She did it!!!!

For those of you who know Addison, this will come as no surprise to you. Addison auditioned for an Off Broadway show. The show is Willy Wonka Jr. We heard about the auditions from a friend of ours, Casey. We did not think much of it. Addison went and read, sang, and danced for the first audition. Basically, Brad and I were proud of her for doing just that.

Then she was called back. So, we returned. Addison read and sang for three or four different parts. She said that when she read for Violet, the "judges" just cracked up. Monday, we found out that she is, in fact, going to be Violet in the show.

We are so proud of her!!!

Watching the Sunset

This past July, our family had the opportunity to hike for three days and two nights on the Appalachian Trail. We covered about 12 or so miles. It was wonderful. As a family, we were able to spend "quality" time together. As we hiked, we talked, we looked at things, we laughed, we moaned and groaned (just a little!) ....things you normally do while hiking. We also hiked in absolute quite for a bit. What a treat!

On our last evening, we watched one of the most spectacular sunsets from the peak of Standing Indian Mountain (a mountain that was not so kind to me during a hiking trip in college!!). It was during this sunset that I was brought back to the thought of CHANGE....the one we were living and the one we were facing. This word was created out of the view that evening. Just when the site could not get any better, it did. It miraculously changed and became even prettier. This changing sunset was in slow motion. You could literally watch the movement of the sun, the clouds, and the fog. Yet this slow moving sunset all happened so fast. It left us just as suddenly as it had come to us. Just as the sun would set, our lives would change. Change......I knew it was coming. I knew we would trade in the North Georgia Mountains for the concrete streets of the city. The children would change schools. Brad would be a student....no longer employed. I would have to find a job. Our lifestyle would definitely change. We would meet new friends and form new relationships. Everything we thought would change, did. What I did not anticipate was the change within us as individuals.

Coming home for Christmas opened me to the internal change. I don't know what to say about it or even how to describe it...... things were just different..... not bad..... just different. We remained in the midst of family and friends, surround by love and graciousness. They each refilled us and gave us a renewal of strength and encouragement on this journey. Yet something was different. Something had changed. Maybe it was the fact that we were able to drive again. Maybe it was the fact the rooms we were in were the size of our apartment. Maybe it was walking out to grass and trees. Maybe it was accepting one generous act after another. I don't know..... things had changed.

It was on our drive home that I realized that New York offered us a sense of security during this time of transition. It is sort of like an incubator. We are in this small, safe community facing this enormous change in our life. Slowly, just like the sun setting, we are changing..... little by little. Some days it feels like the sun is breaking through the clouds. Others days, it feels like the fog rolling in. But with each trial comes clarity. With each glimpse of beauty, we find a sense of peace.

When we look back on this time, I hope we are able to think......... just as sure as it came, it went. Wow what a beautiful sunset! Until the sun sets tomorrow......

What a great trip home!!

We (the five of us....yes the dog went too) left New York Friday, December 18th around 11:00 AM. We knew a snow storm was approaching the Eastern coast but we figured by leaving this early we would beat the storm. We could not leave any sooner because Addison was in a play at school. So, off we went. For the first seven hours everything went well. I was hoping we could beat the storm before it hit the mountains in Virginia. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Around 6:00 PM, it began to snow. As time went on, the storm gradually began to get worse.

The temperature was dropping and the snow was falling hard. At 7:00, about 40 miles above Roanoke, Virginia, we were looking for a place to pull over to get something to eat. There was an exit with some restaurants but it looked as if it would be difficult to get back on the interstate so I decided to go a little farther because I thought if we could make it to Roanoke we would have a better selection (ha! ha!).

We traveled about three miles past this exit and traffic stopped. We sat on the interstate for four and a half hours.....yes four and a half hours! At 11:30, we began to move slowly. We could not get over 20 miles an hour because the snow was so deep. Two hours later we arrived in Roanoke and got a hotel room. After getting a little food from the Shell station (blueberry muffin, banana bread, Doritos and warm and eat mac and cheese) we finally ate “dinner” and went to bed.

When we woke up at 7:30 AM, the little town we were in was covered with two feet of snow. I dug the car out and we again began on our journey home. After several detours and advice from our friend, we decided to change directions and head for Charlotte, North Carolina. This would get us out of the mountains and deep snow. This turned out to be the best decision. Once we made it to Charlotte we were traveling at normal speeds. We arrived in Marietta around 5:30. Thirty and a half hours later we were finally done with our trip. To say we were ready to get out of the car would be an understatement.