We are MOVING!!!!

Y’all don’t know how long I have wanted to share this news! On March 17^th, Jace signed a contract with Ernst & Young accounting firm and we will be moving to Nashville, TN summer 2014. As with any job search process, it had high moments and some rough days.

Jace started researching and applying for firms late last Fall. He compiled a detailed Excel spreadsheet of firms, their location, the contact person, when he sent his resume, and the date and response from the firm. When I say firms, this includes both accounting and law firms. As a tax attorney, there are three main tracks for employment: government, law firms, and accounting firms. Jace chose to focus on accounting and law firms and he sent over 50 letters to firms. The firms he sent letters to were located in: Atlanta, Jackson, MS, Lexington, Louisville, Jackson, TN, Bowling Green, Nashville, & Memphis. Honey, we were a letter sending machine. Jace folded and signed his name, I stuffed and put on stamps. I felt like every week we were buying stamps and praying that one of those letters would come back with a potential lead.

November and December 2013 were hard months. We had sent letters and weren’t hearing back from many but when we did hear from firms it was basically, “your resume is impressive but our firm is not hiring right now”. Those were some hard days and made us feel the same emotions we had when he was applying to law school.

Jace was really good about telling me where he was applying and we would talk about the benefits and drawbacks to a particular city where the firm was located. Several were located in Atlanta and I was scared of living in such a large city and commuting to and from work. I distinctly remember one night, while doing the dishes, the city of Dallas was brought up. I filled that sink with tears and told Jace I just couldn’t go that far away from home. I hated to tell him no to a potential job that he may love. I felt as though I was squashing his future in some way by saying no but knew I had to speak up because I didn’t think I would be happy in Texas. You know when they say that marriage will be filled with decisions and you must work together as a team, well honey we did just that! Big decisions have been made so far in our marriage, decisions that affect the other person but there is no one else that I would rather make these decisions with than with Jace.

The holidays came and went and Jace received his grades from the first semester (they were stellar by the way!) and we sent out another round of letters with his updated GPA. January brought more dark days and the roller coaster of emotions kept us on edge. One day, one of us would be optimistic and the other would have a bad day. One day we were all about accounting firms and the next moment we were all about law firms. We even toyed with the idea of going back to Paducah but that idea was short lived.

At this point I knew the law and accounting firms by name and where they were located. We talked about them all the time like they were family members and it was a sign that we had both gone crazy. I was so consumed by worry and tired from the waiting game that I just broke down one day, on the elliptical of all places. I know I scared the poor girl in the gym when I was choking back tears. I just couldn’t handle the ups and downs of this process much longer and I reached out to Lauren and Whitney and did something that I never do: I asked for prayers. Those girls emailed me scripture faster than anything and I felt their love immediately. I also texted a lot with our dear friend, Haley. Her husband and Jace went to law school together and they just went through the job process last year and she could relate to every emotion I was feeling. Those girls saw me through some rough days and I won’t forget that.

Around February the tide started to turn and honey that is when the ride really started to get fun. Our first job lead was from a law firm in Jackson, MS. Though nothing materialized from the call it sparked a new sense of hope within us. Shortly after the MS call, other firms started calling and wanted to set up Skype interviews. A law firm out of Nashville wanted to set up a Skype interview with Jace and another accounting firm based out of Atlanta had invited Jace to dinner interviews. We finally had leads; leads that we had been praying about for so long. I swear to you one day, Jace called me every four hours with an update on a job lead and interviews and it was hard to keep up with what all was going on. Ernst & Young (EY) was one of these job leads.

                                                                                                                                      
EY wanted to set up an in person interview at their Nashville location and they would pay for our travel! Honey, I was in the car with my bags packed when he said this. The interview was on a Wednesday but first he had an interview with a law firm out of Chattanooga on that Monday. I remember we left Gainesville at 6 AM and drove all morning until we got to Chattanooga. We stopped by Kennedy’s and Elizabeth’s house before the interview and Kennedy showed me around Chattanooga while Jace was interviewing. After Kennedy’s tour, I had basically moved us to Chattanooga, mentally, and was ready to look for homes on the North Shore side of town.

From Chattanooga, we drove home and spent less than 24 hours in Graves County. We didn’t anticipate getting to go home that early after the holidays and it was the nicest treat to be back. Tuesday night we drove to Nashville and Wednesday morning Jace went to the interview. He met with five individuals and y’all the second he called me after the interview was over I knew we had a good shot. Jace was so excited and said it went so well. The following Tuesday the job offer came in. We had two weeks to make our decision and during this time we waited to see if the Chattanooga law firm would come back with an offer. Now, I’m not going to lie, I was ready to forge Jace's signature on  EY’s offer and didn’t see the point in waiting. EY was so incredibly nice to Jace and I knew he would be happy there. However, Jace wanted to give equal weight to both firms so we waited for two L-O-N-G weeks.

All Jace and I have ever wanted was to be close to our families and we felt that Nashville was the best place for us. Nashville provides the job opportunities that both he and I are looking for and was just a short drive from home. We can’t forget about the Teak too! She is only 3 ½ hours from Nashville! Throughout this whole process, we prayed; oh did we pray. We prayed that our will would match up with God’s will. We prayed for patience and understanding throughout the journey. Our motto was, “You {God} lead, we will follow”. Well, he lead us straight to the place we had been praying for and we both felt God’s peace wash over us and knew without a doubt that EY was the place for us. Jace signed the contract on March 17th and it was a great day!!!!

I don’t care what you tell me, a job search is a process and it is spiritual. We were completely out of control but knew that God was walking this journey with us. I laid my burdens on him and you know what, he took up my yoke and helped me. Even on those hard days, He was working behind the scenes creating something far greater than we could have imagined.

Though this process has been emotionally draining, Jace and I came out stronger. Eight years of being apart makes you learn how to communicate and work as a team and we did just that. I shed many tears through it all but I wouldn’t do this with anyone else. I am so happy to know that Jace is going to work for a great company that treats him well and respects the education and knowledge he possess.

We will be boxing our things up and leaving Gville June 2014. By this time, our school days will be behind us and we will both be working. So long are the days of writing papers and studying for finals. I told Jace after this first year of marriage that was filled with two moves, a graduation, and a new job that maybe we should take a year off and just do nothing but work. No major changes or life events; just work.

I do want to go on record and let it be known that just because we will be living in TN I will not wear that God-awful TN orange. Is there a tackier color than that orange? (However, I will wear UT apparel if I am employed by UT in the future) In addition, the words to Rocky Top will never be sung. The only volunteering we will be doing is at the church! Lord help us, Jace and I are already worried that the babies will want to go to college at UT. So if you have moving boxes, send them our way. If you know of good places to live in Nashville, let us know. Watch out Nashville, the Stampers are coming!

Mommy are we going to crash?

Hey y'all! I am writing this completely jet lagged and have no idea what time my body is functioning on right now. If this post is crazy sounding its because I am sleep deprived and need a meal of substance that doesn't consist of peanuts and a coke. This week I am attending the National eXtension Conference in Sacramento, CA.

Can I just tell you about my flight? Now this story is being told by a Southern girl who is without child and who enjoys her sleep--keep all this in mind.

Jace dropped me off at the Gainesville airport which is approximately the size of our apartment. We had to ring a bell for a Delta representative to come and assistant us. The guy who helped me was the same guy who scanned my ticket to board the plane. I am sure that is what Gainesville airport calls efficiency and low-cost organization. Jace dropped me off early because I am one who would rather sit at the airport and have lots of time than to run and stress about missing my flight. My flight to ATL was supposed to leave at 3:39 PM. Well it got pushed back to 4:15, then 4:45, then 5:00, and the kicker was 5:45. I was about to Google, "what do you do if you miss your connection flight?" but thankfully the plane left ATL just in time and they bumped the arrival time from 5:45 to 5:00. With this flight time, I would still have plenty of time to make my connection flight.

Now during this whole time changing ordeal, some man was absolutely freaking out. He really needed a "help" pill like Mom had the other week. I was only worried about one thing: my chi. What if I miss my connection flight and they somehow loose my luggage, I would be without my beloved chi. I wasn't worried about having clean underwear or losing my Vera Bradley make-up bag, oh no, I was worried about my hair being straight. Priorities people, priorities.

After I boarded the plane in Gainesville, I was lucky enough to sit in front of a mother and her 3 year old child. Now, I don't have kids but have a deep desire to be a momma ONE DAY. That day was not yesterday. You want to know what isn't funny, cute, or comforting...when a 3 year old says, "Mommy, are we going to crash?". I immediately said the Lord's prayer and tried to focus on the book I was reading. This 3 year old was also the kid that threw down his tray table and my seat mate and I experienced our own joy-filled turbulence. Now, I know you mommas out there are rolling your eyes and saying, "Katie you just wait!". Well, guess what I am waiting and kiddos won't be arriving anytime soon!

I finally made it to ATL and to the 3 year old's surprise, we didn't crash. I found my gate but decided I had just enough time to grab a bite to eat. Now, I could have chosen something light and healthy before I sat for 5 hours but no, I ate something similar to General Tso's chicken with brown rice. What a dumb idea! I was popping peppermints like they were going out of style for the first hour and 30 minutes. Despite thinking about my overly full stomach, I proceeded to talk to my seat mate, who just so happens to be Italian, about pasta. I only wish I would have asked him for his grandmother's meatball recipe.

After asking the stewardess for the luxurious red Delta blanket, I think I slept some. Around 1:30 AM EST, I arrived in Sacramento. I rode the Super Shuttle to my hotel and if you have rode on a Super Shuttle you know what a pleasure they are. My driver was nice but y'all he played this CD and it sounded like something from Teak's generation and this lady was singing basically about sex but this CD was from like the 1940s. Do you want to listen to a sex-filled CD from the 40s in a van with strange people at 2 AM? Y'all I can't even make this stuff up. Anyway, I made it to hotel and felt like I needed a shower for more than one reason and fell into bed.

This afternoon the conference starts and I have already downed one large cup of coffee. Have a great Monday or whatever day it is y'all!

Visitors

This past Thursday my momma and sister-in-law, Beth, flew down and soaked up some Florida sun. Over Christmas break we decided that Spring Break would be a good time for all of us and they made their flight arrangements shortly after Christmas. I started planning then! I planned out my menu and thought of things we could do in the big town of Gainesville. The weeks leading up to their visit, I grew more and more excited. I reworked my menu and made list after list of things that needed to get done before they arrived. I thought it would fun for them if I made them a welcome sign for when they arrived at the airport, so one night I colored to my little heart's content.

With the sign and my GPS in tow, I left to pick up Mom and Beth. I had started praying earlier in the day because we all know Mom doesn't fly too well. Sister girl had some "help" for the plane ride in the form of a pill and turns out she did quite well. The flight landed earlier than expected and I hadn't been at the airport but 5 minutes when Beth texted me that they had landed. I texted her how Mom did and she said that maybe Sandy needed a margarita! I acted like a fool when I saw them waving my poster board sign and hugged both of them. Mom really was fine but you know what made her feel better? A round of margaritas! Wheels down, margs up! We left the airport and I whipped it into the closet Mexican restaurant and we laughed throughout dinner. The Keith women were reunited!

Friday morning rolled around and honey I had whipped up brownies before 7:30 AM. Somehow licking the brownie batter is not nearly appealing at 7:30 AM as opposed to a normal hour that you would bake a brownie. When the brownies were cooling, I picked up Mom and Beth from their hotel and I finally got to show them our little apartment! I opened up every drawer and closet just so they could see how much space we have! This will probably be the only time in my life that I go around showcasing my linen and pantry closets! I am so glad that they can now visualize where we live. I gave them the grand tour of our complex and then it was time to eat!

As a hostess, you never want your guests to be hungry or thirsty. So I made sure I had every beverage and food item available. You want chicken salad, we got that. You want a sandwich and chips, we got that. You want broccoli pasta salad, we got that. Oh and honey don't forget about these brownies. Bless Mom and Beth, I made them eat all the time because I sure don't need to be left alone with all that food in our house!

Jace came home from school after our first big round of eating and we did a tour of UF, visited the bookstore, and went to Lake Alice. Would you know that not one alligator was in that lake. Not one. So we all loaded up and went to Paynes Prairie and saw the granddaddy alligators: the bull gators. All that sight seeing made us, you guessed it, hungry. Mom treated us to Bonefish Grill and then we came home and at more brownies.

On both Friday and Saturday night, we had some good ol' clean fun with a game Beth downloaded on her phone called Heads up. I have seen this game on the Ellen show but had never played. Can you picture Jace giving me clues to guess the celebrity? The tax man knows I love People and Us Magazine and did pretty good with his clues. The kicker of this game is that you can record the people who are acting out or giving you the clues. That is the truest form of blackmail I have ever seen.

By Saturday it was time to shimmy squeeze  into a bikini and we headed to St. Augustine. After a quick tour of the city, we had a quick bite to eat and then headed to the beach. Now this ghost white body lathered up in sunscreen and had already set the aloe out on the bathroom counter earlier in the morning. Even though we live in FL, I don't want to worship the sun. I am not going for the leather look. I like a nice tan but only get it after a week at the beach and then let it fade. Hopefully my 50 year old self will thank me later.

Anyway, we enjoyed the beach and the beach was that much sweeter when we read that Kentucky was going to get a wintery mix later that evening. Sick. With that we reclined into the sand just a little bit more. We left the beach sunkissed and sandy--the signs of a good day. Saturday night was another round of Heads Up but this time it was more intense. I think we finally quit around 10:30 PM but that was only after the entire apartment complex heard us plan the game. What can I say, we are a loud bunch!

Sunday, we were all moving a little bit slower from all the sun the day before and us girls ran to the mall that afternoon. We were home in time to watch the Cats and then I made dinner. Sunday night Jace had to go back to school so I took Mom and Beth to the Bat House, which is located on campus. UF built two houses for the bats because they were messing in the football stadium. At dusk, tons of bats leave for the night and lots of people come to watch. Typing this sounds like people in Gainesville are completely bored but y'all it really is unique to campus. It is just one of those things you have to see to understand. We rounded out the night with one last trip to Lake Alice and we finally saw a gator! That my friends, was the perfect ending to a great trip.

On Monday afternoon we drove to the airport and we hugged goodbye. I told them "y'all come back" but guess what we won't be here much longer! Overall, it was a great visit and it is always good to see family!

Weekend Recap

Let me begin our weekend recap with a confession: y'all I was a tee-total wreck in church today. It was the cry that you can not stop and I didn't have a Kleenex. The reason I lost it was because the song from our wedding, "Give me Jesus", was sung.

Now, this is the part of the post where other technology-savvy bloggers would insert a clip so you could listen to the song. Honey, I don't know how to do that! So instead, I will give you the lyrics:

"In the mornin' when I rise, give me Jesus. You may have all this world, give me Jesus. Dark midnight was my cry. Oh, when I comes to die. Nobody but Jesus."

When Doug sang this at our wedding, his voice took me to church and back. We could have all just showed up to hear him sing that song and gone home because it was that moving. I believe it was the perfect song to begin our marriage and at the end of the day, even on our wedding day, just give me Jesus.

So back to today's service, I knew from reading the bulletin that the song was a part of today's worship. I was looking forward to hearing it but nothing prepared me for the amount of tears that followed. I think the reason I was so emotional was because that is what I wanted to do during our wedding ceremony. I wanted to hold up my hand and stop the ceremony, thank everyone for coming, and ask them if they would mind giving me about five minutes behind the alter centerpiece arrangement so I could let out a big ol' cry. After five minutes, I would have asked PinkLouLou to touch up my makeup and proceeded to get my crap together, because hello the show wedding must go on!

As we left church, I squeezed Jace's hand and told him he got an emotional one! Bless his heart! Jace didn't know what tears were before he met me!

I wasn't the only one crying this weekend--the Kentucky Wildcats cried too. Lord, have mercy on this team! Now listen, we live in Gainesville. Jace goes to UF. The Gators are ranked #1 in the nation. They are lead by senior leadership. They are fun to watch. I say all this because I cheered for the Gators in my UK t-shirt and do you blame me? Now, my blood is always blue but quite frankly, I am tired of the lack of effort and heart from these boys. Coach looks tired and the boys look frustrated. Kentucky fans put too much pressure on the boys and we forget they are freshman. When I was a freshman I was trying to survive Math 109  with Fuk Lee-Ho and Biology 101. I can't imagine what they are feeling!

The game for the CATS didn't go according to plan and it didn't help that it was Senior Day for the Gators. Jace and I have been to 8 or 9 games this season and I promise you, I have never heard it any louder in the O Dome before yesterday. The Gator fans showed up and showed out! I must say there is something to be said about Gators fans and the student section really is rowdy!

Though the game wasn't the greatest, what was great was that Jace and I got to see Kentucky people! The UK College of Agriculture Alumni Development office travels down to Gainesville every other year and meets with alumni. I have been excited about this event since we moved down here and it was so good to hear updates about the university and the college. I love the people from that office and it was so good to see UK family.

Overall it was a good weekend. We have just a few short days ahead of us before Mom and Beth are here and the Keith women will be reunited!

Spring Break 2014

Who gets a blogging award and then doesn't blog for a month? This girl! Sorry y'all--February has been a tad crazy, just flew by, and now March is here.

This weekend was the start of Jace's Spring Break. Spring Break 2014 y'all! The Stampers got wild and crazy and went to lunch on Saturday AND Sunday. Watch out! Technically this is our last Spring Break and we all know in the working world there are no Spring Breaks. Friday night we kicked off SB14 with our favorite date night-in menu: spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, and wine. This meal is so simple and can I just tell you what we get so tickled about...the garlic bread. Now listen, we are newly-weds and money isn't exactly growing on trees around here so anyway we can save a buck or two, we get excited! I don't know where I saw this or thought of this but I go to Jimmy John's and buy day old bread for a whopping $.50! Jace lathers EVOO, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and butter and y'all it is the best thing. We think it is much better than the frozen cheese bread and probably saves us a few calories. Anyway, our conversation is always so good after this meal and it is nice to unwind from the week and catch up with each other.

Saturday we had big plans to do brunch at this cute place in Gainesville but we slept in! We never allow ourselves to do that and I felt like a teenager again! Brunch plans turned into lunch plans and then we came home and had a lazy Saturday. A Saturday that didn't involve Jace going to the library, which is rare. We watched that awful game played by the CATS--Lord have Mercy! CATS fans don't hate on me when I say this, but Jace and I have absolutely loved watching and cheering on the Gators this year. Can you blame me? UF has only lost two games and are lead by senior leadership something that the CATS are lacking and in desperate need of.

This morning we went to church and afterwards drove 50 miles to Cedar Key. It is a little coastal town and there is a restaurant there that is known for their clam chowder. Jace and I ate so much clam chowder on our honeymoon and wanted to get a taste of San Francisco again. The chowder didn't disappoint and neither did their fish sandwich. We walked out to the pier where people were fishing and then we found a little beach/playground area. Give me a sand, the water, the sun and I can sit for hours. These two pale bodies probably got more sun than we think and we soaked it up. If only we could send it to KY where they are getting hit with another round of ice and snow. We picked the right winter to leave KY!

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend and was a relaxing break, just in time to start another week. Hope y'all had a great weekend and an even better week!