So it hit me today...

I was driving into work today and I started thinking about the Holidays coming up. I always look foward to this time of year. Every aspect of it I love. It allows me to show God how thankful I am for everything and celebrate the birth of Christ my Savior. While thinking about this I thought about all of the traditions my family has. Decorating, Watching Christmas movies, attending the Christmas Program at church and shopping with mom, Jenn and Honey:) All wonderful traditions. The one that brings a big smile to my face is thinking about my family picking out a tree. This is an act of Congress for my family. It has gotten better over the years but I wish that I had a video of some of the earlier years...Pure comedy.

I tell you all of this to say it hit me today that I have my own home to decorate this year and my own tree to buy. Please know that I am so excited to do all of this with Chad for the first time this year but it does not come without a little bit of sadness. Tears actually came to my eyes this morning driving in realizing I wouldnt not be waking up at the home I grew up in. I will not be the first one waking up my entire family to open presents. Yes even as a 24 year old the excitement of Christmas is more than I can handle. I literally have to take a Tylenol pm to help me sleep on Christmas eve. Don't judge! :) I won't be sitting in the floor while my dad videotapes the family opening presents. I won't have my Precious ( my dog) to distract me inbetween gifts. I have tears in my eyes once again just thinking about it. For those of you who do not know I am very close to my family so this will be weird for me.

However, I am so looking forward to waking up next to my wonderful husband on Christmas morning for the very first time. Chad and I have our very own traditions to start up and I am truly looking forward to them. Chad has no clue what he is in for when it comes to decorating...:) (Evil laugh) haha!!

I'm acutally hoping that TBS will not be playing A Christmas Story all day long...What on earth is that about?

Cherish each and every moment with your family while you are at home; even if your mom wants to play Kenny G while you open Christmas presents every year. Believe it or not; You will miss it one day:)

Truly Blessed

This weekend was wonderful. Saturday morning I received my first ever professional massage and I must say it will not be the last time:) It was amazing! I was able to experience a complete salt scrub as well as a Swedish massage:) Both were awesome! It was wonderful being able to do this with my mom and sister. I don't think they realize how much getting to do things with them means to me. We followed that by lunch at the only restaurant I think my family knows of, the one and only; La Parilla:) We met my dad, Honey and Aunt Cathy. After that it was a day with the ladies. I was on a mission to find a fall work wardrobe. It has been a mission. When did clothing companies quit making brown work skirts? Did I not receive the memo? Silly of me to think that brown was a fall/winter color...After traveling for the past month near and far to find this amazing brown skirt that does not exist we ended up at Macy's. When I had lost all hope and it just seemed inevitable that I was going to have to do without a brown skirt; I see Jennifer (my sister) sprint to the right out of the corner of my eye. That's when I saw it, like a beam of light came out of the sky and landed on a brown skirt! There were two left and they were both on the mannequins. I had my fingers and toes crossed that one of them was my size! Praise Jesus one of them was!! Finding this skirt has been an act of congress. Finally, a brown skirt with no jacket...Almost there!

On Sunday, Chad had to work so I went completely domestic. I went to the grocery store for the week. Got home and unloaded. Started the laundry. Got a pot of homemade chili and baked peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies:) Both homemade! I wanted to have both ready for when Chad got home so we could enjoy them during the Falcons game. Falcons rocked that stadium on Sunday! After the game we went to WalMart to purchase extension cords and a pumpkin. We needed both to start the decorating process for Halloween on the outside of the house:) It looks so good! We carved the pumpkin Tuesday night and put up the decorations outside:) Pictures soon to come as well as the recipe for the chili and cookies!

Next Monday I will be in the new building Chick-fil-A is moving Marketing and Operations too, Oakmont. I will be the back desk Receptionist and I am really excited about moving to that building. It's not permanent but I am so excited about being able to be familiar with both buildings:) I am so thankful and blessed to work for such a wonderful Christ Driven company. Blessed to work for a corporate company that offers devotions to their staff every Monday. Blessed to work with the amazing women on my team. Blessed to be meeting all of the wonderful people that work here. Blessed to have lunch provided everyday. Blessed that God has given the opportunity for work for a company that I believe in. I am learning so much and meeting wonderful people. Our department has our outing next Friday and I am so excited! I'll be able to do an update on that next weekend:) I'll post pictures and recipes tonight:) Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Our Fourth of July

To say the least was eventful!!

My father-in-law (Joey) had a great idea to spend an entire evening fishing out on Lake Sinclair on the pontoon boat. In theory: great idea! I was looking forward to it but I knew at some point I would get tired and want to sleep. We finally get to the lake Friday around 6:00 and get the boat in the water and we are on our way. So far; so good. We get about 4 miles away and decide on a spot to begin fishing. We pull over towards the grass near the bank of the lake. The water was probably about 4 ft deep where we were. The boys said it was a good spot so we went with it. We weren’t fishing with live bait yet at this point. We were fishing for bass. Tiffany and I were assured we would get to the marina around 10 for a bathroom break before it closed. We all start to get a little bored where we were so we decide to find a different spot. Wouldn’t you know the boat won’t crank!! At this point Joey is hanging off the back of the boat trying to get it to crank. He was dripping sweat. It wasn’t like we could get off the boat and go the restroom or anything. Anyone who has been to the lake knows that when you are near the grass and shallow water there are snakes and beavers and who knows what else!! We go ahead and fix dinner since we are parked. The boat had a grill so we made chili dogs that were pretty good if I do say so myself!!

The Trolley Motor saved the Day!!
The life saving trolley motor which we had at full speed of about 1/2 mph was going to get us back to the dock. We get turned around and get in with the current. At this point it’s 10:00 and we moving at 1/2 mph. We pulled the couches down to make beds and we begin to go to sleep. Clay and Barry stayed up fishing and driving the motor but decided at about 2:00 am that they were ready to get some sleep. Joey then swaps with them. Did I mention that it is freezing and all we brought were sheets because we thought it was going to be hot? Poor Joey…The only thing that kept him warm was the heat being put out by the motor in his lap. I swore we were just going to hear a loud splash and wake up to find Joey in the water!!

We arrived back at the dock at 4:30 in the morning at the point we layered up on our t-shirts and shorts trying to get warm. Anytime you moved from your “sleep spot” it got wet which made things that much better. We were up by 8:00 and heading to Aunt Sandra’s house for a fun day at the lake. First thing I did when I got to her house was take a nice warm SHOWER!

All in all it was a eventful and memorable 4’th of July for all of us. We got to see a lot of family and we had a lot of laughs and good times!

But I must give my condolences to something very special that didn’t make it through the weekend:

This is Barry's favorite fishing pole that is no longer with us. It cannot be replaced because it isn't made anymore. The pole made it all the way to the house but yellow dog got a hold of it. The reel survived but the the rest is gone. Barry is having a really hard time right now...Remember him in your thoughts :)

How was your Fourth?

My JennySue

My JennySue turned 21 on Monday of this week. All I can come up with is WOW! Where does time go? I can literally remember when she was younger and she had the curliest hair. We would play school non-stop, we would play house, and we would stay outside for what seemed like 24 hours. Then as we got older it was more about talking about boys, clothes, and make-up. There were plenty of fights and arguments along the way but I have to admit there’s no one else in this entire world that I would rather argue with. The past few months have been weird for not being able to see my sister on a regular basis. I’ve been so used to seeing her everyday. After being at the house for 24 years it has been a hard adjustment for me. I’m close to my family and talking to them on the phone just isn’t the same. Don’t get me wrong I love coming home to my Chadsta every night but that doesn’t come without adjustments. I have watched my sister grow into an amazing woman. So weird to say that because we are not the two girls anymore we are women. Our relationship has had some rough patches but I think our relationship will only get better from here. She’s my best friend and sister. She is harshly honest with me and loving at the same time. She is outspoken and quiet at the same time. Watching her learn how to cook has been very entertaining for me. She is who I confide in when things seem really bad. She is my reality check when I am a drama queen. All of these things make my sister into the beautiful woman I adore. I would do anything for my sister and hurt anyone who hurts her. It’s a Big Sister’s Right too! She will always be my little sister who I look out for; nothing will ever change that. I will get to spend the majority of my weekend with her and for that I am so thankful because I have missed her more than she knows!! See you Friday sis!!

Time doesn't slow down...

What a wonderful weekend! Honey’s sisters were here (my great-aunts) along with their daughter, my mom’s cousin. It was so good to see them again. They live in Memphis Tennessee so I don’t see them often. I think the last time was when I was in the 9’th or 10’th grade. I know it meant the world to Honey. When they got out of the car and saw each other they cried. I went over to Honey’s after work and played cards with them. It was just like old times in TN. I love getting to spend time with my family.

Matt finally got here! We went to ride four-wheelers on Saturday in Durnam Town. So much fun! I was covered in mud (that’s when you know you are from the south) haha!! It ended up pouring down rain while we were still out on the trails. We rode back to the trucks. I had no clean clothes to put on. Chad was helping me get my shoes and socks off so at least the floor of his truck wouldn’t get dirty. After he got them off I had to get from his Dad’s truck to Chad’s. I’m going to remind you it was pouring down rain…Me being the genius that I am decided to empty some of the food out of the grocery bags and I put my foot in them and tied them. Then ran to the truck!!
**You might be a redneck if you use grocery bags for shoes**

That night we hung out at Jessica’s and stayed up way too late. I was Exhausted on Sunday!! Nonetheless, I got up and went to church where I saw my little ring bearers:) They asked how my trip went…they are so cute!!

Sunday night= COLDPLAY:) Hands-down The Best Concert I have ever been too! I’m not just saying that either. My friend, Samantha’s dad got her tickets because he knew she really wanted to go. We had no clue where the seats were…Samantha, Court, and I just continued to get closer and closer, we were all the way down front!! Amazing! They were really good seats and they put on an amazing show. The bass player was smokin hott! They gave out free CD’s at the exit…I have never heard of that before. I got home at 1:30 A.M. and got up at 6:45 to go to work. I was soooo tired but it was so worth it:)
I’ll post some pictures from the concert on here tomorrow!!

As of yesterday, Chad and I have been married for one month. I cannot believe how fast time is going by. I keep hoping that things are going to slow down but I don’t see any signs that it’s going to happen any time soon. Chad and I have decided to start doing our Sunday School lesson together. It’s easy to get off track and out of routine when you have a lot going on. We were talking and that’s what we decided would be best. We decided to go running in the afternoon when I get home from work through some of the neighborhoods! I am really looking forward to this time I will get to spend with him and God. Non-Stressful running and quiet time:)I am really looking forward to the three day weekend ahead. In my mind I just keep thinking there is so much to do. I decided to come in early today and work out. What a difference it made!! I’m going to be set up with a personal trainer tomorrow and I hope this is going to help alleviate some stress. It felt so good to get up early and get going. On Saturday, we are going to look for a kitchen table:) I Never thought I would get excited about that but alas I am!! On Sunday, hanging with my folks and sis:)
So exciting!! Then on Monday, off to the lake!! Jam packed weekend but I can’t wait!

Side note: On Monday night I was watching The Bachelorette (if you know me-you know that show is my guilty pleasure) and wouldn’t you know that I fell asleep! I have know idea who she eliminated…I’m hoping to have time this weekend to catch up!!

I know it’s a lot of random thoughts that probably don’t make sense but its what I wanted to blog about today!! I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!!

Thanksgiving already???

So with each day that passes I am coming more and more to the realization that I am about to be a married woman and a college graduate. On December 11, I will graduate and I am beside myself with excitement. I have my cap and gown and am ready to go. With that milestone, I realize I am entering the working world on a different level. I have had a job since I was 15, always worked, but this is going to be so different. I'm diligently praying and hopeful about a position I may be getting starting in January. I hope to know something here in the next couple of weeks. God is blessing me with all that I am experiencing and I am so thankful for everything. God has blessed me with a wonderful family and fiance. Knowing that I am going to be able to spend the rest of my life with my soulmate and bestfriend is amazing! This Thanksgiving I am thankful for so much and yet a little overwhelmed with everything that is going on. I feel as though I am talking to Jesus all day long. I am trying to not get stressed and enjoy every bit of these experiences I am having. I am looking forward to being with my family on Thursday and seeing my cousin who is due at the end of February!! I cannot wait to hold Tristan:)

My final thought: "I know with the economy like it is and everything going on in the world that most are stressed but I am so thankful that my faith is in God and not in man. I truly believe with all of my heart that he is here and in complete control and in the end everything will be as he has planned."

TGIF

Looking at the title of this blog you may be thinking "Thank God it's Friday," however for me it means, "Thank God it's Fall!" Fall is by far my favorite time of year as far as weather is concerned. We are having gorgeous weather here in Georgia. I walked to my car this morning and it was cool and the sun was shining:) Comfortable weather is what I like to call it. Chad and I are taking are engagement pictures next Friday and I am hoping it looks like it does today outside.





On another note, I am such a kid when it comes to Holidays and I almost feel sorry for my children because I enjoy them so much. All of my favorite ones are in the Fall; Halloween, Thanksgiving, and my all time favorite Christmas. So many traditions to look forward to:) White Christmas comes to the Fox every year and we went last year. I'd love to do it every year with the women of the family. I love to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. This year atleast once I want to go shopping up in Atlanta at Atlantic Station with my sister. I have been thinking alot about Christmas this year. Technically, this is my last Christmas waking up at home in my bed with my family. It's bittersweet, I'm so excited about starting my life with Chad but will miss things like; Being the first one at my house to wake up on Christmas, running into my sister's room and jump on the bed to get her to wake up. Yes, that I will miss so much.





I'm hoping this year I can get her to sit down and watch my favorite Christmas movies with me:

• White Christmas



• Miracle on 34'th Street



• The Family Stone



• Christmas in Connecticut



• You've got Mail



• It's a wonderful Life



• And so many others...

I love movies...

Right now I am reading the Twilight Series. Currently on the third book, Eclipse. AMAZING is all I can say:) This book is hands down one of the best books I have ever read:) You should read it too so you can be in love with Edward like I am...

Have a great weekend!!