We moved from Carol Stream, Illinois to Rome, Georgia almost 24 years ago. Georgia, the land of dogwoods and azaleas, the state where I spent most of my growing-up years.

[caption id="attachment_1096" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="A &quot;perfect&quot; dogwood blossom, from the tree in our front yard."]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/dogwood1.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-1096 " title="dogwood1" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/dogwood1.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="397" /></a>[/caption]

Andrew was 8 years old, Matthew 7, Lisette 4 years old and Benjamin 3 when we moved to Georgia.  I was pregnant with Jonathan, who was born in September that year.  <a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/dogwood2.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1095" title="dogwood2" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/dogwood2-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a>

One of the joys of living in Georgia again was driving "over the mountain" - actually through a mountain pass - to take the children to elementary school. In the early spring the dogwood trees blossom before other trees fill out with leaves. So the dogwoods stand out in the forest and are a beautiful sight that announces the coming of Spring in the South.

[caption id="attachment_1090" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="The largest of the several dogwood trees in our front yard."]<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/dogwoodfulltree.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-1090 " title="dogwoodfulltree" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/dogwoodfulltree.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="293" /></a>[/caption]
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/dogwood6.jpg"><img class="aligncenter  wp-image-1092" title="dogwood6" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/dogwood6.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="391" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">When we moved in, a bank of 5 or 6 azalea bushes graced the front of our garage.  All but one of those bushes died in the Georgia blizzard of March 1993. But the one that is left is spectacular this Spring.  <a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/forsythia4.jpg"><img class="aligncenter  wp-image-1086" title="forsythia4" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/forsythia4.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="360" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/forsythia1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter  wp-image-1089" title="forsythia1" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/forsythia1.jpg" alt="" width="479" height="287" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/forsythia2.jpg"><img class="aligncenter  wp-image-1088" title="forsythia2" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/forsythia2.jpg" alt="" width="479" height="349" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/forsythia3.jpg"><img class="aligncenter  wp-image-1087" title="forsythia3" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/forsythia3.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="269" /></a></p>