Today is the day.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

::deep breath::

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

That does not even begin to tell you how stressed out I am about this right now.

We are heading out on a plane (hopefully) in about 6 hours. Now, I say hopefully because we're flying on Buddy Passes, which is not necessarily guaranteed. As of right now, the plane is overbooked in coach, but there are quite a few business class seats available. We're praying that they don't bump anybody up front and we get on the plane. If not, our baggage will go on without us and we'll try again tomorrow. No big deal. The life of a Delta employee/family member. Sometimes you get on the plane and sometimes you get to spend an extra night with your grandparents. It's a win/win situation. I love them.

I know last time, I wrote about a possible place to live and how excited I was about it. Weeeellllllll. It's a bit out of our price range. It's a nice place and has a lot of amenities that would be great: washer/dryer, dishwasher, two bedrooms, furnished. It's also a renovated 19th century Victorian villa that was previously a school house. We could manage it if we got it, but without any idea of income, we're trying to keep our options open, just in case God has something else in store for less.

So here's the plan. Get on the flight today. Get internet on the plane and book our temporary accommodations (we've got a couple places lined up). Try to sleep on the plane. Get off the plane in Manchester. Try not to kill people from lack of sleep. Rent a car and drive up to St. Andrews. SLEEP at previously mentioned temporary accommodations. Get SIM cards for our phones and find a place to live. Then start looking for jobs and whatnot.

Sound familiar? That's almost the exact plan I had like 2 months ago. YAAAAAAY.

I'll at least write about something positive. We got to spend some time with Katie and Gabe and Ossie. Katie is my very first roommate ever from UGA and I seriously can't believe that after all this time, she still loves me. :) HA! I'm kidding. It was great to be able to see them and hug them before we left!

We also got to see our dear friends Brent and Kate (and Cora!) and go to a BRAVES GAME! and the Braves won! We got to meet their 7 week old Cora and I got to snuggle with her as much as I wanted! Wheeeeeee! We love them and it was good to finally go to a game with them (after years of watching them in NOLA).

So now, we're just sitting around, nervously waiting to go to the airport and get this party started. So of course, we're watching the replay of the Braves game last night. What a fitting way to spend our last little bit in the states.

Carm

O'er the laaaaand of the freeee! and the hooooome of the BRAVES!

We are in Atlanta. The Braves just finished a 14 game winning streak and I get to go to TWO games this time around. We have also literally caught every single game on TV since being back in the state where Jesus lives. Yes. Jesus lives in Georgia. You didn't know this?




Snellville has this weird feel to it. All those years in New Orleans, I would think fondly about it, like it was "home." I'd remember all the good times, all the memories, I'd look at pictures and think about how much growing up I did here. But whenever I come back it's... weird. Not bad, it just doesn't feel normal. There's just not really any place that feels like home to me anymore. I guess that's a good thing, since I'm moving very very far away.



So. This time next week, I will be living in a brand new country. It still feels like a dream. We are still trying to tie up loose ends though. Gotta cancel our cell phone plan. If anybody can pull some strings at AT&T and help us cancel Clay's contract without a crazy fee, please contact me within in the next 3 days. We're still trying to figure out bank accounts and how we'll manage money from here. Should be interesting.

BUTTTT. We may or may not know about a possible perfect awesome place to live by tomorrow. Everything is still up in the air, so I'm not going to write it out just in case it doesn't work out. But if we get this flat, it will be an absolute miracle. I can't talk about it too much or I'll jinx it. UGH! I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT! Monday... we have to wait for Monday.

Friday, we had an epic party at the Ritchie's. Sam, being the best little hostess in all the world, offered their house to us so we didn't have to drive all over Atlanta to try to see everyone. It was really great. Their place was all decorated with Scottish flags and maps and I got to hug so many people that I love. Clay, on the other hand, had a Shiloh High class of 2004 reunion with his old posse and it was ridiculous. Anybody who knew Clay in high school remembers how rambunctious he was. He became high school Clay again that night.




I also finally got to meet Kyndall Crumpton! Kellie and I have been friends since high school, so it still feels weird to me that we're all married... but now she's got a precious baby girl! I'm so blessed to have amazing friends that no matter how far away I move (Florida, Louisiana, SCOTLAND!) they still love me and make time for me. I can't tell you how much this means to me. I really have the best friends on the planet.

Thanks to everyone who came out to wish us well. And as always, thanks to the Ritchies for providing their house and always making us feel at home. I really can't express how thankful I am that no matter how far away I go or how bad I am about calling or texting or staying in touch, my friends still love me after all these years. I am so so so blessed.

 

Gotta go to church. Clay is preaching so I need to get all pretty because I'm the PREACHER'S WIFE. I still just think this is nuts. My whole life. It is insane.

Carm

I WAITED TOO LONG TO BLOG!

Sooooo much has happened in the last month. Let me try to remember everything.

July was a pretty good month. Our besties Matt and Elise went to Europe for a little while and scouted out St. Andrews for us. They brought us back some souvenirs and some good advice. And apparently, there are rabbits running wild in St. Andrews. RABBITS. Can't wait to run around in the parks with all the rabbits!

Matt and Elise!

Saw the eye doctor. I still have active uveitis. It's been 4 months straight now. Not really sure what to do about it anymore. I told my ophthalmologist I was moving to Scotland. Actually, her tech told her about it while she was printing all my records. It was pretty funny. She actually stopped and talked to me like a normal person for once. She gave me a bunch of samples and good advice. I will miss her, I guess. I'll mostly miss all the fun nurses. "Hey Carmen. Still got uveitis?"

My last few days at Chick-fil-A were especially difficult. I tried to pretend like I wasn't leaving, but by the last day, I was crying about everything. Every half hour as someone would clock out, I would hug them and cry and Sam would take pictures of me with the store's iPad.

Josue, after he made me cry!

all my kitchen ladies!

I'm really heartbroken about leaving this place. I've grown so much, as a leader, as a believer, as an adult. Working here has made a huge impact on the woman that I am, and I can't express how grateful I am for the opportunity to be a part of it for just a short time.

Last weekend, I had the privilege of being the Matron of Honor in Jolynne and Jonathan Chapman's wedding! Laura-Leigh (our college roommate) and Lauren (Jo's seminary roommate) and I drove 9ish hours up to Murray, KY Thursday, met up with Tricia (college friend), and spent the weekend running around Kentucky and being the best bridesmaids we could be (and having a pretty dad gum good time). We decorated, we went to Walmart, we hugged Jolynne's cute parents and got all pretty. We spent most of the weekend crying though. Crying about how sweet everything was, about how I'm moving, about how gorgeous Jolynne was, and how lucky they were to be so happy. We sent them off to Puerto Rico, and we drove the 9 hours back to New Orleans...

making butterbeer!!

she's gorgeous!

...and got home at 4am. I got about 4 hours of sleep and then went to church, deliriously tired (but with amazing bridesmaid wedding leftovers hair!). We had brunch with Matt and Elise, I took an epic nap, and when I woke up, Clay had packed everything into the car. EVERYTHING. It was becoming real.

It became even more real as we spent our last evening at the Solomon's. It wasn't pretty. But we will see them again. I'm not worried about that.

Doesn't change the fact that I'm still sad about it though.

Met with my rheumatologist and he seemed legitimately sad that I was leaving. Love that guy. He gave me all my paperwork and had some nice things to say about me :)



We had one last breakfast at my CFA, I gave them back all the blue pens I had been accumulating and we were off!

We've spent the last 4 days packing, packing, and more packing in Panama City Beach with the Turners. Giant suitcases, checking weight limits. I even got to go back to Graceville and see Emily and wander around BCF like the good old days. We took a billion pictures and just played around like we used to in college, before we grew up and got jobs and whatnot. I miss when the living was easy.

cutest dog ever! Nick!

But here's the fun part. Let me tell you how much God has come through for us in the last few days:

• We got our visas approved in 7 days. SEVEN. We were thinking it was going to be weeks. I was having stress dreams about getting rejected for visas and having to go through repeal processes and losing the massive amounts of money that we paid for them. Nope. Seven days. 
• Our finances are a miracle. We somehow have saved enough to live on for a year in St. Andrews without having jobs. These past 4 months, I spent many sleepless nights wondering why God was allowing me to have uveitis and how it was sucking all of our savings with doctor visits and prescriptions and taking time off work. But God told me to trust him and he provided for us beyond what I could have expected, in ways that he has been lining up for the last decade. He has been preparing for this since before Clay and I even met. I just think this is amazing!

We're saying goodbye to the Turners tomorrow and heading up to Atlanta for our final hoorah. I'm always sad leaving my family. I wonder how bad tomorrow's going to be?

I found this great picture! I love them!

are these my glasses??!

Carm

Welp...

It's about that time, I guess. Time for me to write about all the boring things happening in my life. Get ready because I feel a word-vomit coming along.

My eye is still crazy. She hasn't gotten any better, and she just stays the same weird almost-circle and doesn't focus long-distance. I apparently have scar tissue in my eye that is 1) keeping my eye from adjusting like it should and 2) making things all blurry. As long as I don't lose lefty, I should be able to survive, I guess.

Saw the rheumatologist Monday for what I thought was going to be the last time. He gave me some advice for when we move to Scotland, wrote me a TON of prescriptions for prednisone, just in case I have a flare up in the future, and told me to start tapering off. Yippee! He also sent me in for bloodwork (round 4) and we made an appointment for follow-up the Monday we leave New Orleans. Like, literally, the DAY we leave New Orleans. He said he was really disappointed because he wanted more time to figure me out. I love that guy.

lovely view from the blood work lab.

familiar sight.

My eye doctor, on the other hand, has no idea I'm leaving the country, which I think is just hilarious. If she says, "I'll see you in a month," one more time, I may hysterically laugh in her face. But hopefully, I can get off all these weirdo drugs and start being a normal person again.

Did I mention earlier that I have moon face? Maybe I just told my mom about it. Anyway, it's a common side effect of prednisone (which I've been taking a pretty high dose since April) and it just means I have a round, chubby chipmunk face. Other people haven't noticed (or have been nice enough not to tell me) however, my mom told me to "take a picture of my fat face and put it on my blog." So here you go guys.

NO. I just took a picture with my webcam and I don't even look like myself. Here's a picture of an actual chipmunk and you can just imagine.

Update on Scotland. Does anybody out there know how stressful it is planning an international move last minute? We are really down to the wire here. We had some issues with visa applications and we're finally going to get biometrics (fingerprints and pictures) and send everything in next week. NEXT WEEK. We are wanting to leave the country in a month! So if you're feeling generous, you should pray that the immigration people approve us in 5 days (which is how quickly they process about 31% of the visa applications).

We are also in the process of hopefully securing a temporary place to live while we look for jobs and a flat. We've got a pastor in St. Andrews putting out some feelers in his congregation to see if there are any options for us. Gotta love the community of believers. God is really looking out for us.

I am also applying for some jobs at the University. They pay pretty well, compared to the minimum wage at the seminary. I might even make about as much as I'm making now! It's a long shot, since I am not currently in the country and won't be able to interview for all of them, but I'm hoping my beautiful moon face and stellar Chick-fil-A experience will win them over.

Speaking of Chick-fil-A. I am going to ugly cry over the next few days. My coworkers are starting to realize that next week is my last full week and they're getting all sappy and hugging me. I'm only working 8 more days. My operator Tom even told me he was probably going to cry after I left. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO HANDLE THIS?! I love my job and my coworkers. Even though I deal with a lot of stress and it's not always fun and rainbows and kittens, I really enjoy it and am going to miss being there immensely. Chick-fil-A has been my life since 2006. I hope this isn't the end. Maybe corporate will let me work there if we come back to the states? Or maybe Tom will do what he promised and let me run the store while he goes fishing every day? :)

I'll leave you with some throwback pictures. I found them on my webcam app while I was deciding not to post moon face picture:

Apparently, Emily and I should never been in class together because all we did was TAKE PICTURES!! This was one of like 25!

I will see you soon, Memome!

This was taken 8 days before we got engaged. Can't you tell it was a while ago? I mean, Clay looks a little different.

This was when I was trying to take pictures of myself for my passport. Shy Eye was still in full force. This is also one of about 25 pictures of these attempts. 

here's a little of the moon face. ok, it's not that bad. but this is not the worst picture.

Enjoying the last little bit of time that we have in New Orleans. It's amazing how much you enjoy the city you live in when you're not in seminary anymore.

Carm