Chattanooga Choo-Choo

Hey Everyone...

Thanks for your support of the first Blog! I love blogging so far and I am glad so many of you enjoyed it as well! I hope to write a few times a week, I would say everyday but I'll be honest up front...there will be days I don't get around to writing a blog so let's just plan on a few times a week. :) I hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend! John and I were in Chattanooga for the entire weekend which hardly ever happens, especially lately, so it was nice to not be on the road. However, I feel like traveling will be common for us given that my family is in Marietta, his in Memphis, my family Mountain cabin is in East Tennessee, my friends and brother in Nashville. So we are used to being spread all over and have gotten used to living out of our suitcases, especially when we were dating and engaged and lived in different cities. It is lovely finally being together under the same roof but we love to travel so I don't think Chattanooga will hold us down too long. It is amazing how a small city like Chattanooga can seem suffocating after a while and I've only been here a few weeks straight! John and I both LOVE big cities and suburbs of cities because that is what we know and have learned to love. Don't get me wrong... We both love the country occasionally, there really is nothing like going outside and hearing nothing for miles. It's nice to escape to nature and appreciate the outdoors but we are both busy-bodies and like to have tons of activities to do at our fingertips. So the city life appeals to us more and we are lucky to see eye to eye on this. After all, what married couple wants to argue endlessly on where to live? That's not a good way to start off. So I know many of you reading this are thinking that Chattanooga must be a perfect place for us, lots of outdoors activities and some city...not too huge and overwhelming though. You would think that we would be satisfied...but not the Denniston's. Many people we meet talk about how wonderful Chattanooga is and we have yet to see the great things these people tell us about. Now, we know it could be a lot worse, we could be living in some Mexican town right on the border, so this is why we don't totally despise Chattanooga...Just aren't too fond of the place. We dream of living in Atlanta or Nashville. These are our favorite cities and we hope to one day, God Willing, get back to either one! Or John even mentioned California (that's where his favorite Football team is and the only reason I believe he cares about California, but I'm sure he will tell you differently.) :) Chattanooga is a place that you either love or hate, and there is no in between. It is a nice place for families with kids because they have a ton of things for children to do here, but since John and I do not plan on having kids for a while this doesn't make it more appealing to us. Also, the majority of people here seem to be older or families with children, so the whole being a young married couple with no kids doesn't seem to fit in well. We are trying and praying that we find some great couple friends who are on the same level we are that we can do things with but so far it hasn't happened. I hope it's just going to take time and will eventually happen. Also, we haven't found a church home which that takes lots of time too at the rate we are going. We either find ones that are too conservative or too contemporary...or like the church we went to today that just scared us and any minute we were sure that they were going to speak in tongues. I can honestly say I have never been scared in church until today and it was unlike anything I have ever seen. Different strokes for different folks I guess but we are just looking for a church somewhere in the middle. So as you can tell our first month in Chattanooga has been eventful to say the least but we are enjoying learning the city together even though it is not the most ideal place for us. I think the hardest part for me was starting all over. I know I needed to and it's the best way to start off a marriage by relying on one another at first. But I will admit I miss my friends in Nashville and I miss the comfort of my job and my wonderful co-workers. I'll admit starting over in a city where you have no friends, family, and have to begin a new job that is totally different that what I was doing before is a bit stressful. I know it's worth it though and I have my biggest cheerleader here to support me...my wonderful husband. We will find our way in this city and be better people coming out on the other end one day. We will look back at these early days one day and laugh for worrying about not finding our fit and worrying about starting over. I know that God doesn't give us anything we can't handle and in the big scheme of things our worries are nothing compared to others right now. We are truly blessed just to have each other and even though Chattanooga isn't our top pick we are still having tons of fun and enjoying each other so it's all worth it! And if we never find our way back to Atlanta or Nashville...hopefully we will at least end up between two palm trees on the beach of the Dominican Republic...Yes, I am a bit of a dreamer :)

On another, more important note. Please keep a family in your prayers. They go to my church back in Dunwoody, GA. They just lost their nineteen year old daughter in a car crash. It was a hit and run on the interstate and luckily they found the man who hit her but it still doesn't change the outcome. I can only imagine the grief this family is feeling so please keep them in your prayers during this tragic time.

-Allison