Moving to Chattanooga was a great experience. We had never lived on our own before and there we were, making the 7 hour drive to Chattanooga the day after our wedding with a U Haul trailer in tow. It was great and sad at the same time. We had to move away from our family. Saying goodbye to my mom and sister was another really difficult time that still brings tears to my eyes. My sister and I were finally friends, just like my mom always said we would be. And my mom was more than a mom to me, she was one of my best friends.
Once we got there and unpacked, the real adventure began. I thought, "Oh boy. I'm really married and I am really doing this." Being married and living together meant TJ was going to see me at my worse. I stayed out at his house enough to be considered living together before we were married, but this was different. This meant he'd see me at my worse. I'm talking my sweats and non-matching T-shirt, without makeup, occasionally with a mud mask, cleaning the toilet worse. Amazingly, after he saw me like that he still loved me. Whatta guy!
Being married and living together was a big change but so was walking into a room full of people (or in my case, a bowling alley) you'd never met before and attempting to make friends. That was very difficult for me, especially because I was the youngest person there- well, besides Grayson <3. I felt like most people thought they were babysitting me even though no on ever made me feel that way. After a while, though, I made some of the greatest friends. Friends I'll always have and friends that I can always count on- even if it is a MySpace chat. Some of the best memories TJ and I share are from Chattanooga and from the friends that we made there.
We had all kinds of great times in Chattanooga. We camped just about every weekend, we went to UFC fights at Jessie and Todd's house, we even made a few trips to Knoxville, Nashville, and Gatlinburg. We were so blessed to have been able to do all of that so young.
I was lucky enough to not have to work and so I started college in Chattanooga. Chattanooga State Technical Community College. That was a big step for me. I had only been out of school for a year when I started back. And it felt great, a little overwhelming at times, but great.
Chattanooga has a lot of sentimental value for us. That was where we had our first apartment and made so many memories. Man, oh man, that apartment. I do miss it. It was so very hard to leave it when we moved. TJ had left for MK A School about a week before I left to go to Florida. After everything had been moved to storage and my sister, her boyfriend, and I were getting ready to leave. I went back inside to make sure we didn't miss anything and started crying. I sat in the middle of our bedroom floor and cried. It was very difficult to close that chapter of our lives, but I knew that another wonderful chapter was about to begin. I still get a little misty-eyed thinking about it. I know that one day we'll go back. We absolutely love Chattanooga.
Well I just had to take a stroll down memory lane ;).
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