Not Quite Mississippians

We're back in good ol' CA after a trip that started out a little shaky (our video camera and digital camera were stolen from right under our noses on the airplane just upon arrival in Jackson, MS) but ultimately turned out quite fruitful! After our "mishap" on the airplane, we were afraid that we would be hardened by the experience and lose grasp of our belief that people, as a general rule are, "good". Luckily, the people of Meridian, MS and Birmingham, AL wouldn't allow for us to be hardened. Everyone is so nice! We walked up and down many a street and many a neighborhood in our search for a home and everywhere we went, people would wave and smile despite the fact that we must have looked like a couple of fish out of water. One of the best suprises for both of us was how many trees there are in the South! We just couldn't believe it. The land is absolutely gorgeous and I know we got lucky, but the weather was unbelievable! We even got one night of a good thunder storm which, despite losing some sleep over, we quite enjoyed. We owe a special thanks to our friends, Rob and Leea, who graciously put up with us all week long while we basically took over their house for our "house hunting" purposes. It was so great to see them and be there when they brought home their new puppy "Sally" --- who we have already nicknamed "Saint Sally" because she is one of the best behaved (not to mention cutest) puppies you could ever meet!! For those of you concerned about our ability to adjust to Meridian, MS, you'll be pleased to know that the house we have signed a contract on is all of 7 houses away from Rob and Leea. We are so excited about being neighbors and have already started planning the first block party. One funny item to note is that despite the fact that we are 7 doors away from the Myers', we are actually in an entirely different city and have a different zip code --- the street name isn't even the same even though we are on the same road!? Over the weekend we were able to get over to Hoover, AL to visit Sara and Greg. It was so great to see them and their beautiful home and to eat some good barbeque and banana cream pie with them. Greg took us on a quick tour of "The Hammer" (Birmingham, AL for those of you not down with the southern lingo) and showed us just a few of the highlights. As always, the visit with them was too short, but it is so good to know that they are only a 2 hour drive from our new home.
Well, we will certainly have more to share with you about the new house as it gets closer to it's completion and we get closer to moving, but for now, here is the one picture we currently have of it. Please ignore me being totally ridiculous in the picture -- I was doing the Mr. Roboto dance in celebration and somehow Tom managed to capture me looking like a complete lunatic. Well, I guess that's fitting.......