Getting Settled in North Carolina

I am finally settled into my new place in North Carolina. I am pleased with the new place because it has much larger living, kitchen, and bathroom area than my previous apartment in Louisiana. I now have 816 square feet vs. 630 square feet for the same price. I love the location as well. There are several restaurants just across the street, including Greek, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, etc. There's also a Target, Wal-Mart, TJMaxx/Home Goods, Barnes and Noble, a movie theater, grocery store, and Dairy Queen right across the street. Best of all, and genealogy-related, is that I have my genealogy office back!

When I downsized from a two-bedroom to a one-bedroom in January, I had to dismantle the genealogy office due to lack of space. My desk ended up in storage, and everything else (besides the bookcases) ended up in my bedroom closet. This office is even better than my previous office because I don't have to share the space with a guest bedroom. I had to give up a dining room table to have my current office, but who eats at a table anyway? Of course, now I have a furry creature who thinks this is her new office:

At least I have a child interested in genealogy, right?

Not only did I get a new apartment and new genealogy office, I also bought a new car this week! My old car was a 2000 Dodge Neon that had seen it's day. I decided it's time for a new car so that I can feel safe driving in my new surroundings and taking road trips. There are several road trips that I would like to take now that I've got so many new places to explore! My new car is a 2010 Nissan Altima. It is fully loaded with everything except a navigation system (which I already have), so this has been super fun to me since my old car didn't even have a working radio or electric locks. I can listen to my iPod through the radio and even talk on my cell phone through the radio. It's pretty darn neat!!





And speaking of road trips, I've already taken one this week. Cade and I drove to the Virginia border and got on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Fancy Gap, Virginia. We drove down the parkway about 100 miles to Blowing Rock, North Carolina. It was a beautiful drive, though we didn't realize how much time it actually adds to your trip if you take the Parkway instead of the normal highways. We had intended to make it all the way to Asheville, but maybe next time.

View of the Piedmont (the area east of the Blue Ridge Mountains)

Virginia agricultural view on the Parkway

This must be why they call them BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS

Cade being silly on Blowing Rock

All in all, I am really pleased with my new surroundings. Hopefully, I will be back to genealogy blogging soon, especially now that I have my space back!

Off to North Carolina!

Well, the day is finally here! It seems like just yesterday that I announced I would be moving to North Carolina. The movers came today and packed my apartment in just 2 hours. This would have taken me a whole week, but I guess with three guys who have no emotional attachments to my things and 20-30 years of experience packing, they were able to do it in record time. This is the first time that I've actually used movers to pack my stuff. I usually pack it myself, but I think from now on, I will just have them pack my stuff too. It is definitely worth not having the stress of packing.

I already hear my North Carolina ancestors calling my name. My BAKER line is from western North Carolina, so I need to take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about them. I also have several lines, including the PROFFITT line, from East Tennessee, that I hope to learn more about since I will not be too far from that area. And let's not forget all my Virginia ancestors, since I will only be an hour from the border. On top of that, I will only be 4 hours from all the wonderful genealogy resources in DC!

My parents are coming to pick me and the grandcat (as they call her) up on Monday. We will arrive in Raleigh on Tuesday. My stuff should be arriving Thursday or Friday. I would like to buy a new car on Saturday, since my car now is 10 years old, so hopefully that works out well. Then the following week I am taking a much needed vacation!!!

Speaking of vacations, I think my next adventure may be a train ride from Raleigh to Sacramento when my sister has her baby in September. Some people think I am crazy, but I think that flying takes all the fun out of traveling (although I will admit it is very convenient and is my preferred method most of the time).

And speaking of adventures, I just registered this week for the FGS conference in Knoxville in August!!! That will be my mini-adventure before the big train ride across the country. It will be my first genealogy land conference, which reminds me that I still need to report on my RootsMagic cruise that I took back in February. Geez, time flies! The trip to Knoxville will be my first long trip that I take in my brand new car, so that should be fun.

Anyhow, I will probably not be back on until after we arrive in North Carolina! Stay tuned!