Written by Jackie, Posted here by Kevin
We hope this holiday season finds "you all" well. They still speak a bit southern here! Wow, where has this year gone? I can't believe it is Christmas time again already. This has been a busy year for us with many decisions to make and changes going on. We had a wonderful Christmas holiday in Indiana last year but little did we know that would be the end of relaxation for awhile.
As many of you already know we moved to Lexington, KY in July. The entire printer development at IBM in Charlotte was transferring up to Lexington and with that came a decision for us to make as well. Kevin could stay with his department and move or he could change positions and work in another department. His co-workers also had to make this decision which included approximately 200 families. This announcement came in February and we had to make a decision by the end of March. It was a hard decision to make, since we had just moved last year. We loved living in Charlotte, I liked my job, we were so involved with our church and had met so many great friends. There were so many things to consider. Kentucky was closer to Indiana which was closer to family and Kevin really enjoyed working with the printers. We had a survey trip to Lexington in March to see if we would like to live here and we really enjoyed that. It really is a beautiful area to live in with all the horse farms and rolling hills. After much discussion and prayer, we decided Lexington was the place we ought to be.
After we made the decision to move, we then had to find a place to live! We went on a house hunting trip in May. After a week of looking at 40 some houses with our realtor, we decided to buy a home in the Southeast part of Lexington. It was just being framed and we fell in love with it. It's just big enough for right now with three bedrooms and two baths and the largest kitchen I have ever had! HA! It has a double garage and Kevin loves the extra storage space and work area. We really like the location, too. It's close to my work and our church and shopping!!
Mom, Dad and my niece Heidi met us in Lexington that week and drove to Dollywood with us and from there it was on to Myrtle Beach for a weekend of fun and sun. It was fun having company from Indiana there in Charlotte, too.
In June we had to select a moving company between weekends of goodbye parties and trips to Lake Norman for water skiing and the mountains for white water rafting with our Sunday School class. I even unintentionally shot the rapids without our raft. Rafting is something we would love to do again. We chose a different moving company this year and we were very happy with them. They did a super job. PTL!
The move took place the first week of July and so did our temporary living arrangements at the Residence Inn until our house was finished on July 31st. That was nice having a maid to clean up after us and having IBM paying for us to eat out almost every night but we were both glad to get settled down in our own place with our stuff. All of our personal belongings were kept in storage until we could move into our house. The month of July was full of interviewing for jobs and finishing the house. After many different job opportunities, I decided to work for an Obstetrician/ Gynecologist clinic and I love it. There are seven doctors there and we do most of the testing ourselves. It's only part time right now but will eventually work into full time. No holidays, weekends or nights and part time has been nice with getting settled into a new area. I was also able to go home for the 4ÄH fair this year and see my nieces and nephew show their livestock. It brings back many memories.
In September, we went to Kevin's class reunion and it was good to see everybody. It really makes a big difference being 5+ hours from family instead of 12+. We can easily do it in a weekend. We also have had many visits from family and friends in Indiana and North Carolina since our move. Some of our best friends from Charlotte moved to Lexington at the same time so that made it a lot easier.
We have visited many churches together and have decided on a Christian & Missionary Alliance church. We really enjoy the Sunday School class but have not been able to get involved yet with the choir and other groups since we have been out of town so much, but we intend to start after the holiday season.
We had a blessed Thanksgiving this year, which was spent with family. We were able to spend an entire week visiting friends and family and just catching up. We also plan to spend a week there for Christmas. We are looking forward to visiting some we did not get to see at Thanksgiving.
Looking back, we can see once again the many changes we have gone through and the busy year we have had. It reminds me of last years letter telling you many of the same things only in a different place! I hope I can write next years letter from the Bluegrass! HA! We do miss all of our friends from Charlotte and our church there, but if this is where God wants us for now this is where we'll make our home. We have had a blessed year, we hope you have had the same. We want to wish everyone a joyful holiday season.
Love in Christ,
Kevin and Jackie
