Debbie Easley Adams

Update 7/25/2010

Two years ago we moved closer to the Smoky Mountains to a retirement community then opened a gift shop called "The Collection at Townsend". I started quilting again along with other Fiber Art and am now a member of Townsend Artisan Guild and Townsend Artisan Gallery as a Fiber Artist. We now have 4 grand-children Lauren, Noah, Josh and Hannah Grace and they are children of Shane and Candace who live in Brandon MS. Ray and Stephanie now live in Brevard N. C.

Original

My goal in high school was to get married, have a family, and be a housewife.

I met my husband while in the 10th grade at CHS. Al "Boolie" and I have been married 32 years. We have two sons and two daughters-in-law. However, I don't like using the "in-law" word, because these girls are truly our daughters -- even though our sons chose them. We also have one Granddaughter and one Grandson.

Our oldest son just graduated from Millsaps, has a lovely wife (Stephanie), and works in Jackson.

Our younger son owns his own business INTEK Internetworking Solutions, Inc. He and his lovely wife, Candace, are parents to our grandchildren.

Although we spent most of our lives in Clinton, Vicksburg, and Brandon, we are currently living in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Al is President of NITek of McAllen, and this is our first transfer outside of Mississippi. This is to be a two-year transfer, and we have been here a little more than a year.

I have held various jobs over the years, including sales and customer service for a janitorial service. I had my own needlework shop in downtown Vicksburg for a few of those years but tried to be involved with my boys through all their adventures.

While in Vicksburg, we started to appreciate antiques and old things. So, we restored an old house and moved in. In the 80's, we decided we knew a little about old structures and started a Timber Frame House in Brandon. Al started building stress skin panels on the weekends and transferring them to the building site.

Then, he started notching 8 x 8 oak timbers on our land and going over each weekend to work on this house, which seemed would never get done. When it did, the fun began. All the neighbors came over to help and brought food. At that time, there were only three such houses in the Jackson area, so we had a lot of visitors. I am sure, by now, you have seen on TV a "Barn Raising." Well, that is what we did.

I was the "chief painter, sheet rock mudder, and stain person" on 4 sets of scaffold about 28 ft in the air. It turned out to be beautiful, but nothing at CHS prepared me for all this HIGH STUFF.

During this time, I also lived in a Motor Home on a lot with two teen-aged sons trying to adjust to new schools. I survived.

After that experience, I prevailed upon my husband to sell the Motor Home. Whereupon, he said that he would be lucky if he ever got me to go in another one.

We have always enjoyed going to the Smokey Mountains. So, we found a log cabin on Bear Mountain and bought it. Two years ago, we decided that our family had grown, so the cabin had to grow, too. We added a bedroom, bath, dining room, hot tub and our own water well. I was the one chosen to see that the work was done. And, of course, to save money I had to take my paintbrush and wallpaper supplies.

After being caught on Bear Mountain in three snow storms that year without electricity, I came back to Mississippi and bought snow chains for all the vehicles that we owned to be better equipped to handle being snowed-in on the mountain.

Now, we get the transfer to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. I wanted a condo with a pool. The real estate agent found the one she thought I wanted that needed a little "TLC" but did have a pool. While Al was walking through the condo, talking about how we could do this and that, I practically ran from the place. I had enjoyed all the fixing up I could stand, because I am now turning 50 and had decided this move was my retirement as well as retirement from my paint brushes.

It worked. We rented a house that needed no work and is located on a golf course. I use the country club's pool.

I now spend my time quilting and making beautiful things for my family. I bought one of the new sewing machines that connects to the Internet for downloading designs and embroiders them out.

Another hobby of mine is photography, and I have incorporated that into my quilting. I am making my Mother a memory quilt, as well as a wall hanging for Al for the British cars he restores.

The next step in our lives after Texas was to move back to MS and open a metal roofing and metal building business which after 5 years of working 60 to 80 hours a week Al and I decided to sell everything and spend our golden years in the mountains of Tennessee. We purchased a HomeTeam Inspection Franchise and moved to Madisonville TN. We found a two story Victorian that had mostly been restored in the heart of town. It is a bit nosier than any other place we have lived but we walk to church and other events about town. It is a small town but close to any of the mountain ranges we want to get to and within an hour of Gatlinburg, Knoxville, Chattanooga and North Carolina. This area is growing very fast and some of the town people want to keep it small but when people see the hiking, fishing and the beauty of our area they fall in love with it. Although we live in the city and have to drive 2 or 3 miles for a view of the mountains it is not like an all day drive from MS. I have joined a hiking club of senior hikers and as always we belong to the Smoky Mountain Austin Healey Club and the club events are so much fun.