Friday, October 31, 2008

Tagged by Karabeth

I'm tagged, but I dont know who else to tag so I'll play along starting with number 3

The rules:

1) Link to the person who tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog (copy and paste 1-6).
3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below).
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger (who tagged you) know when your post is up.

And here are my 6 random things about myself as per #3 above:

A. I'm a Black Belt in Taekwondo, but I dont remember any of it. Maybe if I ever get attacked it will rear its defending head. Lets pray it never comes to that.

B. I'm the youngest granddaugter on my mom's side of the family, and the oldest on my dad's side.

C. I'm President of the Collegiate Entrepreneur's Organization at MTSU

D. I have never been west of Tennesse. Been North, South, and East, never west.

E. My brother and I are 7 years apart, and we only lived under the same roof for 9 years. We have just now starting communicating on a more regular basis.

F. I can wiggle my ears without touching them, like Alfalfa from the Little Rascals.

Matthew discovers the Great Pumpkin

Just thought I would post a couple pictures of my ever growing nephew Matthew. He is our definition of a miracle baby. If you dont know his story, here's his Caring Bridge site He's the reason I believe in miracles.

These pictures are of him at the pumpkin patch. I wish I could have gone with him, looks like so much fun!



My brother Brent (he goes by Ed in Knoxville) and his son, who will soon be as tall as he is!



Hope you enjoy a Happy Halloween!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Im in the spirit, for now...

My brain is stuck in fast-forward mode right now, and hopefully it will save me money.

This exact time every year (since about the age of 15 when I became an aunt) I get the huge urge to start buying Christmas presents. Usually I don't have the money, and I'm not exactly sure I will have the money with the impending Chicago trip (9 days and counting), but I'm definitely making lists of what to get people. Since these people don't have blogs, I feel very sure that I can type freely on here and it not matter.

For Matthew, the ever growing 5 year old, I will do my Aunt thing and get him clothes. Big clothes, because he's huge. I will also get him materials to encourage speech, since he's still having trouble getting out the consonants to make real words. Basically anything that could possibly make him want to talk, I'll be buying. Books are a must, because the kid is addicted to them and its the only addiction that I can ever encourage.

For my darling brother, I will most likely get him luggage. Yep, luggage. He travels every week, and if he's anything like the guy I grew up with, he's still using the duffel bag he used to go on a 9th grade field trip. He might need a nice piece of luggage to carry his "Big Boy" clothes.

For mom and dad, I don't know yet. They have yet to drop the big hints on what they want. But I'm waiting, and intently listening.

For Alex, I'll probably make him something with my crocheting skills like a nice skull cap, or maybe even an afghan. I definitely need to figure out some new stitches before attempting to make him something.

Okay, enough Christmas thoughts for now. It's still October...

Happy Early Holidays!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Are we really there yet?

This weekend was the wedding of my good friend Lindsay to the love of her life, Marco. It was in the beautiful Bell Buckle First Methodists Church in Bell Buckle, TN, which is where I went to the Webb School for 2 years. Talk about a walk down memory lane!

Heres a picture of me and the beautiful bride!



Also, a picture of the groom's cake which had a strange attraction to the floor.



Aside from the bi-lingual ceremony (the groom is from Mexico) and a multi-tiered grooms cake (arent they supposed to be sheet cakes), all I could wonder is: Am I seriously at that point in my life where all my friends are getting married?

My best friend got married at 19, but they opted for just the courthouse and not the big wedding hooplah and now own their own house. Other friends have opted the same, and regretfully some of them have already been through a divorce court. Many of my friends are newly engaged, and I am really excited for them. I myself have been engaged once upon a time, but everyone who knew that relationship knew that I did the right thing by ending it.

But truly, are we ready for life at that capacity? Are we ever ready for married life? I can clean a house, cook a few mean dishes, and probably even draw up a budget if held to a fire, but do we know what it takes to make a marriage anymore?

I know that it consists of much love, understanding, and knowing when to back down or stand up. It also consists of a relationship with the higher power and knowing that to truly be a success at anything, you must be able to trust that He will lead you down the right path. Maybe He's been leading me to Alex, maybe He's letting me learn what a healthy relationship is before leading me on to the one who will be my husband. Maybe we need to start waiting for God to lead us to our future rather than take it in our own hands and end up making a huge mistake.

Maybe I have been doing it right all along.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Long Time, No Blog

I haven't blogged in so long due to reasons including:

1) I'm in school taking 15 hours, including a rediculous Statistics course.
2) I've become much of a traveler, including an impending trip to Chicago
3) I am now involved in a long-distance relationship, thus causing number 2.
4) My dad keeps wavering on whether or not to sell the house, thus I try to keep my place clean just in case I have to pack up anytime soon.
5) I don't really have that much to say, but I will try to work on it.

So here we go. Starting regular blogging now.

To expand on number 3 reason for not blogging, Alex and I are doing great with the 5 hours between us. We have been able to see each other pretty regularly, with weddings, birthdays, and the most important UGA tailgating. We're on the homestretch of our first semester of long-distance relationship, and I would say its been much of a success. I'm still eager for Christmas break when we will be able to visit each other for longer periods of time.

By the way: Isn't it amazing that two people can basically be joined at the hip for around 7 months, then all of a sudden be miles apart and be okay with it. I guess it takes much emotional preparation. I still have moments where I wish he was just a five minute drive, instead of a five hour drive.

To expand on number 4: Dad really doesn't have a reason to move. He can still function in the house fine (his arthritis isn't that bad), and even though the divorce papers say they have to sell the house, Mom really wants him to still live there, at least til I move out of the cabin (which is also on the property). If only my aunt would quit pushing him to restart his life. If only she could realize thats the only home I've ever known and that the divorce was basically just a legal document showing what had been happening for a long time.

I guess I have more to talk about than I thought. Maybe I'll continue this next time I am at a computer for more than 2 minutes.