Harry & Andrea

Our house in Spring Hill.

7

The number of addresses I’ve had for more than 1 month.

Aside from the first 18 years of my life that I spent with my parents in Birmingham, here are my seven other addresses (six in Tennessee). (Yea, so I’m cheating a little bit.

• Vanderbilt University in Nashville (1998-2002). I moved from Stapleton (freshman) to West on Peabody (sophomore) to Towers on West End (junior & senior) and had 3 roommates and 11 suite-mates, but my mailing address stayed the same.
• The Allen Family home in Franklin (the summer of 2002). I was in-between college and my first real job. Scott went from BCM Director to landlord that summer. They needed a housesitter and I needed a place to live while I was looking for a job.
• Cheryl’s Green Hills condo (2002-2005). A former college suite-mate and later bridesmaid, Cheryl and I suffered through med school (for her) and my first few years teaching together and enjoyed 3 years of twenty-something, post-college life together. I wouldn’t trade those years for anything.
• Nippers Corner (2005-2006). My one year to figure out those things you can only know about yourself from living alone. I found my love for hospitality and cemented a strong independent streak that year.
• Nippers Corner/Brentwood (the summer of 2006). After a year of living alone, I rented a room from Amy C. for three months while I was engaged. This time is unfortunately a blur of wedding planning and job searching, but it was (and is) such a blessing to have the support of a friend like Amy!
• Spring Hill (2006-2010). Marriage made me a homeowner and I had no idea how fun it would be once we negotiated the kitchen a little bit, got rid of the black bedroom and figured out how to share a space that had been something of a bachelor pad. I learned to love cooking and even to love cooking with Harry, to reach out to my neighbors and to enjoy grilling and being in the yard with friends…all in this house.
• South Asia flat (2010-??) Five months and counting in South Asia, we’ve been living on the first floor (second floor–American style) of a house. One small post like this isn’t enough to write what we’ve learned here, but I’m still learning to cook and bond with this house. It is such a blessing and we look forward to many more opportunities to use it for hospitality while we’re here. (And, there’s plenty of room for guests to come visit…don’t forget!