A Piece of Pie

Celebrations

2012-01-09T14:00:00.000-05:00

Much has gone on since I last blogged. Here's the DL.

We celebrated Thanksgiving.

In December, I passed my tests so that I can become a stock broker.

I became licensed just last week! (Yay)

We celebrated Geoffrey's birthday the weekend before Christmas.

I got him a camping stove.

Then we celebrated Christmas.

I got some wonderful things.

We made some great memories.

The day after Christmas, we made the trek to Florida.

We enjoyed paddling around in our canal.

By "enjoyed," I mean that I was making those deep breath noises where you suck air in really fast when you think you're about to die... the whole time. I'd say that I get a little panicking in wobbly boats in shallow, alligator-filled canals. I'd also say that I am dramatic about it.

While in Florida, Geo and I drove to Disney World one day.

I loved it! I hadn't been since middle school. Lots had changed!

After Florida, we went to Auburn to visit my sweet Grandmother, Diddie and her husband Andy.

Geoffrey and Adam got in the boat in her pond.

Geo and Adam had the bright idea to walk around the pond to explore. Geo led, then I followed, with Mary and Adam behind me. Then I stepped in this.

It was completely covered and camouflaged with leaves until I stepped in it (so it wasn't me being clumsy).

Suddenly I dropped down into this hole. And by dropped down, I mean my entire left leg was down there, up to my hip!! My other leg was out of the hole so I was kind of doing the splits.

Not sure if this would be a normal first reaction, but not knowing why in the world there would be a hole that deep in the middle of the woods in Alabama, I thought it was a mine that was going to blow my leg off. You would not believe how fast I pulled my leg up out of there! It hurt my wrists because I pushed up so hard on them trying to get out of the hole.

Mary and Adam couldn't stop laughing since they saw it happen, I was completely shocked, and Geoffrey was in front so he didn't have any idea what happened.

I am thankful that it wasn't a mine, and I now know that sometimes stumps rot out and leave deep holes in the ground. If that ever happens to you- you'll know it's not a mine!

We came home from Auburn and celebrated the New Year.

I met reality and went back to work.

Work has been really fun since I've gotten my license and started to do more exciting things. I can now have my own clients!

I just got home from visiting Geoffrey in Nashville.

We celebrated my birthday with a nice dinner at the Opryland hotel one night

and with his parents one night at Bucca. Both nights were great!

I'm not ready to be 23 yet- 2 more days of being 22 left! I'm going to live it up!

Working World

2011-11-23T16:11:00.001-05:00

It's been a while! I haven't really known what to blog about lately.

The working world puts a damper on my blogging because I pretty much go to work and come home every day, and I don't have so much time to procrastinate and blog like I used to.

I went to Florida for fall break a couple of weeks ago. My cousin Emily and her two friends, Sarah and Kelly went, and my mom and me. We watched the entire season one of Friday Night Lights in three days, and I loved every minute of it.

We took some fun/funny pictures one day when a storm was blowing in and the winds were crazy.

I got back to work and hit the ground running so I could get caught up to stay on track for studying for my Series 7 licensing exam... And that has defined my life since then. I am taking a cram course next week and will then be ready to take the exam the following Monday. (Yay!) I'm ready to have this over!

I am moving out of my parents house to a house next door with my cousin Crosby. I'm excited about that because it will be fun living with her but I can still be close to my parents, and I'll probably still be at home a lot. I'll have the best of both worlds!

I wish I had a cool/fun/exciting/funny story to tell you, but I can't think of one, so I'll keep this one short.

I'll be thinking for next time!

Going to the Office

2011-10-12T12:36:00.002-04:00

I am a part of the real working world now. So far, so good!

I'm working for my uncle as his assistant stock broker, learning everything I can from him and from my two huge books for the General Securities Representative Exam (Series 7) and for the Uniform Combined State Law Exam (Series 66). So pretty much, I'll be going to work for the first couple of months to study for these exams so that I can get licensed and can then do my job and eventually do what he does!

Anyways, it's been an adjustment to go from a college student to unemployed/make-my-own-schedule to a 40 hour work week, but it hasn't been too bad as long as I get in bed a little earlier than I used to.

I get my own office, which has probably been the most exciting part, besides of course, learning about municipal debt characteristics.

The decorating is coming slowly but surely. I still have a little ways to go. I also love having an office instead of the way college was, having to bring your stuff with you everywhere you do. It's nice to go to the office and already have everything you need!

My lunch/study break is up, so I'll blog later.

My Life in Pictures (And Captions)

2011-09-14T22:54:00.005-04:00

Life on the Mountain is so different from Life in College. But it's good!

Crosby and I worked at the barn lot for days trying to clean up the brush (shown behind the dump truck).

We inspired other people in the family to help us clean up.

These two adorable four-year-olds (my cousins) play in my yard at least once a day.

We take Shelby most places, and we've tried to get creative with the car seat thing. My thoughts were that all a car seat did was give her a few extra inches-just like the arm rest would do! Shelby didn't buy it.

It rained and rained and rained... And I had to get the eggs (Dad left town because of the rain).

I work at Poppy Flower Shop and got to make this!

Cooking classes were so fun with Crosby...

And the next night we practiced our cooking.

This is tiramisu that we learned at cooking class.
I forgot half the brandy and rum and it was much better than normal.

Donkeys escaped after the rainstorm because the tree was down on the fence... and so a drizzly morning walk turned into an hour long chase/enticement of the donkeys. Just another day... Good thing I didn't have plans that day.

I get to watch Laurel Anne and Shelby at gymnastics.

I get to visit Geoffrey for UT football games.

I also get to babysit Kaden any time that I want.

Crosby got a draft horse tonight that is HUGE. She is so gentle and sweet but her size (1700 pounds and her shoulders are 6 feet tall) is intimidating to say the least. I'll be waiting a while before I jump on. At this point, I'm great with looking at her and petting her.

Haley the horse could barely fit in the barn stall.

And so, that's my exciting life on the mountain. It's a very different kind of exciting compared to college exciting, but it's good. Every day is different. And I have a feeling this horse is going to keep it interesting.

Procedures, Burns, and To-do's

2011-09-04T23:41:00.000-04:00

I have finally, after two months, had all of my abnormal cancerous cells removed! Two procedures, four numbing shots (the worst part) and twelve stitches later, I have no worries, and I heard Friday that the results came back clear. Dr. Fennewald got it all out. I knew he had gotten it all out because I saw the huge amount of skin he took out of my body (which he so kindly put in front of my face). I figure that I probably lost at least an ounce of weight from that. (Looking on the bright side!)

I burnt my leg on an exhaust pipe yesterday AGAIN. I'm going to have to start waiting to get stuff from my trunk for at least an hour after I get out of my car. I just don't learn/retain.

I also burnt myself last week on a metal spoon that had been touching the gas flame on the eye of the stove. Mom had moved the spoon out of the flame by touching the other end of the spoon, and set it down on the counter, and then my arm brushed against the hot end of spoon, and I was SO surprised that a spoon was so hot, and mom was too! I think I screamed. We both heard my arm make a legit sizzle noise. I didn't know that happened in real life.

And so, I burnt my arm... not on a hot cookie sheet, or on the oven, or even a plate from the microwave... but on a spoon.

Anyways, I have a pretty low key week planned this week. (Not that it really takes any planning to plan nothing.) I tried planning already, and then I realized that it was dumb. I made this as I was trying to plan what I'd do after work last week:

My one plan for this week is that on Tuesday evening, Crosby and I are taking an Italian cooking class that we are really excited about! We'll find other things to do, I'm sure. We've thought about maybe painting some furniture or getting a horse or puppy for Crosby or something like that. We'll also visit sweet, tiny baby Preston, my little 2 week old cousin who lives right next door to me.

I'm still waiting to hear back from a company that I've been interviewing with. They keep calling and saying that it will be a couple of more weeks before they decide, but that I'm still on their radar, so that's good I guess... We will see!

I'll just keep trying to get my crazy, busy life organized by making detailed to-do lists like the above...

If you need any random jobs done, let me know. I'd be happy to help!

PS-- Has anyone else seen the new "scribe"tool on blogger? It's a little pencil icon on the top of a new post that you can click on and it guesses what word that you will type next. It's actually correct a lot of the time! If you have a blog, try it. It's amazing how smart technology is!

Going to LAX... Or not

2011-08-30T00:47:00.000-04:00

I got the most exciting email today from Karen Stien. (I've never heard of her in my life). It was a forwarded email from delta.com that said Melissa P. has a flight booked from ATL to LAX on November 22 and returning on November 25, already paid by this same stranger's credit card.

Pretty sweet deal!

I am sure this person just got the wrong email address and forwarded it to the wrong Melissa P. since my email address is mmp****2@gmail.com, but it's odd that 1) the ticket had my same exact name, first and last, even though my full name isn't in my email address, and 2) that it is to/from the Atlanta airport, which is where I would normally fly out from.

I could technically, maybe, show up to the airport with my Melissa P. picture identification and get on that flight since I have the confirmation number and all... but I might be sitting next to an angry stranger who bought a ticket for a friend who wasn't allowed on.

I'd feel pretty bad about that, and I don't want to make national news or something for making a scene in an airplane.

This gives me a flash back to tonight... getting thrown out of a movie theater (for "being in the wrong auditorium; this auditorium is for VIP only"). The sign outside the door said "The Help 6:45", so we went in and cozied up in our seats. I didn't know to look for a VIP sign. I didn't know there was such a thing as a VIP movie for a film that came out two weeks ago, now showing on a Monday night at 6:45. But apparently there is. And so it was obvious to all the VIP's that we were not VIP's, so we were kicked out to an empty theater auditorium way on down the hall.

So my point is, getting up out of the "VIP" seats tonight in the dark movie theater by the movie theater woman yelling at Crosby and me in ebonics was bad enough; I don't want to get kicked out of an airplane by a US marshall in broad daylight.

I won't be flying for Thanksgiving! Tennessee is great with me... I would much rather stay home.

Where did July go?

2011-08-10T13:42:00.002-04:00

I'm skipping two jam-packed weeks and about 3 laid-back weeks of my life because I don't know where to start on them so I keep procrastinating on blogging. Camp Coker Creek with Geoffrey's church was great, and so was family vacation at Fripp Island with my whole family.

My 8th grade girls cabin at camp.

The dreaded group picture on a stranger's stairs at Fripp.

I'll come back to those weeks in further detail later when I don't feel like procrastinating.

I was around large crowds of people for an extended period of time, so in the weeks following I've enjoyed laying low. Not that I didn't absolutely love every minute of the crowds, a bunk bed and an extremely messy room (both weeks at Fripp and Coker Creek) gets a little old after two weeks.

And so I came home and have been chilling... Babysitting some, cooking dinner at night, cleaning my room out, shopping for and celebrating mom's birthday, having another pre-cancerous mole surgery, and interviewing for jobs.

Mom and I made the best tomato tart from Southern Living. It was a puff pastry rolled out, topped with feta, mozzarella, and tomatoes and fresh herbs from the garden. We also made some jalapeno poppers (jalapenos cut in half and topped with cream cheese, wrapped in bacon-- super healthy), which I burnt, but they were still good. Mom and Dad have made some delicious salsa with the tomatoes from the garden, and we have had lots of cucumber and tomato salad with feta. It's been a good eating few weeks!

I've cleaned my room out for the third time since April, and I think I've finally gotten it clean. Every time I clean, I take out about 2 trash bags of stuff or more, and the next time I do it, I wonder how I missed this stuff the last time I did it. But I think that I've finally got it all, and it feels so good! I can walk around my room without a problem!

I've gotten to babysit some of the cutest kids (two boys, 10 and 7). We went roller skating, playground playing, to movies, and of course took too many trips to McDonald's. I think I gained weight because of their love of McDonald's!

The moles that I got taken off and blogged about, they ended up having pre-cancerous cells in them so I got one taken out two weeks ago and got the SEVEN stitches out today. I've got a nice scar on my stomach now, but it's much better than cancer! I am so happy to get the stitches out, and now I just have to wait for August 31 when I get the next spot taken out.

I have a final interview with a company tomorrow. It's between me and another candidate, and I have to do a 5-10 minute presentation about what my first 90 days in the job will look like, and I am freaking out about it. I am SO nervous.

I'm just praying that God would show me very clearly where He wants me.

That's pretty much it for these past few weeks. Hope to update more often, starting this week!

Fight or Flight?

2011-07-09T12:48:00.004-04:00

I now know what fight or flight response is. I remember learning about it in anatomy class in the 11th grade but I didn't really know what Mrs. Crowder was talking about. But now I do. I experienced it the night that I did my last blog (two days ago) about my hatred of all things medical (ironic).

Mary Sessions, Mom and I went up to Tim's Ford Lake about an hour and a half away to our cousin's lake house to meet my sister Laura, Aunt Dixie, Uncle Ken, and cousins Will and Claire. We got there at about 7:30 expecting dinner to be ready, but Laura was standing at the oven about to put the lasagna in when we got there, not realizing that it took 1 hour and 40 minutes to cook. We gave her a hard time about it, but we were really okay with waiting to eat dinner at 9:15.

We decided to go on an evening boat ride in order to forget our growling stomachs. It was the perfect time of night, not too hot, with the sun setting in the clouds. We stayed out there until about 9:10 (perfect timing for the lasagna).

When we came back in to dock, Mary Sessions was getting off the boat to tie it up, and she got off where a pole was that was holding up the dock, so her foot hit the pole instead of the dock, along with the side of her face. Then we think she fell backwards and hit the boat (because we can't figure out how the back of her head was bleeding). Then she fell forwards again and hit the dock with her legs off the dock, but top on the dock.

I don't remember getting off the boat or anything, I just remember knowing that she was unconscious and holding on to her with everything I could because she was falling into the lake. Then my marine Uncle Ken yelled, "DO NOT LET HER FALL INTO THE WATER!" I was having a hard time keeping her up. And then my mom was there holding onto her too, and then Uncle Ken was there, and he was able to pull her up onto the dock. Then I was yelling to call 911, and so was he. Laura was freaking out because couldn't find her phone (which was in her pocket) because she was panicking, but Aunt Dixie was already on the line with them. I think that all happened in about a minute.

That was my fight response, then I had a flight response. I had to get away from the scene because I knew the marine could do it better than anything I could, and I was completely freaking out seeing Mary Sessions laying there. I went out and up a few stairs towards the house and had my hands lifted praying out loud to Jesus to save her life as she was having a seizure. Laura and Aunt Dixie were praying out loud over her, and Mom was whispering to her, while Uncle Ken was putting her on her side and holding her steady. It was a nightmare scene, but I kept my arms lifted, and for a brief second wondered if any of the many neighbors thought I was a freak if they couldn't see what was going on down at the dock, but I really didn't care at the moment.

I went to the top of the driveway to wait for the ambulance. I also yelled to an elderly neighbor to see if he knew of a doctor around, but he didn't answer.

Mary Sessions woke up and the first thing she said was, "I feel better." It was a relief to everyone! She said she couldn't figure out where she was, and she was really fuzzy, telling Uncle Ken that the president is George W. Bush, then laughing because she knew that was wrong. She could move, though Uncle Ken made sure that she not move anything at all.

And after what seemed like ages, a good 20 minutes, the ambulance arrived. I led the EMTs down there, and they asked her the president, and this time she got it right! Go Mary! I crossed my fingers as it took her a while to remember the year and month, but she got them right.

They said she needed to be life flighted to a trauma center because she had both a seizure and was unconscious. Apparently just because someone is talking doesn't mean that there isn't a brain injury, so they wanted her to be flown to Vanderbilt, Huntsville, or Chattanooga, and my mom begged for Chattanooga so my dad could be at the hospital when she got there.

Six men carried Mary Sessions up on a board about 50 stairs to the ambulance. We followed the ambulance to the place where Life Force came to see her off, but then the police wouldn't let us close. There were so many people there! Four sheriff suburbans, a couple police cars, and what looked like the entire volunteer fire department, and of course the helicopter!

Mary Sessions got a 27 minute ride on a hard board in a neck brace to Erlanger. Laura, Mom and I got a hour and a half car drive as we sweated bullets in two separate cars (brave Mom alone, Laura and I in another car). to Erlanger. Dad got to Erlanger an hour before Mary did because he wanted to make sure he was there. When we arrived, Aunt Anne G, Laura's small group leader, our two pastors, Laura Leatherwood and her brother Wade and a few of Laura's friends were there waiting and praying for Mary.

A very cute doctor (says Laura) met Mary at the helicopter and got her to her room to check her out. They only let us see her two at a time and I missed the doctor every time I was back there. I just wanted to see what everyone was talking about.

Dad was sure to take a pic of her on
his camera phone. She was even smiling
in a neck brace!

The doctor had very good reports and let Mary walk out of the hospital barefooted just 3 hours after she had arrived. Our family got home at 2 am after being stopped by a policewoman for Dad running a red light... After Mary intentionally made a very sickly face and Mom explained the story, the policewoman let them go without proof of insurance, but questioning if Dad was in a condition to drive safely.

I was so happy that the whole family was home that night! I couldn't have even dreamed that would happen when I was praying over the dock just five hours earlier.

Mom and I had trouble sleeping after all that, even though she was alright. I might have gotten an hour of sleep. I think I was still recovering from the fight or flight response adrenaline or something. I had to start taking every thought captive and Philippians 4:8-ing every thought like Paulette always told us to do ("Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things"). I had to make myself stop what-if-ing everything... And remember that Mary Sessions is great and anyways, God has it all under His control, and He loves her more than any of us do.

Mary Sessions has had lots of visitors, sweet texts, cards, flowers and candy. I am so thankful that she is completely okay, though she is still taking strong pain medicine for her headaches and very sore muscles from hitting things and having a seizure. To me, she's much much better than she could be. It's kind of embarrassing that I'm sore too, though not nearly as bad, from trying to pull her out of the lake. I need to work on my arms and legs a little.

I remember praying that God's Will be done, and that I believed with my all that God could heal her completely, but I didn't even imagine that she would be fine and out of the hospital in 5 hours. This verse is it exactly:

"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us,

to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church

and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen."

Ephesians 3:20-21

The Band-Aid

2011-07-07T15:20:00.002-04:00

Tuesday morning I had a dermatologist check up appointment. Dr. Fenn looked at my skin and moles, and he found two moles that looked suspicious, so he ended up telling me that he needed to take biopsies on them. I was fine with that until the nurse led me into another room instead of leaving. You see, I thought that I would come in another day with my mom to have them taken off, but Dr. Fenn wanted to do it immediately.

I frantically told the nurse that my mother wasn't there and I was alone and had to drive myself home, but she just said that it was okay. That didn't work. Then I told her that I am not good with needles and with things like this, I get queasy sometimes, and I've never had a mole removed. She said that it would be okay. (Not the reactions I was looking for.) And so, I just told her I did NOT want to look at the needle or see ANYTHING that they were doing. And she said, of course, that it would be okay.

And so she gave me the numbing shots. I closed my eyes and probably made weird faces. She gave me the one on my upper abdomen first, then the one on my back which hurt way more. He then razored them off and I didn't even know he was doing it except for the pressure.... Then came the worst part. The band-aid.

Ever since I was a child, I've hated band-aids. I've always hated blood and needles and casts and such. I would scream if someone came around me with a cast on or with any limb amputated. My extreme hatred of anything medically related was over the top. When I'd get a bloody knee, I'd be more upset because I had to put a band-aid on it and I knew that it was going to hurt when I had to pull it off.

I've improved since then. I got shots for Haiti last year all alone, and I got these numbing shots alone, though I did make some painful noises and faces. I can now help other people who get boo-boos and need band-aids. I can be around people with casts and not cry. I've come a long way, but the band-aids still get to me. Especially when I know they are going to hurt!

You see, at our house we have these intense water-proof band-aids. They are good in theory... until you put them on! They are the stickiest things I've ever seen. It's like those heart monitor stickies that they put on you when you get put to sleep for surgery. Has anyone else ever woken up when they haven't taken them off and suffered through the pain of ripping them off?

Well, these band-aids are like that! And they are painful to get off. It's hard to get them off because they stick so closely to the skin, you have to use your fingernails to peel it up. I have to change two band-aids twice a day, so I have to do it a lot.

To sum it up, the band-aids have caused me more stress and worry than the procedure itself ever did.

Pray that the biopsy comes back with good results (no cancer) so that I won't have to have another worse procedure where they take out more. Skin cancer runs in our family and I have decided to wear more sunscreen so I don't have to wear more band-aids!

The End of the Trip

2011-06-28T13:42:00.000-04:00

Today we came to a different hotel, but in the same city of Sorrento. The new hotel, Johanna Park Hotel is slightly outside of the city and has a shuttle to the city. They were nice enough to bring their shuttle to pick us up at our last hotel so we didn't have to carry the luggage everywhere. However, their "shuttle" looked like this. It was interesting fitting four people with four big bags into this car.

We had to carry two suitcases on top of us in the car. My suitcase wasn't small...

So anyways, our shuttle driver told us that we just absolutely had to go to Positano, a neighboring city about 30 minutes away by SITA bus. He said the bus ticket was only 7,20 euro round-trip, and there was a beach there and it was gorgeous. We had been wanting to go anyways, so we decided to do it. The bus picked us up right outside of the hotel, and we packed in through the middle door of the bus. There were already about 20 people standing in the aisle of the coach bus, so we joined them standing in the stairs for the middle door of the bus. Before this, I thought that I was becoming used to the smelly people over there. But no... The man next to us smelled so badly that I gagged a few times. He was up against me because there was no room and he had his arms up holding onto the rails. All four of us got motion sickness I think, and then we started going on these cliffs.

The last 20 minutes of the drive was on a road like this, with the bus driver gassing it on the straight parts and going way too fast on the sharp curves with the bus tilting, looking like it was going to flip. Some say the drive was beautiful, I say the drive almost made me have my first ever anxiety attack, and I'm used to driving near cliffs on a mountain. Nonetheless, we made it there safely.

We loved Positano. It's an adorable, colorful city on a hill/cliff with the beach at the bottom. There are cute shops, lots of boats, and many tourists. The houses and restaurants are all stacked on top of one another on the hill. It was really neat and had tons of steps.

The beach was made of pebbles instead of sand, which brought a nice twist to it. I liked lying on the pebbles, but I didn't like walking on them because they got into my shoes and were super hot, as they were grayish-black.

After a nice day of laying out and reading, I began to get nervous about the drive home, but I was comforted by the fact that most of the time, we would not be on the same side of the road as the cliff because we'd be in the opposite lane. We waited about an hour for the bus to come, and when we got on, there was just about no room for us.

The driver made Aunt Anne G. stand in the stair well in the front of the bus, right next to him, and he made her hold on to the front rail with two hands. She kind of looked like she thought she was driving or something. We couldn't stop laughing about it because she was also nervous about the ride, and there was no way she could avoid looking at the scary road unless she closed her eyes. I was the first person standing in the aisle, right behind Anne G. and the driver, also ironic because I could see everything and would be the first person through the windshield if anything happened.

But this time, we had a good bus driver who beeped before each blind turn so that oncoming cars wouldn't hit us, and he went slow around curves. He couldn't understand English and was very serious about driving, but sometimes I threw out the word "Bueno" just so he knew I approved and would keep up the caution.

We went up part of a mountain, and then got to the top and began going down. I watched carefully as the driver shift into second gear, and I was glad to see this in case the brakes went out. A few minutes later as we were on the decline, the driver sniffed and looked around. Then Anne G. sniffed and said, "Do you smell the brakes?" I shrugged. Then the driver sniffed, looked in his rear mirror, and started cursing in English. I thought he was mad at Anne G for saying his brakes were out, but he slammed on the brakes, opened the doors, and pushed me and Anne G out the door (without my purse with wallet and passport) before grabbing the fire extinguisher.

I quickly noticed smoke coming out the back of the bus and freaked out about it blowing up and my passport being in there. I was in a bind because I know you're never supposed to go back into a fire, but I thought I'd be stuck there without the passport so I started yelling at the people who were rushing out of the bus to grab my bag. Someone did, and I couldn't tell you the first thing about what the person looked like, I just ran away from the bus in case of an explosion.

We called our hotel shuttle to pick us up because I did not want to ride another bus the rest of the way down the mountain, and we knew that our hotel owner would be nice enough to send someone to get us. A man came and got us in a different "shuttle."

I was just thankful it wasn't a bus!

So anyways, we got to the hotel and took hot baths and we to sleep soon after so that we could wake up at 5 the next morning for a bus to Rome (which never came). We ended up having to ride a train at 7:50 and then finally making it to Rome by 2 in the afternoon. It was okay though, and I was secretly glad that it was a train instead of a bus, even if it took an extra 4 hours.

In front of the Trevi fountain

We spent the rest of the day in Rome seeing the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain, shopping, eating, and searching for good gelato. It was a nice day with a nice hotel and a nice dinner and amazing gelato from a place called Venchi.

Our last Italian dinner

The next morning we were up and at'em and ready to come home! It was a wonderful trip, but by the end I was ready to come home to the US and stop worrying about the conversion rate between dollars to euros (one euro is about $1.50, so it's terrible). Uncle Paul picked us up in a very roomy Sequoyah SUV, and I thought, this is why I love being home... There is space!

Ponza, Naples, and an Allergic Reaction

2011-06-24T11:18:00.000-04:00

We are in Sorrento now! It's a cute little town south of Naples on the Amalfi Coast. It has beautiful views of the ocean and is very charming. We love our hotel, too! It is one of the cheapest, yet it still has character. It's family-run and has amazing breakfast. We have been in town today, riding a train around and walking the streets. We stopped to get gelato at a famous place that many famous people have visited. It was delicious until Meredith started having an allergic reaction. We all kind of panicked. She is allergic to nuts, so she got mint chocolate chip and coffee ice cream, but apparently nuts got in the gelato and her throat started swelling before she finished the cone. I had to help her out and finish the cone as we sprint-walked to find a "pharmacia"where the Benadryl was 15 Eu ($21), and so we decided to try to find our hotel to get her Benadryl from home. I'm pretty sure we were all saying silent prayers as we sweated our way home from being hot as well as nervous.

Meredith skyped her mom, and decided she didn't need a hospital and just took an antihistamine and is now sleeping. We decided it was the perfect time for an afternoon siesta because it's so hot outside and we are tired from yesterday....

YESTERDAY was crazy.

We began on the tiny island of Ponza on the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Southern Italy. It was beautiful and calm and peaceful. We felt like we knew just about everyone on the island--the hotel workers, hotel owner, waiter, restaurant owner next door, beach worker, bus driver... Everyone was so friendly and helpful, even though most did not know English. We did a lot of acting, mostly acting out swimming because that was the easiest way to say we were going to the beautiful beach that was just about 300 stairs down from our hotel.

It was well-worth the walk, but it was a long walk down.

This was the only sandy beach that we went to. We loved it! The boulder beaches were pretty but the rocks weren't so comfy. We had the best weather we could've asked for.

We stayed in Ponza for just 2 nights before moving on. It was perfect for relaxing after Barcelona, and we were all so glad that we took the time to go over there. (It was a beautiful 3 hour ferry ride away.)

Anyways, we left our sweet hotel, Hotel Ornensia, and crammed our suitcases onto Ponza's public bus where the very friendly bus driver sang to us in Italian. Then we relaxed on the cargo ferry for three hours as we traveled to Formia where we planned catch a train to Naples. After dragging the luggage up about 50 stairs and asking about 6 people for directions to the station, we found it. The crowded (rush hour) train scared all of us because of the rough crowd on board. We were stressed because we couldn't find seats where our luggage would fit, and there were some creepy men in the section by the door where we had to stand with our luggage.

Four seats finally cleared out for Meredith, Mary, and me. They got into the four seats facing each other, then we stacked four bags on top and around us. People stared, but we were happy to be seated. Anne G sat across the aisle from us where she met a middle-aged, Russian woman, who when we asked where she was from, replied with, "How do I look from?" After some clarification, we figured out that she meant, "Where do I look like I'm from?" Her English was better than our Russian, so I'm not making fun, but it was awkward.

So Ulka, the Russian lady, talked to Anne G the entire rest of the time and she was going to Sorrento as well. So when we got off the train, she ended up "clinging" to us and throwing everything into confusion. The train from Naples to Sorrento was on strike, so she told us that we were going to split a hotel and all stay in one room and then come to Sorrento the next day. She started bossing us around and we really didn't like it, so we had to tell her that we were going to go ahead and come to Sorrento without her. Meanwhile, taxi drivers were mobbing us trying to get us to ride in their cars for way too much money, and we didn't know what to do.

We arrived safely at our quaint hotel at about 8 or 9 after an hour drive. I was so stressed by that time that we couldn't decide what to eat for dinner, so the waiter ordered a pizza for me. (And it turned out to be great!)

The cute town has this plant everywhere. I think it's the same kind of plant that the Streets
gave me last summer. Wish my thumb was green enough to have one looking like this!

We woke up to a wonderful breakfast and lovely day in Sorrento until we had the allergic reaction, and though her throat isn't swollen any more, Meredith is still not feeling better yet. It's really hot, and that's what I think is making her sick. We may go try to find a place with air conditioning! I'm very thankful for a restful day, but I feel bad that Meredith has to be sick. Say a little prayer for her... We'd like to stay away from the Sorrento hospital.

And a few pictures that I didn't put up last post...

The view from Parc Guell above Barcelona

A boy we didn't really know "fell asleep" on Mary.

At the top of Parc Guell

Mary sitting with the old ladies at the bus stop.

Our yummy Catalynan dish from the Bachelor party. We are broadening our palate.

The Sea Shepherd is docked in Barcelona!

Mary and Meredith with the cute town of Ponza in the background.

Barcelona

2011-06-20T10:10:00.000-04:00

We have loved the city of Barcelona. We've met lots of very fun people, and have gone to lots of very fun places.

Someone told us before we got here that the city was so great because the public transportation was so easy. That made me happy because that also meant that the transportation would be cheap, and so upon our arrival, we bought a pass for 10 rides for 8,75 euros. Good deal! Only .70 euro for a ride!

Anyways, our first day, we wanted to visit the amazing La Sagrada Familia, so we asked a woman at the tourist info place to give us directions for the metro. She did, I wrote it on the map, and we headed that way. We got off the metro on the stop that we thought she told us, but we were in the middle of a neighborhood. We asked someone where to go, and she told us to walk down a road. 30 minutes later, we were in a tiny quickie shop in what looked like a very residential, somewhat rough neighborhood, trying to communicate with the men working there. 30 minutes later or maybe more, we were at the La Sagrada Familia by about 3 pm. That was our first experience with the easy public transportation.

We made it to the Parc Guell on a bus, which was a huge feat, and the park was amazing. Pictures to come.

That night we got home by about 9, and wanted dinner, so we got ready and decided that we would go to the beach area to eat a good Barcelona meal. We asked the hotel man how to get there, and he said, "It is an L, you go left, then you turn right on the first street and it leads you there."

We thought that sounded easy enough. 20 minutes later, we saw water at a bay, but we couldn't find a beach or restaurants. We asked a big group of guys where the beach and a good restaurant was, and they laughed, and told us in very broken English to follow them. We followed about 20 feet behind them because they ignored us and didn't seem like they wanted to chat.

We found the beach and restaurants and stopped and the group of guys kept walking. Then a couple of them stopped when they didn't see us behind them, and they walked back and said, "No, no, this is not it. This is not good. It is up here. Follow us." And so we followed them.

The rest of the group of 11 guys was already sitting down when we got to the outdoor restaurant, and they had already asked the waiter for 4 extra seats because we had to have reservations (first red flag). We thought it was very nice of them, and they were very prepared. We sat down and they started bringing us tons of food. Olives, bread, fried fruit of the sea, fried calamari, wine, sangria... Without us even asking (second red flag). We didn't eat at first because we thought that another person had ordered it, until we realized we were paying for this, and we ate every last bite because we knew that we wouldn't be able to afford to eat for a few days after this meal.

Anyways, when they poured the wine, they all toasted, "To Francisco!" And we wondered what was up with Francisco. Then one of them told us that this was his Bachelor party.

We were like, "What! We shouldn't be crashing his party!" They assured us that it wasn't a problem, but we still felt bad. And so, for a couple of hours, the 4 of us girls ate at the very end of a table of 11 Italian men who were chanting songs about thinking long and hard about getting married before you do it. It was in Italian, but one guy translated it to us in broken English. We had many long, difficult conversations throughout dinner with the guys. I would usually just say "Bella" or "Bueno" (beautiful or good).

Since I've been here, I've also really picked up on broken English. We have even started speaking it to each other when we are in the room! We talk much slower, without contractions, using our hands to describe things, and sometimes put an English accent on it.

Anyways, the Italians ended up being very nice guys (from what we understood) and they stopped ignoring us after we sat at their table, but it was just so random. When we were going home, one guy showed us how to get on the bus. Then he ended up riding the bus with us to show us which stop to get off of because I think that was easier than trying to explain it to us. Once we were off the bus, we knew where to walk. We got home pretty quickly, and were so glad for that.

The next day we went to the beach for the day, and we went a "shortcut" that ended up taking us about an hour to get there instead of 20 minutes. So we asked the same friend that we made who was from Barcelona who had helped us get home the night before, how to get home on the bus during the day. He showed us exactly which bus to get on and walked us to the bus stop.

After about 45 minutes riding the bus, we started wondering why we were still on it since our stop was only about 2 miles away. We stay on the bus for another 45 minutes thinking that it would go back to where we recognized something. We had asked the driver, but he spoke Spanish. Long story short, a woman ended up translating to us that there were protestors all over the city so they would not be able to go close to our neighborhood, but we should get off immediately to get home.

Some wandering, map studying, and 3 different metros later, we arrived home in less than 2 hours from the beach that was 2 miles away.

I decided that the American woman who told us that Barcelona's transportation was "so easy," was probably from New York City. It's not that we were that dumb, it's just that we don't have that kind of thing in the South. That's what I keep telling myself.

So far, we have walked everywhere today, and we are taking a metro to dinner tonight, but we aren't going to risk getting lost on the way to the airport tomorrow. We decided that we will splurge on a taxi!

I think my favorite thing about Barcelona so far has been the culture and the feel of it. It has a fun feel. It's beautiful and clean and everyone seems to be happy, helpful and friendly. My other favorite thing is their waffles drizzled with Nutella, with 2 scoops of gelato on it.

I would come back to this city again, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone coming this way!

And really, we have had fun on our long walks through neighborhoods in the suburbs of Barcelona. The public transportation isn't all bad. It has given us the chance to see where the people actually live. We would have never done that if we had been able to figure out how to get places!

Pictures are coming as soon as I download a few!

Hello Barcelona

2011-06-17T17:51:00.000-04:00

We just arrived in Barcelona at our hotel. We had a fun, smooth day of traveling. Praise the Lord!

For $34 a night, we got a great room! Beautiful, high ceilings and a balcony!

That's me on the balcony if you couldn't really tell.

And we have a cute view of a nice pedestrian street from our balcony!

We'll let you know if we can fall asleep with all the noise...

Under the Tuscan Sun...

2011-06-16T18:10:00.000-04:00

We had a bus tour today through Tuscany. We went to Siena, a vineyard/farm, San Gimignano, and Pisa. It was busy, busy, go, go, go, but very fun! I would completely recommend the WalkAbout Bus Tour- Best of Tuscany if you are ever planning on coming to this area!

I tried to take more pictures with my phone today so I could put some on here.

Beautiful wine country!

Mary in the vineyard.

A little bit windy on the overlook in San Gimignano... Beautiful Tuscan hills.

We couldn't believe how much it actually leaned! It was insane.

Shortly after taking this last picture I realized that my passport, credit cards, and cash was gone. I got very nervous and after a few minutes, what felt like the entire tour group was staring at me and asking me questions. We couldn't find it on the bus or anything until an hour later, after the panic had completely set in and I had sweat through my shirt. It was the worst feeling ever. We rode the bus for about an hour and then I put my hand down in the crack beside my chair that my sister had been sitting in, and I felt the wallet. I'm telling you that I believe a miracle happened today. I don't know how in the world the wallet could have gotten there, and I don't know why I put my hand down that crack when I wasn't even looking for the wallet. Anyways, I feel ten times better and am going to sleep now resting easy, knowing that I don't have to spend all day tomorrow at the Embassy.

We're here!!!

2011-06-15T12:26:00.001-04:00

Mary was completely out in the first 5 minutes on the train.

We had a long couple of days traveling from plane to plane to train to train, then we drug our luggage down uneven stone sidewalks. After about 20 minutes, we finally found our quaint little hotel entrance, and a man opened the door, and Mary said, "We're here!!!" She acted like he knew who we were. The man just stared at her, and there was a moment of silence, and I was thinking, Mary!! Say something else. Maybe a, "We're here to check in." or "Do you work at the hotel?" Anyways, after we got over the awkward moment, we couldn't stop laughing at Mary's first words to our hotel owner. He was one of the most serious people that I have ever met and he never cracked a smile, very nice, but doesn't laugh at any of our jokes or when one of us says "Hola!" or when we accidently walked past our hotel today saying, that man looks just like our hotel owner!

Anyways, yesterday we went to a nice dinner at Trattoria ZaZa. It was delicious, and we went to bed at about 8 because of exhaustion, but the baby playing outside kept us up until about 9:30. We expected to wake up early this morning because we'd gone to sleep early, but I was the first one up at 10 am this morning. Oops! So much for the early start for sightseeing!

My favorite part so far has been the Centrale Market. We went this morning and bought dried fruit, nuts, mozzarella cheese, wine, olive oil, bread and mushroom dip, and all at a good price for snacks, breakfast, and picnics.

The Duomo

After that, we were off to do some hard core sightseeing. As I was totally engrossed in finding the Accademia so that we could see Michelangelo's David statue, I got hit by a woman on a bike. I didn't even see her coming until her handle bars whammed into my arms and her tire ran over my foot. A big crowd of people kind of gasped and a man asked if I was okay. It was a little embarrassing because everyone was looking at us. I'm pretty sure the woman on the bike was on drugs because she gave a completely blank stare and didn't say a word to me. We walked away and I couldn't believe she didn't say sorry. Plus, we never found the Accademia.

Don't know if you can see the tire marks across my toes.

Then we went walking through all the other sights, including a cathedral where Mary and I had to put scarves on over our dresses to make them cover our knees to get into the church. Mary had to put two scarves on, one to cover her shoulders and one to cover her knees. The man at the entrance laughed at her.

Anyways, then we went walking down past the Uffizi museum, Piazza Signoria, and to the Ponte Vecchio bridge that was so cute. It is a bridge across the river with a bunch of shops on it. By that time we were so tired that we sat on the bridge for a while and then made the trek back to our hotel/apartment. We have a kitchen and living room in our apartment, so it's nice to keep drinks. As I sit here blogging, both Mary and Anne G are asleep. They were out in about 10 minutes.

This is for my grandmother, Dixie.
It's funny to see "Dixie" in Florence!

We're going to rest a while until our picnic tonight so that we can stay out past 8 pm! We want to be able to stay up for the sunset tonight.

Meredith, here we come!

2011-06-13T10:21:00.000-04:00

I'm going to Italy TODAY... Can't believe this day has come after all hours of the planning for the trip. I never thought it would come! I'm so excited to go and to see Meredith!

I'm really nervous, of course, about the plane ride. I'm thinking of every worst case scenario. I feel like I need some kind of drugs or alcohol to relieve by anxiety but I'll be okay and I'm going to resist the urge (ha), and going to just take some sleeping medicine tonight on the plane so I'll get a good night's rest and wake up tomorrow ready to go in Italy. I'll be there tomorrow at about 10:30 am, and I will try to blog a few times about the trip.

Hope y'all have a good week, and hope to update soon!

Mother/Father's Day!

2011-06-13T01:51:00.000-04:00

In light of this being right between Mother's Day and Father's Day, and me leaving for a while and possibly not having time to write this post, I would like to dedicate it to my sweet parents. I have to say that I truly believe I have the best parents in the world. I know you might think that you have the best parents in the world, but it's not true, and you should probably be jealous.

Well I'm just kidding. I know that my parents might not be the best for everyone

(but I still can't quite see who they wouldn't be good for).

But really, I really do feel so blessed by them.

I had such a fun childhood... Fun times going to work with my Dad every day, going shopping every Saturday with Mom, helping Mom with house projects, and helping Dad raise the baby goats and sheep. Dad would sneak us down to the gas station to get king-size candy bars without Mom knowing. Mom would take us down to the inner city to hang out with some of her students that were our age. It was an odd childhood, yes, but it was so darn exciting!

My parents have taught me so much over the years. Only recently have I realized how much they have taught me. A lot of their philosophy, whether they know it or not, is to give us independence. They expected me to do things on my own, they never worried about me "making it places," they pretty much let me make my own decisions 95% of the time. They didn't really seem to worry about too much. They let us learn through trial and error sometimes, and we learned it better.

My parents never cared much/pressured us about grades growing up. They never had a strict schedule. Mom wanted me to have a decently clean room, but it wasn't the first priority on the list. We would sometimes (still do) decide a few days ahead of time to go on vacation. We weren't really concerned with the details, though we still had some basic structure in our lives. Overall, they taught us to go with the flow.

Growing up, we didn't always have a lot but we always had fun.

I've never heard my parents fight. I never doubted that they might get divorced. It never even crossed my mind. They always seem to have the other's interests in mind.

They have showed me how to be humble. They spend more time with people who the world views as"in need of help" than with people who can help them, though most of the time, they end up helping each other mutually. Some of their friends end up on the 5 o'clock news in a mug shot, and getting collect phone calls and letters from jail (usually to my Mom) is not odd around here. They have been taken advantage of so many times that people, including me sometimes, think they should have learned their lesson by now... But they keep giving people the benefit of the doubt, and it is an amazing picture of the way God loves us. "Love always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres..."

My mom and dad show God's love through their relationships with the unloveable as well as the easily-lovable. I feel so blessed to have grown up with that unconditional love from them. I have never doubted their love for me.

I can't say that my parents are completely perfect, but I can say that I am confident that they love me and they have been such a great picture to me of God's unconditional love for me. I feel so blessed to have had my parents as parents.

Happy Mother's and Father's Day, Mom and Dad! I love you two so much!

Poppy

2011-06-07T15:35:00.000-04:00

I worked at Poppy today, just filling in for my sister since she is out of town.

It wasn't too hard to learn what to do.

Anyways, it's the cutest store! If you would ever like to drop in and pick up some flowers to go, or have flowers delivered to the Chattanooga area, you should call this little store. It also has cute gifts like candles, cookbooks, and stationery.

The cutest stationery- my favorite part.

Everything is adorable.

I have had lots of time today to be planning things to do in Italy and Barcelona. It's quite overwhelming, and I have less than a week to do it so I better get working again! Still open for any recommendations!

It's funny how I get out of school...

2011-06-05T00:26:00.001-04:00

It's funny how I get out of school and then think that I don't have time to blog. It should be the other way around. Anyways, I have been doing stuff even though I don't have an official job. This week I stayed in Atlanta for 3 days and babysat my cute cousin Shelby. I've been babysitting for another cute family too. They have 4 boys under 6 years old and they are all so cute and energetic!

Here are some pictures from babysitting that were on my phone:

Cute Shelby at the pool. It's all we did for 3 days.

Adorable Tate, one of the four boys.

Why do kids always have to get so close to the tv?

I've really been missing Kaden! He has grown so!

And he's such a good crawler now!

We had a fun Dugger family reunion today. We talked about my great-grandmother Glades, and I decided I like that name. Not that I need any baby names soon at all. Just saying I like it.

Anyways, I will be babysitting most nights this week and working at my cousin's store during the daytime and looking for a job and packing for Europe and then going to Nashville to see the Street family and coming home to do facepaint with Evangelical Children's Ministry and.... I'll pretty much be busy.

And lastly, here are some very late pictures of formal and a few from Emily's wedding:

Gav, Nat, and I before our last formal.

My hot date at formal.
(I only say that because he hates any kind of PDA.
Not really only, I do think he is, but I wouldn't normally write that.
Does that make sense?)

Geoffrey, me, Adam and Gavin after formal.

He likes to disrupt our pictures,
only because he knows it gets on my nerves.
This is why I put that caption on the other pic.

Our one picture from Emily's wedding together. In the parking lot.
At least we got one!

Natalie, Me, Emily W. and Gavin at the reception

And lastly, but certainly not least, the beautiful bride and groom!

Then and Now

2011-06-02T19:16:00.001-04:00

Then...

And now...

We've changed but we're still pretty much the same.

Still love my cousins!

JOBS

2011-05-26T16:50:00.000-04:00

I had my first job interview today. It wasn't really that bad! I kind of enjoyed it. Sorry I don't have a good embarrassing story for you there (but I'm really not sorry). I drove up to Knoxville at the crack of dawn this morning, had my interview for about 30 minutes and have been foot loose and fancy free the rest of the day. I'm making the foot loose and fancy free sound really good, but really, I pretty much did nothing because there wasn't anyone in Knoxville yet (flashback to last summer). Anyways, now I'm about to nap! Hard life.

I have been very busy lately planning my trip to Italy and Barcelona to visit Meredith while she is studying abroad. My sweet parents gave me this trip as my graduation present and I am so excited! If anyone has suggestions for things to do, places to eat, and things to see in Rome, Florence, or Barcelona, please let me know. I want to know what to do!

I have to say that it is odd being a college graduate without a job. I've never been in a place where I am not doing anything and don't have any plans for what's next. I could do anything, or nothing. I would like to do something! But for now, I'm just waiting and babysitting and trying to ask around for opportunities. If you know of any marketing, sales, human resources, or just any kind of business positions open, you could pass that along to me and I would greatly appreciate that. I'm up for anything that pays!

By the way, I am so sad that Oprah is over. I will miss watching her at 4:00 every day. It was always exciting if I was home at 4 and actually remembered to turn the tv on. She always kept me entertained. I loved her last show and it made me miss her more than I would have! Am I weird?

Anyways, for now, I will say, "Until we meet again," (like Oprah) and I'm going to take a nap during this storm. Hope to update more frequently through the rest of the summer!

The Simple Life

2011-05-07T13:19:00.000-04:00

Life without a car is rather simple.

I am content with staying at home a lot and walking places if I need something. Mary took the car home this weekend, so I am truly without a car, and surprisingly, it's rather freeing. I have a good excuse not to get things done. I can walk to CVS, the dry cleaners, Panera, Tuesday Mornings, and the bank, and that's exactly what I've done lately. I live in a good location for not having a car (unless I need to get to campus). Mary actually ran down the greenway that is close, and if I used that, it wouldn't be too far to campus if I really needed to walk--only about 2.5 miles! Mom also mentioned I could ride the public bus. I think I'd rather walk.

Picture this without all the people or the water.

Every time I walk somewhere, I imagine that I am living in the old times before cars when people would walk to town to get things. It's all good in theory, but if you have a lot of things, it's a little bit harder. I had the bright idea to walk to the liquor store last night to get some boxes for moving, so I had to carry three big boxes all the way back. By the end, I didn't think it was such a bright idea. So, moral of the story is: when you walk to do errands, take a little red wagon along with you.

The storm

2011-04-30T20:37:00.000-04:00

It's been a very long 72 hours. On Wednesday, I never expected that I'd still be dealing with the storm that I watched on the news from 4:00 to 9:30. My tizzy began at about 3:30 on Wednesday as I drove home from school listening to the radio tell me to "Take cover immediately!!" as I sat in traffic. From that moment forward, I was distressed.

I got home and was glued to the tv as I watched the green, purple, and white blobs move across the weather map towards me. I was a bit nervous you could say, as I told the girls that we needed to prepare the basement in case we needed it later (even though none of the storms all day had hit us yet). We decided that the corner under the kitchen would be best because it was surrounded by dirt walls and furthest away from big trees.

The big storm that got us.

I freaked a ~~little~~ lot.

I hate our basement. It is dirty and leaks and there are bugs everywhere. There is a bunch of junk down there and we pretty much avoid it at all costs. But that night, it was my best friend. I kept telling the girls, "It's not that bad! Let's go down there! It's exciting!" (I used every tactic I could to get them down there with me.) The scare tactic worked on Lindsey, and the exciting tactic worked on Mary. Laura was up for whatever.

At 8:15, we turned the tv as loud as it could go and went to the basement for the storm. The hail was HUGE and incredibly loud. The wind was loud, and we huddled together on the ~~comfy~~ soaking wet blankets. I closed my eyes and had a pillow over my head. (Dramatic?) Anyways, we were okay, and we went back upstairs after it subsided to watch the news more.

Next storm was at about 8:45 and it looked terrible. I forced everyone into the basement onto our soaking wet, muddy blankets. We lit our candle and waited. It got really scary and we heard a loud boom that seemed to shake the floors, then our power went out. Mary said it was a tree but I said it couldn't be because it wasn't loud enough. We came out of the dungeon about 20 minutes later and I got mad at Mary for opening the front door (what if she got blown down by the wind?) until we saw THE tree. On HER car... and maybe my car. We stayed on the porch because I yelled at anyone who tried to step off in case of power lines that had popped.

The morning after as Delaney headed to class.

The tree was massive. And it took down two other large trees with it, along with the power lines.

After that, I had kind of a what-do-we-do-now feeling. No power, no car, no tv for news. We called and told mom and dad. Dad jumped in the car and came up and I was not very happy about him driving through the storms that were still coming. I made us go into the basement a couple more times and we brought pretzels with us to make it more homey, and I took 3 advil for my sudden throbbing headache.

The back window of Mary's car. The brake light fell off.

My poor car.

Dad assessed the damage and we discovered that the tree was more on my car than on Mary's, but both were damaged. The limbs were in hers, the trunk on mine. We went to sleep at 1:30 AM only to awaken at 5 AM to men's voices outside. The city workers came to clear the tree! (Yay!) Dad helped us move our cars away from the tree, and he drove Mary's home with no back window or sunroof... Or door knob. He got home, got a trailer and headed back up to get mine on a trailer :(. It made some freaky noises as we drove it onto the trailer. Dad drove away in Aunt Janie's truck, with my car on back, and I drove away in his massive, "Big bad truck," as we call it.

Goodbye to my sweet, sorry car.

Mary and I have shared the truck ever since. We are very thankful for the truck, but we both talk about how nervous we get to drive it on these narrow, curvy roads. Plus, it has really good, very sensitive and slightly dangerous pick-up that can make you (Mary) end up in the middle of intersections when you were just trying to inch up to the line. (We almost 3 wrecked cars in one day.)

Anyways, I have felt discombobulated for the past days since the event. I didn't realize how dependent I was on my car and electricity. I can't do anything without power. Being home alone without power is especially boring.

Today I have read the entire Wall Street Journal. I also stared at the wall for a while. Then the power workers showed up and (this might be weird) I watched them work on the lines. It's better than watching the wall.

My car won't be fixed for a long time, or maybe never. We don't know if it's totaled or fixable. I liked that car a lot and I'd like to have it back, but either way will be okay. I'm glad because a car is replaceable. I just think it's nice to have a car at this point! And comparatively, it's nice to have a house and my health. So I'll be positive! It's much better that way. I have a lot to be thankful for....

Especially scenes like this in my front yard:

The Storm

2011-04-26T12:30:00.000-04:00

Knoxville, especially around campus, got destroyed by the storm yesterday evening.

I don't ever remember a storm being this bad.

I took a few pictures but they are nothing compared to some of the trees I saw that had fallen on houses and cars.

We were just about the only people I know who kept power the whole night.

Our trusty yellow house held up!

I'm going to knock on wood... More storms are coming today and tonight!

2011-04-25T17:02:00.000-04:00

We have so many sweets.

SO MANY!

It's mostly my candy, but I'm willing to share, though I'd love to eat it all myself,

for fear I will gain 35 pounds.

Anyways, I had a great Easter day.

Church was fun. We went back to our old church with the family. It was nice and brought back lots of memories. It was packed, and Mary and I couldn't sit with the family. Then we headed to Uncle Happy's house for Easter lunch. It was the first one in a while that everyone has been there, so we had to get a picture.

I feel bad for blocking Uncle Wade. Sorry!

We were pretty creative with the positioning, weren't we?

It looks almost professional, but it was just Mamaw (G-dad's girlfriend).

We had our traditional Easter egg hunt with money in the eggs.

I was really excited because I have no money right now. Like none. Zilch. Zero.

I got money from babysitting and I haven't had money in so long that it was gone within the week. So, at any rate, I was in dire need for this money.

When the parents said go! I ran intensely to find eggs, and I thought I had so many that I slowed down on stealing eggs from the little children. Our family gets competitive when it comes to money in the eggs. Well... when time came to open the eggs, all of mine were filled with candy.

As usual, I got just about the lowest amount of money, besides Mary Ann who is pregnant.

Mary got $74.

And I got $6.

This is real life. Not a joke.

The difference there is $68.

I am laughing at my luck.

Anyways, I haven't spent my $6 yet, and I'm trying to decide what to do with it.

#4 at McDonald's?

Cheap-ish nail polish?

Earrings from Forever 21?

The choices are endless!

And I'm reminded that Easter isn't about money or candy, even though it is fun.

It's about Jesus.

Easter Colors

2011-04-24T00:12:00.001-04:00

I'm enjoying my weekend at home relaxing. It has felt like summertime!

We had some adorably rowdy kids in the yard all day.

Playing with them always brings back memories of how much fun I had in the same yard with cousins my age.

We were always barefooted.

Just like today.

We usually had some form of wheels.

Just like they did today.

We always had some kind of farm animal for entertainment.

Just like they did today.

I had a fun childhood... I miss it.

The good thing is, I can relive it every time I come home.

It's pretty much the same as it's always been around here.

And I like that.

So anyways, it's been an awesome weekend with amazing weather.

As you can see, I got to take a few colorful snapshots with my mother's camera.

I got to hang out with some little cousins and some big cousins as well.

I looked for jobs online last night with the help of my parents.

We made fish tacos for dinner and then walked at the school.

Currently, I am in bed about to go to sleep for the big day tomorrow...

Easter!

(Both of those were sitting in our kitchen all day. I thought the comparison was interesting... Especially after looking inside the latter one.)

Those are the real thing.

Straight from the Easter bunny's rear.

Anyways, I am excited for Easter day celebrations.

I am so thankful for the cross and for the fact that...

HE IS RISEN!

Cold!

2011-04-12T23:07:00.000-04:00

Cold, cold, go away.

Come again ~~another day~~ never.

I mean this in two ways...

The sneezing, runny nose, sore throat way.

And the why-did-I-wear-shorts-today way.

I guess I'll just have to sound like a man tomorrow morning in my presentation. Oh well!

It's my teacher who just takes 5 points off of every grade no matter what you do so that everyone doesn't get 100's. So voice, or no voice, I'll get a 35/40. Guaranteed!

Note: I'm not sure if I have a cold or allergies. Everyone who had allergies, had them last week and I didn't, and not many people are still sick this week. So it's kind of weird. Plus I don't remember having allergies ever before in Knoxville. I can't figure it out. But, I can figure out that I'm tired and I want to go to sleep... right.... NOW!

A few strangers told me I looked cold tonight at dinner. The first time, I thought that was an odd thing to say. The second time, I thought I need to relax my shoulders or do something different. The third time, I thought gosh, I just need to go home and get in bed. Geoffrey told me it was just because I look sick. Was that supposed to make it any better? :)

So what do you think, do I look cold?

That was just for laughs, taken by me on my phone a few minutes ago.

I'll regret putting it up tomorrow morning. This Tylenol Cold might be getting to my head right now.

I'm going to bed now. Hope this post made sense.

6 things going on in my life

2011-04-11T21:56:00.000-04:00

I have 6 things to share with you today about my life as of April 11, 2011.

1. Things like this beautiful bush in my front yard are killing me.

My throat has been itching like crazy and I want to scratch it so badly.

I daydream about water bottles filled with small shards of glass in the water so that it will scratch my throat on the way down. If I actually tried that, the daydreams might turn to nightmares, but as of now, it's sounding pretty darn good.

2. I skinned my knee like a first grader. I tripped over something in Geoffrey's room... and boom! I was on the floor. I took this picture in my last class. The people behind me probably thought I was a freak. They probably think I'm a freak right now (in my current class) since I'm posting this.

Who knew carpet could do that?

3. Along the lines of gross pictures, this is also just about the one year anniversary of my sprained ankle from roller skating.

That bulge-like thing hurt!

I'm happy to report though, that it no longer hurts.

4. I also want to congratulate Geoffrey for his first speeding ticket.

Welcome to the club!

It's about time he had one.

21 and never pulled over... That's unheard of where I come from.

As I blogged in January:

"I want to document the fact that I am the only person in my family that did not get pulled over or get a ticket in the year 2010. Mom and Mary both got speeding tickets on trips to Florida, Dad got pulled over with no ticket but he also got a camera ticket for speeding, and Laura got pulled over but no ticket. I better knock on wood."

Again, I better knock on wood.

5. Mary just texted me and told me that our neighbor's house got broken into today while they were at work. I'm so thankful that it was not our house. I would probably be moving out. But she said that one car was at their house and they left one door unlocked. SO that means that we have to be extra special careful to lock our doors even when we're here during the day... Because if a car is here and we are here, they could still come in. Yikes! And I guess we also should not answer the door if someone knocks? It's scary! I've been very sheltered as far as break-ins go, and I just can't believe someone would break into a house with a car home. And, someone was probably at our house and the houses next door since a lot of them are business. We have business people who walk down our road all the time on breaks, so it's strange that a criminal would want to break in around here. Anyways, to say the least, I'm now nervous to be home alone, even in the daytime! I'm a scaredy cat. I'm sure you knew that already.

6. I have a lot going on this week. 2 projects, an exam, 2 papers, and then for Monday--2 presentations, 3 papers, and an exam (all on one day). So I'm working hard this week, or at least I'm acting like it!

Yum!

2011-04-03T21:38:00.000-04:00

Lots on my mind tonight...

But my favorite thing is this:

Miss Deb, Geo's mom, had these waiting on my bed when I got to Nashville.

Just like Easter morning, but better (as far as surprises go).

How did she know what I liked?

I think I made it pretty easy! (Scroll down)

I had a nice time in Nashville this weekend with Geo and his sweet parents...

And now I'm eating Cadbury eggs alone. I hate the end of weekends.

Favorites

2011-03-30T22:35:00.003-04:00

Two of my favorite things about Spring:

and

Business Building Blurb

2011-03-30T16:55:00.000-04:00

I have a few minutes before I take an exam for my Consumer Behavior class. I have been studying or been in class all day and I'm not really liking it. I guess it's a good day for it though. It's a dreary day out.

I always study in the same place in the business building,

and this young lady was sitting across from me on the opposite sofa.

As you can see, I tried to take the picture without her knowing. She didn't notice! I would have died.

Anyways, it was just funny to me that someone would do that. She was all sprawled out on the sofa like she was at home. People came and sat next to her and she never moved. It must be a college thing. I don't think I'll ever see that in a real business building.

Aside from that, I've been studying some interesting things about consumer behavior. Would you like to hear about it?

Well, here it is. We are taught to be committed and consistent. This is not by any means a bad thing as a whole. It is good to be committed and consistent! It makes it easier for us to make decisions because we don't have to start from scratch every time. We know we can count on committed people. There are many other reasons for this value.

But, marketers can use this against us because they know we will try to be committed to things without even really thinking about it. An example of this can be when a deal is advertised a lot, and you go to the store to get the deal, but the sale is over or they are out of stock. Many times, since you drove all the way to the store, you may go ahead and buy a similar product that is not on sale because you are already committed (to yourself) to get the product.

Also, say you sign a petition for a cause... Say for instance that it is a petition against using the word "retarded." Before you sign the petition, you really didn't think about the word being bad, and you held no stance on the topic. After signing the petition, you are more likely to be committed to not saying the word, and you might even call ~~people~~ your close family or friends out for saying the word. Petitions are a great way to get people on your side who wouldn't have been concerned with the issue otherwise.

Well that's all for now. I'm off to take my test. Wish me luck.

Real quick, I just saw a guy riding one of these INSIDE the business building.

Maybe I'm actually in middle school.

Still miss her

2011-03-27T16:27:00.000-04:00

March 29, 2011 will mark two years since my sweet grandmother died.

This time of the year seems to bring back memories of her... Memories of her Spring garden, memories of her on her death bed, memories of her love for Spring, memories of her funeral.

I have a mix of emotions... The happiness of Spring plus the sadness of her passing.

I still miss Nanny a lot. I guess I always will.

I was lucky to get to live right next door to her and learn so much from her.

She was such a blessing in my life, and I'm so glad I got to know her for 20 years.

I just wish I'd gotten to know her for 40 years instead.

Mary, Grandaddy, Nanny, Me, Emily and Baby Bryan before prom in 2006.

Nanny sure did keep Granddaddy in shape. He looks so skinny here!

Psalm 115:16 "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints."

Emily Maynard Stalking

2011-03-23T21:56:00.000-04:00

I'll admit that I love the Bachelor.

It's the only show I watch regularly, and I'm not quite sure why.

I think it's frustrating and painful... and so addicting.

I had class until 9:00 every Monday night, so I had to resort to watching it online every week.

All two hours of it when I should have been studying or writing papers.

(I got my papers done with just a few hours of missed sleep.)

So anyways, I'm usually never interested in the final couples after the show is over.

But this season... Emily and Brad.

They are just so darn cute. Especially Emily!

She's adorable and genuine and Southern.

My friend Meredith babysat for her and said she was just as cute as she looks.

And just as sweet too!

(from her Twitter)

I think I have a problem because I'm always wondering how they are doing.

Did they hang out this weekend?

I wonder if they're doing better since the show is over.

How is their relationship right now?

I even stalked around and found Emily on Twitter.

I know that Brad and Emily spent last weekend together in Texas.

Some blogs say their body language says they aren't in love. I say that's crazy.

I know they need to have privacy. They deserve it.

They have been through a lot, and now they should have some time to themselves.

I know that.

But I just can't help reading their stories in People

and getting excited when @rickismommy updates on Twitter.

Welcome to my sad life as a college student.

I have way too much class time on my hands.

The gossip blogs are way more interesting than my professors.

And I should also add that I'm not only stalking during class.

I also do it in my free time.

Someone help me.

Time to put the watch back on!

2011-03-20T21:00:00.002-04:00

Spring Break 2011 is over. It was wonderful, and I am sad to being saying goodbye to it.

This spring break topped all spring breaks for most relaxing.

I went to Florida with Valerie, and Malone and her boyfriend Kyle and their friends were there too. It was fun having them around for some excitement on occasion, but we really enjoyed just laying by the pool, watching tv on our daily lunch breaks, thinking about cooking, fishing with George, and riding bikes down the driveway between the two houses.

The house is in the middle of nowhere Florida, so it will get you relaxed to the max. You don't even have to worry about even leaving the house. We did leave the house a few times for Twistee's ice cream. (I did go in pajama pants one night though.) We went to Daytona Beach to visit Meredith one day which was entertaining! We also went to a movie and out to dinner twice. And the rest of our time was spent.... At the house!

This was eventful: One day a man came down the driveway, which is .25 miles long, and asked if we wanted him to seal our driveway. Aunt Lori said to call Uncle Frank and ask him. Uncle Frank said sure, so the man comes at around noon and tells me, "Hey Sweetheart, I talked to your Uncle Frank, and we are going to be sealing your driveway...." We chatted. Then I asked if I needed to move my car. He said, "Not for another hour or so."

I had no idea what was going on.

Did he mean I need to move my car in an hour or I wasn't allowed to move my car in an hour?

I just responded with an okay.

Then about 20 men show up. With their pants falling off. They were slightly creepy, and they sat picking our oranges and eating them. One guy was blowing the driveway, but thats the extent of their work. So they stayed there until 8:30 just sitting. No joke.

The nice man from the beginning disappeared at about 12:30, and we didn't see him again. Then at 8:30 they began working, tarring the driveway. They originally said that we could drive on it the next day, but since they started so late, apparently we couldn't... And we left lovely little marks down the driveway the next day. And I had a hard time sleeping that night thinking about those men out there.

We walked across the wet tar stuff because we had to go to Daytona.

The next day we went on a boat ride with Tuff the Dog.

My foot is about the same size as his foot, and I have huge feet.

He pretty much took up the entire boat most of the time.

This was the best, most obedient dog I have ever seen in my life. He would do exactly as his owner told him. She would put ice cream in his face and tell him not to eat it, and he wouldn't even try to eat it until she gave him permission. She made him sit down for most of the ride so he didn't get in the way, and he did exactly as told.

The Bass Masters big fishing tournament was on our lake. Honestly, I had never heard of the Bass Masters because I've never watched fishing, but apparently it was kind of a big deal. They closed off some streets downtown, so Val and I went to the weigh in on the last day, and we Shaw Rigsby won. It was cool because he actually caught a bass in our canal!

We did a little fishing ourselves off our bank with George.

All in all, it was an awesome week.

I'm sad it's over... Back to the real world.

I'm going to miss being busy with doing nothing.

Encouragement

2011-03-10T22:58:00.000-05:00

This song came on K-Love radio station tonight.

I stayed in my car after I had parked because I had to hear all of it.

It was so uplifting. This message is just what I needed to hear.

Also, this short excerpt is awesome. I would encourage you to read it.

Our feelings may change, but He never, ever does!

“We are liable to worry a little when we think of our changeableness. If you are at all like me, you are very far from being always the same. I am sometimes lifted up to the very heavens, and then I go down to the deeps. I am at one time bright with joy and confidence, and at another time dark as midnight with doubts and fears. Even Elijah, who was so brave, had his fainting fits. We are to be blamed for this, and yet the fact remains: our experience is like an April day, when rain and sunshine take turns. Amid our mournful changes, we rejoice to hear the Lord’s own voice saying, ‘Fear not: for I have redeemed thee.’ Everything is not shifting waves; there is rock somewhere. Redemption is an accomplished fact. ‘The Cross, it stands fast. Hallelujah!’

The price has been paid, the ransom accepted. This has been accomplished and can never be undone. Jesus says, ‘I have redeemed thee.’ Our feelings may change, but this does not alter the fact that we have been bought with a price and made the Lord’s own by the precious blood of Jesus. The Lord God has already done so much for us that our salvation is sure in Christ Jesus. Will He begin to build, and fail to finish? Will He lay the foundation in the everlasting covenant, dedicate the walls with the infinite sacrifice of the Lamb of God, give up the choicest Treasure He ever had, the chosen and precious One of God, to be the Cornerstone and then not finish the work He has begun? No, if He has redeemed us, He has, in that act, given us the pledge of all things.

See how the gifts of God are tied to this redemption. ‘I have redeemed thee, I have called thee’ (Isa. 43:1).”

Charles Spurgeon

Joy In Christ’s Presence, 110-111

The Kimyal Tribe receives the New Testament

2011-03-05T13:19:00.000-05:00

This is a really cool video that Aunt Mary Lee sent me.

It almost made me cry a few times.

Oh, how I take God's Word for granted!

I forget how precious and valuable it is...

Until I have reminders like this.

It's a few minutes long, but it is totally worth watching.

I couldn't get the video straight on my blog, but here is the link:

http://vimeo.com/17025038

Spring!

2011-03-03T20:56:00.000-05:00

Some smart people brought to my attention that the last post about the weather...

Well, it was in Celsius, so 18 degrees Celsius was not actually wrong for today's weather

That's pretty embarrassing.

But really, I check that site every morning for the weather (weather.com), and the direct link is saved to my favorites. It's never been in Celsius before. So why would I check?

So, does that make it any better?

What I really wanted to post about is the amazing weather that has been 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

Our house is starting to feel like Spring!

I love when the first daffodils bloom!

Yesterday Jim sent over some guys to blow the leaves out of our yard.

It's kinda funny because he didn't do that all Fall or even Winter... Waited till Spring.

Now the problem is--the guys blew the leaves to the road,

and I assume they are waiting for the leaf pickup...

But Knoxville's leaf pickup service ends February 1.

So we have leaves on the ditch/road that will probably be there a while.

Not so Spring-ish, but the daffodils make up for it!

Happy Spring!

Low of 8 degrees? Today?

2011-03-03T10:31:00.000-05:00

Who knew this was the weather forecast for Knoxville, TN on March 3, 2011 (today)?

I had to walk outside to make sure this wasn't true!

(Even though the birds are chirping, the sun is shining and the neighbors are working in the yard.)

It was 65 yesterday and the forecast said 65 today too.

Talk about the weatherman being wrong...

He's off about 50 degrees!

I have heard that some of our coldest weather/biggest snow storms have come in March,

but this is just insane. If it were actually true, I would be driving to Florida for a few days.

Speaking of Florida, I really am going to Florida next week! SB11! (Spring Break 2011)

I'm really looking forward to it....

Sunshine

Family

Driving

Friends

Valerie

Shopping

Sunshine

Pedicures

Cooking

Twistee's

Oranges

Warm

Lake

Pool

Tans

Boats

Fishing

Reading

Relaxing

And this little guy:

Anyways, on Spring Break, Mary will be going to Guatemala with our small group for a mission trip. Pray for her if you would. They are going in a small private plane with 20 seats, ALL the way to Guatemala and I'm worried about them! It does have 2 engines and 2 drivers, but I'm just glad I'm not going or I would be having a nervous breakdown because of the plane. :)

She's really brave though, and she'll do fine!

Happy Spring!

Hello New Frig!

2011-02-21T16:23:00.000-05:00

We have been really needing a new frig for a while.

It started out this past summer when it leaked and all our food got wet.

Every day.

Every day I came in to find soaking wet carrots or leftovers or whatever it might be that I wanted to eat.

Jim fixed that by putting none other than the SHAM-WOW below where it leaked,

and told me to squeeze that out whenever it got full.

That should keep it from getting the food wet.

I never really wanted to take the time to squeeze it out and get all wet.

It was pretty gross.

Jim eventually got a guy over to look at it, and the man fixed it...

For a little while.

Before Christmas, probably about four months ago, our frig door started not shutting.

I came in in the mornings and it would be cracked open.

Or I'd come home at night and it'd be just barely open.

It was just enough to be wasting energy.

We tried taking things out of the door, and that worked for a while.

After a while, that no longer worked, so we resorted to duck tape.

We put duck tape on the door and would duck tape it back every time.

We used one piece of tape for as long as it stayed sticky, and then changed it.

The duck tape worked, but sometimes it didn't work if the duck tape wasn't sticky

or if we forgot to press the duck tape back down after using it.

And so, we told Jim the landlord.

Jim looked for a frig for about a month.

He told us that he wanted to find an old refrigerator because old ones last longer.

Finally, he found an old frig.

We were so excited!

He told us to eat all the food in our old freezer and frig before we swapped them out.

That took a while...

But finally, today, we got a new refrigerator.

We said good-bye to the old one...

We won't miss it.

And we said hello to the new one!

We were surprised at its odd color...

Something from the 70's maybe?

It's an off-white, creamy, yellowish color.

It doesn't quite go with our green and white kitchen.

We decided that we'll cover it up with magnets and such.

It's bigger than the other one and has a nifty place for eggs and a tray for frozen pizzas.

We are very happy with its sturdy door that shuts.

Jim said he got one with a magnet on the door for us, so it will be sure to close.

(Like we were the ones who caused the last one not to shut... haha.)

Oh, Jim!

BrunoS!

2011-02-20T11:32:00.001-05:00

I'm a terrible blogger. I wrote a post about Bruno varmint who lives under our house,

but I never pressed the "Publish" button.

In a nutshell, the post pretty much said that Bruno the varmint(s?) is still living in our little yellow house and he (they?) is active as ever. We are pretty sure that there are multiple varmints now. Disgusting! It sounds like there are at least five. And they are most likely HUGE rats. They sound heavy, but they have claws and obviously fit in pretty small places.

It kind of freaks me out sometimes. It sounds like someone is trying to get into our house or something because they are so loud! They gnaw on things, scurry up metal pipes, run laps in our attic, chill out behind our shower... I think they are more comfortable in our home than we are now.

So anyways, last night I had a dream that our house was infested with snakes... AHHH! That was so much worse! I found eight copperheads. Seven baby-ish snakes first, then a big mama snake. It was horrible and I'm getting the chills just blogging about it. Of course in my dream, I had no good tools to kill the things so I ran outside helpless. I'm pretty sure that dream stemmed from the varmint problem that we have that I feel is spiraling out of control.

We have a new exterminator come now who has been in this business for about 50 years and he says that it will take weeks before the varmints die. He set traps. Jim the landlord comes just about every day to check on them. He put out his own poison, and he told us that if that doesn't work, he's bringing his shot gun. On a separate occasion, he told us that he's going to burn our house down. I only ask that I can bring my computer, phone, books, clothes, and pictures outside first.

Anyways, I keep remembering that there could be much worse problems. I am blessed to have a warm-ish, dry house during this cold winter. I will probably miss the darn varmints when/if ever they are gone because it will be so quiet. Who knows?

Just a quick update on my life besides my home: I had the busiest week ever last week with four tests and two papers. This coming up week won't be so bad! I just have a test and paper due Monday. Woo who!! Spring Break is coming up and I'm excited about that. I'm getting sad that I'm graduating soon and leaving Knoxville. I'm trying to get some job interviews. Uncle Paul and Uncle Wade are both trying to set me up with some interviews, so that's so nice. I'm going to the job fair soon. So, there are a lot of unknowns in that area!

I have had two friends get engaged this week (so exciting!!). My big sis Anna got engaged Friday night and she called me yesterday to tell me before I saw on facebook, and I thought that was so sweet of her. On Tuesday, my friend Emily got engaged and we went over to greet her at her friend's house afterwards and see her beautiful ring. I'm so excited for them both.

I now have seven engaged friends!! Talk about some wedding talk going on... But it's so much fun! I feel like I'm going to know exactly what I want for my wedding someday after all this talk.

This was about exactly 4 years ago. There is no telling what we were doing.

I'm so thankful for this girl though. We've been through 4 years of college together and are still good friends. We have lunch together a couple of times a week and always have so much fun. Gonna miss you, Val!

And really, what were we doing?

Be of good cheer

2011-02-01T22:36:00.000-05:00

I read this verse last night, and it was perfect timing.

With winter weather and rainy days,

being inside all the time,

watching the video about about sex trafficking,

looking at my pictures of Haiti,

reading about the riots in the Middle East,

hearing one too many sob stories...

Well, sometimes I'm not 'of good cheer'.

This reminder came right in time!

All of this stuff is happening and

there is no denying that it is terrible.

But Jesus has overcome this world!

And I can rest in that.

He knows what's going on.

He knows what He's doing.

"The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them."

Psalm 11:4

Be of good cheer!

Sex Trafficking Here in the US???

2011-01-31T12:54:00.000-05:00

This is a video that Natalie Grant and some others did about this problem in the US that not many people know about. There are between 100,000 and 300,000 people in the US trafficked each year. It is the fastest growing illegal crime in the US and may soon pass drug trafficking. The time before, during, and after the Superbowl (right now!) is one of the busiest times for sex trafficking. I feel that only by making people aware of this will make anything change, so that's why I shared. To find out more about it and what you can do to help, visit traffick911.com.

A story from the website:

One little girl finally told her captor just to kill her - she couldn’t do it anymore. The pimp refused, telling her he makes too much money off her. If she wouldn’t do what he told her to, he would kidnap her 8-year-old little sister and pour battery acid over her face while she watched. The little girl complied, living in a dog cage when she wasn’t being sold to man after man.

Krispy Kreme, Bruno and Consumer Behavior

2011-01-30T20:57:00.000-05:00

Here is the problem that I'm currently battling.

I live way too close to this place.

I'm actually not currently battling this, but it already has defeated me.

I just went and got 2 doughnuts. Alone.

I really wanted 4, so at least I didn't give in to that part of it.

I've been wanting Krispy Kreme all day long. Since about 9 am.

Finally at 8:00 I left to get some. And I was home by 8:15.

So convenient!

I usually keep my Krispy Kreme cravings down to once a month,

but when I have a craving, it doesn't go away, so I usually give in.

Anyways, I haven't blogged in a while.

Bruno the varmint is still living under the house.

Jim called some kind of Wildlife Removal agency and they are coming February 1st or later.

Supposedly, they try not to kill the animal so that it doesn't stink up our house.

That will be nice, and I think we're all excited to have him gone.

School is in full swing now, and I've already had my first test. I'm enjoying my classes a lot more this semester than I ever have. I've even been doing all of my reading assignments. For one class, we have to read the Wall Street Journal every day and I've really enjoyed that. It makes me feel smart to actually know what's going on. My last class that we had to read the WSJ, I dreaded it every day.

I have an interesting marketing class called consumer behavior, and since all of us shop regularly, whether it be for groceries or clothes, I might as well share a few facts from my textbook called Consumer Behavior by Hoyer and MacInnis.

1. The average US household spends an average of $127 per day on goods and services.

2. Consumers born between the years of 1952 and 1971 spend the most money per year.

3. Consumers who buy one item impulsively are more likely to buy a second item impulsively.

4. For US retailers, shoplifting causes $41.6 BILLION in merchandise losses yearly.

5. The average shoplifting theft involves $855 worth of merchandise, whereas it's $312 in the UK.

6. There are more shoplifters in stores that are noisy, crowded, have little security, lax return policies, few salespeople, and hidden nooks and crannies.

7. Four MILLION children are alcoholics or problem drinkers.

8. Consumers who watch a lot of tv and find commercials realistic tend to be more materialistic than consumers who watch less tv.

9. Children are aware of over 200 brand names by the time they are in 1st grade.

10. Add your phone number to the FTC's do-not-call (www.donotcall.gov) list to avoid telemarketers. You can also log on to the Direct Marketing Association's website (www.the-dma.org) and ask that your name and information not be sold to other companies.

Bruno and the Yellow House

2011-01-18T17:24:00.000-05:00

There was once a little creature named Bruno, and he was very cold. The temperatures had dropped to the teens, and there was snow covering the ground everywhere. He needed a warm place to go so he could survive! He looked and looked and looked until he found a hole in the side of a little yellow house. He could feel the warm air coming from the house, and he was very excited for the warmth but slightly nervous of what was inside.

Bruno stepped in slowly, and it felt so good. He went a little further, and then around a wall and through some pipes, up some wood and through another hole. The further he went, the warmer it was. He was so happy! He could stay here forever, even if it was dark. He curled up and went to sleep for two whole days!

When he woke up, he started to panic. Where was he? It was so dark in there! Suddenly he recalled stepping into the dark hole in the side of the yellow house. He began to get calm until he realized that he couldn't find his way out! He heard people above him in the house walking around. He heard a loud noise and it sounded like running water coming right for him! He couldn't see a thing! He ran, bumping into a wall. He turned around, darted the other way, and boom! into another wall! What in the world was going on? The water was coming for him, he just knew it! But what to do? After about 30 minutes of this, he had to take a rest and he fell asleep.

***

It was morning, and Melissa had just gotten out of the shower. She heard some noises below. It was really loud. That's weird! The pipes sound extra loud today! She stomped on the floor, and the noise didn't stop. Something must have happened over break. Weird, but oh well!

Later, Mary was sitting in her bed doing homework and heard something in her closet. She was scared, but decided to go look. It sounded big! She crept over, peeked around the doorway, but nothing. It still made noises, but it wasn't in her closet.

That night Natalie was at home sitting in the living room. The house was quiet, but then she thought she heard some scurrying. It was really loud. She pulled her feet up onto the sofa in case something was about to run across the floor. As she listened, it sounded like it was staying in the bathroom, so she got up to check. Nothing was in there, but there sure was a noise coming from under the bath tub.

Things continued this way for days. Maybe even a week! Finally one day, Melissa said something to Mary and Natalie, and they all shared their stories and laughed, nervously thinking to themselves, what in the world is it?! It had begun to sound like it was coming up through the floor sometimes.

Poor Bruno would wake up, run around for hours hitting walls harder than ever, as he was desperately trying to find food, light, anything, until eventually he fall asleep. The poor girls in the house would freak out every time they thought they heard something or someone in their little yellow house. Finally, Melissa called the landlord.

"Hey Jim, I wanted to tell you that we have something below our bath tub that is making loud noises."

... No reply....

Melissa--"Like, it's an animal we think, and we don't know what to do about it. It's been getting louder over the last few days."

Long, awkward pause.

Jim-- "Hmm, well is your basement door closed?"

Mel--"Yes, it's closed. The thing is like in our walls or something, it's not on the basement floor."

Long pause.

Jim--"Well what do you think it is?"

Mel--"Probably some kind of animal."

Long pause.

Jim--"How do you think it got in there?"

Mel--"I'm not sure Jim, we just heard it the past few days, and we don't know what to do."

Jim--"How long has it been there?"

Mel--"We've been hearing it for a week."

Really long pause.

Jim--"Well I guess I can come try to figure out where it is and see what I can do."

Mel--"That would be great. Thanks!"

Melissa hung up. "That was awkward."

***

The rest is to be continued as soon as the end of the story is here!

Interesting Week

2011-01-12T11:35:00.000-05:00

Three interesting things about my week:

1.) I haven't moved my car since Sunday. I'm way too afraid of driving it in the snow because I'll get stuck on flat ground and I don't want to get stuck in Knoxville. Chattanooga would be a different story.

2.) I'm 22 years old as of yesterday. I was depressed on Monday because I was sad it was my last day of my 21st year. It was a fun year and I was sad to say goodbye. My 22nd year will be full of big changes, interviews and (hopefully) working.

3.) I slipped on the snow-covered ice this morning. On campus. In front of people. I had to walk the rest of the way with snow on my pants so everyone could tell that I fell. I'm not going to lie, I was very upset that we had class.

Citrus Surge Music Video and Xmas Vacation

2011-01-02T19:12:00.000-05:00

Over our Christmas vacation in Florida, my two sisters and three girl cousins and I needed something to do besides lay around. Laura got a video camera for Christmas. And so we made a music video.

We had a lot of fun doing it.

The name Citrus Surge originated because the oranges are in right now in the groves in our yard.

(As I type, my hands are sticky from eating an orange that we brought back.)

They are so incredibly good and all of our band names are types of oranges in the groves.

We tried to get our neighbor George to dance but he wouldn't so we put a clip of him in there anyways.

This is George below.

For our vacation, we planned on going to Tavares (where the Florida house is) and staying a few nights, then driving the the Keys. Since some people were using our house and decided to stay longer than we thought, we ended up driving straight from home in 6 inches of snow to Key West. We loved it there but with our awesome luck, temperatures hit record lows while we were there. 42 degrees is cold with all the wind there, especially when you don't bring many cozy clothes. After a few nights, we went back to Tavares and it felt like we were going home except that it was 75 degrees in December and January. It was so boring and so relaxing. I read my book outside all day yesterday and have a nice sunburn to remind me of it. We wished we could stay longer but Mother has to go back to work tomorrow. We left the 75 degree weather this morning and it was 32 degrees when we got home.

I'm trying to stay positive about cold weather but I hate to think that most likely, I won't be in 75 degree weather for another 3 months.

As a last note, I want to document the fact that I am the only person in my family that did not get pulled over or get a ticket in the year 2010. Mom and Mary both got speeding tickets on trips to Florida, Dad got pulled over with no ticket but he also got a camera ticket for speeding, and Laura got pulled over but no ticket. I better knock on wood.

Anyways, Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas! 2

2010-12-25T14:38:00.000-05:00

We have ourselves a white Christmas!

The whitest Christmas in my lifetime...

And I'm loving it!

I love my new camera as well!

Now I can put more pictures on here...

Woo Whoo!

I am so thankful for my sweet family this holiday season.

We have had so much fun together.

Mary made it home and we are now complete!

Hope you are enjoying this Christmas.

Kaden

2010-12-23T21:16:00.000-05:00

I had the best day today!

I woke up and came downstairs to see the most adorable little boy in the living room.

One of Mom's previous students came over to work in our yard for a little extra money.

He is 16 and has dropped out of school and has a 4 month old child that is so cute!

His mom is from Atlanta and is 17, and I could tell that she could use a break.

... And so Kaden stayed with me all day.

We played and visited some cousins and took pictures and shopped at CVS.

He was the best baby. He only cried twice. And he fell sound asleep in my arms.

This is a 25 second video of us.. I think the pictures don't do him justice, so I added the video.

All of the pictures and videos are taken on my computer, maybe not the best quality, but hey, it works!

Anyways, I miss this cutie now.

I'm hoping to see him again sometime!

Worry

2010-12-14T21:25:00.001-05:00

I'm very worried because my sister Mary is going to the Dominican Republic with her friend... just the two of them! Ok, well I'm actually not worried, but I should be. Let me tell you why.

You see, Mary is the middle child and I am the big sister, and that's why I'm worried. Whenever we do "big" things, I am the one to drive, or navigate the map, or talk to the airport clerk, or ask for help, or whatever... Mary is very happy with just sitting back and following whatever I do. She is actually really smart because it's so much easier the way she does it. She doesn't worry about a thing. She does as she's told.

Anyways, the thing is, Mary is the one who is in the "leader" position this time. Beth is just like Mary, but more clueless in this situation. Beth has only flown once and she drives like a grandmother. (We tell her that she drives like a grandmother, so I'm not talking behind her back.) At any rate, Mary is the one who drove to Atlanta tonight. Beth has never been in the Atlanta airport before, and Mary has never had a layover before. Beth has never driven through Atlanta before, and Mary has never driven through it alone without getting lost. It's Beth's first time out of the country, and Mary didn't know what customs was when I asked her about it.

Anyways, all of the above things, they are doing tonight and tomorrow, just the two of them!

Tonight, they drove to Atlanta to stay in a hotel, and their flight leaves tomorrow at 8 am. They will be flying to Ft. Lauderdale and then going to the Dominican Republic to meet Beth's sister who is doing mission work there for the semester. They are very excited, and Mary wasn't at all nervous... Typical.

With all of that being said, Mary is clueless, but she's not really the type to be worried about being clueless. (I know this as a fact after our almost-plane-crash that didn't seem to phase Mary.) She just goes with the flow, and it somehow works out for her. And that's why none of us are worried about her. It's been four hours since Mary left, and we haven't heard from her. She won't answer her phone (typical) but I'm sure she's fine... Hopefully she's getting tucked into her hotel room in her last comfy bed for a while. I'm jealous, on the other hand, about the 80 degree weather that she is going to enjoy. There are positives and negatives, but I hope she experiences all of the positives and gets home in time for Christmas! If not, I'm sure she'll roll with it. So I will keep on not being worried. But, I will pray for her!

UPDATE: I got a text from Mary tonight that said, "Pray that we're safe tonight! Because we're in a creepy hotel alone in the ghetto."

I almost panicked for them, and I called Dad and told him, and he said, "Well, I guess you better pray!" (He was concerned, but he thought that they would be fine if they lock the door.)

I replied with two text messages. 1. Mary, I'll pray. Are you scared? 2. Have you locked the chain on your door?

Mary said, "Yeah we kinda are... But it's okay! We locked it!

And I replied, 1. "Just bring your mace with you in the morning and throw it away before security. I'm sure you'll be fine. Press 0 in your hotel if you need anything." 2. "Does your shuttle pick you up from your hotel in the morning?"

And I never got an answer to either text. (Not that I should really expect one since it's Mary.) Anyways, I'm praying for them. If it had been me there, I would have gotten a refund from the hotel and took out money from my savings to pay for a different hotel in a better part of town.... Because if Mary thinks it's creepy, there is no way I would have gotten a minute of sleep. I'd be making my escape plan in my head all night, sleeping with my phone in my bed and replying to each and every text message that I recieved. I wish I were more like her. Anyways, pray for her if you get a minute!

Family Convos

2010-12-14T18:46:00.000-05:00

A few conversations you might hear in my house:

Dad: Mary, I'm so proud that you got all A's!
Mary: I haven't even gotten my grades back yet.
Dad: Well I know that they are good. I bet you got A's.
Mary: I think I got some C's.
Dad: Well, Mary, C's are really good! I'm so proud of you.

Mom on the phone:
-So now, what are all your kids names?
-Ja... What?
-What can I call them so I can remember their names?
-Oh ok, Pinky? I can remember that!

Watching the news:
Reporter: This young man stabbed the victim in the face. He will now face prison...
Dad: Oh, I know him! I broke up a fight between him and his brother. (Like it was no big deal.)
I feel like every time I watch the news with my parents, they know someone; usually it's crime-related.

Home is entertaining!

The weather outside is frightful!

2010-12-12T21:17:00.001-05:00

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

But the fire is so delightful...

Okay, corny... But I couldn't help it!

Those pictures are from this evening.

Laura's friend, Claire, got stuck in the ditch...

Or, more like ran completely off the road.

The picture was taken after my family extended family went to get her out,

(including 1st and 2nd cousins)

but her car was in the ditch down there.

We were parked on the side of the road, and the cars that went by would get stuck,

it was a bad, cold, uncomfortable, yet very entertaining situation.

We ended up staying for a while pushing slipping behind the other cars that were getting stuck...

Anyways, Big Daddy has a new truck that he thought was a "sissy" truck because it is a Toyota.

He got it because his Fords and Chevys broke, but he wasn't really satisfied with a Toyota.

Today he took it out to go get Laura's friend and tried it out in the snow.

"Trying it out," meaning...

We live on the mountain with huge hills that get very slick in snow.

One of the biggest hills on the mountain is called Van Duesan and Dad has previously

slid down it in the snow with Laura.

So, after waiting 5 minutes for a car to slide down backwards,

we flew up it at 40 mph.

We helped Claire and various other people,

then my uncles and friends all got back in their cars to go back home (and down the big hill)

They followed us, and we waited again for about 10 minutes for a car to slide backwards down Van Duesen. Then Dad drove his new Tundra down the hill, about halfway down.

He then put the truck in reverse and gassed it backwards up the hill.

Then he punched it, and we flew down the ice-covered hill at about 30-40 mph.

I really wasn't nervous because the truck took the ice so well, it surprised me!

And I trust my Big Daddy.

Everyone in our family except Mary was in Dad's truck.

Mary was behind us in another truck and said that she was afraid she would be the only

one left alive in our family. But we made it just fine...

And Dad's "trying it out" apparently impressed him.

He's thinking that his Toyota might no really be a sissy truck.

He's been out driving around all the cars in ditches while we sledded.

And now we're all cuddled up in the living room watching a movie.

(Our whole family is not cuddled up together with each other,

but our whole family is cuddled in blankets in the same room with a fire going.)

We have about 4 inches of snow and the schools are called off tomorrow...

A great first weekend of Christmas break for me!

I'm sure we'll frolic in the snow all day for about an hour tomorrow

and then watch movies and read and visit Granddaddy.

I tried really, really hard this morning to talk Geoffrey to come to the mountain for the snow.

Because he loves snow!

And dad said he'd pick him up if the roads were bad...

And Uncle Paul said he would take him duck hunting in the morning...

And he could go sledding down the huge hill next door with us...

And I would help him study for his exams tomorrow...

But he wouldn't come!

Who can resist that?

It would have been perfect!

But... He just had to be a good student.

Geo, if you read this, I'm not trying to rub it in, I just wish you were here!

Anyways, hope you all are cozy and safe and enjoying the cold weather

and getting into the Christmas spirit!

Merry Christmas y'all!

Life during Finals

2010-12-08T13:24:00.000-05:00

Exams are almost over!!! One more to go... One that I haven't begun studying for, nor have I gotten remotely close to finishing the study guide. It's only two chapters though, and compared to the 13 chapters on Monday and the eight chapters today, two chapters seems like a breeze!

Anyways, I just got out of my exam and am taking a break before studying for the rest of the day/night/morning.

I thought I'd give you a short account of finals life. Not sure if this is how everyone's exam life goes, but this is how mine is...

I fell asleep 1 AM last night after lying in bed for an hour thinking of possible business law exam questions. My alarm went off at 6 AM this morning, and I snoozed it until 6:10. I got up and looked at the temperature. When I saw that it was 16 degrees, I decided to study at home for an hour to make sure the roads were thawed and it was light outside.... And to delay being in the coldness.

When 7:15 rolled around ever too soon, I went to my car and got in... Saw the ice on my windshield... Put the defrost on... Sat there... 5 minutes... My windshield was unaffected... I was freezing sitting there... So I got out my Marble Slab gift card and started scraping...

This was the kind of ice that was very difficult to get off... Sometimes there is frost, and sometimes there is ice. This was ice--thin, unscrapeable(?) ice. But I persevered. I scraped off a window of ice on the drivers side. I wondered if it was illegal to drive only half-scraped. I decided to take my chances.

I made it to campus and went to Einstein's for coffee and a bagel. I sat down to wait for my food, and something felt off.... Hmm... What was missing? Oh, I know... it's that thing that I have worn just about every single day since age 12. The thing that I don't leave the house without... I don't even go downstairs in the morning at home without it... Nonetheless, IN PUBLIC. You know what I'm talking about, right? Luckily, I'd worn a t-shirt, sweatshirt, and down jacket. I was too afraid to take of any of these items off. I sat there all morning in three layers.

Anyways, after realizing that I'd forgotten a valuable piece of my wardrobe, I continued studying for business law. With the people around me talking, I thought I'd put on my Christmas music to drown out the girl next to me telling her acquaintance that her hometown didn't have Target or Piggly Wiggly or a mall or.... AHHH!!! So anyways, the earphones went in and the music went on... And I turned it up because I couldn't hear it. It was weird because normally I can hear it when it's on 4 notches. I turned it almost all the way up so it blocked out all extraneous noise.

I quickly got into study mode... Flying through my notes AND comprehending them, too!

The professor at a table in front of me looked at me a lot... I figured that he was amazed at my concentration on my notes so early in the morning.

After ten or fifteen minutes (I'm not quite sure because of intense study mode), my earphone felt like it electrocuted my ear so I took my earphones out...

And my music was still playing!

That's weird!

And then I realized that my earphones were not plugged into the earphone plug, but the one next to it.

My music was playing for everyone around me.

And I had earphones in.

That's why the professor was staring.

I'm sure he was contemplating... tell her or let her be?

I was so embarrassed that I wanted to move, but I thought it might be awkward.... So I toughed it out, plugged my earphones in like it was no big deal, and trekked on through my notes.

And that is a synopsis of my life during finals!

Am I losing my mind?

"Twas the night before finals..."

2010-12-06T13:12:00.000-05:00

I found this on studyworld.com today while studying...

Well, while I was on a study break...

And I thought it was cute!

Twas the night before finals, and all through the college,
The students were praying for last minute knowledge.

Most were quite sleepy, but none touched their beds,

While visions of essays danced in their heads.

Out in the taverns, a few were still drinking,

And hoping that liquor would loosen up their thinking.

In my own room, I had been pacing,

And dreading exams I soon would be facing.

My roommate was speechless, her nose in her books,

And my comments to her drew unfriendly looks.

I drained all the coffee, and brewed a new pot,

No longer caring that my nerves were shot.

I stared at my notes, but my thoughts were muddy,

My eyes went ablur, I just couldn't study.
"Some pizza might help," I said with a shiver,

But each place I called refused to deliver.

I'd nearly concluded that life was too cruel,

With futures depending on grades had in school.

When all of a sudden, our door opened wide,
And Patron Saint Put It Off ambled inside.

His spirit was careless, his manner was mellow,

All of a sudden, he started to bellow.

"On Cliff notes, on Crib notes, on Last Year Exams.

On Wingit and Slingit and Last Minute Crams."
His message delivered he vanished from sight.

But we heard him laughing outside in the night.

Your teachers have pegged you so just do your best.

Happy Finals to All and to all a Good Test.

Favorite Family Picture

2010-12-06T12:57:00.000-05:00

This is my favorite picture from Thanksgiving.

I couldn't believe that we were able to talk Dad into doing this with us.

He's such a good sport!

We cut the picture so we could just see Mom and Dad's faces... funniest thing ever!

It is blurry on my computer, but it wasn't on the camera.

Sorry you can't see the faces clearly because it's so funny.

They are our sweet cheerleaders!

Study Sunday

2010-12-05T13:57:00.000-05:00

On this frigidly cold Sunday afternoon, I'm sitting in a cushy, cozy chair wrapped up in my down blanket as I listen to the Mariah Carey Christmas Pandora station watching the snow fall.

What a perfect December Sunday afternoon, right?

Wrong.

I'm in the library studying all day.

I brought some things to make it more comfy... the down blanket.

It really is working...

It feels like home!

(Besides the bright fluorescent lights,

And the Marketing book,

And the guilty feeling for blogging.)

I have three finals this week--Marketing, Business Law, and History.

Then it's Christmas Break for me!

I'll get to finally do all of the things that I have been longing to do for the past few weeks--

Christmas shopping for JIM (my assigned cousin)

Reading (finishing a few of my 5 half-read books)

Decorating at home

Napping worry-free and whenever

Baking (right now I can't afford the ingredients)

Eating things other than leftover chili... every single day

Christmas caroling (Mary, Mere, Laura, Malone, what do you think?)

Still by real fires at home every single night!

There is much more, but I don't have time to think of it right now.

I'm going to get back to learning things such as:

Land Rovers, Kias, Volkswagens, Volvos and Mercedes are the top 5 brands that are overvalued (bad),

while Mercurys, Infinitis, Buicks, Lincolns and Chryslers are undervalued (good).

Or the fact that the typical shopper passes 300 items (meaning all different products) per minute in a supermarket... All of these choices within a brand (like 75 flavors and shapes of Wheat Thins) are actually beginning to confuse shoppers and may lead to a shopper buying a different brand because of too many choices.

I've always thought there were too many choices, but some shoppers like more choices.

Which one do you fall under?

Black Friday + Midnight Madness

2010-11-28T23:20:00.000-05:00

We went shopping in Orlando at Midnight Madness, meaning that the Prime Outlets opened Thanksgiving night at midnight. And there definitely was madness.

There were mobs of people lined up outside of Victoria's Secret for $14.99 bras and $2 panties. Once it opened, there were so many people in there that it was a 50-yard line that was one in, one out.

We stayed away from the crazy stores and stuck to J Crew, Banana Republic, Gap, BCBG, and Ann Taylor. They were a little less crazy, but still crazy.

People had multiple rolling suitcases to pack their stuff in.

They were doing some damage.

By 2 AM, I was walking around deliriously, trying on clothes. I was worried that I was making the wrong decisions on what to get. So I decided to go sit on the fountain and wait for the girls to finish shopping. (I got home and am still happy with my purchases, so that's a good thing.)

But I must say, if I had had more money to spend, I could have shopped for hours more because the prices were incredible. I probably could have shopped till 5 in the morning. I also probably would have ended up buying new shoes because my feet would have been raw... But I could have done it.

Anyways, we left Orlando at 2:53 very achey and tired, but very happy with the deals we got on clothes.

I spent $70 and saved $200.

I was the chosen, lucky driver of Sierra the Sienna (minivan) for the trip home.

I felt like I was seeing double lines in the middle of the road because of tiredness,

but everyone stayed awake and chatted so that I wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel.

It took about an hour, and I very happy to get in bed by 4 AM.

(No matter how good I try to make Midnight Madness sound, it just sounds miserable.)

We have lots of chaotic memories of piling 9 girls in Granddad's minivan and shopping all night long.

I would totally do it again next year if I was in Florida again.

Another fear to add to the list

2010-11-28T22:52:00.002-05:00

We had an awesome Thanksgiving break. Florida ended up to be so much fun because Thanksgiving lasted 3 days instead of one. The Mission Inn was very nice for Thanksgiving lunch, even though we didn't have leftovers. We have tons of pictures... And a few funny/scary memories.

The thing that keeps coming to my mind when I think about the trip was about 2 minutes long... And I'm pretty sure it scarred me for life.

This is how it went...

Thanksgiving Day, after Uncle Paul stabbed a very deadly snake, the Cotton Mouth, and then watching the little kids mutilate it and cut open its stomach to find two whole fish in it...

Dad asked me to go ask George if he would like to come to our Thanksgiving dinner at the Mission Inn, which is a resort down the road. George is our sweet neighbor who takes care of the house when we're not there. He gardens and fishes pretty much all the time. He has been bitten by cotton mouths and copperheads... 44 times total, and never once been to the doctor for it. The whole family loves George, he's part of the family now, so we thought we'd walk down and ask him to join.

Jack, Laura and I set out down the driveway. We considered driving, but we decided to walk. We have a long driveway, but we said we'd need as much exercise as possible since we were about to eat a lot.

We got to the end of the driveway, a good ways away from the house.

And out of nowhere, I hear barking.

And then I hear a woman screaming, "Bentley!! Get over here!"

And then I see a pit bull running towards us.

This picture that I found on a google search looks exactly like Bentley looked at that moment, except Bentley was not chained up.

Laura somehow was suddenly 20 feet away from Jack, me and the pit bull.

Jack, who is a foot taller than me and 100 pounds more than me, was somehow behind me, and we were both backed into the bushes.

I somehow ended up right on top of the pit bull. I felt like my body was in a C shape.

The middle part of my body was trying to get as far away from this deadly animal as possible,

but there was no where else to go.

Bentley was not responding to his owner.

I could just picture a huge chunk being taken out of my leg by this beast.

After about a minute, he left.

My heart beated about 1,000 beats in that minute.

I turned around, shaking, and decided to drive to George's house.

I really wanted to run home, but I was too afraid that the dog would chase.

I'm sure the owners laughed as they saw us walk down the driveway towards their house,

and turn straight around and walk back after their big, bad dog got to us.

I officially hate pit bulls.

I think they should be illegal to own.

Obviously, these owners were idiots.

They had a fence halfway around their house but not completely,

so their pit bull could get out any time he wanted.

And they should know not to have him out because Mom told them last time...

The last time he almost attacked my mom, she drove back down there to the end of the driveway and wouldn't get out of the car, but she motioned them to come over to her car. Mary said she cringed as Mom angrily told them that their dog tried attack her and they need to get it locked up.

They told her that they have had it 8 years and that it's never hurt anyone.

But I don't care if it's never hurt anyone. That doesn't mean that it won't.

It's like saying that since a boa restrictor hasn't ever killed its owner, it won't hurt anyone.

I've heard stories about that. They do kill.

Anyways, that was really scary.

I wanted to take a gun with me the next time I went on a walk because I wanted it to come out to attack and I wanted to kill it. Little kids ride their bikes to the end of the driveway. That's dangerous.

But... I didn't do it.

Instead, I cut through the bushes behind our house so I avoided the driveway...

And I never did anything about it really.

I think our family is sending them a letter to try to get rid of it.

It was scary.

I still think about that evil dog a lot.

I was already kind of scared of big dogs.

Now I'm going to be paranoid. I just know it.

Another fear to add to the list...

Every quarter-mile matters!

2010-11-22T15:26:00.002-05:00

If you see a small white BMW cutting through parking lots filled with pot holes...

Or if you see a girl at the library drawing a map in her planner...

Or if you get in the car and the driver goes the "long way" with a speed limit of 25 mph,
but way that is the shorter distance...

Or if you see a girl checking her dashboard mileage periodically throughout a drive...

Or if you hear a girl on the phone saying, "How about you just picked me up?"

Well, that's probably me!

I am at mile 49,973 in my car.

(That was by memory.)

At mile 50,000, my warranty runs out.

I'm trying every way I know how to prolong the miles...

I have been dreading this for the last 4 months.

I take my car to the dealership when I hear any type of noise.

I have had every could-be problem checked.

I have to pay for the problems on my own from here on out...

That is not going to be pretty.
IF there's an issue, I'll be taking money out of my savings.

Anyways...

Don't make fun of the girl driving through the pot-holed parking lot.

Every quarter-mile matters!

SWAGGER WAGON

2010-11-17T10:07:00.000-05:00

Okay, this might not be funny to you, but I couldn't stop laughing.

I guess you can just see what you think.

Mary has an Old, Japanese Woman Stalker.

2010-11-16T17:54:00.000-05:00

I guess you could say that weird things happen to people in my family.

They definitely happen to me, and Mary is now having strange things happen.

By the way, this story isn't a joke this time, I promise.

Mary recently got a babysitting job every Friday at a very nice house for three really cute little girls.

She gets paid well, and she always says that the job is easy...

Until last week.

Last week, I got texts from Mary saying,

"There is a Japanese lady at their house and she is talking to me about not having sex before marriage, putting God before possessions, and learning how to cook and clean for my husband. She has been talking to me all day and I can't understand everything. I just keep laughing and saying yes."

Later, I got a text saying,

"She asked if she could be my grandmother and teach me how to cook and clean. She's bringing egg drop soup over and she asked for my address."

Mary said that she didn't write down her address right away, trying to avoid it, but the lady kept coming back and reminding her to write it down.

She eventually wrote it down, but then she left and we forgot about it.

Well Sunday rolls around and I was at home alone and get a knock on the door. I looked out the window first and saw two women out there. One Asian older lady, and one girl with a thick canvas dress on to the ground. I opened the door and the older woman asked for Mary. I immediately knew who it was, and I told her Mary wasn't here. She said she was just coming by to make sure that she knew where the house was before she came back. She gave me two books for Mary to read and they would discuss the scriptures next time she came by. Then she asked for Mary's phone number. I gave it to her because I couldn't act like I didn't have it.

The other lady with her never said a word until I asked her her name, which was Rose. She apparently just came to drive Sue over. The books that Sue gave Mary were Jehovah's Witness books. That explained it! The woman driving her... Coming to the door...

So today, Tuesday, Nat got home and saw these things on the front porch:

Dear Mary,

I stop make

egg drop soup. Keep.

I my come make

soup.

See good day.

Love all,

Grandmother.

And the supplies!

She left the eggs on the porch, I hope they're okay!

I love that the note is signed, "Grandmother."

That way Mary knows exactly who left the stuff. Of course! It's Grandmother!

She really is sweet. I don't mean to make fun of her, but you have to admit that it is funny.

An old Asian woman stalking Mary.

She wants to come over to teach Mary how to make egg drop soup.

I think that will be cool to know how to do!

I mean, how many white college students know how to make egg drop soup?

Mary has a bad attitude about it though.

She says she doesn't know what she's going to say when they discuss Scriptures

because she has a hard time understanding her,

and she doesn't know what to say about the Jehovah's Witness part either.

Anyways, I have a feeling that this is going to be interesting.

I have a feeling that we're going to be weary of hearing a knock on the door.

We're going to be scared that we're going to get caught talking!

What if she comes over on a day that we have things to do?

It will be hard to explain to her!

She never calls in advance...

Oh dear!

Dreary Monday

2010-11-15T21:03:00.000-05:00

Our house is cold, very cold.

It's been raining outside all night.

I have a sore throat and a cold kind of thing.

And I also have a test tomorrow.

I would really love some frozen yogurt.

It feels like midnight, and it's only 9.

What a dreary Monday!

One positive...

Being too lazy to get up and needing something soothing on my throat, I grabbed a glass of water that was left on the side table from this afternoon, and I took a drink.

It was still cold!

That is one good thing about a cold house!

Hot Dog Pizza, Anyone?

2010-11-14T16:58:00.001-05:00

When I was home last weekend, we were eating dinner with my grandparents and my mom brought up the fact that when she and my dad were first married, they were really poor. They never got to eat meat because it was too expensive.

She said that they would buy those really cheap frozen pizzas (I think the ones like Totino's, $.99, but they were probably cheaper 25 years ago). Anyways, they would cut up a hot dog and put it on top of the pizza, but that was only when they could afford hot dogs. They said they didn't think it was bad and they were happy to have meat (if you can call hot dogs meat).

We laughed about it for a really long time. We were eating some yummy chicken and broccoli casserole, so that's the only reason it was funny. I don't have anything against hot dogs, but I wouldn't be too excited about eating hot dog pizza. I was thinking I'd rather just have the pizza without hot dogs on it or a hot dog without a pizza. Or maybe I'd just stick with the basic rice and beans. I guess that's what they ate the rest of the time so they were tired of it.

Anyways, I just want to take today to be thankful for the variety of food and meat that I get to eat. I take it for granted and get stressed when I don't know what I'm going to eat for the next meal. I'm not sure what my reasoning for being stressed about that really is.

Some day in the near future (as in, when I graduate without a job), hot dog pizza might sound pretty good. I really hope not.

I hate Rubik's cubes

2010-11-12T11:24:00.000-05:00

I'm just sayin'

I still haven't finished that cube and it's gotten to the point that looking at it makes me tense up.

I got my hair cut today.

It doesn't look any different, just trimmed and even.

I know I just posted about growing my hair out, but I can't handle too long.

I've pretty much never in my life had long hair.

I also got salt and pepper shakers today.

We haven't had any this year and it drives me crazy.

I had a gift card to Pier One.

And I got these...

We really need measuring spoons.

We have a 1/2 tablespoon and that's it.

I have attempted to count out 8 1/2 tablespoons.

It never fails--I always lose count.

It would be so much easier to have the right measurements.

So, I found some at Pier One but I talked myself out of buying them.

I'm one of those shoppers.

I pick up about 5 things while I'm in the store.

Then I put all of it back except one thing.

I buy it and leave.

If I stay around too long, I'll leave with nothing.

I always buy more if I'm in a rush.

Lastly,

I would like

to tell you how excited

I am

about Thanksgiving. It's my

favorite holiday. My family is going to

the Florida houses.

That's my whole family.

Except for a couple of sweet family members

who can't come. I'm sad about that.

But I'm really excited about the warm weather with

the whole family.

I think we're squeezing into 2 houses and

a hotel room, so that should be

interesting.

Our house is only 2 and a half bedrooms,

but it sleeps 8.

We know how to cram them in.

The half bedroom is a closet that has a bunk bed in it.

I don't remember celebrating

Thanksgiving

anywhere besides on the mountain.

It will definitely be different,

but hopefully different for the better.

(I think it will!)

Shopping in Orlando on Black Friday...

I'm not sure if that will be scary or awesome.

Hopefully we'll get our traditional cousin picture with Santa

on Black Friday.

This year we won't have pictures like this...

But that's okay!

We can take some on the lake instead of the brow.

One of My Favorite Things

2010-11-08T23:34:00.000-05:00

Just real quick, I thought I'd tell you about one of my favorite things in the world.

It's really not anything that special for most people.

But it makes me really excited.

Some people wouldn't even think about this being a good thing.

They would consider it just another part of life.

But it makes me feel free...

And relieved...

And accomplished...

And like I can do anything I want to.

I did this tonight on my way home.

I usually do it about every other week, sometimes less.

It costs a pretty good amount of money.

But it's totally worth it.

And it's a necessity.

What would you guess that it is?

Getting a full tank of gas.

It's simple and just another part of life.

Nothing really that special.

But, when I look on my dashboard and it tells me that I have 425 miles until empty,

I feel like I could go anywhere I want to.

425 miles is a long way.

I feel like I have accomplished something.

I can check something off of my list of things to do.

I feel like a burden is lifted off of my shoulders.

I always dread getting gas.

I usually drive a few days with the fuel light on.

Every time I pass a gas station, I think,

well it's rush hour...

or, I am in a rush right now...

or, that gas station is dark and sketchy...

or, maybe I'll get bored and come back later...

or, maybe it will warm up and I'll want to get out...

or, I can't ever figure out how to turn that place's gas pump on...

or, that place has diesel so I better not go there to chance getting it mixed up...

I allow my dashboard to tell me that there are only 3 miles until empty.

And then, I finally go get gas.

This process makes the feeling of a full tank of gas even better.

After driving on empty for 3 days, the worry of running out of gas is lifted from my burdens...

And I am free of one of my worries.

I got gas tonight.

My worries are gone!

Next time you get gas, hope you appreciate the full tank too!

God Knew What He Was Doing

2010-11-07T21:41:00.000-05:00

(That's me with my small group leader, Paulette.)

Seeing this picture tonight made me really happy.

Not because my hair looks all that good, but because my hair doesn't look like this:

It's been 22 months since this haircut.

Praise the Lord!

I am truly thankful that hair grows.

God knew what he was doing when he did that.

He knew that people like me would

be really bad at telling the hair dresser what they wanted.

I know I probably need a trim now, but I'm just so excited about long hair.

And I'm also too afraid of getting my hair cut now.

Violated.

2010-11-06T23:25:00.000-04:00

I had a crazy thing happen today.

I drove home this morning to come see Diddie and Andy.

I was really excited to come home!

About halfway home, I stopped to get some gas on an exit. An older, white-haired lady came up to me while I was pumping the gas and asked if I could help her out with some money in order to make it home to Chattanooga. She had been up at a doctor's appointment in Knoxville and she stopped to get gas but left her purse in the bathroom and someone stole it. She didn't have her cell and didn't know anyone's number. She didn't smell very clean, but I figured that it came with staying out of town for a while and being sick, or whatever was wrong.

Sooo... out of the kindness of my heart (and because of her absolute helplessness/my naiveness), I offered to just give her a ride home and she could get her car later. I was headed to Chattanooga anyways, and it wasn't a big problem for me. She quickly agreed to this, saying that she just wanted to be home where she knew where she was.

She got in my car, and off we went! I put my new Christian CD on, thinking it might spark a conversation, plus it's my favorite one. Oh, the ridiculous things I do sometimes!

We started chatting and she told me where she was from, and she was my grandmother's age. Then she told me she was from Sweetwater, and we realized that she is actually my Grandfather's mother's brother's daughter (so, Granddaddy's cousin). That was interesting, and I was glad that I picked her up, being family and all!

We were right outside of Chattanooga, and my car started smelling a little funny. I kind of wanted to gag, but I couldn't put my finger on what the smell was. I hid my feelings about it until I couldn't take it any longer and I told this unnamed woman that I had to go to the bathroom and we pulled off. We both went in, and when I came back to the car, her seat, in my car, was soaking wet.

Immediately, I knew what that smell was. Urine.

Yes, oh yes, I said urine.

I didn't know what to do. It would embarrass her to go and like clean it up, and the smell probably wouldn't get out that fast. But knowing what it was, I really couldn't bear the thought of getting back in the closed car.

She walked out of the gas station (visibly wet), and having nothing else to do, I got in the driver's seat and she got back in. And, off we went!

I told myself, only 20-30 more minutes... I can do it. No big deal.

I gagged a few times but made myself mentally stop gagging and didn't think about it. I concentrated on talking to my new friend. After 45 minutes and slight confusion as to where we were going, we arrived at her apartment in a part of town that I didn't even know was there.

Anyways, I got her out and got her bags out of the car. When I got back in my car, I realized that my car phone charger wasn't there anymore and that my favorite (Christian!) CD was no longer in the CD player. When I got home, I realized that I couldn't find the brownies that were in my back seat.

Interesting.

But hey, all I could think about was getting out of my car. And how in the world would I ever get the smell out?

I mean, I felt sorry for my 4th cousin once removed, but she also stole my stuff.

That was slightly annoying.

I got home and asked my granddad about her.

She's not actually related to him.

He's never heard of her.

Don't know how she lied to me about that...

So strange.

I feel violated.

Ok, I'm just kidding about this whole thing.

Didn't have anything interesting to blog about.

Hurricane Tomas

2010-11-05T11:37:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about these kids...

And this hurricane...

Port-au-Prince is in that inland/bay looking thing.

Maybe they won't get hit directly by Tomas.

That's what I've been praying for for the past night.

But the problem is: Haiti has no trees.

Therefore, there is a lot of mud when it rains.

In the past, thousands have died from mudslides.

It just makes me worried for these kids, these moms, and these dads.

I've been lifting my worries up to the

only One who is powerful enough to help the Haitians right now.

Would you lift them up too?

Where Do Dreams Come From...?

2010-11-02T09:31:00.002-04:00

.... I'm just wondering about that this morning as I prepare to study.

I'm distracted every time the cut on my finger catches my eye.

The cut is from the back of a knife. (I only thought that was impossible.)

It doesn't hurt that bad and it's fine, but I had a dream about it last night...

A rather disturbing dream.

It was one of those that I'll think about all day.

I'll tell you about it...

I was looking at the cut on my finger and I suddenly realized that something was in my finger like a splinter or a small piece of glass. So, I started fidgeting with it. All of the sudden, the cut popped open because there was something bigger in it than just a splinter. I freaked out, but I wanted this huge green thing out of my hand, so I squeezed around and maneuvered it out. It didn't hurt one bit. When I pulled it out, it kept coming and kept coming.

It was disgusting. I'm grossed out to think about it.

It was about as thick as asparagus, but it was hard like a bone, and it was as long as my finger.

I thought that I had accidently pulled my bone out of my pointer finger.

The people around me were repulsed.

And I didn't know what to do except not move my finger and hold this bone-like thing, in case the doctors needed it to put back in my hand later.
I stood there, confused and scared, unable to do anything.

Then I woke up, and I was so happy that I was not holding a bone in my hand.

So the thing that is disturbing:

How in the world do these thoughts enter my mind?

Do I think them up myself?

If so, there might be something wrong with me.

I hope these thoughts go away.

I really need to study.

Race for the Cure

2010-10-29T22:50:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I will be racing for the cure (for breast cancer).

My sweet small group leader Paulette is sponsoring all of the girls in our small group to do this in honor of my roommie, Delaney's, mom who was diagnosed this semester.

All 4 of my roommates will be waking up at about 7 in the morning to go walk.

I'm not sure that any of us are actually running for the race. We'll probably take our sweet time as we walk and enjoy the time together.

It is supposed to be in the 30s in the morning so we're going to have to bundle up!

I'm excited about it!

P.S. Laura did win state!

Gooo Laura!

2010-10-29T17:08:00.000-04:00

My athletic sister, Laura, is currently, right now, as I type, playing in the state championship for volleyball.

She is much more athletic than I have ever dreamed to be. She's competitive. She's coordinated. She's tall. She's a jumper. She's pretty much a beast.

I don't know if she'll win or not, but I'm just proud of her for getting this far!

I think that this is State last year. She's the one that's jumping in the middle. She just hit the ball. I think that's a good hit, forgot what it's called though.

Give Energy. Save Energy.

2010-10-28T00:28:00.002-04:00

I went by Earthfare on the way home from Middle School Youth Group because they have a nice buffet every day with fresh cooked vegetables and some meats and I hadn't had a decent meal all day.

It was 8:30 and I was getting tired because I slept only about 5 hours last night in order to study for a test I had today. I have another big test tomorrow, so I thought I'd get a coke for a little caffeine. Then I saw something that said, "Give Energy" and I thought, Yes! That is exactly what I need, energy! Plus it's all natural and only a few ingredients, so it looked like it wasn't as unhealthy as those other energy drinks.

And so, I drank this entire drink at about 9 PM.

I've never really had an energy drink before besides a couple of times when I was driving a long way at night. I thought this "Give Energy" drink would just be like a coke--something cold, a little caffeine, would keep my eyes open for a couple of hours.

This stuff is so much more than that.

I'm wide awake at 12:15 with no chance of going to sleep anytime soon.

I have been shaking and twitching a lot too.

It's kind of annoying.

But my purpose has been accomplished:

I got a lot of studying done.

Plus, I will continue to study some more...

Or maybe work on the Rubik's cube.

Until this energy that I have been given wears off.

But right now, I really just wish that I could Save Energy for tomorrow.

I just want to go to sleep.

Dangerous Drink!!

2010-10-26T20:26:00.001-04:00

Just thought you might find this funny... All you have to do is watch about the first 30 seconds, but it's my 10 seconds (or maybe less) of fame.

The story is kind of interesting though, so you could watch it all the way through if you have a minute.

No one that I know in Knoxville watches the news... Too bad it wasn't the Chatt news, could have surprised Mom and Dad!

[The video has been removed, but the link to the written story is below.]

http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=13391388

News Channel 6 Story

Nashville Weekend

2010-10-25T21:16:00.001-04:00

I had a fun weekend in Nashville.

Gotta make this post quick since I have 3 tests and a presentation that I should be working on...

Here are some pictures!

We went on a train ride to Cookeville and had so much fun.

Lots of good pictures of Geo and I...

Didn't know I had those wrinkles.

Or that my skin was as pale as a ghost.

I'm smiling. He looks disgusted.

I need to learn not to take pictures of us...

I do it to be funny but maybe we should stop all together.

These were rough.

The Titans game was a blast as well.

It was really good to be in Nashville and get to visit with Geo's parents and meet his sister and her kids. And I got to see my two aunts as well! Got lots of visiting in!

Is this really happening?

2010-10-23T01:01:00.000-04:00

I can't sleep because every time I close my eyes, I imagine that I'm holding one of these...

And in my head, I'm moving the red around and trying to figure it out.

Of course, it is impossible because I can't remember all the colors on each side.

And when I get the red moved where it needs to be, I can't remember which ones were already red on that side.

And so the game goes on and on and on...

I played with one of these for a couple of hours tonight at Geo's house.

I'll never do that before going to bed again.

I'll probably have dreams about it.

That would be better than not sleeping because of it.

Is this really happening?

Pray, pray, pray

2010-10-20T22:48:00.001-04:00

For the Carpenter family.

They are a family who lives in my neighborhood at home and goes to our church. They were missionaries until their father died. When they came back here, my grandmother and their mother were good friends.

In May, Marie Carpenter, a sweet girl who we grew up with, Mary's age, fell off of a cliff on the mountain. It was at a place that I go all the time when I'm home.

She was at that overlook because she had just found out that her baby niece had died two hours earlier. That family lost two young people in one day.

Today, their son Winship, who is a year older than me, died in the same place that Marie did.

Three young people gone in a half of a year for that family.

I can't imagine how they feel. I can't fathom the fact that God could be big enough to heal the wounds of that family. I don't know why God would allow such a thing to happen to this amazing family.

This I know: Our God is a healer, a provider, THE creator of each and every person; He has a purpose with each life that He made; He sees our pain; He is Sovereign; and He is the Most High God. He is the Lover of our souls. He is with us through the good and the bad. He is the Lord.

The more prayers for this precious family, the better.

The Apparent Project.

2010-10-20T16:11:00.003-04:00

So many times I don't realize my blessings...

Until I read blogs like The Apparent Project.

The Apparent Project is a nonprofit in Haiti. It consists of a missionary family who lives in Haiti and began some businesses for the Haitians to work at in order to provide jobs and a way to make money on their own. They make bracelets, necklaces, stationery, and children's clothing. It's an awesome ministry, as the missionary family is brilliant and very strategic in helping the Haitians there.

Anyways, I was reading their blog, and I began to think about how blessed I am being a woman in the United States. I never really think about that.

I've thought about how blessed I am to have all the things I have--food, car, house, clothes, etc. But not really about my rights as a women. I kind of put those in the category of feminism, and I think those days are over. We have won our battle, and that's all that matters.

Many of the women in Haiti, and in a lot of the world, are abused by their husbands, and it's not looked down upon like it is here.

A lot of women never even have the chance to get married because it's too expensive. How sad would that be? Never having the commitment of marriage.

They are cheated on a whole lot.

They don't have men who desire to serve them in a Christ-like manner, and or even respect them at all. They can't complain about having so much to do as a stay-at-home mom. They most likely have nothing to do at all. No work, little food, and not much house work, as they live in tents. They might have to walk far for water, but I feel like they probably aren't nearly as busy as us American women think we need to be, doing things like In Style recommends for the "To-Do List" for today. "1. Get Flawless foundation. 2. Discover 5 beauty products that flatter everyone. 3. Get expert answers on your fashion questions." Those things are crazy, and I don't even realize it until I think about these Haitian women.

There might be benefits to the simplicity of their lives that I don't recognize... But I can't say there is any benefit to being beaten.

Shelly from the Apparent Project writes about the plight of even Christian women, "How is it that I could go to their church in cut-off jeans, dyed hair, nose ring and sporting tattoos and they wouldn't say boo, but a Haitian single mom living in the mud would be thrown out because her clothes aren't clean enough. How is it that women all over the world are in such a precarious position in life. YES! We American women have it SOOOOO good compared to 90% of the rest of the world. We are treated so much more fairly."

During childbirth, they wouldn't even dream of getting their own hospital room. They are lucky to get a bed. "Every woman I saw was by herself, crying in the dark in the rain as the pains of childbirth ravaged her. Every woman was without a hand to hold, without a calm voice to reassure, every woman was... alone. There were no less that 50 woman in labor, on the floor, in the hallways, screaming, bleeding, by themselves. No family was allowed to enter."

I am so thankful for all of the rights that I have as an American woman. I am so blessed to live here, and I long to help, somehow, these Haitian women, men, and children.

The Apparent Project needs money for their ministry--to be able to pay the rent for the building that the families work in and have school in, and to help buy houses for the many families who live in tents. If you want to check out their blog, and maybe even donate, it would be so great. I have been to meet this missionary family, and our team decided that they might be the most effective ministry that we saw in Haiti.

The people of Haiti have been on my heart and mind lately, and I want to do anything I can to help them. Alone, I can't make even a hint of change there, but with the Lord our Provider, Jehovah-jireh, and with people like... you! it is possible.

Click here to read more about the ApParent Project and what is going on in Haiti now.

Click here to contribute to the ApParent Project.