Obviously I stink at this blogging stuff, but here I try again!!!! Who knows?!?!? So, I read in an Oprah magazine about taking a picture or drawing a picture or finding something to put down that looks like a picture for every day of your life...to mark what was going on in your day. This article may not of said do it for EVERY day, but I'm trying for EVERY day...except I forgot to take one yesterday...oh well!!!! The pictures go in a journal and you write a little something each day. So I decided to start this picture/journal/scrapbook project on January 1! I took plenty of pictures on that day and on January 2, 3, and 4. On January 4, I decided I needed to start printing my pictures out so that I could put them in my journal, write about them, add to them, whatever needed to be done before I got behind...seeing as this is the beginning of the project...well, I put the pictures on my computer, plug the computer into the printer, begin selecting the pictures to print, hit print, printer spits pictures out (things are going good) until the stupid printer is low on black ink! And refuses to print anymore! Not a problem, surely I have some black ink...go looking EVERYWHERE...no black ink! Dang it! Start to get in a bad mood because this was what I wanted to work on...decided I needed to go to Wal-Mart anyway, I'll go now, pick up some ink and continue on my little project when I get home. Get to Wal-Mart, energized about getting my ink for my project, walk to the back of the store, scan the aisles for my printer's ink. I was smart this time, I wrote down everything about my printer, I have had one too many trips to good ole' Wally World to pick up ink and didn't have a clue which ink to buy! Not this time...I know exactly what kind to buy! I'm looking and looking and looking, even looking in other aisles close to this printer ink aisle and what do you know? You CANNOT buy Epson ink at Wal-Mart! Stupid stinkin' printer!!!!! I almost buy another printer that's an HP because I clearly see all kinds of HP ink! I was that frustrated! But, I put the printer back, I am trying to save money and buying a new printer is not on the list of ways to save and walk away from the ink aisle. And here I sit on January 6 and still have not officially started my project...is it too soon to give it up? I'm putting my pictures up here so that when I do have the correct ink I can remember what I was going to say!!!!

January 1, 2010 a.m.

Breakfast and Pajama New Year's Party!!!!!!

Keena, Keeleigh, Carter, and I decided to all wear our pajamas and eat breakfast for dinner on New Year's. We spent the night playing the Wii: Just Dance and Mario Kart. A great way to ring in the new year and with some of the best people in my life!!!!

January 1, 2010 later a.m.

I ran in the New Year's Day 5k in downtown Knoxville bright and early on January 1st. The race started at 9.30 am! I love running and love running in all the races offered in Knoxville and surrounding areas. This is obviously the first one of the year! Last year, I started running in races in the fall and completed six before the end of the year!

January 2, 2010

8 Mile Day!!!!

I know you are dying to know where my inspiration comes for my chosen attire on this day! Let me share....27 degrees outside, that's where!!!! On Saturday, I decided that I wanted to go for a run, but it was so, so, so cold! I normally am miserable outside when it's so cold so I knew I had to layer up! Layer up I did!!!! I had on a tank top, a short sleeve t-shirt, a long sleeve slick running shirt, a long sleeve cotton running shirt, a fleece jacket, and a fleece vest on top! Bottom only included running tights and some tall hiking socks! It worked!!!! I was super warm and enjoyed my LONG run!!!! I am training for the Country Music Marathon held in Nashville at the end of April and this was my first long run! I have not been able to run 8 miles in over 4 years!!!! Running 8 miles made this day one of the best days ever!!!!

A Little Trip to Seany Sean

this probably makes about the third trip to charleston, s.c. in a year!!! i love going to visit my brother! i love him to pieces!!! carter and i had just gotten back from destin, fl and decided to do a load of laundry, repack, fill the car up with gas and take off for charleston to visit my brother for the last week of summer! ging got to go on this trip, which we love!!! unfortunately, this was not a relaxing, peaceful trip. let me explain. we left and made the trip to charleston just fine. we arrived, met up with sean, met his girlfriend (who is wonderful) and went to my favorite place to eat...the surfbar!!! ging gets to go to dinner with us at this restaurant and i just love it! we put her in a highchair and fed her french fries while we ate! such a little baby!

and i know what all of you are thinking...that i have a little bit of an obsession with my puppy, but when you don't have any other babies around and you have gingi, it just sort of happens!!!

so, first night GREAT!!!! we stay at my brother's house, i get up early the next morning and while carter and ging sleep it out, i clean sean's house from top to bottom. bathrooms, floors, dusting, vacumming...you name it and i did it! i go to wake carter and gingi up because i was ready to go to the beach for the day. gingi is laying on her belly and i pick her up to scratch her belly..as i flip her over, i notice that there is a FLEA MEETING going on, on her belly!!! i panic, i scream, i freak out! FLEAS!!!!! i call mom. i call sean. ging has fleas! what do i do?? carter gets up a lot quicker after that!!! we take ging to a local little pet store, which was perfect! they have a little wash room. we scrub the poor thing, scrub, scrub her! we comb, we pick, we scrub, we lather, we rinse, we repeat, like ten times!!!! we kill every single one of those little fleas! ging gets a couple of new toys for her trouble! then, we go back to sean's to clean it all over again! i deflea it to the best of my ability...needless to say, his place was SPOTLESS!!!! we then, check into a hotel! sean had failed to tell me that he knew he had a flea problem, but thought he had taken care of it! obviously, flea problem...not taken care of!

but, after that stressfulness, the trip was great. i got to see sean play with his band...deepwater soul society and meet up with keena, keeleigh, and bethany! ging went for her first swim in the ocean...by herself! she kind of just jumped in with no warning! apparently she wanted to try something new on this trip besides getting fleas!!! sean's band was amazing and it was good to spend some time with him! i miss him sooo much! i wish he lived closer! oh well!!!! maybe one day!

Destin Round 2

so, we went to destin, florida with brad, heather and paisley at the beginning of the summer and then were lucky enough to end our summer with another trip to destin, fl! this time we went with carter's family..his mom and dad, brother, sister-in-law, and their three children...ages 7, 9, &11, and his 15 year old cousin! a lot of family! we had a blast and really enjoyed going to the beach for the second time during our summer vacation. i can't think of a better way to start and end the summer! i can't believe i lived ten minutes from the beach for two years and maybe went five times in the 2 years..i love the beach! enjoy the pics!!!! oh! gingi had to go to little momma money's and big poppa money's for the entire week. i was a little nervous about my parents keeping ging, since they aren't big puppy people, but they did great! mom had all kinds of stories to tell about gingi when we got back! ging loved it too! she was spoiled with lots of popcorn and naps!!!!

the whole family! rachel, juliann, ashlyn, christy, jayson, loftin, jay, susan, carter and me!

So....

i realize that i am horrible at keeping up with this blog! but, this is effort number 2 and i am going to try to do a much better job! there is a ton to catch up on...a ton! so here goes...some with pictures, some perhaps not and then i promise that i will start making posts more regularly!!!!

when last we met, it was just july...it is now november!!!! oops!!!!

in july carter and i went to alabama for the 4th of july! the shoemakers, who are some of the best people in the world, my adopted family from college, and at one time my young life semi-leaders, have a lake house in alabama and invited us down for the weekend! we had the best time! it was nice to get away and just relax and take it easy! our cell phones didn't work, so that was even nicer! gingi got to go and enjoyed her first trip on a boat! she did great!

we went for a boat ride when we first got there and as you can see, ging loved it..i guess...take a look at the next pic...i'm pretty sure her defense mechanism was setting in and she was trying to go to sleep in an effort to avoid the ride!

all in all, she did great and loved it! she even got to wear her little two piece!!!!

okay, so i just started back and already i have to go...sleep is calling my name...i promise to post the next trip soon!!!

July 8, 2009

July 8, 2009 marks the four year mark for my car accident. That day never passes, or any other day for that matter, where I don't think about everything that happened four years ago and how far I've come. As most of you know, I was in a head on collision on Hwy 70 in the Farragut area. I was driving, with my mom as my passenger, when another driver crossed the ever present double yellow lines and hit us head on. My mom suffered a broken arm and an injured back. I crushed my left foot and broke both lower bones in my right leg. The drs. put me back together again, but didn't really know what to expect. Certainly, not for me to be walking, running, jumping, dancing again! But God had different plans! I am not 100% and never will be, but I can do all the things I did before 4 years ago. It's been a long road back to here, but this is the first year that I finally feel really good most days! It's scary to think about what happened and what probably should of happened had God not protected me and my mother! To this day my dr. doesn't know why or how I do the things I do. Looking at my x-rays he has no idea why I'm not in pain all the time! I know why! God's still taking care of me and protecting me! Thanks God! I've learned a lot about myself and those around me through the whole process. I wouldn't trade any of it in for anything! Buckle up and always, always be careful on the road! Don't take any day for granted! They are all very, very precious!!!!

Destin, Fl!

We went to Destin, Florida with the Whites at the beginning of June! It was hands down the best vacation ever! Thanks so much Brad and Heather for inviting us! We left the Saturday after we got done with school and it was a much needed break! We stayed at Seascape, which is a really neat golf resort right next to the beach! I spent my mornings getting up early, sitting on the porch, enjoying a cup of coffee, and reading, while I waited for everyone else to wake up! We would all head to the beach by 10 and stay until around 4! A couple of days Brad and Carter went and played golf in the a.m., while Heather, Paisley, and I headed to the beach. It was wonderful! We went to dinner each night at a different restaurant! I decided, not being a the biggest seafood fan, that I would try a different fish sandwich each night and found all of them really, really good! My favorite was Mahi Mahi! I was sad to leave the beach, but excited to be home! It was the perfect vacation and we just found out that Carter and I get to go back to Destin at the end of July with Carter’s family!!! So excited! Enjoy some of the pictures!

Thought this picture was so cute! Brad was walking with Paisley and when Carter walked up, she grabbed for his finger too! Such a sweet little girl! We really enjoyed spending time with her!

We had so much fun and are totally looking forward to the next trip at the end of July!



Sweet Paisley! So two cute stories about Paisley! 1. She was eating Cheerios one morning from her little pink tray that attaches to a table, but it was attached to a chair instead. She leans down to pick up Cheerios with her mouth, as opposed to her hands! When she picked her head back up, she did have some Cheerios in her mouth, but also had one attached to her little nostril! A little snotty , but completely adorable! 2. Paisley knows how to do the more sign in sign language, but did not always choose to do it! One night at dinner, Paisley chose not to give the more sign, she developed her own in which she balled her fist up and kind of squealed loudly...she did not look happy! It was kind of crazy, but then we did the more sign for her and she immediately stopped her made up sign, grinned really big and did the more sign! So funny!

The girls chillin' in the back!

A promise

Not entirely sure how many people care, but I do promise to update this blog and soon! I can't believe it's been so long! I've just been super busy and lazy all at the same time! The end of the school year came, which is always busy and stressful, then I took off for the beach with the Whites, came home for a week, took off to Jackson, TN with my best friend Mandy, came back for cheerleading camp, home for a week and then off to Alabama for the 4th of July! Lots of trips and I'm not even done! I have another trip to Destin planned and then a trip to Charleston, SC planned! Wow! A great summer though for sure! So...I will post pictures and stories soon....it's a promise!