You're the only Ten-I-See

Our time in Knoxville was one of those paradoxical experiences that was at the same time both long and short, both loved and endured. I think what we will miss out weighs what we were glad to leave behind, and we will always look back at it fondly as the place we first saw and met our Ellie, but all in all, it feels good to get back to our Western roots.

Things We Won't Miss

• Living on the third floor
• Living above neighbors who got mad and pounded on the wall every time Ellie played on the floor and started kicking (which she always did)
  
• Living in a building full of people who smoke and make our apartment smell like an ashtray (I have my own theory for why they're called the Smoky Mountains)
• Not having sidewalks on any of the roads
• Driving on narrow, windy roads everywhere (I often found myself sucking in my breath and hugging my elbows in whenever there was an oncoming car)
• Having to take SAL wherever I went--and still getting lost most of the time
• Not having Costco
• Being confused whether UT is an abbreviation for Utah or University of Tennessee
  
• Driving three hours one way to get to the temple
• Being so far away from family and friends
  
• The humidity. Oh, the humidity!

Things We Will Miss

• Living just down the street from our favorite park
• Blue Bell ice cream
• Walking around Market Square and people watching after a good meal
• Eating Rita's Italian Ice while walking around Market Square
• Rita's Italian Ice
• Sitting on the balcony with Ellie at dusk and watching the fireflies light up
• Tennessee thunderstorms
• Our "critters"--the chorus of crickets, birds, frogs, and whatever other insects and animals that would get louder and louder as it started to get dark in the evenings; when we first moved in my dad referred to the how loud the critters were at night and it always made me smile to hear them sing after that.
• Dazzo's Pizza
• Leaving a loaf of bread on the counter and it never getting moldy (store bread, anyway. Anytime we would have a loaf for more than a few days in Utah it would start to get mold, but never once did I have to throw out moldy bread in Tennessee--weird, huh?)
• Blue Bell ice cream. That's right, it's on here twice.
• People calling shopping carts "buggies"
• Green, green, green everywhere; we never quite got over it, the kudzu vines draped over already full, green landscape--we felt like we were living in a jungle after being in the desert so long (technically, that area is the most bio-diverse area on the planet and could be considered a rain forest--fun fact)
• All that green changing colors in the fall
• Coolato Gelato--notice how much of our list is food related? I don't know if that says more about us or about Tennessee.
• Watching mist over the trees in the early morning from all the moisture in the air (the real reason they are called the Smoky Mountains)
• All the wonderful people we got to know in Tennessee; friends from Brady's work who were so warm and welcoming; friends from church who stepped in without a second thought to help so much during a long, difficult winter with Ellie and while getting ready for the move. I learned a lot about friendship and charity from these friends. Over the years I have collected "next door neighbors"--people we like to spend time with and who I have decided should come be our next door neighbors when we finally settle down (wherever that may be). Brady has commented that we will have to have quite a large and oddly shaped house and yard to accommodate all these next door neighbors. I have found several more in Tennessee. So if you're in Tennessee and reading this blog, you can add your name to the list of what we miss, and someday when we're settled you can come move in next door with all our Utah, Idaho, California, etc. friends and family.