I'm Baaaaaaack!

Hi friends... long story short, I haven't had internet at the house for almost two months and thanks to Bryan for coming over to wait for the AT&T man last week, H and I now have working internet again!!! I have LOTS of updates...
For Spring Break, I had the pleasure of chaperoning H and her band on a trip to my favorite place on earth - New York City...
Me and H on the subway

H and her friend with some members of the FDNY

Me and Nicole with President Obama and his wife!

The Trashy Trio!! Terrace actually photobombed my picture with Nicole, but that's okay because it turned out to be a good picture!

After we went to New York, we went to Washington, DC where the band performed in the Cherry Blossom Parade. Here is H and her co-captain - these girls have been through a LOT together!!

And here is H doing what she does best: performing!

And this picture sums up the trip for me... Nicole and I spent most of the week laughing our heads off with Terrace (photographer).

Since we got back, I have been busy with getting ready for the end of the school year, engagement pictures and wedding plans, and colorguard auditions. This cycle never ends!! But things did slow down for a little bit and that was nice. I'm just ready for summer!!!!

H had prom this past weekend... pictures to come soon!!! ...along with a post about wedding planning - which has really been enjoyable. Hope all is well - check back soon for more updates.

Exciting News

Well... if you're not my friend in real life or on facebook, you probably don't know this but... I'm ENGAGED!!!! Bryan proposed last Sunday (yes, the day before Valentine's Day, but it wasn't my Valentine's Day gift) and obviously, I said YES!!

He was taking me to lunch before I had to go to a Winter Guard show with Reverie. But he told me that we had to go see something with my mom before we went to eat. I told him he was crazy because she was at church. He said that she was leaving early (which was quite possible) so I believed him, although I was VERY confused. So he parks at the church and we start walking towards the Sanctuary. However, it was time for church to be starting and we were dressed in casual clothes, and I refused to go over there. I didn't want them to think we were going to church dressed like that, nor did I want them to think we were heathens. I was just talking about how I didn't see my mom and she would have to come to us if she was really going to meet us. I was going on and on about nothing. Bryan started to get flustered, and finally said, "Would you just shut up? I'm trying to give you something!" And in his hand, he held this:

and said, "Will you marry me?"
I was SO shocked that it took me a minute to really believe what I was seeing! I asked, "Are you serious?" And just hugged him (while also pulling my foot out of my mouth and picking my jaw up off the ground). He had to ask me again before I actually said, "YES!" So he slipped the ring on my finger and we walked back to the car.


The ring was too big, but the jeweler was open for extended Valentine's Day hours. We decided to take it over there to see about getting it resized. But I would only give it to them if they promised I could have it back that afternoon. What fun is announcing you're engaged if you have no ring to show for it?! Sure enough, they said they could do it, but it would be a few hours, so Bryan and I went to Lenox Mall, ate lunch, called our families, and walked around.

Then, we picked the ring back up and came back to my house. I started calling my friends before we went to eat dinner at my parents' house for Sunday Night Family Dinner. It was a very low-key day and evening and was perfect all around. I am so happy and so very excited about planning my wedding!!
More pictures to come soon... the ring pictures are from my phone and the one of both of us is from my sister (thanks Kay!). ENJOY!!!

Snow Days in Pictures

Sunday night as the snow is still falling... and already covering the ground!!


H and me


H and me sledding!



Proof that God is an Auburn fan... our first snow day was January 10th - the day of the National Championship, but He gave us enough snow that we couldn't have school the next day either so I actually got to stay up and watch the game!!! Kay and H "stomped" out an AU in the snow and then sprayed it with blue water. War Eagle!!!


H's new orthodontist lives across the street from Mom and Dad - he and his wife made this snowman and we couldn't resist taking a picture with the snowman who had braces!! AWESOME.


Dad pushing Andrew and Kay (while smoking that nasty cigar)... some hills were steep enough that you didn't need much pushing but this one required a little bit more effort. :)


Bryan and Andrew


H and Kay making snow angels... it was kinda hard though because there was a layer of ice on top of the snow. It was quite funny to watch!


Bryan and me


H and me sledding... this is after a full day of lots of other people going down this hill too - and it's still covered!!!

Snow Days

Yes, I realize it's been a while, but really, life has been going non-stop!! I finally got a break this week when the temperatures and the snow started falling on Sunday night.... by Monday afternoon, we had almost 7" of snow covering our city. Of course, we are ill-equipped to handle these conditions on our roadways, so we have been out of school all week, and will still be out tomorrow. I am not going to lie - it has been great!! I have loved every minute of it. Here's what I have done... with pictures to follow soon...
Sunday: H and I were hanging out at Mom and Dad's when we decided to play a game, but we looked outside and decided we should just run home and get stuff to spend the night. Bryan came over too and we played Auburn UNO for a while before going to bed.
Monday: I slept until 8:15 and ate breakfast with my family. In the early afternoon we decided to bundle up in ski gear and go play in the snow. It was awesome. H, Andrew, Kristen, Bryan, and I went sledding down almost every hill in the neighborhood, threw tons of snowballs, tried to make snow angels (there was a layer of ice on top of the soft snow which made this kinda difficult), ate snow, and slipped all over the place. We came home and ate lunch before deciding to drive up to the high school to go sledding on those hills. That was fun too, but we waited too late so we could only take a few turns before we had to get home before the roads froze again. We watched the Auburn Tigers play and WIN the National Championship game which meant a late night for us, but we all stayed up since we knew we wouldn't have school the next day. We all went to bed very happy.
Tuesday: I slept until 9:30 (!) and pretty much laid on the couch doing nothing all morning long. Late afternoon we decided to go back up to the high school to sled some more. We were disappointed that more people had the same idea, but we still found some fun paths to sled down. We made a stop at Kroger for milk, but they only had Skim Milk - and aren't expecting more until Friday!! I fell asleep watching TV with Bryan.
Wednesday: I slept in again and laid on the couch some more. I had a doctor's appointment so I actually got dressed in real clothes today and ventured outside of the neighborhood. I knew we wouldn't have school again tomorrow because the roads are terrible. Even the busy roads had lots of icy spots on them, and I can't imagine putting kids on a school bus on them in that condition. I won't be surprised if we don't have school again on Friday. This weather is crazy!!!
I have enjoyed being with my family and Bryan this week with no obligations. Sure, we are a little sick of each other at this point but we've all found something to do on our own to get away from everybody. It's been very relaxing and I honestly haven't thought about school much. I did bring school work home that I did bring over to mom and dad's to work on too, but I haven't touched it. I am planning on going to my house tomorrow to work on my pink room - it looks like a bomb went off in there since Christmas exploded in the room. Haha, I have wrapping paper and such to find a place for, and I have plans to rearrange the room. Since I will probably have a helper (thanks Bryan!) I think I can get it done in a few hours.
But for now, I am just enjoying the unexpected break this snow has brought to me. I will be ready to get back to work, but this has forced me to stop, relax, and enjoy some downtime. Hopefully I will get some pictures posted from our fun in the snow soon!!!

Mental Health Day

As I'm sure you can tell by the title and the fact that my life is always like this, things have been crazy for me! Summer is long gone and school is definitely back in session. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was laughing with my Auburn friends in my den! So much has happened since then though...
H and I went to the beach with the fam in July. We only got to stay for a week, which was a bummer, and even more so when it rained for the first three days we were there! But we had a good time and celebrated H's birthday while we were there. We had to come home early for ALLIANCE and Band Camp. The madness of all of that ensued and thank goodness it is all over! It was rough to work at 2 Band Camps and get my classroom ready for school to start. I'm still not really sure how I got through all of that. But here we are five and a half weeks into school so I guess I'm a survivor! Haha. What a mess!
So yes, school... umm, let's just say that I am sitting at home today with nothing to do and enjoying it greatly. I have a rough class this year with 3-4 boys in particular. I am hoping that a meeting I have later this week will benefit me and my kids - saying my prayers! I'm really not sure why they keep raising the bar for education but I have 20 students in my class and a half-time parapro. It really is insane that they expect these kids to come out of Kindergarten doing things I did as a first/second grader. Why can't we let kids be kids?! I just don't understand. But I will do the best I can with what I have - that's all I can do - it will have to be enough!
ALLIANCE... I don't think it has hit me yet that I had my last performance ever. I am glad it is over because it was so time-consuming at the end, but I do have to say that I really did enjoy it. I forgot how much I loved performing until I was doing it again. I have more great memories associated with guard now and am grateful I found that opportunity.
And speaking of guard... it is still a big part of my life. I have backed away from my responsibility at MHS. I still have some connections there, but I am not as involved. It has been a relief, although I do miss the friends I worked with there. They always had a way of making me laugh and we all got along so well. I really do miss spending Friday nights with them. But instead, I am across town with SHS. And I have to say, I love it there too. Of course, Nicole and I get along great and always have a good time at practice and games. We get along well with the other staff as well. I have had a lot of fun getting to know those guard girls and working with them. It has been a lot less stressful as well because my schedule doesn't seem as chaotic.
H is doing well in her senior year. She is healthy and enjoying life. I keep reminding her that she will miss these high school days when they are over because she is eager for graduation. For now, her future plans are uncertain, but I know that God has a plan for her life. That plan will be revealed when the time has come, so until then, we are trying to make smart decisions for her life. I am still shocked that I was chosen to be blessed by her. Her presence in my life has been one that I will be forever grateful. She has taught me so much and I am thankful that our paths crossed. I love her more than she will ever know.
In other news... I have another special someone in my life. ;) We have been dating for a little over a month now and he is great. As crazy as my life is, he understands and knows to jump in where he can. Surprisingly, we spend a great deal of time together. We will see where this path leads...
So as I sit here thinking about what my kids are doing at school right now, I am thankful for the chance to take a day off. Plans for the day include lounging around the house, reading, and shopping!! Hopefully more to come sooner than later...

Blazing Heat

Well, summer is here! And sadly, it is almost over. But I have thoroughly enjoyed it and will continue to do so in the coming days, for sure! I have stayed busy (as usual) and had lots of fun too.
My Auburn friends - Ashley, Rebecca (and Eli), and Brittany and Lily - came to visit for a few days in June. While we didn't really do a lot, we had fun just hanging out and spending time together. However, we definitely missed Jessica being around!
Since then, H and I have been busy with ALLIANCE rehearsals and we already had a show too! I have realized how old my body really is by doing this, however, I have also discovered that I am in pretty good shape. I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself for still being able to participate in an activity of this caliber at my age. I am out there with mostly high schoolers and am able to keep up - impressive! Haha.
My grandparents live in a house that is really too big for two people, but my grandfather doesn't want to clean out the basement and my grandmother won't move until it's cleaned. BIG PROBLEM. But, no worries, I talked my grandmother into allowing me, H, Andrew, and our cousin, Michele to clean it out this summer for some extra money. It has been a big job, but not nearly as big as I thought it would be. Everyone kept saying it would take us the whole summer. Well, we just got the dumpster last week and it is already full and ready to be hauled off AND on top of that, all the trash/junk is out of the basement! No, we're not finished by any means, but I have to say that I'm proud of how we worked. We have piles of things... metal recycling, oil/transmission fluid/paints, tires, electronics recycling, paper recycling, and stuff to be sold on ebay or craig's list. After we get the recycling stuff out, I will feel VERY good about what we've done and be okay with stopping. I am still in shock at some of the stuff we found down there!
So I have one week left here at home before we head to the beach... so excited. And it is going to be a busy week indeed! Monday = lake with the fam, Tuesday = tutoring, cleaning house, lunch with Sarah, and grocery shopping for... Wednesday = H's senior pictures, Bible study + dinner, Thursday = tutoring and packing, and Friday = packing, lunch/dinner with Jack and Terri Leigh!!!!!!, parade practice at MHS... will be VERY glad on Saturday evening when I finally arrive in FLORIDA!!!! Hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as I am. I will try to post more often in the coming days...

Crazy Life Cycle

So I've been counting down the days to summer, but I realized today that my countdown to summer leads to a countdown to the end of summer/start of school, which turns back around. Granted, there are some countdowns that are much anticipated and those that aren't, but they are existent nonetheless. And sadly, I don't know that I enjoy the end result as much as I think I'm going to when I'm counting down. However, I am going to promise myself that I am going to enjoy my summer this year. I have 19 more days of school until summer break, and I have a fairly empty calendar for June. Now, if you know me, you know it won't stay that way for very long. BUT, I am purposely not signing up for everything under the sun. I need some time for me. And I need some time for my friends. And I need some time for H. And I need some time for my family. Really, I just need time. And I am hopeful that June will provide that for me. You see, I LOVE to be busy. I was crazy-busy in high school, which quieted down a little in Auburn, and has now picked back up. However, last week I had a pretty quiet week that led up to a busy weekend. I have to say that I was more tired everyday last week than I was all weekend. Isn't that backwards?! Strange, but that's how I work. In fact, I do better on less sleep than I do on more sleep, and I do better with an even number of hours of sleep - so I do better with 6 hours of sleep than with 7 or 8. I know, it's weird, but it's true. So this summer, I will take some time to catch up on all of this lost sleep and give myself the opportunity to sleep longer than 6-8 hours. I will take time for myself, and my family, and my friends, and "my" H. Because I deserve AND they deserve it. What's funny is that I know that when June is over, July begins and the madness starts all over again. I already have a very full July calendar - in fact, I have a July 09-June 10 calendar, so I bought by July 10-June 11 calendar and now have to carry both around to make sure I'm not overbooking myself! So while the countdown to summer is going on, I also realize the unsaid countdown to July=craziness has also begun. And that kind of makes me sad. Yesterday at church, our pastor's message was about slowing down and taking time to enjoy life. So, I am trying to keep that mindset and follow through. I want to take a step back and look at the ways I am spending my time - are they investments that I really want to make? At the end of the road, will I really be happy and satisfied that I spent that much time on that particular thing? Am I glorifying God with this much time on this or am I strengthening my relationship with the Lord with this much time on that? I hope by evaluating these things, I will really come to understand that crazy life cycle that we create for ourselves. I am loving life, but am I really living it in a way that is bringing glory to God and sharing His love with others?