It's November, Hooray!

Honestly, as stressed out as I get around this time (especially at work), I freakin' LOVE the Holidays' Seasons! Starting on November 1st, the rest of the year is fabulous! Granted, there is always the stress of money, gift buying, juggling work and social events and the overall exhaustion, but it's the time that we should enjoy life more than usual.

Here are a few things I LOVE about the season!

1. - Cranberry Ginger Ale (or Sprite) I know that you can have this mostly whenever you want, but I started drinking it just at the Holidays, and it just tastes like holiday meals.

2. - Peppermint Starbucks! Frappuccinos, Mochas, Hot Chocolate, everything! LOVE IT!

3. - Christmas ornaments. Seriously? Can you ever have enough of those? I even have a themed tree, but I see all sorts I would love to have at home! I bought two today!

4. - Christmas Cookies! I have so many family memories making cookies in my Mom's kitchen, and we still get together every year in her kitchen and make tons of cookies 9and a mess)

5. - Wrapping Paper. I have sort of a gift wrap addiction. bags, paper, ribbons, bows, all of it. But I love seeing all the different wrapping paper out there and imagine what beautiful presents will be under all the trees this year.

6. - I LOVE snowmen.

7. - My Dad's fried turkey on Thanksgiving.

8. - Family Traditions. They are all so important to me, and I look forward to them each year. It's so exciting, I get wrapped up in the anticipation! Christmas stockings, meals, certain foods, decorations...

9. - Christmas music! Although my store never plays enough Christmas/Holiday music anymore, (even though these young stars all have a ton of it) I still get to hear it pretty much everyday starting on Black Friday (sometimes sooner). I am so ready to add my Christmas Playlist back on my iPod!

10. - Boots and scarves. 'Nuff said.

11. - Opryland Hotel. My husband and I have a tradition of walking the hotel every Christmas season. We never know when it will be, but we always makes time in the craziness to go over there.

12. - Christmas cards! I love mailing mine out almost as much as I love receiving them in the mail! Ugh, again with the anticipation! :-)

13. - Babies dressed up in winter clothes. How cute!

14. - Turning on the fire and watching my kitties lay by it. It's so cozy!

15. - Kissmass, my husband and my celebration of Christmas, just the two of us, with our tree, our stockings, our advent calendar box, our food. It's wonderful.

10.10.09 - Sweeeettt

I knew that I wanted to make something in the fall theme for the MBFC, so when I was perusing my blogs, I found this cute twist on your normal peanut butter kiss cookies on this great recipe blog. I ran out to Kroger and picked up a bag of the kisses, and thank goodness, because they was only 3 or so bags left! :-)


The best part was that Scott even helped by unwrapping all the little suckers. It reminds me... I was always the one that had to unwrap them when my mom made them...hehe! Now I am the baker, not the unwrapper! :-) Thanks baby!

10.9.09

I am finally on vacation from work! I am so excited! It's nice to have a fall break, right before the Holidays. Christmas is just around the corner now, and I need some time ton re-energize. I'm starting to get some plans together, but mostly, I am just going to stay home and enjoy not having responsibility and stress. :-) Be jealous.

9.30.09 - September's last day!

I had a wonderful day off today! It as the last day of September; cool, but sunny and clear. It was great! I spent some time with Scott in the morning, we watched "We Are Marshall", which I must say is one of the best movies I have ever seen! And I am a movie-lover.... it was so touching and deep, but fun, too. Then we had dinner for lunch, since we rarely ever get to have lunch together. YUM Shake N Bake!

We also sold our old car today, Hooray!!

When it was time for him to leave, I also headed out to Nashville to hang out with my sister and see my parents for a bit. Katie and I don't always have the best time together, but today we had a spectacular day: no fights or grumbling, lots of laughing and fun for a change! I took her to visit her old friend's grave site (no, this isn't morbid!) A guy she dated and was friends with back in high school passed away about two weeks ago, and since she isn't as connected to that part of her life anymore did not go to the funeral, but did want to pay her respects. It was good for her, I feel like she gained some closure.

After that, we headed to her boyfriend's house to take some pictures. She loves have mini-photo shoots, and I never say no to taking photos, so it's always a good match :-) I spent some time with my dad and a little with my mom in the evening, but it was their friend's birthday, so we headed to Cinco de Mayo for some mingling and margaritas. It was fun, but I would have rather just spent some time with them, but I only have a certain day off, so I took what I could get. I'll see them very soon, 2 weekends back to back coming up.

Oh! And I got to see my sister's friend from back in the day... he is in the Air Force, and is home on leave. We talk on facebook quite a bit, but I wasn't even sure if we would see other during this leave, but I did!

Ben & I

It was a full day, I often feel at the end of my day off that I should have been lazy and relaxed because I feel like I am always going with work, etc, but today was well worth all the driving.

If you could have seen what happened next...

I like this one of her a lot! She's not posing, it's just...her.

Had to sneak one in of me :-)

End of September, end of the RAIN!

I usually love the rain, but 11 days of it was enough! It finally ended, and brought with it the normal cooler weather that September should have. I am happy to see fall finally coming...

(What you are missing from this camera photo, is there was actually a TRIPLE rainbow! I was blessed to be able to see it! I was a little bummed they didn't all show up).

September brought farwells, rain, Brock, and...a NEW CAR!

After driving a clunker that didn't even have working windows, I finally got a new car!

9.26.09 - Memory Walk for Alzheimer's Disease

My Gramma was diagnosed with early onset advanced Alzheimer's, and she passed away because of this in June 2006, the day before my 21st birthday. I was very close to her growing up, and it was hard for me to visit her and watch her slowly fade, until she didn't even know who I was.


This year I decided to sign up to raise money for more research and hopefully to find a cure for this heartbreaking disease. I was also going to walk on September 26th!

Well, if you don't know, it rained for about 11 days straight here in middle Tennessee, including this day. I thought for sure (due to the email sent out the night before) that we would be walking in the rain, and I was quite prepared for it. Unfortunately, my walk was canceled due to the weather!


I spent some time on this day praying and thinking about the people I know and that my family and friends know that have suffered or are suffering from Alzheimer's. I miss my Gramma so much and I have so many memories of her. It was hard on me to see her suffering, she and I had a very close relationship when I was a child. When I moved to TN in 1996, away from her, I fell into a bad place, not understanding why God had seperated us, and even resented my dad for a long time because he was the one who moved us. I was 11 then, and to question God was somewhat easy. Ironically, throughtout my childhood, my Gramma was the one who took me to church every Sunday, the one who taught me about God and about praying. I knew that she wouldn't be happy if she knew how mad at God I was, so I never told her. I knew she was sad to hear that my parents were not continuing my church going, even though she wasn't surprised. She just wanted me to follow Him. I know that she is with Him now, she was a devout follower and I admire how full of faith she was.

To sit here and list memories I have of her will hurt me, and there are too many, but I remember how sweet and kind she was. She was gentle and honest. She was so caring, and to giving. I never wanted for anything, and she gave me so much attention and support in my growing years. I love her so much.

9.21.09 -Welcome to the world, Brock Dylan!

I was eager to get the news, that my little [grand] nephew came into the world as happy and healthy as we had prayed! After only a few hours of being in labor, Jenn gave birth to her beautiful son! I am so happy for her and Sean and wish all three of them the best!



It is a bit bittersweet... I cannot wait to have my own child soon! Until then, I will be the best Aunt and [great] Aunt that I can be from this many miles away! God bless this new addition to our family, and please bless his mother and father and give them the strength to overcome the difficulty that is sure to come their way. Give them the ability to make good choices.

9.11.09 - Opryland Hotel and CKC Convention

8 years ago, the US got a wake-up call. We were not untouchable, and there were terrorists out there that were willing to do whatever it took to destroy us. NEVER FORGET THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES ON THAT DAY! 9-11-01

I waited every patiently for the day to come... the day I got to go to the CKC Scrapbooking Convention at Opryland hotel! It was so exciting! As an avid scrapbooker/photographer, I was excited to see what new techniques and supplies were out there for me to check out.

I arrived early at the hotel, so I walked around and got some breakfast. I was able to get some pictures during my walk from literally one end of the hotel to the other, and I included some of them in this post.

At 10am, the vendor fair opened and I was in heaven! Booths upon booths of scrapbook ideas and supplies... ahh... it was wonderful. I picked up some items that I am excited to use, as well as participating in a few make and take projects that certain vendors were offering.

At 1:30, my first class began. It was a fun class, showing me how to create different things with rubber/clear stamps. I was interested in this because I am a stamp collector, I have so many of them and hardly use them! Now I am already thinking of projects and layouts that I can use my new found knowledge on! I also won a prize in this class!

After this class, I walked across the hotel (again) to grab some $12 lunch (ugh) before my next class. I popped into the vendor fair again, to make sure there wasn't something I missed or couldn't live without. Then I headed to my second class, which was amazing! It taught us how to create layouts that included many pictures! This was good for me...since I take too many pictures of one thing, and then cannot use all of them in my layouts (or end up making a scrapbook about a one hour party, LOL!) I have since used the techniques I learned from this class in several pages at home!

All in all, it was so interesting and enjoyable! I cannot wait to go back next year! I'm glad that Scott and I were able to work this in to our budget, because I have the time of my life and took home so much!

9.5.09 - Farwell to another friend!

We said goodbye to Scott's friend number three early in September. He was given an oppurtunity to take an awesome job where he has the chance to move up in Denver, CO! We wish him the best and cannot wait to go visit!

His girlfriend, and my new acquaintance, Sarah, threw a going away party for him and we made it out there in spite of me having to close at work. It was a lot of fun! We ate, drank and played Catch Phrase. We also mingled with a lot of cool people that we may not have otherwise met if not to gather to wish our friend farewell.

Scott and I ended up being the last to leave...around 4am :-) It was a wonderful night that will not be forgotten.

The only downside (for me) is that I met several 20-somethings that seemed to have their lives just where they wanted them. Each time someone would talk about themselves and then ask me "So what do you do?" I would cringe, force a smile and reply, "Oh, well I am in retail..." It was just another reminder... I never should have dropped out of school... I'm not a grad student, I'm not the PR person over a few YMCAs, I'm not a teacher, or an accountant (and that was just the girls). I'm just an assistant manager in retail, still. I know that God has a bigger plan for me, and I am being selfish in wanting it now, and I know I should not envy what others have, because in most other places in my life, In am very happy with what I have been dealt.

Ah, September.

I try and use any excuse for a "fresh start". I find myself doing this a lot, I guess because I constantly start things and do not finish? Or maybe that I find myself stressed out and at my wits end, and need to start over. Whatever the case may be, I am looking forward to September: a new month, a new season and hopefully a change of pace. I love summer, and I must say that I had a great one! But I am ready for things to slow down, take a breather, and try (again) to get certain things in my life in order.

I started today off pretty well... but found myself with a pickle at home. I discovered that quite a few of my 2008-2009 photo files are corrupted and will not copy onto my master usb. I was instantly in panic mode, but realized that will a lot of tedious hard work that I do not have spare time for, I can probably just completely recopy all of my photos, some months (are you ready for this?) photo by photo. Kill me now. I am actually VERY organized with my photos. I have them all in folders with the date, then inside monthly folders inside a yearly folder. It is a system that has proved wonderfully for me. So for my birthday, my dad bought me some large usb zip drives so I could create a master storage for them. Everything was going well, I was sorting a bit every night, and copying the master year folder onto the zip. Well it has come time to move the last two years, and I have been getting corruption pop ups. After talkign with my husband and my dad about it... I am sad to say all of my hard work sorting may come down to me having to do it all over again, photo by photo. And just a fun tidbit - "2009" alone, January-August, is 6.71GB. All I know so far is that January and Frebruary are not corrupted, but possibly the entire month of March is. After that I just quit.

One great thing about September is that my husband and I are starting a marriage Bible study. I am very excited, because I have always wanted to do a Bible study, but my schedule never matched any of the ones that my friends were a part of. Scott has a men's small group that he attends on Saturdays, and we are going to format it similarly to that. I am supposed to be coming up with a topic as we speak... I wished he had done the first one so I would be a little more familiar with what it should be...but heck! It's our Bible study, we can format it however we want! Now our Bible study won't have a specific schedule, but once a week.

September also brings a new car... which it bittersweet. I will blog more about that as it happens. It brings cooler weather (soon, right?) It brings our good friend, Drew, embarking on the next part of his life - in Fairfax :-( It brings a new baby into our family! It brings the scrapbook convention that I have ben so looking forward to!! And on the same note, it begins my scrapping nights with my friend and coworker, Kelsey. It should be a great month, but it will also be a stressful one.

8.22.09 - Happy Birthday!

It's 12:01am! Happy Birthday Best Friend!

8.19.09 - Farewell, good friend!

I knew it was coming. The day that our friend and groomsman, Justin, headed out to embark on the next part of his journey - to Boston! I had to fight away my jealousy at first, because I would LOVE to move there for a little while, but that's beside the point. I'm very proud and happy for him that he has gotten this opportunity, but I am going to miss him. More, I am going to miss his relationship with Scott. Scott has gotten very close with JP, and they have found greatness and comradeship in each other. JP is so funny, and thoughtful and kind, and anyone who is friends with him knows it. I know that moving away from everything that you know must be immensely hard, and I wish him the best in all that is ahead for him!

8.14.09 - Girls Night Out!

Well we did it... the three of us left our troubles at home (and the men) and went out to let loose. Heather, Bethany and I got dolled up and headed to Nashville, where we found good music and free beer at Fuel. We had a good time... got a little scary after midnight (maybe we are Cinderellas...and that was our clue to go!) so we headed back toward home. We ended up having to stop... you know, all that free beer! And after relieving ourselves in a sketchy parking lot near Harding, we finally made it to IHOP. It was the prettiest IHOP ever! It was funny, because we all pretty tired by then.... not like when we were 19! Good times!

Bethany, Heather and myself right before hittin' the town!

My lovely Anne - 8.8.09

One of my great friends and co-workers, Anne, moved at the beginning of the summer to persue an internship in Walt Disney World! I miss her very much. She added some spice to my life! She graduated from MTSU in August and I got to spend a little bit of time with her before she left me again. She is a very smart and beautiful girl, and I wish her the best of luck in her future, wherever it may take her. I will never forget our crazy conversations and all of the random silly things we have in common. MUAH!

7.31.09 - And then there was Four...

Since Scott and I got serious years ago, we became easily inseparable. Scott was also adored by my parents so my family quickly turned into a 5-some, rather than just my parents and my sister and me.

Now, it's not rare that I hang out with my family without Scott, I often go over there for hours while Scott's at work, but it is rare that we take an outing that's made up of my parents and me and my sister - she's usually out, or my dad is working or I'm not in town. In the beginning, about 12 years ago, we were all we had. Just my parents and my sister. We grew up of course, and found our own ways, which was usually outside of the nest. So when we found ourselves all hanging out at my parents' house on a random Thursday, I suggested we go OUT - do something. A few hours later, we were all in the car headed to a Nashville Sounds game!

I had a blast! It was the perfect summer night. We watched baseball, sang and danced and laughed! We missed Scott so much, but it was nice to be reminded what our past was like. These sort of outings are few and far between and I know we all took something from it.

This is a very sweet moment for my parents! 29 years and still going..