.  The Loveless Cafe has been serving food since 1951 and is mostly famous for it's biscuits, preserves, ham and red-eye gravy.  It has won many awards and has even been visited by fellow Brit, Princess Anne :)  There are lots of signed photos of many of the celebrities who have visited in the entryway. 

 

The time passed quickly and we were led to our table.

The husband and me had been before for breakfast, so we were looking forward to trying the supper options this time.  I was excited to see Mimosa in a Mason Jar on the drinks menu, I can't say no to some champers whatever time of day it is and a mason jar isn't exactly small :)  Thanks to the husband who volunteered to drive home!  

We were brought our plate of free biscuits (kind of like salty, moist Scottish scones) and homemade preserves as soon as we sat down. The kids demolished those, the husband and me hardly got a look in. 

They were really excited to watch the chefs out back in the kitchen make the biscuits, they're served up all day long and absolutely delicious.

They sure don't get that excited watching me cooking at home of course!   I ordered the bbq turkey breast with corn pancakes, hash brown casserole and coleslaw

and the husband had the bbq pork chops with fries and coleslaw, it couldn't have been better.   A nice touch on the kids menu was that after they colored the pictures and turned them in to the gift store, they got a piece of candy.   Molly got some leftover pork and turkey, so she wasn't left out :) 

I'm going to head back to this Park to run the trails when I start training for my next Ragnar which is a Trail Relay in AZ.  I'd recommend today's day out to anybody with kids and dogs, Tennessee is beautiful, but even more so when the sun is shining!  So grateful that the forecast rain didn't appear.  Looking forward to continuing our Sunday tradition of hiking and eating our way round Middle Tennessee :)

Murfreesboro Livin'

When the husband told me he'd been offered a job too good to refuse in Murfreesboro, TN, my first reaction was "What/Where/Good Grief/Hell no!"  I couldn't even say it properly and the 'boro' part - surely they meant 'burgh' as in Edinburgh?  It didn't sound very glamorous or exciting at all. 

A couple of months later, we packed up the kiddos and the dog and headed to TN to start our new life.  After looking at around 50 houses (not nearly as fun as it looks on HGTV), we made offers on 3 which were quickly withdrawn after we discovered that Number 1 house was less than half a mile from the railroad (too noisy), Number 2 house showed up as a red dot on the US Family Watchdog website as having a pedophile living there (Eeek!) and Number 3 house backed on to an electrical easement which could have been built on by the electric company at any time.  No thanks.  We got our current house mostly out of desperation.  We had a matter of weeks before the husband's job started and we had to get something!  Luckily we found a great house in a lovely neighborhood with 2 community pools and close to the schools that we wanted.  So, in a nutshell, that's how we ended up here in the Boro as it's affectionately called by the locals.

Although it's not our forever home, we have really enjoyed living here for the last 2 years.  The locals are friendly, straight-forward and down to earth.  Most of them drink beer too which is very important in our book :)  We'd previously mocked country music and all things related but when you live this close (30 mins) to Nashville, you may as well embrace the lifestyle, right?  So yes, we are all into Luke Bryan, George Strait, Jason Aldean etc., and yes, we do all own a pair of cowboy boots! 

It's so much fun taking the kiddos up to Nashville to go line dancing & fried pickle eating at the Wildhorse Saloon or to listen to live music at Legends in the afternoon.  The kiddos love it! 

We've seen Carrie Underwood and Josh Turner at the Grand Ole Opry and Luke Bryan at the Bridgestone Arena.  Yeehaw!!  Nashville also has a fantastic Greenway running alongside the Cumberland River, perfect for long Sunday bike rides.  If you're lucky, the General Jackson riverboat will cruise by and really make you realize that you're in the South.  It's beautiful!

The countryside around Murfreesboro is lush.  We are surrounded by rolling fields, woods, lakes, tiny white churches and rustic barns straight out of a movie set.  Yes, of course there are trailers and a lot of run down places too but I think that just adds to the charm.  We saw this huge roadside sign once saying Go to Church or the Devil's gonna get you.  Southern charm at it's finest ;)  While Murfreesboro itself isn't the prettiest of towns and traffic in the middle of town is horrendous, it does have a lot going for it.  Here are a few of our favorite things: 

We spend a lot of time on the Greenway which runs alongside the Stones River for approximately 9 miles.  We bike, walk the dog and let the kids take their electric scooters on this trail.  There's a huge playpark and a smaller one accessible from the trail so it's perfect for a day out close to home.  We've seen snakes, deer and lots of other critters along the trail. 

One of the most bloody battles of the Civil War was fought on the Stones River Battlefield in 1862 when 3,024 men were killed.  The battlefield has a great visitor center and walking trails but it's a very sombre place when you think about how many were killed right here in town.  http://www.nps.gov/stri/index.htm

There's a brewery here in town called Mayday Brewery.  The beer is fabulous.  They have food trucks and live music when they're open and the owners are welcoming and hilarious.  We love hanging out here on the deck when the weather's good! 

Just outside of town is Arrington Vineyards.  http://www.arringtonvineyards.com/ Owned by Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn fame, this is a lovely place to go and sit outside, enjoy the views, listen to live music (country of course) and sample the wine.  We're also about 40 mins drive from historic Franklin which kind of reminds me of back home with it's proper High Street & lots of wee shops and unique restaurants. 

There are an amazing amount of sports going on in town for the kiddos.  Ours currently do gymnastics at Elite Energy.  Their instructors are all young, enthusiastic and encouraging.  I spend a lot of time sitting on my butt here, so I'm glad it has a good atmosphere!   We also do soccer through The Murfreesboro Soccer Club.  It's a very well organized program with fantastic volunteer coaches.   My daughter does Yoga at the Yoga Nest - she already kicks my ass on some of the more difficult poses.  I love that she gets to do this at such a young age with such inspirational and encouraging instructors (I know this because they are also my Hot Yoga instructors)!  We also enjoy visiting The Ascent http://www.climbyourrock.com/  It's an indoor climbing place with lots of routes and again, is really family friendly. 

There are also a lot of non sporty things for kiddos.  My boys have done Robotic Lego and Engineering for Kids classes this year at the Discovery Center.  There was none of this when I was growing up - I'm kinda jealous that they get to do all of these cool things!

Gold's Gym, my personal favorite!  The Hot Yoga Classes and the Group Exercise Classes are quite simply awesome!  The instructors are approachable and motivating and this gym is the friendliest I have ever been to.  I am here most days and I love it!  The daycare here is also fabulous with lovely staff and great equipment for the kids to play on. 

We love going mountain biking and hiking and there are numerous state parks close to the Boro with tons of trails, waterfalls and caves.

Most weekends we pick somewhere new and take a trip there with either the bikes or the boots.  I can run for miles on the Greenway or on roads from my house.  Road shoulders here are pretty wide so I feel pretty safe when I'm out there, although I do pack my Mace for just in case...!  There are also many places to go fishing, boating, canoeing and camping within an hour's drive. 

5 hours to the east are the Smoky Mountains and 90 mins to the south is Chattanooga.  We are truly never stuck for something to do or somewhere to go. 

So, please don't diss Tennessee, it really is a great place to visit and to live!  Who knows where we'll go next, but we'll definitely have lots of fond memories of Murfreesboro.  Even if I do still struggle to say it properly :)

PS.  As you can see, I've just discovered how to upload photos.  I hope to improve on this and some other blog features soon, but I'm mostly technically challenged so don't hold your breath!