H is for...

Home- I am definitely a home-body! When I was little, I had a book about a bird that sang, "I love my house, I love my nest, in all the world, my nest is best!" I love my home. Not just my physical house, but Athens, Alabama in general. I love being close to my family and the fact that I have lived in the same city all my life. I really like to travel, but coming home is so sweet to me. I do not like to stay gone long.

Ham sandwiches- love em! I don't need any condiments...just bread and ham and I'm a happy camper. I also used to eat ham and crackers a lot when I was younger. My mom would always buy the Kroger brand ham in the squares the size of a piece of bread. I continued that as an adult, but now we do not have a Kroger in Athens so I'm going through Kroger ham withdrawals! LOL

Hermione Granger- this sassy little gal is one of my favorite literary characters in ages! I recently started reading the Harry Potter series and she stole my heart right away. I think she is so funny! I love her ambition and her concern for her dear friends Harry and Ron. She is always trying to keep them out of trouble, but is willing to stick her neck out for them when they need her. As a teacher, I wish my students tried as hard as Hermione!

I feel like I'm leaving something off! I need to plan these out more so that I don't forget anyone/thing important!

G's Up!

G is for...

God- Honestly, God was the first idea that came to mind when I thought of the letter G. How can I even express what God means to me?! God has given me everything that I love so much in my life. Without Him I would have nothing. Without Him I would be nothing...I wouldn't exist! I am so thankful to him for all of my blessings because I am truly a blessed person. I know that I let God down more than I would like to admit. I find comfort in knowing that His grace covers a multitude of sin as long as I strive to live my life the way He would want. I remind myself daily that I need to try harder to be who He wants me to be.

Garrett- My nephew Garrett is one of the most important people in my life. I would do anything for him and his sister. I've always felt like I had a great bond with Garrett even though he is getting older and gets embarrassed by affection and that hurts my feelings! When he was a baby, I would rock him for his afternoon nap at mom's house on Sunday, and we would both sleep in the recliner. It was my favorite part of the week. Now, I get to do the same thing with my little boy! Also, Garrett looks so much like me when I was his age. He is such a talented baseball player. He also has the BEST sense of humor of any child I have ever met! I just love him to pieces!

Grey's Anatomy- This is my absolute favorite TV show! I just started watching during Season 4, but thanks to my friend Melanie, I have caught up with Seasons 1-3. This show is so funny! My favorite characters are Izzy and Alex, and they were my faves before they were even a couple. Alex is just freakin hot!! I also love Bailey. She tells it like it is and it cracks me up!

I guess that's all for G's!

F is for the most valuable things in my life...

Friends- I have the most wonderful friends in the world. My friends are more like my family. I am closer to my friends than most of my family members. I have several different circles and some of them have merged which makes me soooo happy! My old friends, aka Besties, are all friends that I have had since elementary school. Lora, Casey, Debra, and Melissa are my oldest friends. They are great! We all have children the same age now, and it is awesome to know that they will grow up together just like we did. Next, I have my work friends, aka The Circle, which consists of Jaime and Melanie. These girls get me through the day every day. We also are working together to get through the Masters program. Our long car rides and dinner dates give us tons of time to talk, laugh, and joke about home, work and everything in between. The third group consist of my book club girls, which is a combination of most of the Besties, The Circle, and three new friends. Amelia, Christy, and Shannon are also in the book club. We have such an amazing time at Book Club. I'm sooo glad that we have started it. I look forward to it every month and it is absolutely the highlight of my month! Aside from the groups, I have a few special friends that are just mine! Brandi and I have been friends since we were 18. She is so special to me. We shared some of the best years of our lives together. I was there for the birth of all three of her children and I love them like they are my own. I would do anything for them and her. Next, I have my Kimberly. Kim is our preacher's wife. Kim is such a fun person to be around. We have so much in common and I can talk to her about anything. We crack up all the time at stupid stuff. She is just a blast to be around and we have so much fun together. My last and most imporant friend is my sister Jami (who is lucky enough to have two Jami/Jamie's? ME!) My sister is my twin. I love her so much. She is my sister and my best friend. I love her and her children so much and I couldn't be prouder to be their aunt/sister. She means more to me than she will ever know. We didn't get along too well growing up, but now we are thick as theives (as Caroline of New Jersey would say).



Family- my family is great. I said to my huband just this morning, "Do you ever look at Camden and think, 'Wow! This is how my parents feel about me?'" I truly believe that you cannont comprehend the love of a parent until you become one. Now that I have my little boy, I can truly know how my mother feels when she looks at us. Three years ago I began to understand my mother's love for me. That's when I became pregnant the first time. Although the pregnancy wasn't successful, I still felt love for the child that I lost. My mom tried for two years to become pregant for me. I began to understand what she went through for those two years and how much she must have wanted me to keep trying. I felt the same way throughout my journey to have Camden. Now I know what it's all about. My parents are great. I'm so lucky to have them. My Memaw Net (her real name is Annette) is the rock and spiritual leader of our family. It is because of her that we are faithful Christians who strive to do right even when it's hard. She is so strong. She brought my mom and her sibilings up without the help of a man. She had a husband, but he was a piece of crap. Always gone...cheating, gambling, and drinking their money away. She singlehandedly provided for her 5 children and for that she has always done without. There is no one more honorable than my Memaw in my eyes. My mom has a very close-knit family. We do not always see eye to eye, and we are all very different. But when it comes down to it, we are a family. We will all always be there on Christmas Eve for breakfast. I think if you ask any of us, we would say that is our favorite Christmas event.



Facebook- I've got to copy Jaime on this one. I love it and I'm friggin addicted. I love reading people's status updates more than anything. Like Amelia, I love the quizzes. I love them so much, I took one the other day called "How Fat Are You." I mean, come on! Who does that! I especially love Sorority Life. I'm totally addicted. Any game that lets me buy designer clothes and cars is right up my alley because God knows I can't do that in real life! It's so fun! I'm also a pretty nosy person so FB allows me to do that without anyone really knowing how nosy I am! LOL haha





I think that's all for "F," for now anyway!!

"E" is for...

Ok, so I have nothing extremely special to say about "E's" but here I go...

Encino Man- Encino Man is one of my favorite movies of all time. It's a silly little flick, but Lora and I bonded over the movie! When we were in the 6th grade, we were acquaintences, but not very close. Once we were both at the ballfield at Elkmont, and we got to talking about the movie Encino Man. We have been best friends ever since. We both had the biggest crush on Brendan Frasier! We used to watch the movie all the time, and we learned to quote most of it. Here's our favorite: "Mr. Morgan, if you're edged because I'm weasin' on your grindage, just chill! 'Cause if I had the whole Brady Bunch thing happenin' at my pad, I'd go grind over there. So don't tax my gig so hard core cruster!"

Escalades- I've already said this but I had to mention it again...I love 'em. I want one. I want to cry and get extremely jealous when I see someone else driving one! White or black, I don't care. Just want it!!

Enchiladas- Enchiladas are my new favorite food. However, I do not like eating them at restauraunts because they make them with corn tortillas, and that makes me want to wretch. Mmmmm, I think I will make them tonight ;) haha Which brings me to...

Eating- it's my addiction. It's like nicotine for me. I love to eat. It's rediculous and insane. I have issues. I need help. I'm a super picky eater, but I eat a lot of what I love.

Seriously, lame stuff. I hope I'm not overlooking some uber-important "E" item. If I did, I will come back to add it later :)

It Brought Tears to My Eyes

Today as I was waiting for David's procedure to end, I couldn't help but notice all of the parents at the Surgery Center in Madison who were waiting on their children to get out of surgery. I thought about my own little man and how I would feel if he were to have surgery, and I got this crazy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I realized how afraid I would be. I couldn't help but watch these parents to see how they were dealing with this situation and by doing so I witnessed one of the most touching scenes. The doctor came out and walked over to a young couple. He told the couple that "he" (meaning their young son...I knew this because they were carrying a box of toy cars) did great. He spoke with the parents for a minute, and I could feel the relief of these people as they heard such great news. They thanked the doctor and shook his hand. Then the doctor mentioned to the father that he heard that he was in the service and was recently serving overseas. The doctor went on to thank the man for his service to our country and to tell him how much he appreciated all that our soldiers are doing. I found myself sitting there trying not to bawl my eyes out. Two of the most noble professions showing the most sincere form of appreciation for one another...I felt like I was watching a movie, but was thrilled to see that the kindness and genuine appreciation for another human being was real.

In other news, my little boy turned 8 months old this week. I cannot believe that he is so big already. Unfortunately he is sick again. Ear infections...who needs 'em! He had to see the other doctor in the practice and he said that he is probably going to have lots of trouble with his ears. He did not mention them, but I can't help but feel like tubes will be in the near future. (I guess that's why the surgery center had such an effect on me!) We have to go back in two weeks to see Camden's regular doctor to see if the fluid is even leaving his ears at all after his round of antibiotics.

Other Hulsey doctor visits this week have included my husband's endoscopy. He has had much trouble with his tummy and the endoscopy revealed two ulcers in his esophagus and some inflammation that is being biopsied. Hopefully with meds and a diet change he will be feeling much better soon.

My summer is going great so far! I love being at home with Cam, and I've been able to spend quality time with my sister and friends. Who could ask for anything more?

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

Did you guys ever watch "Ren and Stimpy"? I loved that cartoon. They had a little dance, and they would sing, "happy! happy! joy! joy! happy! happy! joy! joy!" That is exactly how I feel right now!! Tomorrow is the last day of school for this year, and I couldn't be happier! I cannot wait to spend the summer with my little man and my friends. Last summer was so great with no school or work, and I'm looking forward to an even better summer this year. We were planning a trip to Missouri right away, but I think we are going to put it off for a while. David is still working the outage as of right now, so we will have to plan to go another time. I believe at the end of June we may go to the beach. I'm excited to take Camden but nervous at the same time. I worry about sunburn and him being irritable in the heat. I know we can always go to the room, but I don't want to spend the whole vacation in the room. I guess that is part of being a parent...sacrifice! haha I hope you all have a blessed summer. I know I will...

D is for...

David- I don't even know where to begin. David is my life! We have been together since we were 16 years old. I wouldn't know what to do if he was not in my life because it feels like he always has been. We have grown up together. We have experience hard times. He is truly my best friend in the whole world. At the same time, he can infuriate me more than anyone in the whole world! He gave me my son, so for that and many other reasons, I know that I will always love him even if he chooses not to love me anymore. But he will not do that...who could stop loving me! haha! It was amazing to go to our class reunion together this past weekend. I know that since we started dating in high school everyone got to witness all of our crazy drama. I know no one thought we would ever make it because we were always breaking up! But that's how high schoolers are, and I love him more now than the first day I realized I loved him in the first place. So fooey on the haters!!!

Daddy-my daddy is the most awesome daddy in the whole world! I love him so much. He has always provided for us even when that meant he had to take a job he didn't want. I remember my daddy would always take us shopping when he got his income tax return! We would go as a family out to dinner and then to the mall. He would give us "x" amount of dollars and we could buy ANYTHING we wanted. I loved it! (Side note: My all-time favorite purchase was a pair of Calvin Klein shortalls! hehe) My daddy and I also share a bond because we were baptized together. Well, not together, but on the same night! My daddy did not always go to worship with us, but one day he decided to start going, and he has never turned back. The night he decided to be baptized, I decided that would be the perfect time for me to make my commitment to God also. I was a young teenager who had been contemplating/procrastinating that decision. It was so special, and I know it was one of the proudest days of my mom's life. My daddy loves his grand babies too! He spoils them beyond comprehension! It blows my mind because he would never allow us to have/do the things he lets the grand kids do, but I think it's sweet!

Debra- my friend Debra, aka Debo, has been a friend since kindergarden. She was also listed in my book as a "first friend." When we were young, I spent many nights at Debra's house. She had a HUGE bedroom that I thought was so cool. She also had a four wheeler. She let me drive the four wheeler but just once. I kinda wrecked it and burnt my leg. She made me promise not to tell her mom because she didn't want to get in trouble for letting me drive it! I can remember several occasions when we got into some pretty shaky shenanigans! As we got older, we drifted a little, but our Senior year we had several classes together including Ag which was a huge joke for us to even step foot in that class! We did manage to each nail one shingle on the shed that the class was building and convince someone to weld a bead for us to show Mr. Wilbanks who actually thought we did the welding. Not bad for a whole semester. We also shared many laughs over the owl and Mr. Caudill's outburst. We had plenty of entertainment in that class. Since then, Debra and I have gotten even closer. We spend time with our "Besties" Lora, Casey, and Melissa. I talk to Debra a few times a week. She makes me laugh more than almost anyone I know. She is such a good friend. She has a good heart, and I loves me some her!

Desperate Housewives- (this is my "fun" item!) I heart this show. I have religiously watched it since the first season. I remember my mom reprimanding me because all the women did was "sleep around." How could she possibly know that? She didn't even watch the show, and I pointed that out to her and the fact that she was wrong! I love all of the women on the show. I feel like I can identify with each of them in some way. Lynette is the working mother. She loves her career but struggles with the fact that she is away from her children. Gabbie is the spoiled princess who loves the finer things in life. Susan is a total klutz who never knows what she wants until it's gone. Bree will do anything to protect her family and her good name. I love the way that new things are always happening and new secrets are constantly being revealed. I know the show will be ending in the near future, and I'm going to be so sad to see it go!