So this is life....

I'm a big kid now...

2011-05-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a long minute since I've written. Work is long, the commute/traffic is even longer, and life has gone on without a hitch.

One thing that has changed is my debt. I have rid myself of unnecessary credit card debt, and I'm putting a good dent in what I refer to as "good debt." On my new Droid phone, I downloaded an application called "Financial Calculators." You input all the debt information, how many months you want to pay it off in and bam you are instantly given an amount to pay. Stick with that amount for that time period and watch the balance dwindle away.

Then dance on the final billing statement that reads "Balance: $0" out in your front yard while singing "I paid you off, na na na boo boo."

Okay, you don't have to do that. But it sure does make good conversation for old Mrs. Kravitz next door.

Anyways, here's my break down for what I consider bad and good debt. You might not agree with my reasoning, but it's how I look at things.

Bad debt= the credit card debt that started with that laptop that I bought back in 2007. I was a dumb, stupid college kid.

Good debt= The credit line I had to take out for a necessary root canal performed by an Endodontist. That lady knew exactly what she was doing, and she did it right the first time, as opposed to the rest of the procedures done on that tooth by my general dentist. I have a mapped out plan to pay this off by October by paying close to 3 times the normal monthly payment. Just because I call it good debt doesn't mean I like it.

Also good debt= My student loans. A college degree will take me much further than a life without a college degree and its a fixed rate loan so that economy can go ahead and ride the roller coaster. This is the one monthly payment that I'm paying the minimum on right now.

Another huge step in my life: I keep a checkbook register religiously. Amazing how that keeps you from overdrawing your account, huh? Not to mention, I'm flabbergasted by how much I spend frivolously. It's that debit card, I tell ya. Which brings me to my next phase:

THE ENVELOPE SYSTEM.

This will be implemented along side my paycheck on Friday, so I will update on that new transition when it gets underway.

I know I'm not saying anything that's a new thought or idea, but it's changing my life right now. If I could go back in time and smack myself for even thinking of using that credit card, I would. I don't understand why people continue to ignore their debt but I know its human nature to want what you can't have. I'm learning to get over this, one big kid step at a time.

The miles to Thanksgiving...

2010-11-17T07:14:00.000-08:00

I love Thanksgiving. Love love love it. It's one of the simplest holidays of the year, yet it holds probably the most meaning for Americans, especially those of us who are descendants of those pioneers that landed in Virginia. We can join together as family, not worrying who is blood related or just adopted in, and we can celebrate all the ways we have been blessed.

One hitch though: When family dinners overlap. This situation can get a little sticky, especially when parents are divorced. Mom is asking me to be at her family's dinner in Carthage (an hour drive from the Boro), and my Dad wants me to be at his sister's house. Really and truly, I want to join my boyfriend at his Aunt Judy's home in Hendersonville (another hour-long drive).

Who do I say yes to?

Who do I say no to?

Why can't someone have their dinner on Friday?! I'm free on Friday!!!

I guess I'll just have to start driving on Thursday and figure out how far I want to drive...

I voted....

2010-11-03T07:01:00.000-07:00

I voted because I've been granted the privilege to much like these lovely Iraqi ladies.

Don't worry, I did my homework and voted for the candidates that held values closest to mine, maybe not the values that are popular but that matter to me and my family. You'd be amazed at how many people don't hold true to that thought.

Here's to the next term for our House of Representatives and Senate!

Unsolicited advice and how I'm fighting the urge to rebuke

2010-10-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

We all know those people. The nosy ones, the ones with the "helpful hints," and then the just plain rude ones. I've dealt with them my whole life after being blessed with a big family consisting of a bunch of aunts.

At 11 it was "Why are you taking taekwondo? Why not take cheerleading instead?"

At 14 it was "Here's some makeup, with your hair and eye lash color you should wear some."

At 18 it was "Why do you want to go to that college, you should go to _____ instead."

Now at 23 we're starting the really big questions: "So when are you going to get married/ buy a house/ have a baby/ start a retirement fund/ insert another life step."

I'm totally down with steering a child in the way it should go. I credit my upbringing to two parents who gave me the tools to grow successfully and take every advantage that life throws at me. If something wasn't beneficial to my life, they let me know QUICK. They let me fall but didn't let me smack the floor too hard. Their opinions on my life will always be considered.

I love my extended family. Really. They're all great in their own individual ways. So when they hand me their criticisms, excuse me, "helpful hints" on my life, I tend to take it with a HUGE grain of salt. Why? Because I know what my everyday life is like. I know what I have to work with. They see me for a very short amount of time and everything else they know about me is through the veritable "grape vine" that comes with being part of a big family. But when a snarky family member who isn't doing so hot with their own personal endeavors tries to give me their unsolicited advice, it takes every bit of me to not say:
"Well if I were you I would consider losing weight/ quit smoking/ stop using credit cards/ *insert another bad lifestyle habit.* Ain't so cool when you're on the receiving end of unwarranted advice, is it?"

So here it goes with my decisions. They will inevitably change with life, but here's my game plan:

1) I will get married when he proposes. Shocker right? We're happy how we are right now, and if he wants to take that next step, I doubt he'll be shy in letting me know.

2) Babies? BABIES?! I just started working for a great company, and I love what I do. Babies take time, yo! Don't get me wrong, I'm not the type that wants to wait til I'm 30, but I have a couple of years to think about it. You don't want this girl doing something like rearing a child before the time is right. (If only more people took that last line to heart.)

3) I do actually want to own property within the next 3 years, but I'll have to see what my personal life is doing at that time.

I'm not trying to play it off like all my life decisions will be successful. It's almost guaranteed something will go awry. But it's my life. I've kept on the straight and narrow (with a few small curves) my whole life and I plan to stay that way. So until I ask how you did something, keep the opinions to yourself.

Phew... Glad to get that off my chest.

3 days til...

2010-09-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

3 days til I turn 23. I feel like I'm turning 32. Comes with the territory of dating a 33 year old I guess. Much like it always does around my birthday, the crispy fall air blew in from the north this morning, and I broke out my pull-over and ever so slightly turned up the heat in my car. Before long, I will be buying a box of instant apple cider packets for my desk at work. I might even hang fall decorations in the good ole cubicle...

We leave on Wednesday for Chicago on our fall vacation, and I cannot wait to get on that plane and leave Tennessee for a while. Don't get me wrong, love the place, but it starts to lose its wonder when you don't leave for over a year. It will be nice to go back to the first big city I ever visited, and for once show Ben some things he's never seen. Hopefully I will come back with even better pictures than my last visit.

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week!

Channeling the inner Helen Gilbert

2010-09-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

Those of you who knew my beloved Grannie Gilbert knew that the woman could cook. It was a big part of her job as a housewife bearing four kids and then baby-sitter to a few grandchildren (including this one.) She was not a gourmet chef but instead a master of comfort foods. You could call her when confronted with the hard question of "I have a recipe that calls for this spice but I can't find it anywhere, what can I use as a substitution?" I only heard her admit to not mastering one thing: meringue. It is the trickiest of the pie toppings, after all. She took every meal she made seriously, and always had the perfect complimentary side dishes and bread to every entree. Any holiday or celebration could be met with a breakfast, dinner, or at least a "Hoo-rah" pie. Heck, if you just said you had a craving for a fudge pie, you could bet that you would have a fudge pie waiting for you to pick up the next day.

I have already endured one birthday without my annual birthday meal. As I was planning my dinners for this week, I suddenly wrote down what I remembered going in Grannie Gilbert's birthday meatloaf. If Grannie is no longer around to make the meal, I will take over the tradition. Since I was just cooking for me and my Sweetie, I downsized it to fit our bellies plus a left-over meal to make my co-workers jealous. The recipe I came up with last night looked something like this:

1 lb. ground beef
A little less than half- 1 green bell pepper
Half of red onion
1 1/2 tablespoons- oatmeal
1/3 cup of ketchup
salt and pepper
1/2 can of tomato sauce

Mix all together in bowl, bake in small loaf pan at 400 degrees until brown throughout and grease has risen to the top. Release the meat loaf from the pan, draining grease. Reduce heat of oven to 315 degrees (I just left the door open to cool off while preparing the rest) Transfer to a small casserole dish and cover with tomato sauce, return to oven. Bake for 10 minutes.

I made mashed potatoes to go with. Historically, the full birthday dinner also consisted of pinto beans, cole slaw, and cornbread.

We made a "big deal" out of the meal and ate at the table. As I took in my first morsel of meat loaf, I was overcome with delight. I had somehow channeled Helen Gilbert while making the meal and made the exact same recipe that she always made. When the meal came to a close, I sat there and had a silent conversation with my Grandmother, and then with God, thanking him for blessing me with this wonderful woman who taught me to make wholesome meals to make for my future family. I will never fail in giving credit for those meals to my Grannie who took great care of me as a child and taught me the ways of cooking. I can only hope that these recipes will be passed on to my children and grandchildren.

What have you learned to cook from your Grandmother?

Words on married life. By Mrs. Lillian Miller

2010-09-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

After retrieving some fried apple pies that needed a new home from my grandmothers today, she showed me her latest writing assignment. A young couple from her church have recently been married, and the groom's mother decided to compile a diary of women discussing the early part of their marriages. My grandmother was chosen as one of the participants.

I have to preface this by saying my grandmother is the most precious thing in my life. She has been the best mother, grandmother, and friend. To have her in your life is a blessing beyond words. Her words are simple yet should not be taken lightly. She knows the meaning of a life of faithful devotion to one man, no matter what may have stood in the way.

"It is so good to have a happy married life. We married so young and did not have anything except our clothes to wear. We didn’t think anything about it. My husband had just gotten out of service, World War II, and he came home and put out a crop that year. He said we couldn’t move out until he got his wheat crop out. When he was in the fields working, I was busy at the house setting his mothers old setting hens. In the fall of the year there was a little two room house down the road that became empty so we got that to move into. It was a mansion to us. His dad gave him a cow and calf and I had about 30 little chickens and his mother gave me the old mother hen and said I had about starved her to death. I set her 2 times to get all my little chickens. I was busy making him cakes and candy to eat all the time. You know, we need to do things to make each other happy. He would say “This is good,”but he would go to the door and throw it out. But he told me later on in our years he threw it out to the old dog and he wouldn’t even eat it.

We lived together 62 years and raised 5 children and they said they never knew that we were poor. We stayed too busy. The Lord called him home July 5th, 2007 after staying in the hospital about 24 hours."

Lillian Miller is the proud matriarch of a family of 5 children, 12 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren. I am the next to youngest grandchild and have enjoyed every single second I have spent with my "Grannie." I intend to raise a family according to her standards of how a family should be ran.

You could go with this, or you could go with that...

2010-09-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

For those of you who stay up to date with the happenings of Murfreesboro, Tennessee or watch The Daily Show with John Stewart, you are abreast of the current issue of the Islamic Mosque that has broken ground here. It's almost outside the city limits, but with the way everyone is bickering about it, you would think they were trying to knock down the County Courthouse and build it right there in the middle of everything. So here's my take of the whole situation:

I'm a Christian that was raised and still lives in the Bible Belt of America. You cannot drive anywhere without passing at least a few Baptist, Church of Christ, Church of God, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and even a few Non-Denominational Christian churches. There are two Catholic churches in this whole county. There's one Buddhist Temple on a road going towards Smyrna. The closest Jewish Synagogue is in Nashville. Up until a few months ago, most Murfreesboroans didn't notice the Islamic Mosque that had been on Middle Tennessee Boulevard (one of the city's main roads.) So what's the big deal that the followers of the 2nd largest religion in the world (Christianity being number one) want a bigger church? Fear.

Fear of the unknown. Fear of something that people have never researched. Fear of people that do not waver in their beliefs (and by the way, I'm not referring to terrorists here.) People see Islam and Muslims as the people who tore our country to shreds 9 years ago, and 1.5 billion people in the world are going to pay for the actions of a small group of radicals. People believe that knocking down signs, destroying construction equipment, and spray painting words of hate will deter them from building here. I see these acts as childish and ignorant. It says, hey, we fear what you're doing but won't take the time to learn about why you want to be here and what you're religion is about.

If you take this to mean that I am Pro-Mosque, then you might be right. If you take this to mean that I am indecisive based on the fact that I'm not Muslim, you would would DEFINITELY be correct.

I have said it more than once and will always stand by this: Sometimes the worst thing that can happen to a spiritual person is religion.

World English Dictionary
spirituality
1. the state or quality of being dedicated to God, religion, or spiritual things or values, esp as contrasted with material or temporal ones
2. the condition or quality of being spiritual
3. a distinctive approach to religion or prayer: the spirituality of the desert Fathers
4. ( often plural ) Church property or revenue or a Church benefice

World English Dictionary
religious
— adj
1. of, relating to, or concerned with religion
2. a. pious; devout; godly
b. ( as collective noun ; preceded by the ): the religious
3. appropriate to or in accordance with the principles of a religion
4. scrupulous, exact, or conscientious
5. Christianity of or relating to a way of life dedicated to religion by the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and defined by a monastic rule

Back with a bang....

2010-08-24T12:39:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I'm back from my summer-long Blog hiatus. It's been one of the most stressing and tiring summers that I can remember, but hey, its life I guess. I have been trolling the blogger website to get updates and posts from my favorite bloggers, though.

My friend Greg over at Pitt Rehab (Go Penguins!) posted an interesting story about an ABC News report targeting the For-Profit Colleges of our nation. Examples of these include University of Phoenix, Kaplan University, etc. I have no experience with these forms of "higher education" but I do know of friends from high school that chose this path rather than the traditional Community or State College path.

Why would they choose this path you ask? I've whittled it down to one thing: Excellent Marketing. They have the rather ridiculous commercials with annoying tunes and cute girls talking about going to school in their pajamas (which is something I accomplished with my traditional education at MTSU), and then they reel you in when you inquire by touting an almost 100% acceptance rate. Well who wouldn't want to bypass the waiting list of schools such as Brown, University of Tennessee or even MTSU? Why would you want to take remedial classes at those other schools when you can walk right in to your degree program at University of Phoenix? It's almost too easy.

Precisely. Harris Miller, CEO and President of the Career College Association, admits that recruiters have been guilty of providing students with false information regarding what their degrees will earn them in the end and also poor financial aid advice.

What can be done about it? I'm not saying all these schools are evil. It warms my heart when I see someone strive to get an education. What students are not researching and finding out is that you don't have to go to one of these schools for an education. There are many fine community colleges that will accept you regardless of your GPA coming out of high school. The key word in all this is that you need to strive to get into a school. Even if remedial classes are needed, they are only for your benefit and will prepare you for upcoming classes.

What else should be done? I truly believe this issue should be dealt with by the US Dept. of Education. There should be a law requiring that all these schools must be compatible to either community or state colleges in the area. If that means requiring students take general education courses, so be it. It will create a cushion for those students who wish to start their studies at one school then transfer to a more advanced, larger university.

But that's just my opinion.

The weekend that changed Nashville

2010-05-04T15:02:00.000-07:00

The last 4 days have been surreal. The rain started on Friday night. Saturday morning it was still going. Water started to pool. All of a sudden people were trapped in their cars on the interstate, drowning because they can't get out. Semi's were floating. A mobile building (that belonged to a customer of mine) broke from its usual foundation and floated down the interstate that had been overcome by a creek that I didn't even know existed.

The rain stopped on Sunday but the waters didn't stop rising. The flood finally crested Monday evening, not before flooding part of downtown Nashville along with Titans Coliseum, Opryland Hotel, and almost all of LaVergne.

The Grand Ole Opry house

But we're Nashville. We can stand up to anything.

Looking into my heritage

2010-04-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

Karabeth, when I started thinking about this subject, I automatically thought of you and your zest for all things genealogy. It made me smile.

The Gilbert family is very lucky to have a close family friend who has taken the great task of compiling our family tree. Near the end of my grandmother's time on earth last year, she trusted our family's genealogy paperwork to my Aunt Teela, who then passed it off to her best friend and roommate Jackie for more research. Before my grandmother passed away, I was able to steal a few moments to look at this valuable information. Turns out, our family settled in Jackson, Tennessee after an ancestor who fought in the War of 1812 was given land in return for his time spent in war. Before that, I believe we were settled in the Virginia area. How amazing to see where my ancestors came from!

So from here, I'm eager to find out exactly how long my family has been in the "New World." I'm excited to fill out my Daughters of the American Revolution membership form and claim my heritage. It's like looking into the past and knowing that there's a reason I'm in Tennessee, in the Southeast, in the United States!

Where are you from?

Research, Shlmesearch

2010-04-28T00:29:00.000-07:00

1 week, 4 days to go on this journey called college.

Tomorrow night (technically tonight now) I have an 8-10 page paper on the topic of my choosing due. Not to mention I have to take a break to go take a final exam in my Business Policy class. I must keep repeating to myself, breathe it's almost over. Just breathe for goodness sake.

Did I mention I don't enjoy extensive research? I'm not the biggest fan of it for sure. It can sometimes be as bad as getting bored watching the show House M.D. just because I get tired of all the what-if's that arise from all their research. (BTW who knew that so many ailments existed in this world, I'm just sayin') The good thing about my major is I haven't had to write as many research papers as maybe a Biology major would have, but I've done my fair share of "Pick a topic and write about it just so we know you can write" types of papers. My number one pet peeve of college has been the busy work, but I will digress on my pet peeves and other observations of my college experience in the upcoming days.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. By the way, in case you were wondering, my topic for this paper is "Older Workers in the American Workforce." This was for an Office Management class, of which the teacher has already said she doesn't enjoy my writing. I stick my tongue out at her.

Let the countdown begin!

I hate my job

2010-04-24T04:38:00.001-07:00

I don't mean my normal 9 to 5 job (but I wouldn't mind having another one of those either). I'm talking about my side job as a caregiver. I usually love it, my patients are almost always someone I've known for a long time or are the family members of someone I've known a long time. I have a connection to them thus I automatically make them one of my family.

But there comes a time in every caregivers life when you realize your patient is not going to be there after your job is done. My patient right now is given a week to live, and her family has to just sit there and wait. My job at night is to sit there and wait for something to happen. And when it does happen, I have to be there when the family gets there. And I have to tell them that everything went peacefully, and that she suffered no pain. I know this process all too well because I've been through it, even with my own family members.

After speaking to one of this lady's precious children, I knew he had no idea what was ahead of him. He's going off what the doctor's say, and he's wise enough to know when to say "no, Mother wouldn't want that, it will just pro-long the inevitable." What he doesn't know is how hard this next week is going to be. I know an approximate time table of the events that are about to unfold for this family, and they are asking me questions about what happens next. How do you tell someone the next step is complete kidney failure, or she's going to go into a coma and be taking her turn towards Heaven? How do you tell 5 grown people that their mother, who has lived 91 wonderful years is suddenly not going to live past a week? Even more weird is when they ask you what they should do next.

I got on the elevator this morning and cried. Because I know how that family member feels and I know their anticipation of something might turn around. I have a great respect for death and the peace that it brings to your body when you've been suffering. You're released from this earth into Heaven, and there has to be no greater joy. My job here on earth is to make your suffering body at least as comfortable as you can be before you're released. There's no greater joy and yet pain to tell your loved one that it's okay, they can go on. I know there's a heaven because I see it through my patients. You see them connecting with some great beyond, and to this day I've never seen anyone frowning as they pass on. Even with faith on your side you have no concept of what Heaven is going to be like, but in my line of work you get to see the reaction of what someone else is seeing as they cross that barrier.

So to be blunt, my job is not bad and I really do enjoy it. But when it comes to times like this, I hate it.

Karabeth and Karen, please send your prayers for Mrs. Ruby Robertson and her family right now.

Where have you been all my life?

2009-12-10T13:19:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since little ole me has been to Blogger-land. I know ya'll need catching up so here goes a list:

1) Finished up my second to last semester of college two days ago. All I have left is finals, next semester, and Im home free. Yippeee....
2) Ended the almost 2 year relationship with Alex back in October. It was a hard decision but our lives just were not going in the same direction.
3) Managed to work 4 different part-time jobs in the past 3 months and still barely have enough money every month. Good thing oxygen doesn't cost anything.
4) Started dating a new guy in mid-November. His name is Ben and everything is going great so far. I will be talking about him for a while to come I believe :)
5) Succesfully networked with a district manager with State Industrial Products, a chemical manufacturer based in Columbus, OH, and will start the first week of January as the new Sales Rep for the Nashville territory! A great job with an awesome company before I even graduate college, yeah!

I think that's about it for right now. Even though its only 5 things, they're all pretty major and are the reason I exhale deeply every night before I lay my head down. My life is exciting and very very blessed indeed.

Til next time...

A Little Political Rant (from a Conservatives POV)

2009-09-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

Even as a Conservative, I stress belief in our Country and most importantly our Leader. I am a firm believer that if we operate as a country split in half over politics, we will present ourselves to the world as a broken land. We can have all the security in the world, but our we protecting our name as the United States?

Our Leader says he wants to speak to our children words of encouragement, focusing on staying in school. He wants to present himself as a Leader to everyone, not just adults. I feel this is important because the choices he and the lawmakers under him make will affect our childrens lives for many years to come.

So it comes down to this: If you think he might say something resembling propoganda, do you want your child listening to him?

In my personal opinion, I don't think he would dare say anything that would come across as what I like to call "Drinkin the Kool-aid talk." I'll go a step further and say that being this is a sensitive audience to speak to, that speech has gone through the editors and speech analysts more than the usual speech.

The important thing I see here is people need to learn how to speak to their children about what is going on in the world. I believe for children to be well-rounded, they need to be able to listen to a political figure speak, understand what their saying, and then make a decision for themselves. There needs to be dialog between parents and children, not just parents telling the children what they believe. I love to see parents and children having different viewpoints, it means that at one point, the parents let the children share what they thought and they didn't make the child feel bad for their opinion.

I am a child of this example family relationship, and I will forever thank my parents for their support.

If I don't post before Monday, have a great Labor Day weekend Bloggers!

French cousins and a trip to Europe

2009-09-03T00:26:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried to learn a new language? In high school, as a requirement, I was required to take a foreign language and I chose French. I never really knew anyone that spoke French, or if I would ever get to use it. The fact remained that it was a romance language, and it appealed to young Allyson. I didn't do too well in this endeavor, but I retained very very miniscule parts from this class.

Well you know how you should really pay attention in class when you think it won't make the difference? Well to make a long story short, my beautiful and intelligent cousin Brooke moved to Switzerland earlier this year to practice her science as a Doctor of Audiology in Geneva. I can hear what you're thinking, seriously, people actually do that? I know, I thought that myself. Brooke is a force to be reckoned with and aint nothing standing in that girls' way.

So I find myself intrigued, and upon a very expressive invitation to visit, I am tentatively planning a journey to Geneva, Switzerland sometime next summer (tentatively based upon my May graduation). I'm pretty excited about this trip and I hope to add a detour into Austria to do the Sound of Music tour. Talk about a dream that can really come true.

Back to my spat about paying attention (especially in French class) I find myself wanting to polish up on my French skills. Here I go using Google translator to converse with my cousin, which I encourage by the way, it will only help me brush up on my old French courses. It's definitely a change from learning to earn a grade to learning to communicate with someone you love.

Have you tried to learn a new language for a purpose other than just the challenge? I would love to hear your techniques.

Until next time, keep me in your thoughts. So far 18 hours ain't so bad on this girl, but crazier things have happened.

Bonne nuit,
Allyson

Really? 18 hours?

2009-08-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

On Monday I turn my life over to MTSU. This semester consists of 18 hours, of which 2 classes are night classes and one is an online course. Whoo hoo. I'm also going to try to hold down my work/study job, a cleaning job at a local salon, and working on maybe a new restaurant job. That one is still in the development stages. If I don't think about all of it then I don't freak out about it. Just do it. Nike.

This summer has been just a season for me. I had my two classes that took up most of it, and I haven't really had the money to go anywhere other than Georgia a couple of times. I had really wanted to get to the beach, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. Maybe later on in the year...maybe.

I haven't seen Alex that much, which sadly I'm getting used to. I'm sure we have a great relationship, but I'm now afraid that if we ever do actually live together, we'll be so unaccustomed to each other like we once were. I digress about the whole situation, because who knows what lies in the future for us. Maybe I will get that nice job in Atlanta. Maybe I'll get an awesome job here in Nashville and he'll find it better just to move back to Middle Tennessee. I don't see that ever happening by the way.

So, until Monday, I'm here at the cabin, crocheting and looking up funny videos on youtube.

Welcome to almost September.

Have you explored your career lately?

2009-08-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I changed my major from Business Education/ Secondary Education to Business Education/ Non-teaching. This means that I don't have to do student teaching thus I can graduate in May like I had wanted to do from the get-go. But that also means I wont automatically be testing for a teaching license when I get done with college.

Ive come to the conclusion that I don't really want to teach high school after all. I figure its probably good that I figure this out now rather than in the middle of my student teaching. So where does this leave me? What career field do I go into now?

According to my new course layout, I have to take two upper-division Non-Business courses. I'm planning on trying to take those courses in Public Relations (which at MTSU is in the College of Mass Communication) and maybe something in Human Development (College of Education). Hopefully with those two classes I'll be able to figure out where I would like to try to apply for an internship in the Spring. Thats another thing. In lieu of student teaching, I'm doing an internship which I think is a excellent plan. Put me out there in the real world, hopefully make a stipend, and wish for a walk-on position after graduation. Now that would definitely be the cat's meow.

Usually change is scary but this change is making me feel better about my college career. I'm one of those subjective people who say that getting a good job depends on your inner abilities, not your GPA. I also believe that you can learn things in college, but a good deal of what career you're suited for depends on your attitude.

I think I would be good in Public Relations. I also think I would be good in the government sector. Lobbying congress would be right down my alley. Counseling troubled teens would seem like a good job (depending on the area I was living in!) I feel like with my new major, the possibilities are endless. I can't wait to see what my future career looks like.

What does your career exploration look like?

What have I been doing?

2009-07-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

Crocheting dishcloths, that's what. At the beginning of the month I bought a bag full of 100% cotton yarn at Hobby Lobby with the intention of making dishcloths to sell in an antique store that my mother has a booth in. I finally got done with said dishcloths last Friday and delivered them. As of today, none of the sets have sold.

So basically I feel like I've busted hump to crunch out what I believe are really cute pieces of old fashioned kitchen necessity, and no one has yet to take a bite! They're cute colors...good and tight needlework....good at cleaning dishes for many years...

Maybe after a few more days of no bites we will re-evaluate the asking price. I will put my one semester of marketing classes to good use! Product- check. Placement-check. Promotion-check. Price- might need tweaking.

So as I'm laying here in bed in Georgia for the weekend, what am I thinking about? Crocheting dishcloths of course! I'm here for a wedding that my handsome Alex is starring in as a groomsman, and I had said that I will crochet the lovely bride some dishcloths. T-minus 1.5 days until said dishcloths are due and only two of the set of four are done and DOH!! I just remembered the twine I use to normally wrap around the sets as decoration is sitting on the table...in my house...in Tennessee. Oh well, no cute old-fashioned wrapping for this present. Maybe I'll luck up and find some ribbon around in this house in the next day. I really dont have the money nor the time to rummage around the local Michael's, Hobby Lobby, or Joann's.

I hope you have all had a productive and happy July. I'm ready for it to be over to be honest.

Blogging about 200 yards away from a computer

2009-07-06T16:17:00.000-07:00

Blackberry is my new form is communication. I'm sitting in my finance class right now, and in a few steps I can be on facebook, twitter, myspace, etc. I think technology is about the coolest thing happening right now. I'll re-evaluate this when my cell phone bill comes at the end of the month.
On a different front, I'm avoiding television at the moment. If they're not talking about Michael Jackson, its the death of Steve Mcnair which happened just on down the road in Nashville. If its not on my Blackberry news application, I'm left in the dark and I'm okay with that.
So as we go into July I'm looking forward to many long summer days fixing garden vegetables and playing with my dog. I wish everyone obsessing about celebrities dying would do the same.

Are you a good mix?

2009-06-24T11:30:00.000-07:00

I know everyone has heard at one time or another "Oh, you're just like your mother/father". But have you ever really considered which part of you corresponds to each parent?

I know for sure that I get my gift-giving ways from my father. He strives to make sure everyone has something at Christmas, including his co-workers. For that matter, he makes sure everyone at least gets a card for every other special occasion throughout the year. Unfortunately, I also get my money-managing skills from my dad. Not in any capacity is he bad at finances, but he's already figured it all out. I havent. Oh well, I'm working on it.

From my mother I get my tenacity. My will to survive. The will to make sure that I'm comfortable with whatever is happening in my life and change it if I feel the need to. I also get my savvy-ness. Mom has always instilled in me to find a way to get out of any predicament. Don't always wait for Prince Charming (not the Ohio one)to come and save you. I've also figured out that whenever I'm trying something new, I try to figure out an escape plan. I know its silly, but hey, it makes me feel better and its come to good use before. It kinda drives Alex crazy, but I rarely "live on the edge." I have learned to turn off the cell phone when going camping now.

From both of my parents I get my cool-headed attitude. Those who remember me from my younger days are saying "Ummm riiiggghhhtttt". Hey, I was a kid, we were all a little tuned up tight. My parents never saw a need in getting bent out of shape about anything. What's the use? The problem won't solve itself if people are going crazy. Cooler heads always prevail.

Have you ever seen the families who do get bent all out of shape when things happen? Isn't everyone in that family, even the dog, stressed to the max? If people would just chill out, quit yelling, take a 5, things might become a little clearer. And this goes out to all the "screamer moms" out there, kids get used to it, then you're losing your voice for nothing. Believe me, I saw my aunt do it for years. My cousin literally thought his mom was deaf because she was always yelling at him.

Do you think you're a good mix of your mother and father?

Canned in a positive way

2009-06-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

When I was thinking of my post for this week, I considered talking about my past weekend experience with Bonnaroo. I won't go into all that, but let it be said I had to take Monday off to crash for a while.

But as I was reading my Twitter updates this morning at my desk, I saw an interesting post by NPR talking about the rise in Canning since the current economic status hit us. For some reason I couldnt get the URL link to work correctly, but I found a similar link that talks about the current canning revolution.
I know that some of my fellow bloggers are canners so I pose this question: Do you see a huge difference in your shopping bill when you consider the things that you have canned over the summer months?

I have been interested in learning the fine art of canning in order to savor the summer tastes of squash, tomatoes, and maybe even a pickled okra. Another question posed to my cunning canners: What are some other things you enjoy canning? My mom was never very interested in cooking, but she did do some canning in the summer when my grandfather would bring extra crop from his amazing garden over to our house. Many a day I remember standing in the kitchen, helping my mother stuff Ball jars full of squash or cooked tomatoes, trying to get every little air bubble out, and lugging around the heavy metal pressure cooker.

Who knows. Maybe if I get a few extra squash plants from my Grannie Miller or my cousin Glenna I will have to try my hand at canning again.

Hope you all have a good weekend! I will be disconnecting this weekend so hopefully I will have a few stories of that experience next week!

How refreshing to find a new outlook...

2009-06-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was an excellent weekend starting Friday morning. After I had an uneventful and efficient drive to Fayetteville, GA in the a.m., Alex and I made the trip to Atlanta to see the band No Doubt with my best friend Sara, her husband Chris and our very good friend Cory. Easily one of the most impressive shows I have ever seen, and it was relatively inexpensive tickets (after Ticketmaster fees- $15).

Here is a picture of me and my handsome guy, who is constantly making me smile:

My best friend Sara and I waiting for the very popular attraction at the venue, the bathroom:

The fun didn't just end at Friday night. Alex and I returned to Atlanta on Saturday afternoon to take in the wonderful animals at Zoo Atlanta. Which is the artsy name for the Atlanta Zoo... I see what they did there. Sadly, no pictures were taken, we were having too much fun watching the gorillas.

The reason to be in Atlanta all along was to celebrate the Retirement/ Graduation party for Alex's best friend's mother, Mrs. Linda Andrews, Ph.D. Before I wax poetically about this wonderful woman and the reason for this posting, one more picture of me and my guy at the Twisted Taco for the party:

Miss Linda has an outlook on life, and its basically this: Live Your Life. You will never have this moment again, so make the most of it. She intends to take every moment she has available and make sure there is something happening. We asked her what her future plans were, and just within the next 3 months she will be going on a Mediterranean cruise, doing speaking engagements for a week in Japan, graduating in August with her Ph.D., and considering a move to Quatar (yeah, the Middle East) depending on her interview for a job with the Rand Company. Did I mention she just retired from 30 years teaching and trying to convince the GA Department of Education that gifted children needed more attention?

I must add in here that she also raised two very awesome children, Lauren and Stuart who are both very successful and talented human beings.

I would take a breath if I were her. But thats the grand difference between us. She is determined to make something of every minute that God gives her, and she admits that she's still going to make as much money as she possibly can. I respect that. Money makes our lives a whole lot easier and if I can make money responsibly and according to my morals, its going to happen.

I intend to take her outlook on life and form it to fit my own situation. Things might have to be left behind, I might be uncomfortable from time to time, but I need to start living my life, especially while I am still unmarried and without children. Don't worry, I won't stop living when these life events happen. The outlook will evolve to include those new special people in my life, and they will hopefully benefit from the decisions that I make right now in my life.

Okay. Post went long. I hope you're still with me. I hope you have found your outlook on life and have achieved everything you wished and maybe even more.

I'm going to go start the rest of my life. Talk to you later.

I'm still alive!

2009-06-04T08:32:00.001-07:00

I know there's no excuse for this much of an absence from Blogger-land! I really have been busy though...

First of all, I've been working, and also looking for more work. 20 hours a week at the Career Development Center isn't enough, so I'm looking at other possibilities on campus to get more of MTSU's money. Luckily they would rather hire students for temp positions because they can get away with not giving us health insurance. The people I work with are always keeping their ears tuned for other positions around campus, and I have a couple of leads. Hopefully I'll find something for the months of July and August since the Career Center has no money in its budget to hire me for those months.

For some fun news, I found out yesterday that I was accepted to work as a Brand Ambassador for FuseTV at Bonnaroo Music Festival! This is a major event for Middle Tennessee and brings people from all around the world to listen to some top bands. I'll be working 38 hours over the 4 days, so by the time I get paid I should have a good chunk of change. Cant wait! Hope to bring you back some pics, I'm sure I'll have a most interesting time.

This summer also consists of me taking 2 classes, luckily only one of them started this week. I thought Finance was going to be a tricky subject, but as long as you have a calculator with the Finance application, life is golden. The tricky part is listening to the teacher, who's Chinese (been in America only 6 years), and very proud of his American name which is Kevin. Too funny...

So tomorrow I travel to Atlanta to spend the weekend with my handsome Prince Alex. We shall enjoy seeing No Doubt in concert along with my best friends Sara, Chris, and Cory. A cocktail party on Saturday will round off the weekend and on my way home on Sunday I will be dropping off Alex at the airport for his business trip to Anaheim, Cali. Traveling for everyone indeed!

I hope you havent missed me too much. I promise to blog sooner next time!

P.S. Karabeth- Not like you dont feel the exact same way, but I can't wait for Princess to have the much awaited for Fennec!

The Smells of Middle Tennessee

2009-05-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

Welcome to a day in wonderful Middle Tennessee. The recent rains have produced a cleaner air to the area, and you can't go anywhere in nature without smelling the wonderful scent of the plant above, the almighty Honeysuckle.

As I was walking Applesauce yesterday on the city Greenway, I noticed that God has provided us with a natural fragrance for every season. The season we're in right now (Spring although its really summer) is frangranced by honeysuckle, and soon we'll be going into the smell of grass. Yeah I said it, grass. My olfactory senses go crazy in the summer when I pass a field. I love it though, its such an alive scent.

Also coming up soon will be the smell of a garden which I truly love. The smell of cucumber, tomato and okra plants all send me to a place where the only thing that should fear anything is my handy peeler. And the best of all is the eatin', and the eatin' is good as my lovely Grannie Miller would say.

I wish I could send you all a basket of cucumbers and squash, Lord knows they grow quicker than weeds at the height of the season.

But for now I will enjoy the smell of the blooming honeysuckle plants that sit on our property line and think about the upcoming olfactory circus that lies ahead.

What's the scent in your neck of the woods at the moment?

Guess what this computer says...

2009-05-11T13:55:00.001-07:00

This computer says that I'm officially a Senior!

GO me!

I'm a little (strike that: enter "very") stoked that possibly a year from now I will be done with college. Don't get me wrong, its fun and all, but I'm kind of over it. I'm ready to teach!

All I have to worry about now is getting into the Education program, which might be a little tricky with my GPA. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Yay for now!

Life has changed a teensy bit...

2009-05-07T07:16:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a while due to Final Exam week which ends for me tonight. Whew...

BIG NEWS: I have a new roommate and she goes by Applesauce. She is a 50 lb. Pitbull Mix and I love her dearly.

I've actually known Applesauce for a while. She was rescued by my friend Jennie's brother on a work site, and since she was living with my best friend Mark (an animal lover of many species) he agreed to take over care of the very malnourished dog. We believe she was a 1 year old, had been trained by her previous owner, but may have been at a puppy mill because it was very visible that she had already had a litter of puppies.

The reason for her name is simple. Mark's other dog, an English bulldog, is named Pork Chop. To make all Peter Brady fans happy, Jennie and I named our new friend Applesauce. Mark always claims that he had nothing to do with the name, it was the women who named her.

So she is very well-trained and generally a happy dog. Until she gets more used to the area I have to walk her on a leash everytime she goes out, which is a little tricky right now with our daily rains. As far as the furniture goes, if I'm sitting on the couch she's only allowed up with me if she's invited. When I'm asleep she can either sleep on the couch or lay on a quilt I've put in the floor for her. She seems content with the couch more and I don't blame her. It's pretty comfy.

I'm really getting used to the responsibility of having a dog actually living with me, and hopefully I will be able to socialize Applesauce with my dad's dog Reese soon. Reese is not happy that there's a new dog on "her territory" so we'll just have to let her warm up to the idea.

Hope you all are enjoying the Dog Days of Spring!

I learned from this man!

2009-04-24T07:50:00.000-07:00

Imre Lagler was a Hungarian force to be reckoned with. He was a cantankerous man, but he had a past that he could amaze anyone with. Escaping communist Hungary, immigrating to the United States, and finally settling down in Bell Buckle, Tennessee of all places.

My brother adored him. When I was his student, I feared him. Not because he was mean, but because I knew that he expected much out of me, and I didnt know if I could fill the shoes he laid before me. He was a man of many words, many funny words at that. He had special ways to inflict little silly punishments for our small offenses such as talking in class. When he was done with our foolishness, he would simply just tell us to get out of his sight, which meant sit outside the class and be sure youre sitting right there when the bell rings. He wouldn't tell anybody of higher authority if you werent sitting there, but you better hope the rotating schedule meant you didnt have his class the next day.

He was political, sometimes close-minded, always argumentative, and competitive in every sense of the word. But at the same time he loved teaching and he loved talking to students. Here's to you Imre!

http://www.boomeradventurestv.com/lagler.html - A video tribute made by a Webb School alumni featuring one of my favorite teachers, Mr. L.R. Smith and also an alumni that graduated the last year that I attended Webb.

Back to reality...which is what it was all along come to find out.

2009-04-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a week since my grandmother passed and it feels like it was 2 minutes ago. The services were beautiful, a good part due to the music that my father pre-recorded. Karabeth, if you are interested, I'm going to make a few copies for people who know his music or are interested in listening, some of his classics that Grannie loved such as Thank You are featured. I would be glad to send you a copy if you would like. Email me your address if you want one. :)

Here's the plant that Alex's sweet family sent for the funeral. I also got a beautiful peace lilly from the girls that I work with. I'm blessed to have so many great people in my life.
Karabeth, if you notice on the wall behind the plant is a painting that was painted by Prince Charming's mother back in 1986 I believe. Grannie gave that to me about a year ago, and I absolutely love it.

So after Saturday, I was eager to feel some sort of normal again. I had a moment of closure at my grandmother's grave site which I have to say is one of the more picturesque places. Its set on a hill in the countryside of North Rutherford county right before you get to Wilson county. The last time I had been to this spot was the day my Papa was buried, so it was a sort of homecoming for me and my cousins. You're standing on the side of the hill, and you look out and feel like you can see about 15 miles. I'm eager to go back, it easily tops my favorite places list.

Sunday I felt a little back to normal. No more getting dressed everyday, no more seeing people I hadn't seen in years (literally since the days that Karabeth lived here) and definitely no more putting up with crazy funeral directors. They cease to amaze me (side note, I know there are other funerals happening, but the flowers can wait a couple of minutes to be picked up.) I enjoyed being able to go about my business, eating dinner at Lindsay's house, and not having to be accountable to my family to my immediate whereabouts at any given moment.

So my life is officially back to normal, minus the part of my Grandmother's voice on the other end when I call her house now. I called over there the other day looking for my aunt, and Grannie's familiar "Heelllloooo" was all I heard in my head. That will take some getting used to.

Have a good day people!

Its all done

2009-04-15T15:08:00.000-07:00

Grannie passed at 9:00 this morning, right after I got there. She had been awake for a little while, and had talked up until about 4:45. We told her to go find Papa in heaven, but I believe he was standing right there with us, waiting to escort her spirit up to heaven.

Her visitation is from 4-8 on Friday evening, and the service will be on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at Jennings and Ayers.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. It has helped us go through this hard time in our lives. Please keep my father in your prayers, my grandmother was his greatest confidant and one of his best friends.

I'm again lost for words. It's the first day of the rest of my life without my Grannie Gilbert.

I'm tired guys....

2009-04-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

I have a feeling I have no idea what the word tired means. When I'm watching people like my grandmother in their failing health, all I can imagine them saying is "I'm tired guys, just let me be." She just wants to be left alone and she doesn't want family hovering over her. That's not passing away peacefully.

My grandfather passed away in such fashion. We had been watching him round the clock for over a week, someone always sitting by his side, listening to him just barely breathe. The moment he passed away was the first time in two weeks that someone wasn't awake to hear if he was just struggling or if it was finally over. It wasn't that our family was negligent, we were unconsciously just giving him a moment to himself, a moment to decide if it was okay to let go.

Now my grandmother is at this point. She's had a horrible day, and they're pretty sure she has only a few days, if she makes it through tonight. I wish I could just tell her to let go, that its alright just to fall asleep. She's so figgety which causes more pain. She's mad that she can't be comfortable and she fights sleep because she wants to keeping fighting, keep trying to live. She's tired, and she just wants to rest. I so badly want to help her, but there is nothing for me to do but give her the pain medication.

I'm spaced out right now with all the thoughts running through my head at any one point and I will probably continue to be this way until my grandmother's situation is over. I had to tell that to my teacher tonight after an exam because I read each answer I put and none of them made sense. I'm hoping she'll give me a little grace concerning the situation I'm in.

Til the next time I have any thoughts or news to convey,
Allyson

Perceptions

2009-04-09T11:33:00.000-07:00

Do you ever wonder if you know everything about your friends?

It would be the furthest thing from the truth for me to claim this, but I definitely hope I at least have a good grasp on the details of at least my closest of friends. But I have recently had friends make comments that Im sure were innocent, but make me wonder if they knew that what they were talking about actually applied to my past?

Would it be right for me to call them out on it?

Wouldnt that make me seem petty just to get some sort of apology out of them?

Does it really matter where I've come from? I happen to think my upbringing has alot to do with where I am in my life, whether you can tell it or not. Sorry to be vague on the details on my encounter that sparked this brainstorming moment. Just my average internal bantering that I needed to jot down.

Hope you are all having a springy April!

The Days Go On...

2009-03-25T11:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we're almost at April!

Update on my Grannie Gilbert: We're starting 24 hour care now. My shift starts on Friday morning for a few hours before I go into work. She saw her doctor on Monday and he said her disease is progressing alot faster than he would have liked and suggests bringing in Hospice soon. I'm guessing this is due to the cancer spreading to the liver. Once its there it can go about anywhere in the body.

When I was visiting with her a week ago, she was talking about an odd experience she had at her church a couple Sundays ago. The pastor had informed the church of her illness the previous Wednesday when she wasnt there, and the following Sunday she was of course almost knocked down with everyone coming up to give their sympathies. More than a few people, however, had a very important task for her when she eventually did enter Heaven. They wanted her to speak to their loved ones who had already passed on. They were very sweet messages, such as "Tell Daddy that I wrote a song about him." In her infinite knowledge, my grandmother agreed as to not upset the people, but also let them know that most likely their loved ones already knew. Still, I could not imagine the burden put on her shoulders because we truly don't know exactly how everything is going to work in Heaven. We know what the scriptures say, but its not that cut and dry when we get there.

April holds some exciting things. Alex gets to travel to Texas twice for business (Yay for having a job in the event industry in this economy!) It's my last full month of the semester and hopefully will find out if I can keep my job in the MTSU Career Development Center through the summer (Economy not helping on this one). And most importantly, the birthday of my personal little Superman, my nephew Matthew, who will turn 6. Can't believe it!

Hope you are all enjoying the erupting Springtime. It's rainy in Murfreesboro, hopefully giving good watering to my tomato plant!

In connection to yesterday's post.

2009-03-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

For some reason I make time for my online components. Of course, I have my trusty Blogger account. I also hold accounts with Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and the newly acquired Twitter. Alex says I am rediculous with all the "connecting" I do but in reality each one serves a different purpose in my life.

I would have to name Facebook as my overall favorite of all my accounts simply because I connect with friends and family most through it. Granted, Facebook has taken a huge swing in the past 2 weeks, and I'm not fully appreciating the "new look" that everyone is protesting. But still, the fact remains that through Facebook, most everyone uses their actual name and the information of where they live or where they went to high school, college, etc. in order to facilitate finding them.

I had a conversation with someone recently who said "I have this facebook thing, but I really don't want to connect with people." I told him to simply delete his facebook because that totally goes against the purpose of having one in the first place. Facebook isn't for everyone, and I think this dude was a total goob for thinking his anti-social self would magically do a 180 and suddenly want to connect.

My second favorite (starting this morning with its inception) is Twitter. It's been highly publicized as the new "it" website, and I totally agree. This is my website to connect with those people I will probably never meet. True, I'm not really connecting with people such as John Mayer or Lance Armstrong, but instead taking a look through the peep hole at their lives. Twitter is a no frills, no complex applications website such as Facebook. All you do is simply update your status whenever you feel the need, and whoever is "following" you will see it. I'm excited to see where this website will go in the future.

MySpace is my strange side. I don't check on it much, I would say I have only around 140 friends (small number really), and to be perfectly honest, I'm tired of it. I get random friend requests from people who would be the Webster definition of creepy, half the time I find myself criticizing my background more than actually looking at people's profiles, and not alot of my people update too often. So yeah, MySpace is on the downward slope for me.

LinkedIn is simply just what it is. A professional networking site that I really don't need to have yet, but hey, networking never hurts. I won't say much about this since I haven't even logged in for about 4 months now.

Stay sure that I love my Blogger. Love is not even the right word for it. I will have to make one up for it I guess.

Are you connected?

Have I always been like this?

2009-03-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

I need to ask my parents I guess.

Trying to be as unpolitical as I can, let me just say that I think some of the people who claim that either they or their kids have A.D.D. are pulling shenanigans. Granted, there are some cases where kids honestly have an attention problem and those problems are dealt with swiftly upon dispensing of correct medication. However, I believe we live in an over-medicated, over-simplified society where your "pains" are met with "Oh, there's a pill for that".

I dealt with this first hand with the person I dated for 5 years through high school and the first two years of college. Over-medicated and still not satisfied, he had a tough road of emotional problems and overall unhappiness that he would not attempt to solve on his own without medication, thus I chose not to put my own happiness for granted on his behalf. Now I have the wonderful Alex who lives in mental peace and is probably the most easy-going guy I've ever met.

*By the way, let me say that my former boyfriend's dependency on medication drove me crazy simply because I don't even take Ibuprofen unless I feel like my head will fall off. The fact that I have to have an antibiotic right now drives me up the wall...*

With all that said, my commitment levels to certain things are for some reason waaayyy out of whack. I find myself going the bare minimum to make the grade in classes (which has never changed since I was a child so no surprise). The problem with this is, I'M IN COLLEGE. The bare minimum doesn't work like it used to. The bare minimum in Principles of Accounting 1 worked for me last semester. Principles of Accounting 2, not surprisingly, builds on 1 so the bare minimum in this course actually doesn't work now (surprise surprise). Other classes are pretty much the same story, half the work, twice the pain on exam days.

I can't help but think that I have (and have had in the past) motivation/ attention problems. I have the end in sight, May 2010 can't come quick enough. For some reason I can't find meaning to the courses I'm taking other than the old standard "because one day you might need to know this." The only time in my "school life" that I can remember actually putting forth great effort was my senior year in high school when I was trying to get accepted at Belmont University. I felt relieved when I did get accepted, and then lost that feeling when I found out there was no way I could afford to go there. Well, take that back, I could have, but I would be in soo much debt coming out of college there would be no reason to ever try to buy a house or a car because I would giving my paychecks back to my student loans.

Karabeth, here is my blog question for you this week: Is there anywhere in the Bible that mentions motivation and how we motivate ourselves?

Hope everyone else is tying up loose ends in their life, for some reason it just doesn't happen for me.

When you have those moments...

2009-03-16T14:09:00.001-07:00

I have been on Spring Break for the past week and to celebrate this time off from school I made a journey to my beloved Georgia. Upon this journey, I learned many things:
1. Traffic is nothing to mess with.
2. Nature is a wonderful yet sometimes harsh thing.
3. Outside weddings are not to be scheduled in March.
4. God and his peace and serenity can be found anywhere. You just have to be ready to recognize it.

A quick definition:
Chattanooga fakeout- the part of I-24 east which weaves from Tennessee into Georgia back into Tennessee (where Chattanooga lies) and then back into Georgia all within about 15-30 minutes depending on traffic.

I almost didn't survive the Chattanooga fakeout on my journey to Georgia due to 2 tractor trailer trucks who decided to flip and block both directions of I-24. I did however get the chance to sit down in the middle of I-24 when traffic literally stopped dead for an hour. I felt like it was one of those small experiences that I would never get a chance to do again. Instead of the normal 4-5 hours of travel time, it took me 7.5 hours to get to my destination of Athens, GA (home of the UGA Bulldogs woof woof!)

The next morning, I journeyed with my handsome Alex, his brother Nick and girlfriend Joy (who I affectionately call Joey) and two other great girls from UGA to Clayton, GA, a town nestled in the North Georgia mountains. We camped in a lovely area named Sarah's Creek and spent the next 2 days hiking, eating small amounts of food (and feeling full surprisingly) and meditating in what I imagine is an area that God meant just for that purpose. We found waterfalls that I'm sure many other people had found, but I got the feeling of being all alone with just these 5 other people in this huge forest. I didnt think about my current trials and tribulations of my life, just about the beauty of the land and what it means to be totally peaceful. Alex said I transformed into the "hippie" of the camping trip.

My aforementioned "hippie" look in front of a waterfall.
My GQ man on one of our hikes.

Nick and Joy taking a break.

At night, many good laughs were shared and for the first time in a long time I felt like everyone I was with was contributing wholly to my happiness, rather than finding ways to manipulate me or take advantage of me. I'm not saying I usually let people treat me badly, but every once in a while I find myself in that situation as do most people.

I returned a changed being. It took effect immediately upon return to modern technology. Once my phone was recharged and my facebook account was updated, I figured out that a few people in my life really needed to be re-evaluated. My closest friends agreed with me (and I know in the back of their minds they were probably wondering what took me so long). I also have recognized a new passion for camping and I intend to continue pursueing this passion further in the next few months (cheap vacation!).

Alex and I made the voyage to Fayetteville on Monday and skeddaddled around (a word I use from time to time to define doing things of no great importance yet still meaningful to me). Saturday rolled around and we were to attend the wedding of a high school friend of Alex's brother Nick. Remembering lesson number 3, let me tell you I really felt sorry for the poor bride. The good thing was we were under a pavillion and I had an umbrella for the treck to and from the reception hall. The bride was glowing however and I am assured that the rain will probably be one of the smaller memories of her wedding day.
Joy, Nick, Alex and I at Glendalough Manor for the wedding.

Hope you all had a great week while I was resting under the Georgia pines!

Playing the worst waiting game....

2009-03-06T07:35:00.001-08:00

The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.
-Leo Tolstoy, author

My Grannie Gilbert has been diagnosed with Cholangiocarcinoma, also known as Bile duct cancer. After multiple trips to the doctor (and many vials of blood drawn) we have been told a life expectancy of 6-8 months. MONTHS? Months.... I have to say it over and over to get it through my thick skull. 6 months puts us at September, the month of my birthday. 8 months puts us in November, getting ready for the holidays, for the Thanksgiving feast, many hours spent buying Christmas presents.

I have to keep saying, It's okay you can do this again. I've helped many people ease away from this earth peacefully through caregiving. I watched my two grandfathers both suffer many years with different illnesses, and it was kind of a release when they finally passed. Their pain was over.

But this is my grandmother. She's a matriarch in every meaning of the word. Up until a month ago all she knew was that she had a tumor in some place she didnt even know existed in the human body. Now, she's told she might only have 6-8 months?

I can't lie, I don't want to accept it yet. Karabeth, your post the other day concerning how we need to trust in God and everything he gives us was right on the mark. I'm not bitter, and I trust that God knows what he's doing. But this is MY grandmother. My Grannie Gilbert. Yeah I know I share her with 6 other people, but she's still 1/7 mine.

I'm going through the immature, "This is not fair", I demand a recount, stage of grieving. My heart hurts.

The Brethren by John Grisham

2009-02-24T12:39:00.001-08:00

As my first John Grisham book, this was a good one to pick (nevermind that it was free). If you are interested in politics and the "puppet masters" behind politicians, this is the book for you. This is one of those books where the first few chapters alternate between two different situations, then by the middle of the book you figure out how the two are linked. It's not much of a thriller, rather a thinker. Makes you think about what our politicians really believe in versus what they are told to believe in. Makes you think just how involved our government can get in your life if they want to. Makes you think about what inmates can do from behind cell bars...

I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

The Recycling Bug has hit!

2009-02-20T09:39:00.000-08:00

We'll see how long the sting will last...

Don't get me wrong, I'm hoping for a cleaner environment just like the next guy. But also just like the next guy, I have no time for all of the required separating of the glass, paper and plastics (and the subcatagory of about 50 types of plastic). Believe me, one of my best friends has hired a recycling collection company, and I don't think its really saving him any time with all the hoops he has to jump through, and I happen to think he's good at jumping. :)

Leave it to your fearless crocheter to find a way to blend love with environmental responsibility. I had seen project patterns for "Plarn bags" on ravelry.com for a while now, but today I finally dove into actually considering making one. You can check out how cool these bags look here. I think they are very cool and maybe I'll actually start taking my own bags to the store if I can put my personal touch on them!

So now you know exactly how ridiculous I am and I'm okay with that.

While I have the time...

2009-02-16T11:45:00.001-08:00

I have been so busy lately with my schoolwork, but I have also been taking quite a few "me moments". Like all day yesterday, I sat in my beautiful cabin and finished Revolutionary Road and continued work on the (hopefully) adorable sweater that I am making for the soon-to-be-one year old Aidan. Late last night after watching some mind-numbing television and visiting my dad to swipe some of his Lemon Creme girl scout cookies, I started The Brethren by John Grisham which has so far turned out to be an interesting book. I'm hoping it will keep me more engaged than Revolutionary Road , which I have heard was a very boring movie.

So other than those books and the crocheting and the schoolwork, nothing much else has happened, which doesn't make for good blogging. I do enjoy reading others blogs though, so keep it coming Karabeth and Karen!

I got an award!!!

2009-01-22T15:33:00.001-08:00

Thank you Karabeth!!

I will have to post links of all the blogs that I read tomorrow, just wanted everyone to see my little piece of happiness.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Allyson

Pictures from the last Month or so

2009-01-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would share the pictures I just uploaded!

Posted for you Karabeth: Brent, Dad, Me and Mom. Please ignore the faces, we weren't all ready for the camera!

Proof of my masterwork! Nick, Clay and Alex with their new hats

Alex and I at his birthday dinner

Alex and I sitting on the couch with G-Daddy (his paternal grandfather who shares Alex's birthday as well) and his Step-Grandmother Katherine

And so it was Christmas in the world of Allyson...

2008-12-29T07:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas went off without a hitch. Other than being up all Christmas Eve with the phantom sickness that keeps reaking...wreaking...reeking (don't know how to spell it) throughout my body. I'll blog about that later since I dont actually know what it is and I refuse to diagnose myself, lets keep it at that I was sick and awake which equals a very unrested Christmas morning. So as I dragged myself from my mom's house across town to our house, I made up my mind this was the one year I wouldn't make it to Grannie Gilbert's house. I just couldn't, too much action, too much talking, too much required conciousness.

My presents from my parents and my brother and sister-in-law were very nice and functional, which I love. I hate when people get you "filler gifts", the stuff you that make you say "Oh thats cute!" and then stick on a shelf somewhere. I need functional in my life and most importantly for my living space.

So as I was putting on my coat for the expedition to Grannie Gilbert's house (yeah, I'm a trooper...or I hate how my dad can do the guilt face at the drop of a hat), I thought 1) I'm crazy tired and b) I really do love Christmas now that I'm an adult. I really thought when I was younger that I would hate it because when you're the big person, you have to buy for everyone else. And yeah...you do, but you also get to show people how much you know about one another. When they open something that was not on their wish list (which by the way I think is weird for an adult, I'm just sayin..) they look at you and say "How did you know?". It lets you know that you did something right.

So after the crazy 3 hours at my grandmother's house, I went home and crashed. Literally. Until 8 p.m. It felt great let me tell you. So the day after Christmas I got up early to start my expedition down to Fayetteville, Georgia to see the beloved boyfriend and his awesome family. By the way, Alex got me a very nice tea-length party dress for Christmas with a necklace and earring combo to go with. I will have to post pictures later after I wear it on New Years!

As far as I know thats it. No clawing, no bad feelings, no stories of bad behavior from the holiday. If I find anything else happened, I will let you know.

Happy New Years!

Oh Questionnaire, oh questionnaire

2008-12-20T14:30:00.000-08:00

As posted on both Karabeth and Karen's blog:

50 random things about you! If you opened this, FILL IT OUT! Learn 50 things about your friends, and let them learn 50 things about you!

1. Do you like cheese? Very much so

2. Have you ever smoked? Yes

3. Do you own a gun? No, but I am considering

4. Do you like listening to Christmas music? When its appropriate, radio stations who play it 24/7 are a little ridiculous

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? No

6. What do you think of hot dogs? Best in Chicago

7. Favorite Christmas song for all time? O Holy Night, especially when my dad sings it.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Green tea

9. Can you do push ups? I think so

10. Who is your favorite Grey's Anatomy Character? I do not watch it and rebel against it

11. What are your favorite pieces of jewelry? My sapphire jewelry

12. Favorite hobby? Crocheting

13. Do you eat "exotic" foods? depends on how experimental it is

14. Do you have A.D.D.? No

15. What one trait do you hate about yourself? I get too involved with other's problems

16. Middle Name? Kaye

17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? 1) When is mom going to get here 2) Will the Gilbert ladies like my dirty santa gift 3) What exactly is Alex getting me that he is so worked up about

18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday? Food, gas, and more food

19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Green tea, sprite, and tea

20. Current worry right now? Bills

21. Current hate? traffic

22. Favorite place to be? the Chapman house in Georgia :) The love that family has for each other cannot be matched by many families

23. How will you bring in the New Year? Downtown Nashville with Alex and the rest of Middle Tennessee probably

24. Where would you like to go? Austria

25. Name three people who will complete this? No one, the readers of my blog already have

26. Do you own flip flops? Yes, many pairs

27. What shirt are you wearing? a shirt that says something about myspace

28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? no, too slippery

29. Can you whistle? Barely

30. Favorite color? Blue, sometimes green

31. Would you be a pirate? No way, I'm a ninja all the way

32. What songs do you sing in the shower? Nothing, not in there long enough

33. Favorite girl's name? Ava

34. Favorite boy's name? Russell

35. What's in your pocket right now? Nothing

36. Last thing that made you laugh? My friend Renee and her crazy life stories

37. Best bed sheets as a child? My barbie sheets

38. Worst injury you've ever had? A certain "bike wreck" when i was 9

39. Do you love where you live? Very much so, the weather suits me

40. How many TVs do you have in your house? one, only need one, its just me. a bedroom is for sleeping by the way

41. Who is your loudest friend? Lindsay

42. How many dogs do you have? One, my Reese the foot-long weiner dog

43. Does someone have a crush on you? Not that i know of

44. Do you get embarrassed easily? Not really

45. What is your favorite book? Angels and Demons

46. What is your favorite candy? Snickers

47. Do you know all the words to the Fresh Prince theme song? if held to it, yes

48. What song do you want played at your funeral? I have no idea

49. What were you doing 12 AM last night? fiercly crocheting Alex's moms scarf

50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? What day is it?

A Christmas Miracle came 2 weeks early!

2008-12-12T09:50:00.000-08:00

IT SNOWED! Here are some pictures from my night spent over at my friend Lindsay's house being I was stuck there. Hope you like!

SNOW WARS!

I am Snowtacus!

A Winter Wonderland

Me and Lindsay, snow buddies!

Its the end of the semester as we know it...

2008-12-11T09:05:00.001-08:00

Today is my last day of classes for the semester! From here on out, the rest of this calendar year will be filled with hanging out with friends I have deserted during my hard studying, celebrating holidays with family, and much much crocheting. Also, up until about next Tuesday I will be checking my student account to check on grades that teachers will refuse to post until the last moment possible. If only they knew that I actually care about what I'm making in my classes!

Some things I hope to also do on my Christmas vacation:
- Ice skating- I consider this a must for the Christmas vacation in lieu of actually living somewhere where it snows regularly in the winter.
- Read- This semester has taken a great toll on my reading. I need to finish some books I have borrowed from my dear friend Sara, and I wouldn't mind reading some Dean Koontz books.
- Spend some quality time in Georgia with Alex's family, and then bring him back here for New Years
- Get some extra work on the side- Yeah I know, this is supposed to be my down time, but I really need the money.
- Start big crochet projects- Like afghans for certain boyfriend's mother's birthday.

I'm hoping all that will keep me busy for the month I will be on vacation. If not, be sure that I will be blogging, so give me some fun ideas to take up my time!

Activism at its finest

2008-12-04T22:08:00.000-08:00

Let me start by saying that I'm usually a pretty peaceful person. Currently in the state of Tennessee, namely the Board of Regents system which runs many state universities including my own MTSU, we are going through a huge budget crisis. To make a long story very short, the Chancellor of the Board of Regents has written a memo to the state of Tennessee to "suggest" a few changes that could take place to reduce this budget crisis.

If you want to read the whole shebang, visit this link.

I will simplify the high points that the group I am joining are rallying against.

Some of Chancellor Mannings "ideas":

"Specifying in the curriculum that students must take a defined number of on-line courses in order to graduate at the baccalaureate and associate levels."

"Designing master's level degrees and work to be taken exclusively on-line."

"Establishing tuition differentials for lower division and upper division courses."

"Establishing tuition differentials for different majors."

"Eliminating or consolidating more programs."

"Reconceptualize faculty workload, moving away from defining it in terms of number of courses taught and toward defining it in terms of the number of students taught."

"Reduce academic work scholarship amounts so available funds can be distributed to more students."

If you didn't pick it out from reading any of these ideas, what Chancellor Manning is proposing is discrimination. Tuition differentials for lower/upper division courses means that those students who are struggling to make ends meet while in in lower division classes such as pre-requisite courses are going to find it that much harder to pay for school when their junior and senior years roll around. If students need a great reason to quit school, there it is laid out for them.
Tuition differentials for different academic majors is definitely discriminatory because it means that a Pre-Med student might have to pay more for school than an English major. If they choose to do this they wont have to worry about eliminating programs, because there will be no more students to participate in these programs. They will be choosing either other schools who do offer those programs for cheaper, or they will just choose an alternate career goal. Does this seem like a life-changing decision to anyone else other than me? Does it seem like we're forcing people to choose between their dreams and their pocketbooks?

I could rant on and on about this subject, which I fully intend to do in a more public manner in the upcoming days. I will be joining SOS (Save Our School), a non-partisan, pan-campus organization of people who would like the Board of Regents to know our stance on the issues. This does affect more than one school, so I hope to be able to spread the word to other Board of Regents schools also.

Have a wonderful activist weekend!

I'm pattern crazy!

2008-11-24T19:21:00.000-08:00

I'm working towards a goal: to collect as many cool, easy crochet patterns as possible to make myself some pretty awesome clothing accessories. I just now printed off a rasta hat pattern (I know, my hair is the farthest thing from having dreadlocks, but its kind of a rage on campus at the moment so I'm drinking the kool-aid).

By the way, I had a wonderful weekend. The boyfriend came in just in time for us to whisk away to Opryland. Here's a picture of the four of us: From the left, Tommy, Lindsay, me, and Alex.

And MTSU did pull through for me with a win, I think 52-14 was the final score. It was a pretty nasty game for North Texas, so Alex and I left at the start of the fourth quarter to go get our promised free wings at Toot's since MTSU scored over 40 points.

So thats my weekend and my current obsession. Got any good simple crochet patterns?

Ready for the cold busy weekend!

2008-11-21T10:25:00.001-08:00

First off I would like to mention I saw snow in Tennessee...in November. Karabeth might know a little something about how rare that is from her experience living in this area. I cant lie, I was wondering if we were going to get a snow day today, not like it would have mattered since I am no longer in public school. MTSU only closes for massive threats to campus made by freshmen who dont want to take midterms. How sad considering if we closed for snow, we would all be happy and youthful, instead of scared.

Second, I would like to say that I have officially lost a disconnected older brother and gained a friend. Brent (or Ed, whatever he goes by these days) stopped by Murfreesboro midway through his trip home from a college around Memphis. He knew that I had been stressed by some things lately that only he could understand, so he arrived very late last night and we stayed up into the wee hours talking about everything going on in our lives. Such a good guy he even treated me to breakfast before he had to head out on the road to home. Im excited that I no longer have to be jealous of all my friends who have relationships with their siblings which is something I struggled with for a loooonnnggg time.

Third, I have a boyfriend arriving today! Alex is coming in for the weekend and I have chocked it full of events. This evening, after I get off work, I will swing by to pick him up and we are rushing up to Opryland Hotel to see the ICE exhibit with my good friend Lindsay and her husband Tommy. Heres a link to the website since I cannot possibly describe how cool this looks . After this escapade, we will then continue to ramble around the Opryland Hotel which is so beautiful this time of year and maybe eat dinner at either the Hotel or Opry Mills mall which has really cool themed restaurants like the Aquarium restaurant. Cant wait!!

Tomorrow we have the MTSU football game versus North Texas which we should win (otherwise I will feel abused from what the temperature says its going to be tomorrow.) I must be vindicated by a win! Tommorow night I am hosting a bonfire to hopefully celebrate the win and get rid of wood that would otherwise just rot beside my house.

So overall, its been a pretty okay start to the weekend and I hope that it continues to go up from here!

Whoohoo for Spring semester

2008-11-14T11:57:00.000-08:00

I wont have a life!

Two Night classes, a distance learning class, and a regular class on monday's and wednesday's, and I am waiting on spots to open up for another management class. All just so I can graduate on time....in May 2010!

If you didnt know already, my major is Business Education, which means I'm going to teach high school business classes. I'm so ready to get out of college and back to high school. It really was one of the best times of my life. I intended to make the most out of high school, and even though I think I could have done some things better, I wouldn't take anything back.

It really bothers me when people say they hated high school, especially those people I went to school with. They didn't to seem to have such a bad time, and really its not that hard to get through high school. I might just be the little positivist, but I really wish some people would get off their high horse and just admit that they had fun. Isn't it amazing how people would rather give you the negative version of things?

I think thats going to be one thing I am going to drill into my students when I'm teaching. Lecture name: HAVE FUN, because the next few years of your life will be spent in the library studying things like Statistics.

That will be the one class that I will have a pop quiz at the end of.

Have a great weekend!

I'm back from Chicago

2008-11-10T08:13:00.000-08:00

It was a really great trip. Here's a pic of me amongst the crowds of people on Michigan Avenue.

So it was a weekend chocked full of sessions on successful entrepreneurship and then going out at night to experience Chicago. I was able to experience all forms of transportation, including the L train, and definitely felt like I was in an ER episode at times. I think we did about everything you could fit into 3 nights.

Im tired, even though I slept all afternoon after getting home. Hopefully I'll get back to normal soon.

What did I do last night?

2008-11-05T08:04:00.000-08:00

I danced. Yeah, thats right I danced. I heard what you said Miss Karabeth and I thought of better things to do than watch tv. I knew how it was going to turn out and I was not about to stew on it in my recliner (which I eventually passed out in from exhaustion).

So I put on my work out shorts, pulled on my comfy socks and put in some old mix cd's I made when I was 13. I turned all the lights off and lit all my candles. I danced til I was out of breath, sat for a minute, then got back up and danced some more.

I think I had a positive election night. Obviously I had tired myself out so much that I woke up at 1:30 am in my recliner, a victim of sleep after sitting down to rest and check in to see the news for a minute.

I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Tonight I get to pack and get ready for my voyage to Chicago. Maybe I'll need another dance party before I go to sleep tonight.

Chicago here I come!

An Email I received...

2008-11-04T09:57:00.000-08:00

*Note- This was an email I received from a very good friend who has of late turned to the Democratic party. I do not hold it against her because she has her reasons, and she is not as liberal as this email. I just thought I would comment on some things because some people do actually believe in all this. Scary.*

Dear Red States:
>
> If you manage to steal this election too we've decided
> we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and
> we're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you
> aren't aware, that includes California, Hawaii, Oregon,
> Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and
> all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial
> to the nation, and especially to the people of the new
> country of New California.
>
>
> To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the
> slave states. We get stem cell research and the best
> beaches. We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood.
>
>
> We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
>
>
> We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.
>
> We get 85% of America's venture capital and
> entrepreneurs. You get Alabama.
>
>
> We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the
> red states pay their fair share.
>
>
> Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22% lower than the
> Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy
> families.
> You get a bunch of single moms.
>
>
>
> Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice
> and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens
> back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask
> your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently
> willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they
> don't care if you don't show pictures of their
> children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success
> in Iraq , and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not
> willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.
>
>
>
> With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of
> 80% of the country's fresh water, more than 90% of the
> pineapple and lettuce, 92% of the nation's fresh fruit,
> 95% of America's quality wines, 90% of all cheese, 90%
> of the high tech industry, 95% of the corn and soybeans
> (thanks Iowa!), most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all
> living
> redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven
> Sister
> schools plus Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.
>
>
>
> With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to
> cope with 88% of all obese Americans (and their projected
> health care costs), 92% of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100%
> of the tornadoes, 90% of the hurricanes, 99% of all
> Southern
> Baptists, virtually 100% of all televangelists, Rush
> Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University
> of Georgia.
>
>
> We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.
>
> Additionally, 38% of those in the Red states believe Jonah
> was actually swallowed by a whale, 62% believe life is
> sacred unless we're discussing the war, the death
> penalty or gun laws, 44% say that evolution is only a
> theory, 53% that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61% of you
> crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals
> then we lefties.
>
>
>
> Peace out,
>
> --Blue States
>

1) We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood- I have a pro-life stance on abortion as long as they can assure me that there will not be "back alley abortions" happening and thus ruining the lives of those mothers even further. Stem cells don't only come from aborted babies and they can't argue with me on that, I've taken a human anatomy class.
- They get a landmark that people can't even fully utilize anymore. And by the way, I enjoy Dollywood.

2)Additionally, 38% of those in the Red states believe Jonah
> was actually swallowed by a whale, 62% believe life is
> sacred unless we're discussing the war, the death
> penalty or gun laws, 44% say that evolution is only a
> theory, 53% that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61% of you
> crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals
> then we lefties.

- Life is sacred, and we don't believe soldiers lives arent sacred. It is their choice whether or not to join the armed forces, they know their sacrifice. This is making it seem like being in the armed forces is suicide.

- Gun laws are in place because of the 2nd amendment. I agree in that maybe normal households shouldnt be able to own an AK-47, but I have a right to defend my home when armed robbers break in. And by the way, if someone is crazy enough to break into a home to take things, I should be "crazy" enough to believe that they're armed and dangerous.

-Based on the fact that this person writing this message called people "crazy bastards" I do believe I have higher morals than that "leftie". I don't think that I have ever accused someone of having lower morals, but when you know something is wrong, you should fight against it, not make an excuse for it.

Just thought you would like to know my stance on this email. I may not have something to say for everything, but I did put my thoughts on those issues that hit me wrong.

Happy Voting Day!

Yay for the short week!

2008-11-03T10:57:00.000-08:00

I am very excited for my Chicago trip on Thursday. Other than Atlanta, this is my first adventure in to a large city, and I'm ready to experience things.

I'm ready to:
Ride in a cab (except I hope its not that expensive)
ride the train
eat a true Chicago pizza
walk down Michigan Ave, and try not to buy anything
try to get to the top of the Sears tower
maybe take in a Blues club
Have a great time

So thats my to-do list. Any suggestions?

Tagged by Karabeth

2008-10-31T09:16:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-31T07:41:00.000-07:00

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!

Im in the spirit, for now...

2008-10-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

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!

Are we really there yet?

2008-10-27T11:24:00.001-07:00

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.

Long Time, No Blog

2008-10-24T09:02:00.001-07:00

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.

My Bucket List

2008-07-15T19:58:00.000-07:00

Here is my bucket list of things I want to do before I graduate college:

1) Go to an MTSU football road trip.
2) Go somewhere on Spring or Fall Break, preferably to a beach.
3) Roadtrip (this can go with either of the previous two entries or be a separate occasion).
4) Make all A's in a semester
5) Work on a Habitat for Humanity house
6) Attend an SEC game, preferably a UGA game.
7) Join another organization on campus
8) Take my Dad to New York at Christmas time
9) Take my Mom to San Francisco
10) Take my Grandmother to see her sister in Missouri

Thats about it. That should keep me busy for the next 2 years.

Long time...no blog

2008-07-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in while due to life. Work, taking a summer class, and staying close to my love who will soon leave me here in Murfreesboro have all been high priority.
I only work afternoons at the Career Center, but I have learned so much this summer. I am now critiquing all resumes that are posted on our job database, so that keeps me busy for most of the time I am in the office. I am still helping the Mass Comm career coordinator for a few hours every week, and I love my office over there also.
There's something I enjoy about knowing that what I'm doing is helping someone else, especially when it comes to their career. If I end up not wanting to teach after I get done with my student teaching semester, I will most likely end up persuing a career in human resources.
I am now officially a junior so that means I only have two more years of college! Sure, this was supposed to be my senior year, but it takes a little bit longer for me to pick up on stuff, so I think I'm doing just fine.
As far as Alex, what can I say? He's graduated, I'm not. His family lives in Georgia, mine is all right here. We are a couple that is being torn apart by money, and that just sucks. But I will have to write about all this later.

What did I do on Spring Break?

2008-03-05T17:32:00.000-08:00

I cut all my hair off

So I got up Monday morning wanting a change. And I sure did get one that day when I went to the salon. I went through the books, picked out a pixie cut, and you see the results.

Hope you like!

Allyson

Spring Break, aka just another week in the Boro

2008-03-02T19:29:00.000-08:00

I'm one of those boring people who never go anywhere exotic on any kind of break from school. Alot of that is due to finances, but also its due to me working on these breaks. Granted, with Alex's family living in GA, I have been able to escape there over Christmas break, and hope to do it again at the end of this week. My big news is that I've been accepted into a program that places people my age with camps around the nation, and I am almost guaranteed to be going out West. I'm also guaranteed to be gone at least 8 weeks, which will be just enough time for things to change here in the Boro so I will feel refreshed getting back.

I thought I was really going to miss Alex badly, but I feel like I have too much to do this week to sit around and think about missing him. Provided I get to talk to him once a day, I should be satisfied. I would really love to get down there just to get away from Tennessee.

Anyways, I will write in sooner next time.

It's all about a house.

2008-02-14T15:08:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in a while and its mostly because I haven't felt the need to. My life, as in, me myself and I, has been great. Except for as of late things have started to kind of fall apart. Ive known for a while now that my parents were eventually getting a divorce. What I didn't expect was they were deciding to sell the only house I have ever really lived at. It's not much of a house, but for my whole life it has been my home. I have moved alot of my stuff out of it, but I knew if I ever really needed to, I could always move home. I knew this house, I painted most of the rooms in this house, I built the back porch with my dad when I was 14. I broke my leg when my dad dropped me in the kitchen when I was 14 months old. I now have to start the process of cleaning out closets, calling my brother to tell him to come get the stuff he left when he moved out 10 years ago, crying when I find things that meant so much to me as a child. I have to make sure my dad gets his things, and mom gets her things. I need to find things to save for my nephew and my future children. I have to make sure my heart doesn't get left with the house when I lock the door behind me for the last time.
I will be found for the next few months wondering around my yard, reminiscing of days when I would dig mud pits, climb trees, chase birds, and fall down to stare at the sky. I will spend my nights in the garage, going through storage bins holding items from my childhood that didn't make it back into my room after I "remodeled" it when I was 13. I will sit on my front porch and read a book for the last time, much like I did the last 15 summers of my life. I will sit on my back porch and cry like I did the times I had a dog run away, or my heart broken by a boy, and think how easy those things were to get over, and how this might take a few more days.
This home has meant alot for me. I honestly can't tell you how I'm going to get over this. 614 Flat Rock Road will be my home until I buy one of my own for me and my family. Then I will pass the love of a home onto my children, so they will some day appreciate the place they live.

What does your home mean to you?