Flashback

Wow! Just WOW! This was 8 years ago. 2014. John had just separated from the military. We we were leaving Turkey and then the Azores and moving back to the USA.

We went to Olive Garden, and my kids asked what the cold stuff blowing from the ceiling onto their back was. They had been in a house without heat or a/c for two years and didn't remember what that cold stuff was. 

We also had no cell phones. The world had ERUPTED with smart phones while we were gone. And it was like the Twilight Zone for us. Everywhere we went, people were glancing at these little rectangular devices. What was so important? After realizing that every place we went, people required a number to text you on, we decided to bite the bullet and buy these little gadgets. The lady at the cell phone store asked us what our last cell phone was. When we said a Razor flip phone, she said: "Were you missionaries?"

We were living in Spring Hill, TN. It was the six of us, Scrubs, and my in-laws. The home was gigantic with two master bedrooms, and the rent at the time was $1800 a month. (I imagine it would be $2,800 today.) We randomly picked this place because it was near Nashville (a city we were familiar with from our time living above the border in Kentucky) and JB had gotten a job at an ER in Lewisburg, TN.  

This picture below was the moment of truth. Our stuff had been "lost at sea" for about four months, and other people on our ship were getting back shipments completely covered in mold. Would our stuff be a total loss too? The truck unloaded and only about 20% was damaged so we called it a win. 

We'd spend the next year living in this beautiful neighborhood with sidewalks and a community pool and an HOA that meant we couldn't hang our clothes to dry and had to lower basketball hoops after each use before we began our forever move to Bulls Gap, TN. 

It was a place of good memories for me as we looked for our farm and began to return to being Americans. I actually miss that cute little neighborhood and the library down the road. So many adventures!