Tennessean Living in Detroit

I am originally from a small Army city in Clarksville, Tennessee. Clarksville is not as large as the greater Detroit area. Living in a large city like Detroit is a new experience for me, but it is an experience I greatly welcome.

And in case you’re wondering, no, I don’t have a twangy, Southern accent or say “y’all” all of the time. 🙂 In fact, I say “you guys”. I think I get that from my mom because she’s from Philly (although she says “yous guys”.)

But I will say this, after two years of living in Michigan, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around saying “pop” instead of “soda”. 🙂 *Actually, Southerners refer to pop as a “coke” and not a soda.

What is a Michigan Left, though?

And, oh yeah! That Michigan Left thing confused the heck outta me for the longest! I get it now. I’m used to it. But when we first moved here, I was like, “What the heck is a ‘Michigan Left’ and why are we making these U-turns just to get to the other side?”

 

We couldn’t believe how cold it was at the beginning of April! Michigan weather is a little different from Tennessee. LOL!

 

I’m from Tennessee, and after two years of living in Michigan, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around saying “pop” instead of “soda”. LOL! 🙂

Also, the Michigan winters are fierce compared to Tennessee winters. Oh my! I’m not used to all of this Michigan snow and the ice cold temperatures. 

 

Army Life

In March 2015, my husband Travis and I, along with our four children, relocated to the greater Detroit area. Travis served 8.5 years active duty in the U.S. Army. In 2015, he medically separated from the Army because of a combat-related injury he sustained while on deployment in Iraq.

Prior to leaving the service, Travis was offered a job in Metro Detroit. Once his Army contract ended, we packed up our things and moved to the Motor City!

We miss our old Army life sometimes. It took us about a year to adjust to life outside of the Army. I think sometimes we’re still adjusting to the transition, but we are happy with our new life in Michigan!

 

Travis on his first deployment to Iraq (2008).

 

My husband Travis when he was in the Army. We were eating out at a Mexican restaurant in Tennessee.

 

Proud of my husband’s service in the Army!

 

Travis holding Zhen when she was 3 weeks old.

 

Photo of Michala, Elijah, and Zhen when we made a pit stop in Indiana on our way to moving to Michigan!

 

Photo of the kids at a park in Farmington, Michigan. It was our first month in Michigan! (2015)

 

When we moved to Michigan in 2015, I was 8 months pregnant with Zechariah (our 4th child).

 

Selfie of Travis and I in April 2015. It was our first month in Michigan!

When we moved to Michigan, we started out with three kids. Since living in Michigan, we have added two more children to our family: our two sons Zechariah (2015) and Zephaniah (2017)!

 

Zechariah at 14 weeks (2015).

 

Zephaniah at 4 weeks (September 2017).