Oh my I am so excited!!

I can hardly stand it!! I am so anxious for everything and I can not wait to see everyone's face when they open up their presents!! That is my absolute favorite thing!!! I love watching people's faces when they are opening up my gifts. I try to be creative and I listen all year for ideas that I can use at Christmas time! And I must say I am pretty good at that, especially with my people. Laurie and Louise don't have too many surprises like they did last year but such is life...and being a grown up! I AM SUPER EXCITED ABOUT MOMMA'S GIFTS THIS YEAR!!! I absolutely can not wait!! CAN NOT WAIT!!! She is going to be so surprised and it is absolutely wonderful!!!! Ok now that I have gone on that tangent! Back to my real reason for blogging! So along with me being excited about Christmas, this past Sunday started a fun next few days filled with Christmas parties! :)

Sunday night was girls night. It was an ornament swap and it was the one year mark of our girls nights! Who would've thought a year ago when Laurie came up with this idea that it would still be going and bringing more and more Christian ladies together every month! And honestly what is better than being able to get away from everyone but your girls you go to church with and getting to know them all better! Nothing is better!! In honor of it being the 1 yr mark of girls night, we decided to have it back at Kim Isbells house again! And it was so fun!! We used all her Christmas china, and had mocha punch (or Christmas punch as some called it :)) and lots of good food! The ornament swap got interesting this year, seeing who makes alliances with who to make sure those ornaments were going home with whoever wanted them! It was hilarious!! There were quite a few ornaments that got retired! And I must say, my snow globe looking one...well it was a hit!! :) I was excited about that bc sometimes you never know if everyone will like it or not! But everyone did so I felt ok about it all!

Monday night was Laurie's partylite party! And it was GREAT!! Haley Gray is the partylite consultant that came to do the party and she did GREAT!!! It was so much fun!! Laurie, Leslie, and I (and George and Maya) all were home by lunch Monday and cleaned house and got everything ready for the party. After we got everything as clean as we could, we went and got Devin from school and come back to the house to make my very first Gingerbread House!! I was so nervous!! But so excited!! It was a interesting experience...Devin is 5 so he wanted to be involved in every little part and well I am not very crafty (I guess that runs in the family...refer to Louise's blog!). But you will see below that it turned out ok...I have another one coming that I am going to try harder to make look cute! For those of you that don't know, Leslie is our new roommate. Ashley is moving out in a few weeks and we needed for money purposes to have someone lined up so we talked to Leslie and she was wanting to move out of her situation so...BAM! We now have 2 other roommates besides Laurie and I. And we also have 2 little doggies running around my house! Which is not so great in my world but as soon as Maya gets shaved, well it will make my life alot happier! (And alot less stinky! :)) And dont get me wrong I love maya...she just has too much hair right now so she carried her stench around with her! But back to the party! Laurie ended up getting $250 worth of free partylite stuff and I am stoked about it!! I got to get my things I wanted and at half price!! I was really excited!! I feel like I am finally starting to get stuff that I will have to decorate my own house with one day! Kind of a grown up present to myself! :)





And tonight is my work party! And needless to say it should be interesting! Keith is a bit of a Scrooge when it comes to Christmas, he doesn't like to play games or anything fun. He likes to eat and give us presents then shew us on our way. This is also a date party. And Taylor, Neil, and I are the only ones bringing dates, well besides those who are married in the office, so needless to say it should be interesting! But I will have to post more about that after tonight!! And hopefully it will be better than last year but it will be hard! Last year Ashley, Shanna, and I all went to Wal-Mart and bought white sweatshirts and Christmas fabric and puff paint and made HO HO HO (Each one of us wore a HO) sweatshirts and well we were the hit of the party!! It was hilarious!! I will post that picture with the other from the party and of our Christmas tree!!! :)

Thanksgvining Pictures!

Here are the Thanksgiving pictures from the Walker Family Thanksgiving :)

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Its the MOST WONDERFUL time of the year....

...And I absolutely love it soooooooooooooo MUCH!!! Everything about Christmas makes me sooo sooo happy!

But first let me tell you how fun the psat week has been!! It was the best week ever!! Mom and Dad were at the house form Sunday night to Wednesday and we had the best time!! It was so nice to be able to get up and have breakfast with mom, dad, and Laurie. It was like the old days with the exception of Louise not being there!! On Wednesday Nate and I left to go to his house for his family's thanksgiving!! It was fun and I got to meet all of (or most of) both sides of his Mom's famiy and Dad's family! It was interesting to say the least!! But it was alot of fun!! Mrs. Jacki took a bunch of pictures so I will get them from her and post them on here as soon as I can. And I also have alot of pictures from Mom and Dad being here and I will post them too!! :)

Now on to my FAVOTIRE time of the year!!! =) I just really get so excited about Christmas its like I am a little kid again!! I am so excited that Laurie and I are getting our tree tonight and putting it up so stay tuned for pictures on that too!! =) Hope everyone is enjoying this time of year as much as I am!!

Misc. Thoughts....

...so for some reason the past few days I have had alot of things on my mind...and I thought the best way to get them off would be to blog and maybe get some other people's opinions. Now I know the opinions saying, but this is my blog and it is my way of venting. So I was talking to one of my best friends the other day and she was talking about how frustrated she was with one of our other mutual friends. She is alot closer with this mutual friend than I am so she had known some stuff that had been going on with her that I didn't know. She told me that our friend had been having some hard times and that she had missed work 3 days last week for a Dr. appt. That immediately through up a red flag...because she didn't say she was sick, she just said she went to a Dr. appt...so I hesitated asking scared of what she might say and sure enough it was exactly what I thought...She had gone to have an abortion. She had gone to a clinic out of town and she was only around 5 or 6 weeks pregnant. But as soon as I heard that it broke my heart...I guess all abortions break my heart, but this hit so close to home because this is a person that I thought I knew and that would never do something like this...(Side note: This is NOT anyone that I work with and NOT anyone associated with Faulkner.)

But the sad part is she did it...and now she is just going crazy I feel like. She is drinking alot more and acting ways that she knows she shouldn't. I am just so confused and conflicted on how people can think that abortion is not killing human beings...this baby had a heart beat already...and I don't know, I guess if I were in her situation and had just gotten a huge promotion and I was only 23, maybe it would cross my mind, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that I would not make that decision. And the thing I didn't understand is the daddy said he wanted to marry her and help her with the baby and she still did it. Without even letting his vote count. It just hurts my heart.

Another issue I have been having lately is trust issues! I don't know why, but I have been lacking trust for alot of people in my life and I don't really understand why. I know maybe I am finally to that age where I am starting to understand and know things that I never have known before and maybe its that I am just constantly worried. And i don't want to be that way, in fact I want to be the exact opposite.

I know in Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus says: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

So I am trying really hard not to worry so much and to trust God that he has a plan for me and for me not to worry with it so much and to do the best I can with what he has given me. And I really just think I am getting to that point in my life where I am just worried about everything that has to do with my life, my job, my family, my boyfriend...everything. And its not all bad worry or negative worry, just uncertainty. So any thoughts? Or advice??

Sorry for the random blog, just had alot on my mind!

Valdosta...

...for all that are interested...I am not sure when I am coming to Valdosta bc I have not heard when we are doing Christmas! But regardless, Before Dec. is over I will be down there and bring Nathan for everyone to meet! =) Love you Gin Gin!

Busy past couple of weeks!

So I have neglected the ole blogspot for a week or so...I guess once you get in the hang of doing it alot it kinda feels weird to get out of!! So This may be a bit lengthy but just bare with me!! It will be worth it!!

Mom's Birthday: As most of you already know we surprised mom on her birthday in Trenton for her party! It was great!! she had no clue whatsoever and was so so surprised and it was so much fun!! And the scrapbook went over AMAZINGLY!!! She absolutely loved it!!! By the 2nd page she was in tears and so were we!! But good tears of course!! =) But i can not lack to thank Mrs. Jacki (Nate's mom). She was the backbone in all the scrapbook making and I could not have done it with out her!! She is amazing and I am so blessed to have her in my life!! =)

Aunts, Uncle, and Cousins Birthdays: Yeah yeah so me and Laurie are the bad nieces that didn't blog on those special days....but in our defense...there has been a TON going on in our world!! =) But none the less....they still deserve to be acknowledged!! So Happy Birthday KaKa, GinGin, Uncle Ervin, and Jordan!! I hope you all had the most magnificent birthdays yet!! And I am really looking forward to coming down there soon and seeing all of ya'll!! Love ya'll!!

TRAVELING: Well I have started my weekends full of traveling now. This past weekend I took cornerstone down to Mt. Dora to recruit and it went really well!! cornerstone sang in chapel Friday morning and I had breakfast for all the Jrs. and Srs. so that went over well! After they got done singing the director of the school play came up and gave us 5 free tickets to go see their school play "The Dairy of Anne Frank". I thought it was good but it was kinda hard keeping the guys interested in it so I bribed them with ice cream if we could at least stay til intermission!! So that went over well because they had a baskin robbins and it was GREAT!! I have not had baskin robbins in so SO LONG and it was just what I needed to get through that crazy weekend!! But it was well worth it!! i got 6 applications which is great for those of you that don't really know the world of admissions!! =) for those of you that do you completely understand how well that plays in the numbers game!! Needless to say Keith was pretty happy with me!! =) Sunday Dirt's parents were in town so we ate lunch with them and it was GREAT!! I always love seeing them and they are always so happy to see us...and yes I say us because they always give me as much attention as they do Louise!! And this time they got to meet Nathan which was fun!! =)

CHRISTMAS TIME!!!! I am so so super stoked about Christmas...I can not explain it at all but I just love it!! =) Everything about it....even the cold weather!! =) (And that's saying alot especially since i wear jackets in the summer...I am a bit cold natured!!!) As I type I am listening to Christmas music!! I can not get enough of it!! And I am so jealous of Ashley Peebles!! Not only is she living in England, but they don't celebrate thanksgiving over there so the day after Halloween all Christmas stuff gets put up!! =) HOW STINKIN GREAT WOULD THAT BE?!?! Now I know most of you are saying...WHAT?!?! Skip thanksgiving?? No no silly!! They are still having the big thanksgiving dinner but its just not an actual holiday over there...and honestly that would be great for me!!! =)And for thanksgiving Mom and Dad are coming down here the 24th and 25th for us to have Thanksgiving then going back to Trenton. From there Me and Nate will leave on the 26th and go to his house to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family...I am a little nervous about meeting all the extended family but it will be good! So last night Me an Nate were shopping for some items for my poor pitiful sick sister Laurie, and I came across these super cute Christmas tissues and a REALLY cute Ho Ho Ho blanket that I just knew Laurie would want me to buy!! =) And they have this max chloreseptic spray out that has a special spray top that directly hits your throat and I thought that was soo cool! And that directed spray top is pretty neat because you know when you have the regular spray it gets on your tongue and ends up numbing that and well then its all down hill!!! =) Oh yeah and its mini so it fits in your purse just perfectly!!! Sorry totally got off subject for Christmas!! Anyways back to Christmas!! Another REALLY REALLY exciting Christmas fact...this year for Nate and my's gifts to each other we are flying out to Seattle, WA to see my best friend Taylor and her Husband Blake for the whole week of New Years!! =) I AM SO SO SO EXCITED I CAN HARDLY STAND IT!!! We are going to get to go up into Canada and the space needle and it will just be so nice to spend sometime with Taylor and not have to share her with all her other friends here in Montgomery!!! I miss her sooo much!! =)

Well I think that pretty much sums up my life, for now at least!!! =) Hope it was not too long and boring!! Love ya'll and hopefully over the next few weeks I will have alot to blog about...and I will definitely blog about me meeting all of Nate's extended family!!

It's Mom's Big Day!!!

So I know most of you have already read Laurie and Louise's blogs but I can't be the bad daughter and not write anything!!! My mom is the most amazing woman I have ever met. Not only did she raise 3 AMAZINGLY wonderful and beautiful (and humble :)) daughters, but she has been married for almost 30 years, been an amazing Christian woman, but survived a stroke at the age of 45. I can not tell you how much she has shown me what a little bit of determination and hard work can really acheive! We are all so lucky to have her on our lives and not to mention to have put up with daddy for almost 30 years!! And i want to send a special shout out to Bev Strange...she has been mom's strong hold for a bunch of years now and has really just been amazing to our family!! Thank you so much Bev for everything and we love you more than you will ever know!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

To read our 50 Special Facts about Momma go to Laurie's Blog:

I had forgotten how fun carving pumpkins....

REALLY IS!!! Monday night Me, Ashley, Nathan and Devin all carved pumpkins while Laurie and Kecia sat by and watched. It was fun to be able to sit down and relax and have fun taking pictures of Ashley and Dev carving his pumpkin and watching Nate carve our pumpkin!! And they turned out really really good!!! I was very shocked with me and Nate's pumpkin because I picked out the absolute hardest pattern for him to carve, but he did an amazing job!!! And ashley did an amazing job on her gobling that she carved!! And I had a GREAT time taking pictures and carving the bat out of our pumpkin...everything else I let Nate do because he was the perfectionist about it!! =) But here are a few pictures from the great night!! And it will go down in history as one of the most fun nights I have ever had!!

Guys you might not want to read this one...and girls will will totally understand my pain....

So I am totally in the worse mood that I have been in, in a REALLY long time!! Started off that I woke up way before I even had to be up this morning. I had a girl doctor appointment at 10:15 this morning so I was going to get up and "prepare" about 8:30. Well that would've been nice except the fact that I woke up at 3 am and couldn't go back to sleep til nearly 5 then I was wide awake at 7 again....so finally at about 8 I got up and got in the shower. And I shaved my legs because girls lets face it....you dont want hairy legs going to see the dr. Well after an eventful morning at the house and some drama with work, I finally made it to the dr office about 10:00 on the dot. I got there signed in and gave them my new insurance since I haven't been since I have had my job at Faulkner. Well it was an act of congress getting all my insurance changed over...and I finally got done with that about 10:30. Well I sat in the waiting room for over an hour and 45 minutes. Long enough to see it clear out and fill back up with different people! Needless to say I was very very ill!! While I was sitting there Michelle Bond walked in and sat down and talked to me and couldn't even finish her story before she was called back there. And when she got out of her appointment, well I was still sitting there!! I finally got called back there about 12 and once I got back there...the NP was talking to me and looked at me kinda crazy and asked me my birthday...I told her and THEY HAD PULLED THE WRONG DONNA L WALKER!!! I was sooooo aggravated at this point!!! I mean so aggravated! So I patiently put my open front robe on and put the sheet over my whole body bc it was FREEZING in there, and sat and waited on my Dr. to come in. About 20 minutes later she came in and I was so flustered it was all I could do just be nice. So in the process of all this I totally forgot to ask her everything I needed to ask her!!! Which again aggravated me!! But finally she "got down to business" and everything was done in less than 3 minutes.
Then came the part i was dreading...my last Guardisil shot. Man oh man do those shots hurt (for those of you that have them you know my pain...). For those of you that haven't had them...well they hurt like the devil becasue they are freezing cold and if you dont know shots that are cold...well they burn really bad going in and tense up your muscles from your neck all the way to your fingers!! So the NP gave me the shot and she wasn't as quick to make sure I wasn't in pain as my last NP was but she was very nice! =) But over all it was just been a horrible day!! Hopefully it will get somewhat better, but I wont lie...it is hard to stay positive when all you can think is negative!!! So pray that I get some positive shots, I mean thoughts soon!! =)

I love the fall....

so so much!! It has been such a nice day today!!

Well I had the best weekend that I have had in a while! not that it was perfect but that it was very REAL and just fun...and RELAXING! Nate and I went to his house this weekend. We got there Thursday night and just visited with his family and ate. Then Friday morning we got up and got ready and went and ate with Nate's cousin Amy. It was nice to be able to sit down and talk with her. She is getting married in december and Nate is supposed to be singing in her wedding so that was a good time to talk to her about everything. She is so super sweet and I am so glad that she is around for me to talk to! Friday night Mom and Dad met us at Nate's house for Nate, his parents, and me and my parents to sit down and eat. This wasn't the 1st time they met but I was still a little nervous about it. Overall though it was really nice. Daddy was doing the color for Dade County radio program so while he was in the booth mom sat down in the bleachers with me, Mrs. Jacki, Mr. Terry, and Nate, while Emily was playing in the band! =) She did so good and I am so impressed with her ability to play everything! She was playing the piccolo Thursday night and it wasn't even her instrument that she normally plays and she did so good!!! I was very impressed!!! After the game was over mom and dad left and The Woodring fam and I went back to their house to play skipbo. It was fun once we all re-learned how to play but Mr. Terry took the cake on winning the game! =) (This is a pic from the game, I know Carhart is my style! Haha =))

It was the Great Locomotive Chase Festival in Adairsville this weekend and let me tell you that was an experience! =) I was pre-warned by Nate's mom and by his hair stylist that it was a big high school redneck reunion! LOL And it was to an extent. But overall it was a lot of fun! I got to eat a corndog and funnel cake and drink some really good home-made lemonade!! Of course I also got to hang out with Mrs. Jacki and Mr. Terry.




The Adairsville Church of Christ had a booth set up at the festival and so we hung out there most the time and visited with all the church members that were working the booth. We left the festival and went to Wal-Mart and got some food for Mrs. Jacki and got us some Phase 10 cards so we could introduce another new game to everyone! =) And that was alot of fun also...mostly bc I won! =) (Just kidding I am not going to be a sore winner =))
Then came Sunday and we got up and went to church. Mr. Terry taught the lesson in class and did such a great job. Then Nate led singing for worship and all around it was a great morning. After church Mrs. Jacki fixed lunch for us. It was so good! And always is!! =) Then Mr. Terry, Mrs. Jacki and Nate and I sat down and all just got to talk for a good hour or so and that was nice to be able to do! But I think that about sums up my weekend and I hope I broke it up a little bit better for everyone that gets exhausted by reading my blogs! =)

Just a few prayer requests...

I know everyone is busy but I just wanted to blog for a few minutes about a few prayer request I have.

1st-Laurie. She is REALLY really struggling with her 911 job right now. I feel so bad and don't really know how to help her except to pray. I know sh ehas blogged before about how much she really hates it there but really right now she is kinda stuck with it because she has to have a job and one that needs to pays decent. So please please please pray for her.
2nd-Paige Mock and Family. For those of you that don't know Keith is my boss here at Faulkner and has been a family friend of ours for a while. Louise and I babysit for them alot also. Paige's dad is not doing good at all. And I know it is hard for her to deal with and its even more stressful and painful to explain it to people over and over. It is also very trying for Keith and the boys because mom is stressed out.
3rd-Nichols Family. They got a GREAT report when they went back but are not completely out of the woods yet. They go back in 3 weeks and pray that everything is still ok. And being a head football coach and daddy and husband is stressful on Coach Nichols and I am sure he feels stretched beyond measure.
4th-Janet Roberts and Family. She just a week ago lost her daddy. I have never felt the loss of a daddy but I have felt the loss of a granddaddy and that was bad enough. I know how hard it was and is for mom so i just think she is in desperate need of prayers right now.
I know there are probably alot of people I should have put on here but for the time being this is all I could really put and could remember. Just take a minute out of you day to say a quick prayer for these people. They are all people that are very important to me and it would mean so much to them! I hope all of you have an amazing week and I will be blogging some more this week! =) Love ya'll!

Great weekend with an exception.....

...Tennessee lost. Wasn't really expecting them to win but was at least expecting them to actually come out and PLAY THE STINKIN GAME!! And they didn't!! But oh well, my weekend was spectacular besides that!! I took Friday off so I could clean the house because Nate's family was coming in town and this was their 1st time coming to Montgomery since we have been dating so I was a bit nervous. And I was only nervous because this time they are coming into my territory so to speak, I mean don't get me wrong Nate lives here too but its really all my people and family that they would be meeting. So needless to say the cleaning literally took all day to finish! Nate came over that morning and he started cleaning as well! He was such a big help!! He cleaned the bathroom and swiffered all the floors and mopped them all!! It was a GREAT help!! While he was cleaning, I was in the kitchen and living room picking up and dusting and wiping counters and everything else that has needed to be done everytime we clean but I just get too lazy and just make it decent! But now it has been done finally!!! =) YAY!! So I finished cleaning my room, the living room, and the guest bedroom at about 6 and jumped in the shower! They were going to be arriving at about 7:45 so I decided I had best start to get ready!! So I did and when I got out of the shower I heard someone in my house. I thought it was Nate bc he was going to be coming over to bring my keys that he had taken with him but to my surprise it wasn't! It was Ashley (my new roommate) and her daddy and his friend all standing in my living room!! I was so embarrassed bc I walked out in my robe like an idiot!!! And that was the 1st time I had met him!!! =) But after that I started getting ready and Nate showed up about 30 minutes later!! So they got here and we met and ate at Jim-N-Nicks for dinner!! And it was sooo good!! Then it was off to show the houses!! We stoped at Nate's 1st, and well it was somewhat cleaned but boy it didnt smell so hot...you can definitely tell 4 boys live there!! Then it was too my house...and thank goodness I had bought some good air freshners because that was the 1st thing they commented on! :) But we stayed at my house for about 2 hrs and watched TV and talked. They got to meet Laurie when she was about to go to work so one sister was down, now just a sister and brother in law! =) We got up and met at IHOP for breakfast the next morning and headed down to the game. (Its important to know that at every event I had to look somewhat decent because Mrs. Jacki is a scrapbooker!! She loves it and is sooo AMAZING at it!! So at every opportunity she takes pictures! =) Which I love bc I dont take them as often as I should!!) The game was good, we didn't lose as bad but the sun was killer!! They all were super burnt and I felt so bad!!! There they got to visit and meet Louise and Dirt! It went over really really good!! =) But while at the game I got to go upstairs and see Laurie doing her thing and while I was up there I got to be interviewed!! =) It was my first time on the radio and I was super nervous!!! =) But it was fun!! After the football game we came back to my house and ordered pizza and watched the UT game. And watching it with GA fans was better than watching it with FL fans...but they still made their comments but overall they were really good! And I was pretty proud bc we all know how Laurie is about UT football...and well I just wanted everything to be good and neither one of us show our butt! And we didnt and it was fun!! =) That night we went out to eastchase and walked around all the stores and ate some ice cream and took pictures! Then we went to their hotel room and watched the GA game and the LSU/AU games. I say we...Mrs. Jacki and I talked the whole time and then she gave me a present she had bought for me!! IT WAS AN ONLINE SCRAPBOOKING PROGRAM!! I was soooooo excited!!! She is always so thoughtful about buying stuff that she thinks will help me do anything and everything!!! She is amazing and I really am so blessed to have her in my life!! Sunday morning we got up and met them for breakfast and then went to early service and class. It was really fun to watch them interact in my world and how everything worked out! After church we went to Walmart and shopped for groceries for Nate and I! Then we ate at Applebees! It was good and then it was time for goodbyes... =( The time always flies by so fast when they are in town or when we are there! But its good because we will be there in 2 weeks to see them and momma and daddy! Adairsville High School plays Dade County High that friday night so Nate and I are going to leave Thursday night or Friday morning and go to his house and watch his sister play in the band friday night and meet up with mom and dad at the game!! =) We are super excited!! We also are going to go to the pumpkin patch and do some fun fall-ie things that weekend!! I am so excited!! But get off that litlle tangent and finish my weekend, we closed it out by Nate and I going to Panama City, FL to do a church visit at Jenks Ave. Church of Christ. It was a really good church visit and I had some good contacts and Nate helped with the drving so I could sleep a little bit!! So it was GREAT!! He really loves me...he does! =) (Because he had to work this monring at 8 and doesn't have the luxury I have with being able to call in after a long night of traveling =))But that is my weekend in a nutshell, I know it was a big nutshell, but nutshell regardless! =) And Mrs. Jacki has just started a blog so if you would like to know about Nate's family that is a great way to find out!! =)

College fairs, Cornerstone, and Traveling oh my....

am I tired of traveling now!! I like traveling, don't get me wrong, but I mean I am not fond of the whole being gone a whole week. And i say a whole week, I was on and off home at night but I was gone most of all the days. The college fairs were alot of fun though...much more than I thought they were going to be! There were some creepy guys that thought they would hit on me even after they asked if I was dating anyone and I said yes, they still asked me out...it was ridiculous!! But it was overall a lot of fun!! I met a lot of kids and got a few applications! Which I know doesnt sound like a lot but it really was...considering the fairs! I have really enjoyed actually recruiting this year! It is crazy but I really think I will do a lot better, as far as numbers are concerned, this year. I feel like me being here all year will be much better and I will be able to actually start sorting out everyone before January! :) On friday I had 2 college fairs then I came back here and met cornerstone to leave with them and go to Summerdale, AL for the night. and needless to say that was interesting and fun! (Insert here that we were going down to a church that Tracy Moore, who was in Cornerstone and his brother Slate Moore, both worked!) This is where you need to remember, or if you haven't known me for long, that once upon a time I was very much so in love with Mr. Slate Moore who sang in Cornerstone...funny how now I am with a former cornerstone memeber?!?! LOL But it is always so funny to go down there and see him, it brings back so many childhood memories! :) Oh the many many roadtrips that momma took me, louise, brittany, and Bobbie on! Man we were the ultimate cornerstone groupies!! :) Funny how things work out?!?! But not get off on that whole tangent! But other than that life is good! Laurie, Nate and I are going to look at cars this afternoon again. Dirt, Laurie and I looked last night but didnt have alot of luck!! I have a good feeling today is the day!!! :) There is a really pretty Altima, Corrola, and Camry we are looking at today! I am pretty excited for her!! I know she was not really having so much fun but I feel like today she will get that "wedding dress car shoppers feeling". :) (If you would like to know what feeling I am talking about...please ask her to explain that one to you! LOL) This weekend is also a big weekend for me! We have our 2nd Faulkner Football home game and Nate's family is coming in for the weekend! And we both are really excited about that!! And on top of that my mommy and daddy are coming into town for the football game on Saturday so I am super pumped!! I don't get to see them enough so it is always exciting to see them! :) But I think that pretty much updates my blog for the time being!! I am really trying to do better!! :)

So a little down time = time to write a blog!

Well hello to all!! =) I know its been a while for a post I have just been busy with everything this past month. I hope its about to start slowing down some. I start my full travel schedule next week with my college fairs and I am interested to see how that all goes. I am kinda nervous about everything because this is my 1st real fall with my job, and Keith reminds me EVERYDAY that the fall is a critical time. And I definitely believe him. I will be down in the pan handle next week for 2 days then in south Alabama for 3 days. But on the upside of things...this weekend is the Samford football game and I am super excited, not only for the fact that its Faulkner's 1st football game this season, but my very own Laurie will be color commentating. =) Just call her Holly Rowe!! (For all of you non-devoted ESPN fans, she is the sideline color commentator, and she is freakin awesome at it!) I am so excited for her!! I really hope this opens some doors for her to get out 911. She really is so unhappy working there, and in case you don't really know the walker girls (and I say Walker bc Louise is much better at this than Laurie and I are) aren't really the best at leaving work at work and not taking it out on the person at home. So I REALLY hope things work out!! And regardless I really think she enjoys being in the football office too! It definitely was a HUGE job to step into, 8 guys who have had no womanly direction in the office nor any organization, and she has done remarkably down there!! And I think the guys all really like her!! Another perk is that Laurie, Louise, and I usually always get to eat lunch together which is fun...and I think has helped everything alot!! =) Another good thing going on right now is that Laurie and I have taken on a roommate for a little while to help us catch up and save some money. Ashley Hamrick came in the same year I did at Faulkner and we actually graduated together too!! =) And she also works with me and I absolutely love her!! She has really helped me out the past few months or so. And Laurie really likes her too so that works out GREAT also!! As far as the boy goes...Nathan is still in the picture and I am quite happy with that!! We have so much fun and I absolutely LOVE his family...and of course they LOVE me to death...which I mean I know, who wouldn't?!?! LOL JK!! But I really do enjoy being around them! He is from Adairsville, GA which is about an hour from Trenton, GA. Which is very convinent because when we go see his family we normally get to see mine or vice versa!! =) Also, Adairsville COC, where he attends, is a really big supporter of the Philipines Mission and daddy just recently went and spoke about the last mission trip. Which while there actually got to meet Nathan's parents. Which was so nerve racking for me because neither Nathan nor I could go. SO they were just on their own! But as far as I can tell, it went pretty good!! And both sides said they really enjoyed the time to visit! =) Well I think that is all I have for now! I will try to be better now that its somewhat slowed down some!! Love you all!!

Sorry its been so long for a post....

...but it has been crazy in my life!!! The past 2 months have been so stinking busy and crazy it is a bit ridiculous!!! It all started around the 12th of June!!! That was the 1st college bound and it was crazy busy from College Bound I until College Bound II on July 17th. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Faulkner lingo...that is when our new students come in and register. (Not to be confused with orientation, which is coming up next week!!!) And from that last college bound until now its been crazy and all my time has been devoted to calling and tightening up all loose ends with all my students!!

While also recruiting, July 20-27 I was in Orlando, FL for a College Conference on Monday through Wednesday, then for the Spiritual Growth Workshop Thursday-Sunday. That was a fun but busy week!!! It was nice to get away for a little bit but it couldn't have came at a more inconvenient time with me trying to get all my students here and everything!! But the week was fun and I got to visit Downtown Disney and see some fun stuff while I was down there!! While I was down there, I got the bright idea to get tickets to the Rascal Flatts concert in Atlanta (soon to find out that was NOT such a smart idea!!!). So finally after all the traveling I finally made it home and things picked right back up!!! Its been crazy busy since then!!!

So last Friday night Nathan and I left Faulkner about 3 and headed to Atlanta. The concert was AMAZING!! It was so much fun and Rascal Flatts was great!! They sang for about 2 hours which was an amazingly long time!!! After the concert was over, instead of driving home we just drove and stayed at his house that night. His family lives about 30-45 minutes from Atlanta so we just drove there! We got to his house about 12:45am and his parents got up to talk to us for a few minutes. After that we went to bed, and when I say we, I mean I went upstairs to my bedroom and he slept on the couch. =) Next day we got up and went to eat at my favorite Mexican restaruant in Adairsville. and it was so good!!! After we ate we left and had to come home because Nathan had to work. So when he went to work I went and checked on Louise, bc this was when she was sick, and then went to the Biscuits game with Ashley for the night. It was so much fun!!! After the game was over I went back and stay at Louise's house for the night bc Dirt was out of town still! So that weekend was full of fun!!! =)

So now I am busy getting everything ready for Saturday, which is freshman move in day!!! Oh how much slower life will be in 3 days!!! It will be so nice to rest for a little bit!!! But that is life and I will make sure to take lots of pics of move in day bc I am sure it will be a doozie to blog about!! And for all of you that are mad bc I haven't been blogging as much, I promise in the fall I will do better about updating!!! I will have lots of fun College Fair stories and traveling stories!!!

A couple of kiddo's and Biscuits

A couple of kiddo's and Biscuits!

Well I figured I would update my blog before I headed out to Six Flags!! Tomorrow is Church of Christ day at Six Flags so all of Admissions goes to Atlanta the day before and stays the night there and then gets up early and gets to Six Flags early enough to get everything set up. So I will leave here today and be back tomorrow night!

Well 1st Mom and I successfully got Laurie and Daddy off Tuesday. They made it safely to Chicago, almost missed the flight, and then made it safely to Manilla. So please keep them in your prayers that everything will go ok while they are over there and that they will be safe!

But the main reason for my post was to let everyone know, that I have had the best/worse birth control experience! :) Now before you jump to conclusion, Laurie and I volunteered to babysit a couple's kids from church. It was a little boy who was 3 and a little girl who was almost 1 or very close to 1 yr. old. We got them about 6 pm on Saturday and we decided since the little boy LOVED fireworks, we would grin and bear and take them to a Biscuits game. Well Nathan was at the house so we suckered him into going and helping us too! So before she droped them off I jumped in the shower and got ready and then when I got ready Laurie got in the shower to get ready for the game. While we were switching off getting ready we had Nathan go and get food for the kiddos before we left for the game. So he got back and He and I tagged teamed the kids and fed them both so by the time Laurie got out and got ready we could load up the car and go! Well for all of you that don't know...2 carseats and 3 adults in a 5 seater car...well its a bit crowded! But nevertheless, we loaded everyone up and headed out to the ball field! It was amazing how well behaved these kids were there! The little girl was so happy the whole time and never cried at all while we were at the game! And the little boy sat in Nathan's lap most of the time and watched the game and was so stinkin good!! It was crazy!!! Well about the 7th inning, little Railyn (the little girl) tuckered out and fell asleep. So she slept out there for about another inning or so and Laurie decided that they would go sit in the car and she would watch the firecrackers from out there. So Peyton, Me, and Nathan all stayed and waited for the fireworks! Well in the 8th inning we were down 4 runs and what do you know we come back and tie it up!! Well this makes us go into extra innings, and well when you have been telling a 3 yr old that the fireworks are coming up for the past 3 innings, well its hard to explain what extra innings are to him!!! :) So finally the game got over and Peyton LOVED the fireworks!! He never took his eyes off them!!! So then we went to the car to find out that we were keeping both of them for the night...well at first I was like it won't be a major ordeal because Railyn was already asleep and surely it wouldn't take Peyton long to get asleep...but oh I was so wrong! We got home about 11:30pm and I went and put Railyn in my bed and I thought we would just watched Cars with Peyton and surely he would fall asleep. Well, no he wanted his mommy...and of course it was almost midnight by now and I was dead set that if we could just get him to sleep he would be fine! So Nathan and I stayed up with him until nearly 3 am to get him to sleep and he finally fell asleep laying on me. So now all I had to do was move him off me so I could go back and sleep with Railyn. Well that didnt work so well...so I got Nathan to go get Railyn and bring her in the living room where Peyton and I were laying on the couch bed. So she never woke up and just layed there. But about 5 minutes after he layed her down she started coughing. So I took her in with Nathan and about 10 minutes after I layed her down she stoppped coughing and everyone went to sleep. So at 7 that next morning I got up and took a shower and by the time I got out everyone was up and in the living room playing!! Railyn was just smiling and laughing and Peyton was even happy and not begging for mommy at this point! So I got dressed and Laurie and Nathan got the kids ready and then they got ready while I watched them. Then we all loaded back up and headed to church! And just in case you were wondering...oh yes we were ON TIME and had them in class and us in class by 9! Now that is impressive!!! But I came to a couple of conlcusions at the end of that day/night! And here they are:

1. Those are 2 of the best kids!! I hope I am lucky enough to get that well behaved kids, but judging on how my mother always said I was going to pay for my raising...well it will be a miracle if I do!
2. Sometimes you should listen when the little ones say they just want to talk to mommy, I think he would have gone to sleep faster if we would have just called and let him talk to his mommy before he went to bed.
3. Mom's really do have a hard job raising kids...I mean dad's do also but mom's tend to get most of the grunt work. And I realize how lucky I am to have had such an AMAZING mom and dad!!!
4. The last realization I came to is....I think I can wait to have kids for a few more years...I mean granted I should worry more about the marrying part first, but I think I enjoy just babysitting over night and giving them back to the mommy and daddy instead of keeping them! :) So the pics in the slide show are from the Biscuits game!
   

Weddings and Home

Well I figured I would update since Gin Gin is always writing me mean comments! =0)

Well it is still crazy bust here in Admissions at Faulkner. We are getting ready for College Bound this weekend and so everyone is running around like chickens with their heads cut off!! Its crazy here!! But while I have a minute I will update you on whats been going on.

I left last Tuesday afternoon heading home for my friend Brittany's wedding in Chattanooga. Nathan was here and so he rode with me home and I dropped him of at his house on the way to my house Tuesday night. I got home at about 11 pm Tuesday night and had a good nice long talk with mom. You know catching up and just talking about life in general!! really opened my eyes to alot!! its amazing the older you get the more your parents really do know!! =0) LOL But I got to sleep in Wednesday and then me and mom got up and we went to the mall and to meet the bride to get our nails and toes done! It is so much fun being pampered!!! I wish I was rich and could do that all the time!!! But then after nails, it was church time and walmart with Daddy! And well its always fun times with momma, daddy and walmart! =0) Thursday was a pretty lazy day with the exception of getting ready for the rehearsal dinner. I ate lunch with momma and daddy at Brock's and it was really good!! Then got ready and headed towards Ootlewah, TN. On my way there I realized that the car I had rented, had a cracked windshield!!! Needless to say I had a good cry before I got there bc I just don't have the money to replace a new windshield. But as with everything else, it will pass and things will be ok! Friday was the wedding and it went GREAT!!! It was pretty and short with was great considering it was outside!! Nathan met me at the wedding so that was fun!! he deifnitely gets points for just coming to the wedding just because I was in it! After the wedding was over we went to his house for the weekend. It was so much fun!!! Friday night, after the wedding, we met some of his friends and had a bonfire for a little bit but I was exhausted so we didnt stay long there. Saturday was pretty lazy day, didnt really do much except wash his mom's car. That night we all loaded up and went and saw Iron Man and it was really good!! Sunday was church and then we took his sister out to Camp Wetoga and while we were there I got to check up on my camp counselors! So it was fun!!! All in all it was a great weekend!!! The pics are from the wedding! =0)

(The first one is with me and Britt, the bride, and the 2nd and 3rd are of Me and Nathan. )

Busy Time of Year!!!

Ok for all of you who have been leaving me ugly comments here is an updated blog!!! =) (Laurie and Gin-Gin mainly!) Well since I last blogged...well a lot has gone on! Lets see...me and Laurie have been to A LOT more baseball games and I have been super busy with work!! It is crazy here trying to get all my prospective students to sign up for college bound I & II. You would think it is simple and all you have to do is get online and fill out a form but you would think I was asking them to give me a blood sample!! It is like pulling teeth getting them to cooperate...and I just keep thinking...I NEVER gave Christy Lones this hard of a time while she was recruiting me!!! But I know its probably God trying to teach me patience since I am an idiot and have been praying for patience....I know you are never supposed to pray for patience but I just felt like it was about time to since I was not doing sooo hot in that department!! And well I now remember why you don't pray for patience!! But its ok and this too shall pass!!! =) Anyways!! Besides for college bound work is going really good!!! I had my 1st awards ceremony that I went to about 2 weekends ago and I think it went pretty good!! It was in Mobile and I got to go over and stay that Sunday night with Ashley and Daniel Peebles and it was GREAT!!! She is great and such a good little mommy...watching her with Charley is so cute. Charley is 3 and Colin is about 1 1/2 and both of them are so cute!! But it is something about how she interacts with Charley that just makes me want to have little girls...And really she is the best little military mommy!! And i just hope one day I can be as happy as her and Daniel are with their 2 little rascals!!

I also got to go to my 1st camp session with my counselors there!! And they were doing GREAT there!!! I had rave reviews about how much they had helped and how willing they were to volunteer, which kinda makes me feel like I did a good job picking...well at least those 2!! =) I am a little nervous about a couple of them but I think over all it will be fine. But the camp visit was GREAT!!! And it reminded me of how much I miss the camp days!!! But at least i get to visit all of them now!!! So I am posting some pics from that day and from the weekend at Ashley and Daniels!! Hope everyone is doing good!! Love you all!!

Biscuits Game and Life In General!!

Well last night was the first offical game for Laurie and I. It will now be a tradition to go to 5:30 service on Wednesday night then head out to the Biscuits game!! It was so much fun!!! Sorry I know this picture isnt the best by any stretch but we got distracted so we forgot to take a better one. I know who wouldn've thought Laurie and I could get distracted. =) lol But overall it was a very very fun night!!! And the biscuits won so that made it that much better!!! But the fun didnt end after the game...afterwards me and Laurie went and sat and swang...correct tense of that word Im not really sure, but whatever. It was really nice though to just be with her and talk...like really talk. I know I have always been so blessed in the family area but last night really reassured that. It is just crazy how somebody who makes me SOOO mad sometimes can make things so much better. But Laurie is that person and I wouldn't trade her for the world! Life is crazy and I am so lucky to have a, well 2 sisters, but we all know Louise is perfect and she hasn't made NEAR the amount of mistakes Laurie has :) But that is what makes me and Laurie so similar...we both have made our fair share of mistakes and man it kills her to have to just sit back and watch me make my mistakes...and last night I guess it was really evident how much it really does hurt her...which I guess I just had never thought about. But this is my public apology saying I'm sorry for not listening, but I appreciate you for always being there, even after everything turned out just like you had said. So thank you!! Ok enough sappiness!! Love you all!!!

Oh To Kill A Mocking Bird....

For all of you who don't know, at my office, I have the corner cubicle, which has windows on 2 sides. So literally I can see everything that goes on and everyone who pulls into the Admissions office and walks up to the admissions office. Well, for about the past 2 weeks there has been this bird that I am noticing more and more. This bird has been literally dive bomb attacking people as they are walking in or out of admissions. It is hilarious until it happens to you. I have been watching it happen to people for a while, well the other day I was out on the phone and this bird dive bombs right at my head....I mean its crazy!!! This bird is possessed~~~ And that was not the only time, once I was just walking in from visiting Louise and it flew smack dab right into my back then flew off!! It is crazy!! But I am not the only person in the office that it has attacked...its attacked Keith, my boss, which was hilarious to watch, and most of my other co-admissions counselors. So now its an office tradition to watch everyone as they are leaving the office to see if the bird will attack them! The best to watch are the coaches that come to check on prospects....they are so serious and then walk out the door and...BAM!!! LOL So for all who come to the admissions office-BEWARE OF MOCKING BIRD!! Above are some pictures I tried to get close enough, well I saw I tried...I made Nathan go and get the pictures so I wouldn't get attacked!! I dont mind throwing him under the bus to get attacked!! haha :)

My First Blog

Well ok guys!! (really Louise and Laurie and the rest of the world that is blogging now!!) Here is my first offical blog. I decided that since Louise and Laurie have been begging me to start a blog since really I started my job with Faulkner that there was no time like today to start! So just bear with me and I promise they will get better!!

First let me catch everyone up who I dont really talk to all that much. I am officially graduated from college as of May 07. Oh the things you thought were going to happen when you graduate college....well most the time THEY DONT!! I was supposed to go directly into working for the Football office here at Faulkner and well things fell through, but unfortunately the bills didn't stop coming for Laurie and I. So I had to have a job. I went back to the old faithful biscuits in May and worked as a suite server there for the rest of the season. While working for the Biscuits I got this other job as basically a glorified secretary for a one-man company. For those of you that know me as well as you do, I am not a sit behind the desk, answer the phone, and not have any human cantact except by phone type of girl. So I worked there from about July til mid November. Then I got my job with Faulkner as an Admissions Counselor. (I know I left out the process of me getting my job but really its a long and complicated story and if you really wanna know it that bad....email me =)) I love my job!! It is totally right up my alley as far as perfect jobs for people come!! I travel alot and get to meet new people daily. I am in charge of recruiting for the Southwest region of Alabama and all of Florida. So you can probably see why I love it so much...traveling alot to Florida....whats better?!?! (Laurie gets a little jealous sometimes, but she can't get that mad bc I take her on some of my lovely adventures!! :-)) It has been a blast the past 5 months though!! It gets very stressful at times having to meet specific numbers every month and knowing that my boss has a bit higher standard for me since he has known me since I was 7. :) Which is a good thing most of the time but sometimes you get suckered into doing some not so fun projects....like CAMPS!! That was, really is, my most recent project, and let me tell you, its not as fun and easy as it sounds!! Trying to make 17 freshman-junior college students all happy with their summer schedule....well its not easy!! I give so many props to every counselor that has had this project before me!! But finally I got most of it out of the way last Friday. So now as far as work is concerned its just a matter of getting my numbers and at least my 53 kids here on August 11th!! :)

Now the me part! I love living with Laurie, even if it does test my faith sometimes :) But overall its a blast!! She gets to travel with me sometimes when I take trips on her off days and sometimes I get lucky and she does too and takes the weekend off and travels with me! And its much more fun to travel with someone then to go by myself. Louise works here at the school with me so I get to see her everyday or just about everyday! I try to swing by there and see her while I am out and about giving tours so all my incoming students know our "Mail Lady". I am so glad that she loves her job so much and it really does fit her so well!! Its crazy!! Overall everything else is pretty good! I am still single and loving it, well sometimes. I was dating this boy for a little while, but well like all good things, it came to an end. No time to stress over that though....there are plenty more baseball players in the field, I mean fish in the sea! :) (And forever one who knows my past, NO he wasn't a baseball player....I think its a first!! But have no fear....he had the cockiness that I am attracted to!) But it was fun while it lasted! I appreciate him reminding me why I don't and didn't date for so long!! =) And well Biscuits Baseball season is back in full swing and that pre-occupies most of my free time now! I am excited because normally I will go by myself and meet my friend April who works there and just talk and mingle with everyone I used to work with, but Laurie said she wanted to go with me to a game next week!! (She doesn't normally volunteer to go with me to the games :-) So I am SUPER pumped about that!! But that is about all that is going on in my life!! I will try to keep this updated once a week, but please understand my job can get pretty busy and stressful so it may be longer than that!! But I will try my hardest to keep this thing up!! And I hope this makes all of you happy: Laurie, Louise, Gin-Gin, and Kristen!!!