Onward Southern

A couple of years ago my sis and I, though I cannot say what possesed us for sure to do just what we did, up and moved from our home state of 24 and 27 yrs in Southern California. We haven't been back in 2 and half years and now that the time is approaching for us to make a return visit, I'm feeling a mix of emotions.
Up until 2006, our whole family which includes myself, my two sisters, my mom, my dad, and our pets, all lived in the same house for 27 years. Not all of us were there that long since me nor my younger sis haven't been alive as long as my older sis Holly. So we moved houses from the hometown of Disneyland Anaheim to the border of one of the most beautiful areas by the sea, Oceanisde.
I loved Oceanside and it always felt like a dream the whole time we lived there. I had my very own room and bathroom for the first time ever. We had this historic mission up the road from us San Luis Rey, and we were 20 minutes from the theme park Legoland. Life was good. We even had: cable, wifi, a spa and a pool in our neighborhood, and a path that could be biked down to the beach by our house. But I knew in my heart that it couldn't last. I knew I was destined to move somewhere faraway. I thought maybe another country and in many ways Tennessee is just that. I had dreams Holly would come with me too but I didn't know just where we would end up. You see, I had always had these dreams about moving to a small town in the South since I was a kid and so it was right up the road in a line of crazy thinking in my crazy mind. Once the destination had been decided, no one, least of all Holly or myself, could believe we were really moving so far away. We felt compelled to do this. Or should I say I felt compelled to do this and kind of dragged Holly along for the ride. As she wants to move up to New York someday, Tennessee seemed like a happy middle ground to stop for a moment in time. How long that moment extends is anybodys guess.
I feel like since I moved out here, I have slipped into this kind of trance and time just rolls by so slow and so quick at the same time. We don't have our very own rocking chair on a front porch or sit around most nights spinning tales by the bon fire playing banjos with friends, but we have made some very great memories. Not all have been happy but they have served to leave a lasting impression on my mind of the very real thing which we did that cannot be undone moving out of house so far away. I am not sorry and I believe God has called us here to prepare the way for us to live out His purposes for our lives. What better place to learn and grown then in the Bible belt. Surrounded by churches, farms, and forests, everything points to our amazing creator and Lord. I'm always happy to discover a new way to get somewhere and find endless shortcuts through the countryside. Now I can even say, I've developed a love for Southern cooking namely at a restaraunt called Cracker Barrel. ;) As I am currently unemployed, I am taking this opportunity to embark on this journey called life and make note truely as a travel writer.
Shortly, in May, our cousin will be getting married and this is an opportunity for us to see what it feels like to be a visitor to California. Up until now, I could come and go at my own liesure from our childhood home and I knew it would always be there for me to return to. Now that our family has a new place to call home, I look forward to seeing it from an outside prospective.

Introduction

Ever since the 6th grade when my teacher Miss Joanne forced us to read about current events going on in the world around us, and do a report on them in front of the class, I have developed a fascination for travel. As I struggled with the spellings of various countries around the world in geopraphy that same year, I wondered truely who would EVER care about these little countries at all let alone their spellings. Inspite of this, I perservered in learning for a few years about geography and the things going on in the world around me. This fascination with travel continued to develop and grow as I went into my freshman year of highschool. During this first year of school, I truely fell in love with maps and began to seek opportunities to visit these countries I had learned so much about. So while everyone else grew bored with the dry subject of geography and was nodding off, I found ways to stay awake and pay close attention. I knew at a young age that I would embark on many journeys ahead that would take me to faraway lands.

It was during my sophmore year of highschool that I got my first couple of chances. One to the Holyland of Israel on tour and later that same year on a missions trip to the Philippines where my uncle was a missionary. It was him and his family who inspired me that you could travel to places faraway.