It's been a while I know....

...so I decided I should probably get back into this whole blogging thing! I know I have been out of the swing of things but I think it will be a good thing for me to get back in the habit of doing! So I am going to start out by blogging about CHRISTMAS!!!!!! (For those of you that do not know me very well....well Christmas is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE time of the year!) I am happier this time of year than I am most of the year....and yes Louise I know I should be happy all the time :P. But there is just something about getting a REAL tree and digging out all, and when I say all I mean all, of our Christmas stuff!! One thing my mom handed down to all three of us is our ability to collect more Christmas stuff than anything else! I mean seriously it took me and Laurie a FULL week of decorating with some help from Louise, Dirt, and Nathan on occasion! :) But even though I do not love devoting a whole week to it, after its done I am so excited and happy its out I find myself going to bed smiling and even getting up smiling when I walk by the living room and see the lights are on from the tree! I JUST LOVE IT!!!

And I love, LOVE buying gifts for Christmas! I always try to see if I can get the best presents....especially for Laurie and Louise! It is so fun to listen actively from about July on (the reason for July is bc honestly we start shopping off QVC in July because of the Christmas in July special they run...and well we got it honest from my dad's side of the family...its only right! :)). SO needless to say I am always so excited about getting their presents! But this year I am most excited about Dad's present from Me and Nate :) I can't write it on here like I did last year because Dad has a blog now but I am super excited about opening gifts there this year!

I also love going to look at all the Christmas lights! They are so much fun and I just love it! I like to take a cup of hot chocolate and bundle up and go look at all of them! Don't worry after I look at them I will blog more and with pictures! :)

Well I guess that is it for today! I am really excited about Girls' Night tonight at Kim's house for our ornament swap! It is so fun! :) I promise I will be better about blogging! :)

****16 days til CHRISTMAS!!!!****

My New Thing....

...is working with the prison ministry! I had been thinking about it for a while and decided that the next training class I would go to it...so i did. I was a bit nervous but Louise, Dirt, Nathan and Kristen all were going too so it made me feel a little bit better! The training class was interesting to say the least!



After about 3 weeks Mrs. Karen got in touch with Louise and told her that I was good to go and I could start going with Louise when I wanted to. So I told Louise I would go with her the next time she went...well she had to fill in for someone that next week so I was on my way to my 1st trip to Tutwiler!



Well June 30th came and I was SUPER nervous! Oh man was I nervous!!! But I loaded up with Louise and Michelle Latham and we headed to Wetumpka! I was getting an ulcer I was getting so nervous! So we got there and it all started and it was GREAT (even though one woman walked up to me at the end of class and told me I looked SUPER nervous...and well I had to admit I was!!!!)!!! I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Louise's lesson and putting my 2 cents in where I felt it was needed. it was wonderful! All the ladies just love all of the New Life Behavior women that come and especially "Black Molly" AKA Mrs. Elizabeth! :)

It was an amazing experience for me and I really think this is going to help me to grow stronger and delve deeper into the Bible...because those women READ THEIR BIBLE and will challenge you to everything and want to know your opinion of a verse and I don't like to be unprepared which I know sometimes you will be but I want to have some kind of knowledge! I am very encouraged by these women and please keep all of them in your prayers! Some of them have families that wont speak to them and that never have visitors so we really are all they have and we are responsible for teaching them about the Bible. So please just keep this ministry in your prayers. I am sure I will have some good stories for you later!

Things I am Thankful for...

My dad wrote a blog similar to this last week sometime and I was reading it and it struck a cord with me...and boy have I needed a little wake up call to really how truly blessed I am....so in an attempt to be like my daddy I am going to list somethings I am so very thankful for.

First and foremost I am thankful for God and Jesus. I am so very thankful for my loving and forgiving Father. And our Savior that went to the cross for all of our sins. I would be nothing without Him.
I am so extremely thankful for my family. I have been so blessed to have the most amazing parents that have taught me so many lessons and that with God ANYTHING truly is possible. I have the most amazing sisters anyone could ever ask for! They will support any kind of party I have and normally have a party themselves!! (Premiere, Thirty One, Partylite, etc. :)) All in all they are pretty amazing!!!I am thankful for Laurie and the fact that she is always there no matter what! I am thankful for Louise and her kind nature and always being calm even when she is aggravated with me! I also have the best brother!!! (In law :)) he is great and will always come to my defense no matter what!! It is nice to have a brother finally! I am so thankful for my relationships I have with my Aunts and Uncles! I don't know if my childhood could have been any better living so close to both sides of my family...GinGin, Kaka, and Aunt Beth are the best!!! (And all the uncles are too...just alot more of them to name!) I also have the most amazing sets of grandparents! Grandma is such an example of a strong Christian woman and I could not be any more thankful that she is in my life! Nana and Papa are so devoted to the Philippine missions and so generous!
I am so thankful for Nathan. He puts up with alot from me and I know I am not the easiest person to date, but he still sticks by...even when its really hard too. I am glad he is in my life and very thankful for his patience.
I am so thankful for Mrs. Strange. She was my kindergarten teacher and she is one of the most positive people I know. She is always there to listen and give GREAT advice. And she also taught me about "Germs" :)
I am thankful for the struggles that I have went through in the past 5 years. Some life changing some not so much but struggles none the less. They have taught me patience and what unconditional love really is. I hope if anything ever happens to me that I have a devoted spouse and children that no matter will be at my side and be my cheerleaders. I am so very thankful for those struggles I truly wouldn't be the person I am today provided I wouldn't have gone through those tough times.
I am thankful for my disappointments, they have taught me not to always rely on other people to do things...sometimes you must do things yourself.
I am thankful for Blake and Adam for not being afraid to stand up and fight for our country and our freedom. Even if it means dying.
I am thankful for those Army wives, Tay, for being strong and knowing the risk and consequences of marrying a military man.
I am so very thankful for my true friends. Few and far between but mean more than anything to me! Thanks for always being there and just listening! Sometimes that is all I need!
Those are just a few things right of the cuff! I am sure i have left something out because the blog that had everything in it would be FOREVER long! I hope that everyone is alittle uplifted today and I hope that even if you don't blog about it you can take sometime to think about all the blessings you have and be thankful for them! We are all truly blessed!

It's officially been a YEAR!!!

Well today officially makes it a year that Nathan and I have been together. I know kinda crazy! It has been quite a year....full of many ups and downs but all that have made us closer and better! He is my heart and I love him oh so much! Its not easy dating me or trying to date me...trust me Laurie can attest to that...she tells me sometimes that I need to ease up...so I know it hasn't always been easy for him! But he has taught me alot of the past year some of these things include: Patience, loving unconditionally no matter what, anything worth having takes work, that dating a Christian man is amazing...its nice to have someone who is active in church and isn't afraid of leading a prayer! It is amazing. I just love him and I am so glad he is in my life! Here are just a few pictures from the past year! One day I am going to get around to scrapbooking these! :)

This is our very 1st picture together!

This the weekend I met his parents, we went to the rodeo!

This is at the festival there in Adairsville!

This is at Taylor's surprise party we planned for him! :)

Overall this year has been amazing! I am so thankful for Nate and I can't wait to see what the future holds! Love you Nate!

Another week has passed....

...so its time for another blog! Life has seemed to be so busy recently! this past weekend for Mother's day Louise, Dirt, Nathan and I got to go up and see Mom for mother's day! It was great to get to just be up there with no plans and just to hang out with her and play games. Nathan and I got there Saturday afternoon and met up with mom, dad, Dirt and Louise for Supper at Lalito's and it was delicious! Then we went home and sat for a few minutes then it was time for games...so while daddy worked on the last minute stuff for church we played Dominos and when dad got ready he came in and we started playing Hand and Foot partners! It was so much fun! (Dad and I were partners and of course we won!! =)) I really think it made mom's whole weekend us playing both games that she loves! And i wont lie it made mine and Louise's weekend pretty good too!! Sunday we got up and gave mom her Mother's day stuff and got ready for church. She looked so pretty! And you could tell she was so happy! We got to church and Nathan led singing and Dad delivered an AMAZING mothers day lesson! During the singing it was hard for Louise and I to sing because one of the ladies whose husband is in the hospital just cried through the whole thing...which you would've thought it was my husband the way I was crying! I finally had to have a heart to heart with myself and pull it together! It was ridiculous! After church we went and ate at Ichiban's which is comparable to Shogun and it was GREAT!!! Mom thoroughly enjoyed herself I think!

After that we did some visiting to the hospital and to one of mom and dads dear friends that is dying with Breast cancer. It was so sad to see how the disease has really taken a toll on her and her body. Made me that much more grateful to have my momma and that she is healthy and alive. Then we left her house to come back to the house long enough to change kiss mom and dad bye and get on the road to Nathan's house so he could see his momma.

We got to Adairsville in time to meet his family at church. I think his momma was so happy to see him she just about cried. She loves her baby boy that's for sure! They are always so excited when we come to town! After church was over we went and ate at El Napol (my FAVORITE Mexican place ever!!!) and it was GREAT!! (It was Mrs. Jacki's choice to go there by the way!) And I also got a free t shirt :) I was excited! We then went to their house and visited with them for a couple hours and gave Mrs. Jacki her mother's day present. Nathan and Emily got her a new cartridge for her Cricut machine and she loved it! We left there about 10:30 and headed home!

All in all it was a GREAT weekend!! I love getting to have stress-free weekends with my momma. She is amazing and I am so blessed to have her in my life! I love her so so so much and I hope her mother's day was the best ever!

A Little Bit of Life...

...man oh man does it seem like months since I have been on here...not just 2 weeks! It is crazy the amount of stuff that has gone on over the past 2 weeks! So here is a recap of my life and all the chaos over the last 2 weeks!

• LAURIE GOT TELECOMMUNICATOR OF THE YEAR!!!! YAYAYAYAYAY!!!! Louise and I went and you would've thought we were her proud parents the way we were snapping pictures! We were so excited for her!! I made her come in my office and show everyone! I was so pumped and proud!! LOVE YOU LAURIE~YOU ALWAYS MAKE US PROUD!!!! :) Louise and I are blessed to have you for our sister!!!
• We had to bury 2 of our Faulkner Football players....obviously I don't need to elaborate on this one...if you want the whole scoop visit http://laurierwalker.blogspot.com/ and that will explain everything...but needless to say its been pretty sad around here.
• I had my Thirty One party...and I am not bragging by any means but I sold $800 worth and got $250 in free product!!! I WAS STOKED!!! But I couldn't have done it without the help of all my friends!! THANKS GUYS!!! Ya'll are the best!
• I have started my own FarmTown! (For all of you that laugh its addicting....I have never had an addiction before so this is kinda I guess what it feels like or so Nate says its like...its sick but Louise, Michelle, and Molly can all vouch! Its crazy!!!) And I will have to say my farm is stinking amazing!! (GinGin I am glad you have gotten into it!! :))
• I have had so much work with camps this year!! Its ridiculous the amount of camps and weeks I have had to re-work this year.
• We had Cornerstone tryouts....let me preface this by saying its my least favorite day of the year!! Especially when all of the old ones are trying out again!! It was rough...one of the returning members wasn't selected to come back.
• BROOKERS GRADUATED!!! YAY!! CONGRATS BROOKERS! I AM PROUD OF YOU! WELCOME TO THE GROWN UP WORLD! SO GLAD YOU ARE STAYING HERE! LOVE YOU GIRLIE!!

Well I guess that sums it up!! I will post more often now hopefully!!! :)

Reflecting

Yesterday we found out that 2 of our Faulkner football players were killed in an accident coming back to school yesterday early morning. As I sit here and think about that I just can not imagine the pain and agony that their families are suffering. I walk around campus and all I see is all these boys so sad and distraught. I see friends of theirs just looking pitiful and I think about how lucky I am.

I had a HUGE project for work that I was working on all day yesterday (Literally from 8 am to 7 pm). And even though my mind had to be focused on it, I found myself drifting back to thinking about it and how bad those families must be hurting. After my project was done I went and sat in the Grill with some friends. We reflected on it all 4 of us but it was when 2 of them left that really opened my eyes. Brooke Bailey I think is truly a God sent angel into my life. We sat there after the boys had left and we talked about everything that had gone on. And she let me into some parts of her life about how she lost one of her best friends last year and how hard it was for her. It just breaks my heart and got me thinking. I have never really experienced death with close friends and family. My granddaddy dying in June of 99 was the only close relative that really affected me. (Don't get me wrong I have been to a TON of funerals and probably will go to alot more if I live long enough but none have been within my immediately family) I can not imagine losing anyone really close to me. I am blessed beyond belief and I can not say enough how thankful I am. I know this blog kinda is random and all over the place but its just somethings that I have been thinking about. Please please please keep these families in your thoughts and prayers as the next couple of days and weeks are going to be so extremely tough.

Also, with all the activities of yesterday I didn't get to get on here but it was daddy's 53rd birthday!!! Happy Birthday Daddy!! And don't worry your 53 things is coming!!! :)