Living in TN - Musings

I have lived in a few different places, Minnesota, Mexico, Indiana, and Ireland (I classify "lived" as by staying in a place, getting mail and doing laundry). But no place I have lived (besides MN) has been as permanent as my new home. I'm not sure what the significance of that is, but it seems very new and different to me. I really enjoy this new place and it's not what I expected.

When I think Tennessee, I guess, when I thought Tennessee before, I thought the area would be more country-bumpkin, with tons of country music and not a whole lot going on. I really wasn't a fan of the south (for a variety of reasons) and I'm very happy that my previous notions were wrong. At least Middle Tennessee has a lot going on, it's very beautiful with the hills and the weather. People are really nice, and that's not an exaggeration. Andy and I went on our first bike ride on the Murfreesboro Greenway (which is nothing like the Midtown Greenway) and his chain broke. Some random stranger rode past us as Andy was working on the bikes to ask if we needed help. That doesn't happen much in Minneapolis.

When you go to a new place do you ever think that your first day there feels entirely different from how you see it after awhile? This place certainly does and I'm starting to get my bearings. It's tough to get situated geographically with Andy though because he can never drive the same way twice. So I'm not entirely sure how to get around all the time, but I'm getting there. Overall, this place has been really fun and I'm very happy we've made this move. Life down here is a lot different than our life in Minnesota though, here are some examples.

Slow Pace: Granted government-run anything isn't quick but the time it took to get my driver's license was ridiculous. Especially since I spent a 1/2 hour watching some supervisor stand around in different positions and drink his coffee. Additionally they drive below the speed limit here. Earlier I mentioned that they drive the speed limit due to cops being very active. But I toe the line and I pass about 75% of those driving. I just don't get it.

Because 25 mph is just too fast

Horses, ect: On the way to work for Andy he can pass horses and cows grazing in the fields. I can guarantee you that didn't happen on the crosstown. When I was doing my job search today I saw someone riding their horse up to the stables on the "block" before you get to our townhouse development. When we drove to Chattanooga the other weekend we saw adorable cows with white tube tops on. I enjoy seeing the livestock.

Weather: When we left Minnesota, spring was starting. Spring is my least favorite season in Minnesota because it's so wet and mucky. I like to go outside and spend time hiking around but sometimes it's difficult to wade through the mud and stay on a path. Spring in Tennessee is like it should be. Stuff grows when it's "officially" spring time. Spring break comes at a logical time of year. Heck, as I write this I'm sitting on my front step wearing a tank top, shorts, and sunscreen with no shoes/socks. It's refreshing.

Dirt: Some of the soil here is red, which really throw me for a loop sometimes. We live kind of by a little cemetery (near where the neighbor horses are kept) and the fresh graves have piles of red dirt. It's just weird.

Music: Granted Minneapolis has it's own solid music scene, it's nothing compared to Music City! And I love that. Andy and I saw a bluegrass band play at the Station Inn last weekend. It seems that on any given day in any old bar there will be some form of a band playing there. And I like that. Even if it is country. Speaking of country, I haven't heard a lot of it since being down here. In our first couple weeks, Andy and I resigned ourselves to listening to country in the car because we didn't know where the good stations were. We've found a lot of good music stations since that I really enjoy. Plus, there are two public radio stations next to each other on the dial. That's just the checkers.

Off the Wagon, allegedly the tallest Bluegrass band in the world.

Out-of-doors: I would classify Minnesota as an outdoors-y state. I spent most of my life hanging around outside, reading, hiking, camping, canoeing, taking the dog out. There's a lot to do outside in Minnesota and I would say the Boundary Waters is one of my favorite places to be. However, generally you have to go aways from the cities to get to any fun type of country. And let's face it, Minnesota is pretty flat. Not just outside of Nashville! A couple weekends ago Andy and I went on a hike to Shake Rag Hollow and had a marvelous time traversing the hilly terrain. The road to get to the trail head stopped at cliff with no guardrails, just the hope that you'll be too much in awe to keep driving. There's going to be a lot of camping and hiking down here.

Vistas!

History: We're surrounded by history here. Everywhere we go there's a sign on the road for this battle or that. It's fun to be a part of an area where so much happened to shape our country. Even on Andy's way to work he drives by a Civil-War Era cannon, who can beat that?!

Crops: Much of out state Minnesota is devoted to the cultivation of corn and soybeans. Which makes for a boring road trip. Here, there's cotton! I've never seen (at least that I've remembered) a cotton field until now. And I'm more excited to see what it looks like in full and glorious bloom.

I was given a history of the Cotton Gin at this point.

I look forward to exploring more of what Tennessee has to offer. It's good to be wrong sometimes about a place and just taking a chance.

Not in Minnesota Anymore

Many of you might not know this, but my blogger link is amandainminnesota.blogspot.com. My previous blog when I was in Ireland was amandainireland2.blogspot.com (there was already an amandainireland, so I was the second). So my blog name is based on where I am currently located. So it would make sense for me to have a new blog now, amandaintennessee.blogspot.com, but I don't want to. That's too many blogs and for the sake of simplicity I am keeping what I have. I did update the format of my blog and now I don't lie and say that I live in Minnesota. So my theme is going to be exploration of Tennessee and all the (exciting) things that I may do.

Also, if you haven't actually visited my blog site and just view the stream on Facebook, I encourage you to check it out. I used a new template in blogger and I would like to know what you think. Do you like the new look and layout?

More explorations to come later when my camera battery is charged!

Living in TN - Our Home!

Since it may be awhile before many of you will come and visit Andy and I, I'll take you on a photo tour of our new place. Some points to note, this place is huge to me. I think it may be the biggest space I've had to live in since moving out of my parent's house. The spaciousness of this place astounds me from time to time. Plus, sometimes I get annoyed that things are so far from where I'm currently at. Which is good to keep me from being too lazy. I apologize for all the comparisons to our old house, but I keep making them in my mind.

First things first, when you come through the door. You'll be introduced to our airy and open living room.

Welcome to Hitherwood Hollow! (Andy's name creation)

You can see the window opening to the kitchen.

This is the view from the dining room.

As you can see the couch, rocking chair, LoveSac, bookshelf, and secretary desk all fit in the room, with space to spare!

This is our dining room.

You can see our bikes and the table/swing out back on our patio.

The kitchen opens up to the right.

There's enough room in here to have the table open all the way, all the time!

Best of all, a giant kitchen!

Andy and I love to cook, but when we were both in our old kitchen it's surprising we managed to get and stay married!

I once cooled cookies outside because there was no more space in our kitchen/dining room for them.

The kitchen is so big it takes 2 pictures to show the whole thing.

See that butcher's block in the middle of everything?

I thought that would be really annoying to be there, but it's been a great addition.

If I need to bring a glass (from the right) to the fridge to get some water, I can place my glass on the butchers block to rest half way.

I'm not used to things being more than two steps away from each other.

Before we leave the first floor, we must take a bathroom break!

This is our smallest bathroom, which if it had a tub, would be about the size of our old bathroom.

See me squished in the corner back there?

That's about how much space I had to brush my teeth with Andy at night.

This is our guest bedroom/office.

This is my job search central, I enjoy looking out the window while applying for jobs.

Our guest bedroom has it's own bathroom!

Finally... the master bedroom!

There's so much room around the bed to walk, it's great.

No more banging my shins on th bed frame.

The attached master bathroom.

This room has a separate tub and a good-sized shower, in addition to all that counter space.

Last but not least, a walk-in closet!

Andy and I can keep our clothes in the same closet, much less the same room.

This is the closet that I laid down in because I could.

Imagine that I slept in a room not much bigger than this just a few years ago.

Overall, this is a great place to live. I spend a lot of time here since it's job search central. I can be upstairs or downstairs. On either level I can go to the bathroom. I may get tired walking all around the house, but it's a matter of getting used to it. Going up and down the stairs is good exercise and I'm excited that I have stairs to climb.

Living in TN - Week 1

It's been a week since we've lived in Tennessee and the transition is going smoothly. I'm working on unpacking the boxes, which has proven sort of difficult. In our house in Minneapolis we had a basement where we threw a bunch of stuff and it was out of the way. Now we have a small storage space and that's it. So I have to be a bit more organized. Once I get most of the boxes unpacked and the pictures on the walls, I'll post a tour blog.

So far I haven't experience any culture shock. I've been cooped up in the house most of the time applying for jobs, so I haven't had a lot of interaction with many Tennesseans. Despite this minimal interaction I have notice some marked differences between here and Minnesota.

• In Smyrna, everyone drives the speed limit or slower. Are you on a long, straight country road? Better go 30 mph! They are very law abiding here and it throws me off when I drive. Andy's coworkers told him to watch out for the police in Smyrna though, they're tough on the speed limit. That explains it.
• They're very generous with their road labeling here, some roads that are labeled are a stretch for even being considered a "road". Andy and I were on an exploratory drive last Sunday and we took a wrong turn. According to the map, to get back on track Andy told me to turn right on Jordan Road, which looked like someone's gravel driveway and was actually a one lane road through a farm. But we managed to get where we needed to be.
• While the Tennesseans will label a dirt track as a road, when it comes to actual roads and highways they get a little label happy. For example, depending on who you talk to, where you are, and what sign you're looking at the main road near our house is called Murfreesboro Road, Lowry St, 70S, 1 or 41. When leaving Franklin, TN last night we took a road called alternately Columbia Ave, Columbia Pike, 31 or 6. We crossed over a connection to Mack Hatcher, Memorial Parkway, TRK 96, 397, TRK 431 or TRK 31. When I tried to get to a recycling center I got mixed up because I went on Almaville Road from Nissan Dr (or 102) not realizing that if I just continued West on Nissan Dr/102 that it turned into another Almaville Road and I would have been just fine.
• Everyone is really friendly here. Well, most everyone. One person Andy met wasn't nice. But so far everyone else has been great. The woman who is the caretaker of the townhouses we live in said thank you to me after she let me in my house when I locked myself out.

After one week I'm happy with our move down south. We've eaten outside a few times because it's so nice. The other night we sat on our stoop and read. There's a lot of places to explore and just about every day we've gone out for a walk at a new place. It's really quite exciting. Today Andy and I are heading up north to Nashville and check out what Music City has to offer. I'll keep you posted!

Living in TN - Move in!

Andy and I officially left Minnesota on Thursday, March 4, around 8:30am or so. As my mom mentioned, this is the second time I've moved out of Minnesota. I thought it'd be a bit sadder to leave the state I've spent so much time in, but I think the stress of packing and loading was so much that it felt good to leave all that behind. I might be sadder later, but I'm not sure. I think this move was a good decision and at that time, I was excited about the new future that lay before me in Tennessee.

We spent our last night in Minnesota on an air mattress in the living room, so when we got to my parent's house in Indiana sleeping on Tony's bed was heavenly. I've never slept in that bedroom before. Friday morning my dad roused us and we were up and at 'em early. Mom and I took to my car and Dad followed Andy in his truck loaded with more stuff.

Mom and I arrived in Smyrna ahead of Andy and Dad. Our first task was to make sure the water got turned on (which, thanks to a helpful person at the townhouse, it was on). After that we headed over to my new home.

We live in luxury now compared to our small house in Minneapolis. It seems as though each place gets better and better. I graduated from living in a closet, to having my own big room, to having my own house to now, an even bigger house! We have a gigantic kitchen, which is excellent for Andy and I to start cooking. I actually got annoyed at first because when I pulled a bowl out of the cupboard, the cereal wasn't just right at my fingertips. I had to walk across the kitchen to get my cereal. That's just ridiculous.

We have 2 bedrooms and both have walk-in closets. The guest bedroom closet even has it's own window! I laid down in my closet, just because I could, and there was extra room. Andy and I both have our clothes (dressers included!) in one closet.

Then there's the weather. It's fabulous here! When we moved, I couldn't get a flower pot out of the ground because it was frozen. Here, I planted a strawberry bush yesterday! I've put our winter coats away and last night on a walk, Andy actually wore shorts. It got up to 70 degrees! This afternoon, it rained! Rain is what happens when snow is unthawed. I know it's probably going to be super hot and humid this summer and I'll be eating my words, but for now, I love being outside and having the windows open.

I'll update more later!

Under the Tennessee Sun

Andy and I are moving to Tennessee on Thursday. We will lay over at my parent's house that night and roll into our new lives on Friday. We'll be living in a 2 story townhouse in Smyrna, TN; which is just south of Nashville.

I'm excited for a few things. The house that we're renting has more square footage of living space than our current house. It has 3 bathrooms! Right now we have 1 tiny bathroom. The guest bedroom has it's own bathroom, as does the master bedroom. Both bedrooms have walk in closets! Right now, Andy and I each have 1/2 a closet in separate rooms. The kitchen is huge and has tons of cabinet space. And that's just stuff I'm excited for about the house.

The area of Tennessee that we're moving to looks really pretty, and it will be near mountains. There's lots of places near by for camping, hiking and even canoeing. The weather will be miles nicer there than in Minnesota. When we get there, the LOW won't even be below freezing. I'm going to throw open the windows and breathe fresh air.

Since we'll have a townhouse, we can't do much gardening. So we'll take up what space we can on our little back patio for container gardening. Maybe we'll have a tomato plant and some basil. We can go to the Nashville Farmer's Market this Saturday when we get settled. I don't have a Tennessee job yet, but that's my focus once we get in and get settled. My temporary job is to unpack, cook dinner and find a job.

About a year or so ago Andy and I were talking about our plans for the future. We wanted to move within 2 years from that point and start seriously searching the January after we got married. Nashville isn't Portland, but it has a lot of what we're looking for. I'm excited that we're accomplishing such a big goal. We can get settled into life down south and maybe buy some land to have a big garden and some chickens.

I will update more once we get down there and start feeling more comfortable. Here's to new and exciting experiences!

Moving can't be that hard, or no one would do it.