Sweet Home Alabama

After many long discussions, sleepless nights and hours of prayer...we have finally decided that Montgomery, Alabama will be where we call home beginning in June! This was not an easy decision by any means but Aaron and I both feel that it is the right one for our family. Lauren and Jake are really excited about moving, which helped us both also. As hard as it will be to leave the wonderful life we have here and start over, it is always exciting when God leads you to a new place. We both feel so comforted by the assurance God has given us over this decision. It just seemed that no matter how hard we had tried to make other opportunities right in our minds, we just found ourselves right back where we started. In the end, moving to Montgomery was the right fit. To know that God's plan for us is greater than we can even imagine is humbling. Alabama is not exactly where I thought we would raise our family but we are trusting God completely. Needless to say, this new decision will make the next few months in our house very busy. We are quickly working to get the house ready to put on the market. This is such an awful time to try and sell a home but we are just going to have to step out on faith, knowing that when God is involved, anything is possible.

Since Alabama is going to be our new home, I thought I better familiarize myself with the "culture." Here are a few tips I found to get us ready for our big move down yonder...

• You have a party or a barbecue whenever Alabama plays Auburn in football.

• You don't "take", you "carry" or "tote"... as in "You want me to carry you down to the 7-11?"

• You call it a "buggy" and not a shopping cart.

• You've said "fixin' to," "might could," or "usetacould" during the last week.

• You can properly pronounce Arab, Eufaula, Opelika, Loachapoka, Bayou La Batre, and Oneonta.

• You know exactly what chitlins and mountain oysters are, and you know someone who eats them anyway.

• You think that people who complain about the humidity in other states are sissies.

• You aren't surprised to find rental movies, groceries, ammunition and bait all in the same store.

• Mamanem means the whole family. ("Are mamanem comin?")

• You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.

• You know what "cow tipping" is.

• The local papers cover national and international news on one page but require 6 pages for sports.

• You know all four seasons: Almost summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas.

• Visiting Wal-Mart is a favorite pastime.

• You know the difference between redneck, hillbilly, and southerner.

• Y'all is a word.

• There is no such thing as tea...it's sweet tea.

• Your directions include "when you see the Waffle House" or "turn on the dirt road."

• A tornado warning siren is your signal to go out in the yard and look for a funnel.

• Almost everyone you know is Baptist or Methodist.

• Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor.