Suburbs and the City

Well we are officially South Carolina residents! I have to admit we were both very sad to take our Georgia license plates off of our Volkswagens and hand in our Georgia licenses. But we are very excited to continue this new chapter in our lives.

                                                                 Downtown Lexington

Since we have moved to Lexington, Time has flown by! I cannot believe that we have already lived near South Carolina's capital for two months! So much has changed since we moved here. Well, most of it has been for me personally.

View of downtown Columbia from Business College at USC

When we first moved here, I was very fortunate to be hired as a sales associate at Hallmark. I was offered the position the day we signed our lease. However, I knew that even though I love Hallmark for its customers, products, and discounts, I needed to pursue a job related to my field. After numerous job applications and an interview. I had to make a decision on a potential position and job I was actually offered. I relied on prayer, faith, and advice from loved ones. I decided to take a leap of faith on the potential position at the Children's Center at USC. After two interviews, I was chosen to be a four year old classroom teacher. Of course, I decided to continue working at Hallmark on Saturdays!

The Children's Center at USC is downtown on the edge of the University of South Carolina's Campus. Kevin's office is walking distance the center so we are able to commute with each other. It has been fun and a little interesting commuting together but we are very thankful for its benefits. It has helped strengthen our relationship and save on gas costs.


Now that we both work downtown we have been enjoying exploring the city during the week and living in the suburbs on the weekends. Our weekly adventures have allowed us to find some amazing neighborhoods, parks and restaurants. On our very first trip to the city before we moved to Lexington, we found an amazing cupcake store called Cupcake. Their cupcakes are heavenly, covered with three inches of icing. The best way to eat them is with a fork! We have taken pictures of all of the cupcakes we have consumed... if you come visit us we promise to take you there!

Carrot Cake

Lemon

Pineapple Carmel 

Strawberry, Lemon Blueberry and Death by Chocolate
(Our visit to cupcake with Jesse Smith)

Chocolate Chip Mint & Peaches and Cream

Even though we really miss our home state, we can say that Lexington is feeling a little more like home. Our apartment is slowly coming together. We think that we have found a church to call our own; Kevin really enjoys working at USC; I am learning how to manage a preschool classroom with my fellow teacher Tyniko. We know that God has amazing plans for our future and are looking forward to seeing what He has in store for us.

the new life as we know it!

The creation of this blog came about because I have found that life has brought about some exciting things that I want to share with everyone. I felt like a blog would allow family and friends to catch up on the adventures that we have been on and are about to go on. So if you have a couple of minutes, enjoy!

As many of you probably know, Kevin and I moved to the Clemson area so he could complete his graduate degree at Clemson University. We moved from Alpharetta, Georgia to South Carolina in January 2010. Thankfully, Kevin received an assistantship in the Student Conduct office at Clemson University. Within the first couple of months Kevin began his assistantship and his courses for his degree. 

I on the other hand began the job search. I quickly learned that God had a plan for me. Every door that I thought was open for me to walk through, He closed and then opened a window for me to jump through. I learned that I had to trust Him. At first, I had to jump with faith and then walk with him through all the opportunities that He presented me. A year and a half later, I have had several education experiences that I truly look back upon and cherish. I have worked as a special education teacher aide, a discover guide at a children's museum (http://www.tcmupstate.org/), and an applied behavioral line therapist. I found that each experience that I had was a stepping stone for the next. I am so thankful for all of the opportunities that I had and all of the individuals that I was able to work with. Oh I can't forget Hallmark! Hallmark was my fun sanity job throughout the last year! 

Now our time in Clemson has come to a close. Kevin graduated with his masters in education in May. I am so proud of him and everything that he has accomplished. Not only did he earn his masters degree, he accepted a job a little over a month after he graduated. His job search began in February. After several on campus interviews, the University of South Carolina contacted him. They asked him to apply for a job and to come for an on campus interview. He had a on campus interview with the same office, different department a couple of weeks earlier. To make a long story short, Kevin accepted the position as Coordinator of Academic Integrity at the University of South Carolina. 

So in conclusion, we are moving to Lexington, South Carolina on Friday! We are very excited about our upcoming move but sad to move away from a place that we have called home for the last year and a half. If you know us well, you could call us the experienced movers. We moved three times within our first year of marriage. Actually saying goodbye to a place that we lived in for more than four months is very bittersweet for us. We are definitely thankful for all of the people and opportunities that we have had since we have lived here.