This might be the longest post ever...

...but that's what I get for procrastinating so long, right? Gosh...I can't believe I haven't blogged at all about the move. So much has happened in the past couple weeks and I've just had enough energy to sit and take it all in. So, it might take me a couple days to complete, but this post will hopefully catch everyone up with what's happened over the past couple weeks.

First off, when I told my friend Amy that I was moving to Greenville, she graciously invited me to have dinner at Cassique which is the part of the Kiawah Island Club where I worked on Saturday nights for a few years. For those of you who don't know about the Club, it is a members only, very exclusive, very expensive golf club on Kiawah Island. I loved every Saturday night I spent at the club and sometimes felt guilty for getting paid to hang out with friends! Cassique serves some of the best food I have ever had in my life...and that's truly no exaggeration! So as a thank you for all of their support over the years, I invited the two people who have influenced my taste buds and raised me to appreciate only the best...Mom and Dad! The meal was phenomenal and it was great being wined and dined by such a great group of friends!

Everything is served "family style" so we ordered as a table and passed around the food to share! This is my plate...we had hanger steak, halibut, sea beans (cross between a green bean and asparagus) corn, and pureed potatoes!

Cheers!

I was so focused on hiring movers, packing and making other arrangements, that I really hadn't thought much about the fact that I was running out of time with my friends! I guess because Greenville is so close to Charleston and I knew I'd be coming back down to Charleston a lot, I hadn't really come to the realization that I wasn't going to get to see them as often as normal. So it was really awesome when my good friend Clay offered to have a "Going Away Pot Luck Dinner" for me. I was actually very flattered that so many people showed up. It's hard to believe that all of the people in the following pictures are "new" friends. I've only known them for a couple years! But they are some of the best people I know.

This is Nick and Kelly getting ready to cut into the ice cream cake that I made!

And here is the ice cream cake! One of the easiest things I know how to make-ice cream sandwiches, whipped cream and snickers! Yum!Me and Nick

Look at all those cute girls! Betsay, Margaret Ann, Christine, Kelly and me

Me, Shawn Ray, Kelly and Clay

John and me

This picture is evidence that as the night went on and the food ran out, the drinks definitely did not! Not a bad picture of Micah, but what am I doing? Look at my neck!?!

The next day my friend (and boss) Emily came over to help me pack my kitchen! It really wasn't until I unpacked in Greenville that I realized how much she had done! We were able to pack up my kitchen and most of the living room by 2:00 that afternoon! Later on that night, Saylor, a coworker, and her husband Chris had an awesome Going Away Party for me at their house in Mt. Pleasant! It was wonderful to get together with my new work family! Nathan, who is a Clemson grad, gave me a Clemson baseball hat so I'd fit in up in "God's Country!" Saylor and Chris fixed a spread and we all enjoyed hanging out on their patio with their new patio furniture! I wish I had pictures but I forgot to bring my camera that night!

So a few days later was moving day! Mom came down on Wednesday night and the movers showed up the next morning around 9!Mom and I kept laughing at how big the truck was for just one person's stuff but the move went really smoothly! The movers quickly loaded up all the boxes first. I had spent the entire week packing boxes and moving them to the garage so all that was left in the house was my furniture, Sierra and myself! All in all, after 2 1/2 hours the truck was 1/2 full and we waved goodbye to all my worldly possessions! Mom and I spent the next couple hours scrubbing down the house. I was really proud of how clean we left it. As we drove away from Charleston to drop Sierra off in Columbia for the week and then on to Greenville, I have to say, I was still really excited about where I was headed.

Mom and I spent the next 2 nights with good family friends Bill and Jean Schmidt. The next morning we met the movers at my new house and pretty much told them where everything went. I am very grateful that my company, TE21, was so gracious in giving me a moving allowance. It was really nice to have big strong men moving boxes and furniture. Mom and I got so much done on Friday!

I didn't actually get to sleep in my own bed until the following Monday night because Mom and I headed off to Raleigh the day after I moved to Greenville for my cousin, Jim Lovelace's, wedding. It was great hanging out with the family and meeting our new cousin, Jacob. He's 9 months old and about the cutest little boy I've seen! Again...forgot my camera...no pictures...sorry!

And now I'm in Greenville full time! I'm loving it so far! I spent the first few days unpacking but have made it a point to get out and about each day...even if it is to just get a new driver's license! Greenville seems really easy to get around which is a blessing when I think back to my first week in Charleston when I spent an HOUR driving around the same 2 or 3 blocks trying to find the bridge to take me home! I was going to post some pictures of the house, my room, bathroom, etc. but all of a sudden got paranoid about putting too much personal info out for the world to see (thanks Mike)! Oh well...that just means you'll have to come and visit!