It's the End of Summer as We Know It!

Well, tomorrow is the big day, and we have to go back to work. I spent the last day of summer with a mixture of activities. This morning I went to the school and worked on some odds and ends. After that I had lunch with Jaime, Christy, Amelia, and Kendall. I was grateful that they let me tag along :) It was nice to talk with Amelia because she is also expecting a little boy and we have the same doctor, so we have a lot to talk about. Her little girl Kendall is absolutely a doll and she is hilarious! She has the best laugh. And Christy is just the sweetest, funniest person. I'm glad that I have had the chance to meet Jaime's friends. After lunch, I went to my mom's to watch some Grey's. We did take some time to visit my memaw since that is my mom's Thursday ritual after work. Then we tried to work my dad's tv in the living room. After 30 minutes of pushing every button on every remote, we gave up and went to the bedroom to watch the show. Luckily, David came in and rescued us. We watched three or so episdoes then I had to head home. I have completed my blogging duties and now I'm about to get in bed because as my dad likes to say, "Some people have to work for a living!"

We Are Family

This morning I could not sleep thinking about all that needed to be done in my room. I got completely unpacked and arranged by 11:00 am! WOW! Afterward I had been invited to eat lunch at my Memaw's with my girl cousins and my sister. There are four of us girl grand-daughters. My sister and my other two girl cousins were born within 9 months of one another, so they have always been super close. I am the youngest girl born 5 years later so growing up I was the odd ball. My cousins Tiffany and Kandi always wanted me around growing up. They both have brothers so they thought I was pretty neat. My sister Jami on the other hand was not fond of having little sister around. So normally I was kicked to the curb and forced to play with the boys who were more my age. Fun. When I turned 16 my sister moved out of the house and she began to miss me a little. When I was 18 she became pregnant and realized how important I was to her! LOL! After that, I oficially joined the girl club. I know they still look at me like their baby cousin/sister. I mean, they still call me "Little Mandy" for goodness sakes. (BTW my mom's family is the only one who is allowed to call me Mandy! I hate that name. My grandmother calls me "Manzell" which is a whole 'nother blog! LOL) Anyway, I digress. I love these "girl dinners" we have. It is so much fun to sit around the table and eat good home cooking and catch up on our lives. It's so special for me when my one of my cousins' kids comes and crawls in my lap just like my niece or nephew would do. Even when one of the kids comes to me and ask me to open a freeze pop or something it shows that they feel comfortable with me, and that they know I care about them. After we eat, we always sit in the living room and talk for hours while the kids play in the floor. The members of my family are all very talkative. My uncle who married into the family always jokes because he says he gets a headache when we are all together. At any given time there are at least three conversations going at once, and we all have the ability to be a part of all three simultaneously! We all have so much to say and no one wants to miss any converstaion. I am so grateful for my mom's family. Since my dad's mom passed away, I do not even see his family. We were just not close like my mom's family. The women of my mom's family are especially close. We just have a special bond. I am so proud to call them family.

Move over Dinos!

Well, my stuff is moved! I am now a resident of Room 4 at T-High. (Special thanks to Jaime and Brandon for helping my hubby move the heavy stuff) I am so relieved to have all of my belongings on the "cool hall." Now it's just a matter of cleaning, unpacking, and organizing which I can more than handle on my own. I'm sure I will be at the school all day tomorrow and Thursday fine tuning my area. I can breathe now! I am excited about my new hall and my fellow residents. There is a lot of youth and positivity that I hope is going to make a difference to our students. It's past time for the negative dinosaurs to be extinct!

Claire is Here!

Tonight we were able to welcome Claire (no middle name yet!) into our world. Claire is the baby girl of Melissa who is one of my very first friends that I made in kindergarden. Claire weighed 6 lbs and 8 oz, and she is just beautiful! It is so exciting when a new baby enters the world. Of course it makes me think about my own little man and his arrival. This is such an exciting time for me and my friends from school. We have so many babies on the way, and it is great that we all get to share the experience together.

Panic Attack!

I'm starting to get extremely nervous about moving into my new classroom this week. I haven't thought too much about it this summer because I knew the lady who currently resides in my new room would not move out until the very last minute. I was right. Last check was Saturday morning and the room was still completely full of her stuff. So unless she worked Saturday and today, she probably still has a lot of stuff in the room. I myself still have not packed. My husband and I took everything off the walls Saturday. I don't have a lot of things to be packed. Since I moved last year, I cleared out a lot of junk in that move. I am still dreading this process. It was honestly very stupid of me to move during the summer while I'm pregnant. I'm having to beg help from people, and I HATE doing that. I'm a very independent person. It annoys me not being able to lift my own boxes and such. Knowing that I can't to things myself just adds to my anxiety. My goal is to have everything moved and unpacked by Friday when everyone comes back to work. I do not want to spend my work/professional days unpacking. I have other things that need to be done. So wish me luck! I would give anything to be there now working, but my hubby isn't going for it tonight! Pray that I get everything done in time :)

Luciano's

Tonight I marked my 3rd new restaurant off my 101 list. I can see this item will be an easy one to accomplish! We ate at Luciano's in Athens with Lora, Willie, and Baylee. The restaurant was very fancy-schmancy which we care nothing about, but the food was very good. As a matter of fact, I left my doggy box in the car...I need to get that out ASAP! haha My favorite part of Luciano's was the entertainment. I was a little weirded out at first by the man standing almost in the doorway singing to the diners. As Lora said, he seemed to be "making love" to his microphone! But as we dined I appreciated the songs he sang. My favorite was "The Way You Look Tonight." It is one of my all-time favorite songs, and this man sang it very well. The song reminds me of weddings and it's extremely romantic. I feel like a restaurant critic writing this blog. So I guess I'll end by saying that I give Luciano's in Athens 3.5 stars!

Freedom Writers

While my hubby is away golfing this afternoon, I started flipping through the channels and decided to stop and watch a movie that I have wanted to watch for a while now. I read the book Freedom Writers' Diary last year at the beach, and I loved it. It was very inspiring and made me want to go back to school and change my students' lives. I have struggled with the motivation to go back to work this year, so I thought the movie might provide some inspiration. Did it ever! I can't count the number of times I cried throughout the movie. I know my students do not live in the projects nor do they have to carry a gun around with them, but many of them do have troubled home lives. At one point during the movie, one of the students describes what happened to him over the summer. He states that his family was evicted from their home. He was embarassed to return to school because he was wearing old clothes from last year and the same haircut. This absolutely broke my heart. My students will be returning to school on August 6th, and I couldn't help but wonder how many of them would return to school wearing the same clothes I saw them in the year before. How many of them are embarassed to walk through the door on the first day because they have nothing new to put on. How many of their parents lost their jobs over the summer? How many of their parents got divorced? How many of them were kicked out of their homes? As I watched the movie, I felt so ashamed of myself. I have dreaded going back to work without even the slightest thought of how lucky I am to have a job, or how lucky I am to have a good home. I am ashamed that I have not thought about the fact that since my husband and I have great jobs that my son will probably never have to go back to school on the first day wearing last years clothes or even shoes for that matter. While back to school clothing is superficial, it is extremely important to most teenagers. It makes me sad to think that some of my students may be dreading coming back to school for that very reason. I am oficially motivated to get back to my students. One of the things on my list is to do something nice for a student every day this school year. My goal is to make the students feel comfortable and safe in my classroom. It may be all they have, and I do not ever want to lose sight of that. I did get to mark one of the non-theatre movies off my list today, but in reality, I think I accomplished so much more.

Webkinz World

I have a new hobby that is somewhat embarassing to share. My niece and nephew are into Webkinz. For those who do not know, Webkinz are these little stuffed animals that also act as virtual pets online. The owner has to feed and take care of them. It doesn't come cheap! The owner has to play games and take on jobs to earn money to buy food, clothing, room decorations, etc. Certain surprises are free on a daily basis and the owner can earn a reward for logging on every day. My nephew has given me his username and password, and I can honestly say I am obsessed with this toy! One night last week I stayed up until midnight trying to earn 1500 points to buy a swimming pool for his animals. I recently found out that the free prizes can be sold back to the W Store to buy other things. These pets are a great learning tool for kids. They have to be responsible and take care of the pet AND they have to work to feed it. If they want their pet to have a cute, fashionable room, they have to work to earn extra money for luxuries. Well, I guess it's a good tool for kids who do not have 27 year old loser aunts to go on there and do all the work for them!

Bunco No-Mo!

When I was 16 this lady that went to church with me asked me to baby sit her daughter for the summer. She was about to turn three at that time. I spent the entire summer with her that year and I continued to sit for her and her sister when their parents needed a date night and on other occasions. A couple of years ago, the mother asked me to fill in as a substitute in her Bunco group. I had no clue what Bunco was, but she said it was very easy to play, and I would catch on quickly. So I went and had a good time. It was fun and easy to play. I was the youngest in the crowd by at least 10 years, but they are a fun group of women so it was ok! The next month I got asked again to sub, and the next, and the next until I became a "regular." I played regularly for a while and then I missed a couple of months because of school or work issues. Well, over the past year nobody was calling me to play Bunco! My husband jokingly asked me if I got kicked out. I said no, but I secretly wondered! I wasn't upset about it. I just thought they had found someone else to play who was better connected with their circle. Then last week I recieved the call saying they were playing Monday (tonight). When I arrived and we began chatting, I found out that nobody had been playing Bunco because of hectic schedules and such. We had our dinner as usual, sat around and talked and decided nobody wanted to play Bunco tonight either! We drew for the prizes and the money and everyone went on their way. It was decided that the next month we would meet at one ladies house, who happens to have a movie theatre in her basement, and watch Sex and the City Season 1! Looks like Bunco is out and Sex is in!

Melissa's Baby Shower

Today we had a small "friend" baby shower for my since-kindergarden-friend, Melissa. Melissa is about to have her third child. She is going to be induced next Monday if she doesn't go into labor before then. Debra made Melissa a beautiful diaper cake. I think the best gift was the outfit Casey made for the baby. We all decided we wanted a handmade, one-of-a-kind "Casey Outfit" for our own children!! I was so impressed with my friends and their talents! I am so blessed to have these girls in my life. I can't wait to meet Melissa's little girl!!

Opposites Attract

Not much to blog about today. I did want to take time to mention that today was my parent's 33rd anniversary. In today's society, this is such a huge accomplishment. My mom and dad have the funniest relationship. They are two very different people. They love to pick at and fuss with each other. If someone didn't know them, they may think they didn't get along one bit. After all, my dad calls my mom "Beatrice" when she is annoying him! He has done that for as long as I can remember. I think it's amazing that they are still together after all these years despite all of their differences. They are a great example for David and me and the success we strive for in our own marriage.

Mama Mia!

Tonight Lora, Melissa, and I went to see Mama Mia. I have been waiting to see this movie since I saw the first preview in May. I saw the play in London in 2004 and absolutely fell in love with it. I cried at the end of the play because I was so moved by the energy of the actors...I honestly could have watched it all night! I was a little worried that the film would not live up to a live Leicester Square (London's equivalent to New York's Broadway) performance. Luckily, I had nothing to worry about. I loved the film. It was hilarious and the music and dance numbers were amazing. The only disappointment of the night was that we did not get to watch the movie at Bridge Street. The shows there were sold out (and there was no VIP for this movie) so we had to go to the plain ole Carmike. I will definitely buy the DVD when it comes out AND I'm going to download the soundtrack off itunes tomorrow. I might even go back to the theatre and see it again...

It's the Little Things That Add Up

Yes, I haven't blogged in a few days (ahem, Jaime. LOL), but honestly I haven't done much of anything except sit around my house since Scrapstravaganza on Monday. Today, a lot of things happened even while I was being lazy. My niece spent the night with us last night because my sister and the rest of her family were leaving early this morning to take my nephew to the Dizzy Dean World Series in Eastridge, TN. She took over the laptop checking her ever-important Yahoo email and playing with her Webkinz. She was so tired from the long day she had, so we went to bed fairly early. We awoke to a phone call that the carpet installers were on their way to install Camden's carpet!! YAY! So while the carpenters worked, we watched Nancy Drew. I didn't really want to watch it, but it turned out to be a very cute movie, AND I can mark one of my non-theatre movies off my list. Also, Charter came out today and got our alarm system working again. WHEW. Besides those few events, life has been lame. Hopefully tomorrow night I will have a fabulous blog. My friends Lora, Melissa, and I are going to see Mama Mia. I have been stoked about this movie since May when I heard it was coming out. I saw the play in London and fell in love with it. I hope the movie doesn't disappoint!

No Creative Title Today

I had such an eventful day today! I started the day off by getting my toe nails painted. They looked very bad, and I couldn't stand it any longer! Then I had lunch with Brandi at Ruby Tuesday. We didn't have a lot of time together but it was nice to get to chat and spend time with her even if it was for a short time. After lunch, Lora, Casey and I went to Debra's house to take her some post-surgery treats. We spent some time discussing our upcoming reunion, Melissa's shower, and of course we managed to get our gossip fix in! I love talking to these girls. We have such a history together, and we never get tired of talking about things in our past. I did get embarassed when someone brought up a time when I was talking bad about Debra. She heard what I was saying, and we had quite a tiff over that! I get so upset when I think about some of the stupid things I did and said in high school. Next, it was off to Killen to pick out carpet for Camden's room. We quickly selected a dark brown shag carpet. Then we stopped by a NEW restraunt to mark off my list, Stanfields in Rogersville, AL. The food was very good! I had grilled shrimp and baby back ribs with onion rings. We decided that we would definitely go back to eat there again. After dinner, we attended the first of several marriage workshops that our chruch is sponsoring for young married couples. Needless to say, David was not thrilled with the idea, but I knew that the church was paying this counselor to come and present the workshops and that we should attend. After all, how can focusing on bettering your marriage ever turn out to be a bad thing? The presenter was not the best speaker that I have ever heard, but the information he put out there was very useful. He discussed love languages, and we each had to take a short quiz to determine what our love language was. To my surprise, David and I had the same language! Anyone who knows me will not be shocked to know that my language was words of affirmation which means that hearing positive and encouraging words makes me feel loved. This was no surprise to me because I have very low self-esteem, and I am constantly seeking approval from others. It did surprise me that David had the same result. I honestly did not realize that he had such a need to hear statements of approval or appreciation from me. I always feel that he is so confident in who he is. I think it's great that I know this now Since I did not know that he had this need, I seriously doubt that I was meeting it. Now I can make the extra effort to make sure that I verbally express my appreciation for him. I know I am very lucky to have a husband like him. Sure, he's a pocketbook Nazi, but deep down I know that is for our own good. David is very protective. He's a hard worker, and I know he will be a good father to our little boy. So many people are not that lucky. I need to work harder to let him know how much I appreciate who he is and what he does.

101 in 1001 Disclaimer

I did make some changes to my 101 list. I felt that some of my items were either not specific enough or were unable to be documented so I changed them accordingly. I hope this is not cheating! If it is, I apologize, but it's my list, so I guess you can't do anything about it. LOL!

Scrapstravaganza!

Today we participated in the long awaited Scrapstravaganza. Check #66 off my list!!! This was a scrapbook shopping road trip invented by Jaime, Melanie, and me. Our scheduled destinations included Michaels in Chattanooga, Hobby Lobby in Chattanooga, The Crop Shop in Chattanooga, Scrapbook Heaven in Chattanooga, Three Ladies and a Scrapbook in Rainsville, AL, a scrapbook store in Scottsboro, AL that I can't remember the name of, and Wise Scrapper in Gurley, AL. Each destination was it's own special adventure, and we were able to make it to each with the help of my GPS "Betty" (see above photo). First of all, the employees at Michaels got snappy with the original Snappy when she asked about sales papers. I did find a good deal on some tea lights, and I bought some embroidery floss to work on my stitching. Hobby Lobby had much more to offer. They had a good sale on stickers, adhesives, and papers. I think this is what triggered my interest in paper throughout the remainder of the trip. My only complaint was little Evan who terrorized his mother while we tried to check out. Then he proceeded to run away from her to the back of the store. They left with him in her arms kicking and screaming. I wanted to suggest a nice butt whipping and one of those leashes, but I stayed out of it. Our next stop, The Crop Shop was closed when we arrived. We looked in the window and thought it looked like a right nice shop...but boy did we find out differently as the day went on. Next stop-Scrapbook Heaven. This was by far my favorite shop of them all. They had the best selection of papers. We also found some stitch patterns which made me very happy! This is where we began to realize that scrapbook store owners are very nosy, er...talkative, and very informed on their competition. After a drive through lunch at McDonalds, we headed back to Alabama. First stop, Three Ladies and a Scrapbook. This was a great store! Huge selection. Sale bins. Friendly worker who told me I didn't look big at all to be due in October...she won my heart! She also informed us of the bad business practices of the woman at The Crop Shop in Chattanooga. I think we all spent the most money at this store. We found lots of papers and an adhesive pen that I can't wait to try. Then we headed to Scottsboro where the supreme weirdness began. First of all, this little girl insisted on staring at us as we browsed the sale tables. I thought if I kept looking at her she would feel intimidated and stop, but I had no such luck. I think she may have been trying to figure out if I was pregnant or not. The owner of the store was quite boisterous. She insisted on talking to us while we tried to shop, which I am not a fan of. She also proceeded to air the dirty laundry of the Crop Shop owner in Chatt-town. What is it with these scrap ladies?? I did find some cute papers at this store too. As we pulled out of the parking lot, the little girl was still staring at us. I called her an ugly name to my friends, and we pulled off. Now we were on to Gurley to the Wise Scrapper. Unfortunately, it was closed so we headed home. We ended the day with some good Chinese and bad sweet tea at Melanie's apartment. I was so tired and it took James and I far too long to get home because of the horrible Huntsville traffic but today was such a great day. It was nice spending time with my besties, experiencing new things, and adding new inside jokes to our ever expanding collection!

Catching up on Grey's Anatomy

I'm a fairly new Grey's Anatomy fan, so I had to borrow Seasons 1-3 from my Melanie so that I could get caught up on all the drama I had missed before I started watching. My mother is also in the same situation so we decided to get caught up together. We completed Season 1, and so many things were explained already. We made it to Episode 2 of Season 2 today, and I just wanted to comment on a couple of my favorite characters. I love all the characters on the show, but knowing the history of Dr. Bailey (AKA The Nazi) and George O'Malley made them soar into the position of my favorite characters. First of all, Bailey is just hilarious! I love the fact that she tells it like it is. I wish I was more like that, but not to the extent that people hated me for it. I know someone in real life who alienates people with her honesty to the extent that they would completely inconvenience themselves just to get away from her. I guess I would like to be somewhere in the middle. I definitely do not speak my honest thoughts enough. Now my George is just so precious. He is a hoot! I love the fact that he is a behind the scenes hero. He definitely does not get enough credit for the doctor that he is. But he takes it in stride and perseveres to make himself even better. If I had a third place, it would be Alex. He is so vain, but doesn't he have every reason to be?! Personally, I would rather have him than Dreamy or Steamy! Alex can be a real jerk. And just when you start to hate him, he shows his loving side and you melt! I can't believe that I went all these seasons without watching this show, but I love that I have so many "new" episodes to watch now at my convenience. I also love spending that time with my mom. We laugh and cry at all the same parts and it is just good, quality time together. It's our special time..just me and her.

Acting our Shoe Size

Two blogs today! Feel special. The Nashville trip contained so much and I wanted to dedicate a special blog to two of my newest besties and our Friday and Saturday events. Friday night, after our Nashville trip, my THS friends Jaime (aka James or Moosey) and Melanie (aka Snappy or Smelly) came over to spend the night and get ready for our yard sale Saturday morning. We spent Friday night making signs, putting them out, and unloading vehicles for the next morning. We also had to make a fast food dinner run around 11:00. As teachers, it's always great to see a former student putting lettuce on your taco's at The Bell. (Heavy sarcasm implied) I had to go to bed around 1:00 a.m. Between the pregnancy and my road trip the previous couple of days, I was completely give out. I didn't mark this slumber party off my list because I want to host a real one where we actually have time to watch movies, scrapbook, etc. We got up around 4:00 the next morning to set up shop. We have one picture to document the event, but it is on Jaime's camera and it has not been released for publishing at this moment. We had a good day. It was disgustingly hot outside, but we made some extra scrapbook money to fund our road trip on Monday, and that was the objective of the entire sale. Melanie blogged about our scrapbook and sleepover shenanigans and the idea that people may think we act immature for our age. The bottom line is that we have fun. We are not out drinking, cheating on our significant others, or getting into any kind of trouble so how can it be a bad thing? I am the happiest I have been in my entire life, and I contribute a lot of that to these two skanks. I would never have thought that I could have so much fun with coworkers! We have become the best of friends during my tenure as a teacher. Between work drama and our masters work, we have found so much common ground and so many things to laugh about. I know that our relationship is going to get much stronger in the years to come. I am so proud to call James and Smelly my besties even if they do encourage me to act my shoe size and not my age!

Checking Things Off!

I've been slacking on the blogs over the past few days, but I have lots of things to tell! Thursday afternoon we left for Nashville with Willie and Lora for a short trip. When we arrived, we browsed around Opry Mills for a few hours. I bought a new Guess purse which I love! I'm not sure if Guess is considered "designer" or not. One of my 102 things was to buy a designer purse, but I had Coach, Fendi or something similar to their callibur in mind, so for now I'm not marking it off. After Opry Mills, we had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. This was my first time at this place. I really liked the atmosphere and the food was fabulous! I had a bucket of snow crab legs, and I showed them absolutely no mercy! Our service was pretty pathetic, but we still had a great time! After Joe's, we rode on a horse and buggy which was one of my 102 items. It was very neat but I was a little scared of the horse!! Our driver took a souvenier photo of us beside the horse and as soon as I walked by him, he turned his head and snuffed air at me! His name was Pete, and we really enjoyed the ride. The next day, we went to the Opryland Hotel to walk around and view the Cascades and the Delta Conservatories. This was Willie and Lora's first time in the hotel. David and I have been many times. We were engaged there, and we tried to find the exact spot of our engagement, so we could have our special kiss and mark that off the list as well. Sadly, neither of us could find the spot! I was so tired we finally resolved to find it in the next 900ish days. We took some pictures around the hotel and of course, Lora and I had to bust out our model status and drag the guys down with us in the process. We had a great trip! It was nice to get away for the night without having to take a long car ride. Lora and I always have the best time together. On the car rides we listened to a lot of old school music and sang along with the songs we loved in high school. Lora is my closest friend, by far. We have been besties since 6th grade, and we have always been able to tell each other everything. We will still talk on the phone for hours at a time, and she is the only friend that I do that with. She's the absolute best!!

Oh The Joys of Little Boys!

On Wednesdays during the summer I have the privilige of keeping my niece Alana (9) and my nephew Garrett (turns 7 in a couple of weeks). Alana is so easy to keep! She is quiet, polite, friendly, and easy to please. Garrett is good too. He has a great sense of humor, and he looks just like I did at his age with the exception of hair length, but he is much more active than Alana. Today I was truly able to experience first-hand what it may be like to have a little boy in the house. Garrett was taking a bath, and as normal I ran his water, got him set up, and left him alone to play and turn on the jets to have his personal spa. He loves that! I checked on him a couple of times and made sure his hair was washed and his body clean then I allowed him to play some more. All of a sudden, I heard a loud crash and sure enough Garrett had attempted to climb out of the jacuzzi tub that is surrounded by ceramic tile and becomes as slippery as an eel when wet. There was not a lot of blood, but he did have a huge gash in his chin. I thought I was going to pass out...it was so deep that I could see fat and tissue in there! Now, 25 weeks into my pregnancy, my hormones are in full force, and I cry at the drop of a hat these days. Amazingly enough my head took over my heart, and reasoned that if I cried, he would cry too, so I shouldn't do that! I managed to keep it together to call his mom and ask if we should go to the ER or to his doctor. Garrett did have to get four stitches. He did not cry until he realized he had to get a shot to numb his chin to get the stitches. He got a new Power Ranger from K-Mart and was good to go! By the time he made it back to my house, he was running around torturing Alana. Little boys!! They HAVE to be made of snips, snails and puppy dog tails!
Of course this whole event made me think about my future with my own little boy. I know that he will have his share of cuts, bruises, and possibly broken bones in his lifetime. I am grateful that I had this incident because I realized that as upset as I may be, adrenaline and instinct override emotion and allow us to remain calm and do the right thing during disasters.

My 102 in 1001 List

Countdown Clocks at WishAFriend.com


So here's my list! I added a 102 because I thought of something else really important to add, and I thought I might be breaking the rules if I took something off the list!

1. Pay off my car
2. Bake a birthday cake for David
3. Complete my wedding scrapbook
4. Send someone a card in the mail
5. Get back under 135 lbs.
6. Graduate grad school
7. Start a college fund for Camden
8. Sing karaoke for the first time
9. Attend a Saucy Lady party
10. Have a slumber party
11. Hand write a letter to someone special
12. Host a movie night for friends
13. Have a yard sale
14. Ride 4-wheelers
15. Get a massage
16. Take Camden for swimming lessons
17. Go to a concert
18. Take food to someone who is sick
19. Give blood
20. Cook a nice dinner for two for my husband and myself
21. Complete a school assignment a week before the due date
22. Visit Courtney in Texas
23. Visit Lynne in Auburn
24. Go to the beach
25. Read 30 books of the Bible
26. Watch 20 movies new to me but not in theaters (2/20)
27. Exercise at least four times a week after pregnancy
28. Buy a new camera
29. Have Lasik eye surgery
30. Throw a surprise party for a friend
31. Play outside on 20 Sundays with Alana, Garrett, and Camden
32. Get a swimming pool
33. Donate to mission work
34. Visit Memaw and Granny's graves
35. Plant two trees in memory of my babies
36. Have a dinner party with friends here at my house
37. Go to New York City
38. Eat at Ketchup
39. Take pictures with Jaime and Melanie at UNA
40. Have a game night with friends
41. Go to Bama game with Brandi
42. Eat lunch with Mom and Jami
43. Eat at 10 new restaurants (3/10)
44. Go golfing with David
45. Take Camden to Tate's Farm
46. Play Santa Claus
47. Take family pictures on the beach
48. Eat at Shogun
49. Buy a designer purse
50. Attend a scrapbook workshop
51. Learn to make 5 new recipes
52. Blog at least once a week
53. Attend my 10 year reunion
54. Make a donation to the church building fund in memory of my Memaw
55. Take a girl beach trip
56. Buy my husband a new putter
57. Go to Ardmore with Lora, Debo, Melissa, and Casey
58. Read 10 new books.
59. Buy someone a gift for no reason
60. Scrapbook with my mom
61. Have an ALF and/or Family Guy marathon with my sister
62. Take Camden to a Cardinals game
63. Subscribe to a magazine
64. Get a tattoo
65. Learn to speak Spanish
66. Take a scrapbook road trip with Jaime and Melanie
67. Watch my nephew play in the T-Ball World Series
68. Get a mani/pedi with my niece
69. Take a horse and buggy ride
70. Keep Camden's babiesonline page current
71. Stop drinking caffeine
72. Clean out my fridge at least 10 times
73. Go to the zoo
74. Dedicate one day each week to clean house
75. Reward a student every day for doing something good
76. Make a new friend
77. Contact an old friend
78. Wear a bikini in public
79. Kiss David in the spot where we got engaged
80. Give an unexpecting someone a gift for Christmas
81. Have Camden's picture made in a studio with my friends children
82. Keep my car cleaned out
83. Learn to swim
84. Buy rugs for the house
85. Donate clothes to charity
86. Finish decorating guest bedroom
87. Hand paint a picture for Camden's room
88. Grow my hair long
89. Write a letter to our congressmen
90. Go see Rick and Bubba live as a Golden Ticket Holder
91. Go to Branson
92. Recruit five friends to build a list and blog
93. Participate in the book giving chain for kids
94. Teach a children's Bible class for a rotation
95. See Mama Mia the movie
96. Wash my face every night before bed
97. Stop sleeping with the tv on
98. Go to LA
99. Have a night out with Bailee and BreAnna
100. Eat at Red Lobster with Kayla
101. Make a new list
102. Start a book club with my friends

Blogging...cheaper than therapy!

So everyone else is doing it, and I felt a little left out so I took the plunge! I am now officially a blogger. (Please hold your applause) It seems the proper blog protocol is for one to write about him/herself in the initial blog entry. I will follow the rules.
The most important thing in my life right now is my expanding family. I married my high school sweetheart David in March of 2001. We were very young and stupid, but thanks to our responsibility, maturity, and the hand of God we have managed to build an amazing life together. We spent the first few years of marriage together engaging in some major adult purchases! In the first six months we bought a new vehicle and a new (to us!) home. David completely remodeled the house, and we sold it for a fun little profit. We also bought a few vehicles in those first few years. The major life lesson that I took away from those experiences was that I hate buying cars and houses and now avoid it at all costs! Anything that involves banks is not for me!
In the summer of 2004 he began constructing and contracting our home which was completed in the summer of 2005. I am so proud of the work he put into our home. By this time we were feeling very settled and a little overwhelmed by the things that took place in those first four years. But we made it that far! Four years is a lifetime by Hollywood standards! Little did we know that the next two years would be more trying than any car-buying or house-building experince.
David became a carpenter at TVA in the Spring of 2002. He quickly advanced into foreman status because of his skills in his trade. In the Fall of 2005 I was hired to teach high school English at Tanner High School. I was thrilled to get this job because there are so many teachers trying to find jobs these days. In October 2005 I was just trying to survive my first year of teaching when I found out that I was pregnant! SURPRISE! It was great. Everything seemed to be happening the way I wanted it to. I finished school, got married, got a job, and now I was getting a baby. That was how I always thought my life would be. Unfortunately, that December we found out that our baby did not survive. There is no blog long enough or words effective enought to put in writing the misery I felt. Most of all I just could not believe what had happened. I was so scared that I did something wrong to make my baby go away. Everyone always says that babies are a gift from God, so I thought maybe I didn't deserve that gift. It wasn't until recently that I realized that none of those things were true. God gives life...He doesn't take it away. However, even though we did not plan the first baby, we realized how ready we were to have a baby in our family. Now we had a mission! We spent the next year healing and preparing ourselves to bring a baby into this world. After the physical healing was over, there was a time period when I was still emotionally unprepared to deal with the possibility of another miscarriage. But the strength came and in November 2006, we found out that we were pregnant again! After one short week of knowing, I miscarried again. The strange thing is that it was almost easier the second time. It ended more quickly, and in the back of my mind I expected it to happen anyway. But old pains came back and new fears of never being able to carry my own child began to seep into my mind. So we began the process of physical and mental healing, AGAIN! We started trying AGAIN! Anyone who has had trouble conceiving a child can vouch for the fact that it is a mental mind game, and mentally, I was spent. In the loss of my first two babies, I lost hope, confidence, and ashamedly, faith. I was mentally defeated and needed help. Some months I didn't even want to try. Some months I was ready to try again. Some months I was too scared to try and just wanted to adopt and avoid another failed pregnancy. Honestly, I needed some help! Also during this time I found myself becoming extremely introverted and depressed. I would almost feel guilty if I was happy. I mourned for my losses in a way that was completely unhealthy. I wallowed in self-pity. I tried to give my feelings to God and put my burden in his hands, but I was too impatient, and I would give up on Him. Then, when other things didn't work, I would go back to Him. It was a horrible cycle that I am still ashamed of. In October 2007, David and I decided to see a fertility specialist. Sounds strange because I am obviously fertile! I've been pregnant more times than most women ever are in their whole life! But we knew there was something that was keeping the pregnancies from being successful, and we had to find out what it was. So David was tested and much to his relief, he had great swimmers! WHEW! I know that was his biggest fear. Good news for him but bad for me because now I knew it was all me. What was I going to do if I couldn't give my husband a child of his own? Luckily, my problems were very minor. I was put on some medication to eliminate the numerous tiny cysts on my ovaries, a shot to schedule ovulation, and some hormone trickery and BAM! Three months and I'm pregnant again! I decided that the last two times I had not approached this pregancy thing correctly. I asked everyone I knew to pray for me, David, and the baby. I had so many well-wishers that I was overwhelmed with the amount of people who would tell me that they were praying for us. Now, I was closely monitored through the first trimester by one of the most brilliant doctors I have ever been in contact. But who are we kidding?! It was the prayers! Our God just works that way! Everyone always told me that these things all happened for a reason. Maybe they did and maybe they didn't. I do know that, God willing, my little boy will be here in about three months. I do know that I learned a lot about the kind of mom I want to be from this process. I do know that Camden will not replace the children that I lost. I do know that my babies are with God, and that they are more blessed to be with Him in Heaven than on earth with me. I know that God will see me through anything if I will be patient and let Him have His way. So if there is a reason, I believe it is so that I could KNOW all of these things. I found out about my first pregnancy in October 2005 and my baby boy should make his entrance into this world in October 2008. Isn't it amazing how God shows out sometimes!!
So WOW! My first blog was heavy! It's amazing how things started to flow once I began typing. Blogging...cheaper than therapy!