Ooltewah

O! O!
L! T!
EWAH!
Ooltewah!

Ever heard of it?  I'll give you a hint:  It means "owl's nest."  No?

I grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  My family moved there when I was 8, and I moved out when I was 18.

I went to Ooltewah Intermediate School, Ooltewah Middle School, and Ooltewah High School.

After I moved out, my parents moved about a mile and half away to Ooltewah-Ringgold Rd, which is in the census-designated place called Ooltewah.  (Ringgold is in Georgia, about a mile and a half from where my parents lived [I've heard rumors that Dolly Parton was married in the little white chapel on the main street in Ringgold].)

My parents have since moved again, and I haven't been back there much since I moved out.  I went home for a summer after my freshman year of college.  I went back when Bryan met my parents for the first time.  We visited occasionally when Bryan was in grad school at UK in Lexington, KY.  And I went back for a friend's wedding when I was pregnant with Joseph.  Now that my parents have moved, and I don't stay in really good contact with my high school friends, it is just a place "that I used to know."

Recently, Bryan got a new job in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (if you ever want a great vacation, come visit us!) with Life Care Centers of America.  It is based out of Cleveland, Tennessee, believe it or not.  Cleveland was part of my stake (geographic grouping of Latter-day Saints) growing up.

Each year, the company holds a conference in Cleveland, and sometimes even invites the spouse to come.  (Unfortunately, this year they didn't invite me.)  They couldn't fit all the employees in the hotels of Cleveland, so guess where they sent the remainder.  Yep:  Ooltewah.

My husband is in Ooltewah this week, of all places.

Other claims to fame:  Ooltewah is right next to Collegedale.  Which is home of the Southern Adventist University and a large Seventh-day Adventist following.  Collegedale is also home of McKee Bakery, also known as Little Debbie and Sunbelt.  (We always got the deadbread varieties at the bakery thrift store.)  Also, Chattanooga was the home of the famous Choo Choo until a lawsuit took it to Georgia (?!).  Chattanooga is also home of TVA.  It is also a location of the Civil War (Chickamauga Battlefield is in Georgia, and Lookout Mountain is in Tennessee).  You can also "See Rock City" on Lookout Mountain.  And Chattanooga has also been known as the "buckle" of the Bible belt.

And of course you must be wondering, can I talk like a Tennesseean?  Yes.  Yes, I ca'an.