G is for Georgia and Gravy

I like Georgia.

I lived in Georgia for a couple of years.  I absolutely LOVED it!

See that red circle just west of Atlanta?
That's Marietta.
That's where I lived and worked for 2 fabulous years! ☺

I had searched for a year for a teaching job up here in Michigan, but had had no luck, so I decided to check out Georgia!  I made plans to fly down there for a week in May, do a few job interviews, hopefully get a job offer, and find a place to live.  I arrived in Georgia on a Sunday afternoon, went to a teacher recruitment fair on Monday, spoke to several schools and set up an interview for one of the schools on Tuesday morning, went to the interview and fell in love with everything about the school, got the call Tuesday afternoon that I was being offered the job, accepted the job, and then spent the rest of the week looking at apartments (and found one that I loved!)!  I got everything set for a moving date in July.  I had 2 months to get everything packed and set to move to Georgia!
My mom and I left to drive to Georgia a day after my brother's high school graduation party.  She spent a week helping me get moved into my apartment and at the end of the week, my dad and brother drove down for a couple of days to help with finishing touches (like putting together my entertainment center and helping me carry large pieces of furniture).  I've gone through all my pictures on both of my computers and have realized that I didn't take any pictures of the inside of my apartment :o(   I did find one picture of the outside of my building, though.

My apartment was on the first floor, just to the right of the open doorway/hall.
The dark SUV in the bottom right corner of the picture is mine ☺

I loved my job in Georgia!  I taught Special Needs Preschool.  I had a great group of kids both years I taught there!  In January of my second year in Georgia, I made the (very difficult) decision to come back home to Michigan.  My grandma was really sick by then.  Whenever I would visit Michigan, I always hated the thought when I was leaving that that might be the last time I saw my grandma.  I decided I needed to be back close to her.  She passed away this past summer, and I am very glad that I came home.  I do regret leaving Georgia, but I will never regret being able to spend time with my grandma in her last year.
I still look for job openings in my old district in Georgia, and also in other districts in the state.  I would love to move back there some day!
I wanted to post a bunch of pictures of my life in Georgia, but I realized that almost all of my pictures are of my students, and legally, I cannot post any pictures of my students online...So, here are a few random pictures I found floating around in some of my albums.

The Big Chicken!  His beak opens and closes and his eyes move up and down ☺

Jon came to visit me on his way back from California.
We went to the World of Coca-Cola Museum.

The Georgia Aquarium off in the distance
(I really wanted to go there, but I knew Jon wouldn't enjoy it, so I didn't drag him there) ☺

The building to the left of the tall skinny one is the CNN building!

More of Atlanta!

Our big winter snow storm!  I loved laughing at everyone getting
so excited about the possibility of snow!
This was all the snow we got the entire winter
(and the total accumulation was about what you see in this picture!).

My sweet southern puppy trying to figure out what this cold, wet, white stuff is!
She was terrified the first time she experienced a big snowfall in Michigan!

Mom came down for Thanksgiving my second year in GA.
We took a trip to Savannah!

It's Paula Deen's restaurant!  The Lady and Sons!
I ♥ Paula Deen!

Mom and I also went to the Coke Museum and Georgia Aquarium!
We could have stayed and watched the Beluga Whales all day long!

Getting ready to move back to Michigan...
Sosha was NOT happy that she was confined to just this little area,
instead of the entire backseat for the long trip north
(oh, and she didn't like having her seatbelt on either)!

I don't like gravy.

I find it gross.  Sorry, I just do.  That's all.