once upon a time, i used to blog.

... and then life took over and I took a 3.5 month hiatus.

 

But here I am. 

 

There is no earthly way I could update you on every detail of the past 3.5 months of my life.  They have been filled with all sorts of emotions and roller coasters.  However, I have four major things to bring you up-to-date on.

 

At the beginning of July, I turned 22!  (cue Taylor Swift song)  We put a lot of miles on the car that weekend as we traveled nearly 4 hours to eat at Lamber's resturant then ended the night at the drive-in with our closest friends.  I was one happy birthday girl!

 

Just a few short days after my birthday, I was "officially" an employee of my local school system.  I teach 4th grade Reading and Social Studies at the exact place where I went to elementary school.  My elementary principal is now my boss and my 4th grade teacher is now my curriculum coordinator.  I am always amazed at the plans God has for me.  I have now completed my first semester with my 4th graders and I can truly say that I love my job!  Blessed is an understatement.

Here are a few shots of my classroom... it has evolved a bit since school has started, but you get the idea :)

Then just one week after school started, my Dad had a heart attack.  It was a complete shock to us all and just as we were starting to realize what was going on, the doctor informed us that he needed open heart surgery to repair the major blockages that he had in his arteries.  In short, his surgery required six bypasses.  After six days in the hospital, our prayers were answered and he came home.

The recovery is still continuing and will continue for quite some time but we are just so thankful for the outcome in his situation.  The Heart Institute at The Medical Center (Bowling Green) provided amazing care to him.  Your thoughts and prayers for his recovery would be greatly appreciated!  My mom is keeping him busy with "honey-do" tasks ;)

So then about three weeks after my Dad came home, we received a phone call on a Sunday afternoon that one of Nathan's best friends, Jake, had fallen 20 feet out of a deer stand.

Jake hunts just a few miles from our house and, luckily, Nathan was able to get to him very quickly.  After being flown to Vanderbilt, he underwent back and leg surgeries to repair his injuries.  All the surgeries were a success and he had no damage to the spinal cord... praise God!  He was transported to a local rehab facility before being sent home about a week ago.  He has shown great progress and we are so thankful to see pictures like this... those who know Jake can only laugh at the hat in this picture.  He's a goofball and we love him for it!

And there ya have it... the past 3.5 months of my life in a nutshell.  Nathan and I celebrated our first year of marriage last week (another post for another day) and as we were talking, we both promised that we hadn't broken any mirrors and that we are just thankful to have all those here today that were there for our day a year ago.  I am a firm believer that all things happen for a reason.  Many times I think the reason is just to give us all a good wake-up call as to what life is all about.  We are always reminded of the blessings God has given us!

This week is my fall break... also known as heaven.  I am looking forward to catching up on household chores, enjoying naptime, doing a little shopping, and just enjoying the moment.  It has been eventful, to say the least, over the past few months and I hope the pace slows down just a bit ;)

may blog challenge {part 5}

Day 23:  Things I've learned that school didn't teach me
This was tough for me for some reason.  I try to think of things that I tell my students about "life" in general.  Let's see...
Your value isn't based upon what's on social media.  The age of kids getting a Facebook, Twitter, etc. just seems to keep getting younger and younger.  It's so easy to become consumed with what's on these things but that's not what we should live our lives by.

There is never enough time.  The phrase "time flies" applies to this.  Pretty self-explanatory... blink an eye and who knows what you'll miss.

Base your life decisions upon prayer.  When faced with a decision, don't take it into your hands.  Just simply pray.

Day 24:  Top 3 worst traits
First, and foremost, my OCD tendencies.  It is so hard for me to not be consumed by my to-do lists and just learn to "let things go" sometimes.  I do have to give myself credit for becoming slightly better at this... but it's still certainly out of control.  I know I drive Nate absolutely bonkers sometimes.
Social media addiction.  I hate admitting to this one but it's true.  I have learned to give myself a limit to the amount of times I visit the sites each day.  I also do my best to completely abandon it when Nate gets home from work.  It is so easy to miss out on life when you're obsessed with Facebook.
Taking forever to get ready.  I am not, and have never been, one of those people who can get ready quickly.  Mainly due to the fact that I take long showers.  I often get frustrated at the amount of time it takes and am beginning to learn shortcuts.  I've come to the realization that sleep is precious ;)

Day 25:  Something I've been told about myself that I've never forgotten
In my opinion, a good work ethic is one of the best characteristics that a person can have.  I've been blessed to be surrounded by people who really do believe in the concept of hard work.  I pride myself on it, as well.  A former colleague wrote a reference letter for me not long ago and complimented on that by saying that I was one of the few college students he'd come in contact with that went above and beyond the tasks at hand.  He also contributed that trait to my success.

Hearing things like that only makes me want to work harder.

Day 26:  Something interesting I've read online
"Date a Girl who Teaches"
A sweet article about the quirky traits that we teachers often share.  It is oh-so true... especially for this girl.

balance, perfection, screw it.

Today, I'm linking up with Becky at From Mrs. to Mama.  She is hosting an amazing link-up today where we, as women, can just write.  And I just have to say that it couldn't have come at a better time.

 

 

The past 5 months of my life have been full of nothing but change.  I moved out of the only home I'd known for the past 21 years, married my best friend, got semi-adjusted to life as a newlywed, then got thrown into the world of teaching at the beginning of the year when I began student teaching.

 

Don't get me wrong.  These are all amazing things.  But they are changes, nonetheless.  And as a creature of habit, it has been terribly hard to struggle to find balance over the past few months.

Let's rewind a bit to the fall.  We returned from our honeymoon and, to my delight, things just seemed to work themselves out.  We both adjusted well to being newlyweds and I felt like I had it under control.

Then the new year came and my college girl schedule quickly changed into the real world of teaching.  And, boy, was that ever an eye-opener?!

You see I will openly admit that my biggest strength and downfall are that I am a perfectionist.  And the sad thing is that I am the only one who brings these expectations on myself. 

My husband does not expect things to be perfect.  My family does not expect things to be perfect.  My friends don't expect things to be perfect. 

So why do I?

We all have that picture in our heads.  House always spotless, meals always home-cooked, society stresses our weight/appearance, etc.  It is a never-ending vicious cycle. 

Well, apparently my body finally decided last week that it had enough of the cycle.  On Thursday, after feeling totally unlike myself for a few days, I finally visited the doctor and tested positive for Mono.

My body had literally had enough.  And so had I.  I was exhausted.

I have since spent my days on bed rest and have been doing a whole lot of thinking.  I am done with putting those expectations on myself.  They are weighing me down and only causing me to miss what really matters in life. 

I wasn't really sure where this post would be going when I started writing, I just had to write.  And I hope one of you ladies out there will choose to go with me and screw perfectionism.  Because the imperfect things are what we remember.

Here's to enjoying life as it comes... not as we picture it should be.

2013. new year; new changes.

I finally fixed the whole Blogger won't upload my pictures thing.  I don't know what I did, but I'll take it!  This was scheduled for a few weeks ago - my new year goals! 

Today, I am doing the obligatory 2013 goals/changes/resolutions post.  I usually tend to call them goals rather than resolutions, just a thing of mine.  I broke my goals into several different categories and made goals under each of those categories.

Faith
--Start each morning with a devotional and scripture from She Reads Truth.

--Read one additional chapter from the Bible each night.

Family/Friends
--Send one hand-written card to Nate each month.
--Send one hand-written card to another family member or friend each month (not including birthdays).

--Check social media a maximum of three times per day.  It's time to unplug from the world!

Health
--Compose meals of fruits, veggies, protein, and healthy carb.  For me this means to significantly decrease my sugar intake.

--Cardio at least 4 times a week; arms/legs/abs toning at least 3 times a week.
(If I'm satisfied with my results in the next few weeks, I'll try to post a sample menu and workout.)

Susie Homemaker
--Make dinner at least 4 times a week and continue to make meal plans in advance.
--Tackle an organization/special cleaning project in each room on Saturdays.

What are your goals for 2013?  Any suggestions on how to keep mine?

I hope the new year has treated you all well so far! :)

precious

I don't know what it is about this time of year.  The leaves changing, crisp air, holidays right around the corner... it just makes me stop and appreciate what God has blessed me with.  Granted, part of that could be due to the fact that I recently got married and everything is in a new perspective, but let's be real, we are all so blessed.

In light of the tragic events that have been floating around blog land, I wonder if you have taken a step back to see and truly appreciate your life.  As I was driving home Friday afternoon on one of the beautiful, winding, country roads in our neck of the woods, I felt this sense of happiness come on me and I had a moment. 

Here I am.  A little part of this Earth and I have been given so much.  A husband who drives me crazy at times, but unconditionally loves me; a family who will always have my back; friends that always make me laugh.  God has blessed Nathan and I with so much in our young lives.  As I was riding around with him in the combine on Saturday afternoon, I just had to take a picture.  This is right in our backyard... beautiful, right?

It made me think of a quote I recently heard not long ago...
"Sometimes when I see God's hand make something like that, it feels good to know that he made me too."
--Wyatt Earp

Amen?

I'm not sure what the whole point of this post is.  I just have all these wonderful emotions inside me right now and I'm hoping they're contagious to you as well.

Take time to soak life in.  Life's tough... but it's precious.

a life update of sorts

I survived pinkeye!  Lemme tell ya it wasn't fun but I certainly have a new love for GermX and hand washing. 

Remember this post from back in the summer? Nathan had interviewed for a job we both desperately wanted him to get and never heard anything back from them... until last Wednesday.  He got a call from them asking him to come in on Thursday for a walk through by his supervisors to see the plant and discuss his future there.  He was so excited (and I was too) but we were both so cautious about getting our hopes up.  After all, we were let down pretty hard back in the summer.  Everything went great for him on Thursday and we patiently waited on Friday morning for a call. 

And he got it.

I won't disclose where he'll be working for safety reasons but we are both so thankful!  His commute time will be cut in half, he'll only be working 7 weekends a year (as opposed to nearly every single one now), and his weekly hours are so much more compatible with mine.  We had this perfect scenario in our head of how things could go and that's how it has worked out.  His last day working for his current employer will be next Wednesday and he will not begin his new job until October 8.  We'll be able to enjoy a full week of our honeymoon (as opposed to just a few days at his current job) and he'll be able to help with all the festivities leading up the wedding.  AND he's going to still get paid with all the vacation time he has built up at his current job.

I think we are both still in a bit of shock right now.  We have waited for this and it's hard to believe that it is happening.  Most importantly, it's hard for us to believe that God has blessed us with this.  We have both talked about what we've done in our lives to receive so many blessings and are left so humbled.  The only thing we've done is accept Jesus as our savior and do our very best to please him in our lives.

It's the most amazing feeling to know that I'll be able to enjoy my husband now.  We'll be able to have dinner together at night and just enjoy being newlyweds.  Words just cannot describe how blessed we both feel right now.  Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts on this situation!

What I've learned through all of this is that God is listening to us even when we feel like he isn't.  I am a pretty impatient human when it comes to things like this and I really had to just put all my faith in the fact that something would work out.  I hope that if you're going through something similar, you'll do the same.  "He may let us bend, but He'll never let us break."

PS - wedding progress over the weekend... lights are hung, y'all.  This is getting real ;)

fear; what's it to ya?

Here's the post that I promised y'all.  I'm writing this with no idea how it will be organized and what exactly it will say.  I'm just hoping that the words will come to me.

Let me start by saying that, generally, I'm not a person who worries.  I know that the Lord is in control and have learned over the years to accept and embrace that.  However, a few weeks ago... I was really struggling.  Mainly due to the fact that in one year I'll be a college grad and desperately looking for a job.  We all know that the job market is not at it's best... but it's certainly disheartening when I feel like I turn on the TV each day and see that more funds have been cut for education.  For example, in the school system I attended, there will be a nearly $900,000 deficit next year.  Not the most encouraging news when you want to be a teacher.  Around this time, I picked up a book off my bookshelf that my parents got me for Christmas.  I had yet to read it, but the title certainly seemed to fit what I was going through.

Many of you have heard of Angie Smith... I hope you have.  She's an incredibly inspirational woman and I encourage you to find her website and read her story if you haven't.

Back to the book.  It was an answered prayer.  Each chapter is devoted to a different fear that women may experience.  The chapter titled, "Fear of Failure," certainly spoke to me.  Failure has been my biggest fear for as long as I can remember.  Angie shares bible stories and scripture about each aspect of fear in the chapters.  It was comforting for me to see that fear is an inevtiable part of human nature... it dates all the way back to the bible.  The important thing is learning how to deal with fear because it never truly disappears.

Throughout the past few weeks I have experienced peace with this issue. Yes, it is still in the back of my mind, but each time I feel the fear starting to set in... I just say a prayer and that's that. I know that God has a plan for my life and that he will guide me where I need to be.

If any of you out there are struggling like I was, get Angie's book and spend some QT with your bible.  I pray you find peace  :)

being a woman

In case y'all didn't know, it's International Women's Day! It got me to thinking about all we, as women, do and made me appreciate some of the little things that women (particularly me) get to enjoy.

The never-ending, over-flowing pile of beaty products to make ourselves even more beautiful.


The fact that chocolate can cure anything from PMS to a bad day. For real.


A one-hour lunch with some girlfriends do more for our well-being than countless hours with a therapist. Good friends are so, so important!


Being able to watch loads of chick flicks and sing songs at the top of our lungs. Don't act like you don't know what I mean ;) The Pistol Annies & Faith Hill have been favorites of mine recently.


Stocking up on all the new trends of clothing and the endless search for the perfect pair of jeans.


Most importantly, our kind souls. Kiddos and humane society dogs tug at my heart strings. Whether you agree or not, there's something we're all passionate about... and we're always thinking of a way to help that group out.

So, here's to us! The hormones, mood swings, and all. Treat yourself to something this weekend and celebrate yourself! The men are just here to join along on the ride, don't you agree?!

PS - Wedding Wednesday will be back next week with our favors... something that also tugs at my heart strings. Stay tuned for that!

30 before 30

I copied this idea from my friend Emily. I thought it was so great that I made a list of my own. Here are 30 things I want to accomplish before I turn 30 in July of 2021:

1. Graduate WKU with a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education
2. Get married
3. Start a family
4. Build a house
5. Begin my career as a teacher
6. Obtain a Master's degree in School Counseling
7. Begin my Rank I degree in Special Education, Language & Behavior Disorders
8. Teach a Vacation Bible School class
9. Grow a garden in our backyard
10. Learn to "can" vegetables from Nathan's Mamaw
11. Vacation to Savannah, GA
12. Continue to have no credit card debt
13. Go sky-diving
14. Run a race
15. Spend an entire day 4-wheeler riding
16. Paint a wooden sign
17. Help a Paper Angel every single Christmas
18. Go to a UK Basketball game
19. Do make-up for Prom in my hometown
20. Get a massage at a spa
21. Volunteer for Toys for Tots or the Salvation Army one Christmas
22. Go to a Miranda Lambert concert
23. Sing by myself in front of people
24. Find a four leaf clover
25. Pay for someone else's dinner
26. Walk a trail in the mountains
27. Take my kid(s) to a zoo and/or aquarium
28. Have a huge snowball fight with Nathan
29. Lay on a blanket on the farm to watch the clouds and stars pass by
30. Be the best Proverbs 31 woman I can be!


Make your own list, y'all! It's fun and gives you many things to work towards and look forward to :)

Happy Thursday!

the truth is.

It is only Wednesday, my friends. I have been bogged down with, well, life the past week. Excuse my lack in blogging.

Just a warning to ya all... this post will not follow my typical positive, upbeat attitude. Why? Because life isn't always positive and upbeat. I had one of those days yesterday. Please do not feel the need to read on ;)

Here we go, the truth is...

I had my first mental breakdown of the year yesterday. And possibly, my first ever since I've been in college. I called Nathan and just lost it. While hysterically crying, I was convinced that I wanted to quit school because it just wasn't worth it. I had a freaking 70 page chapter to read in my Geography class along with the 10 other assignments to work on. Not worth it. I was to my breaking point at work and I literally just felt like running up and down the streets screaming. But I didn't. Bless Nathan's heart! He is seriously the best, y'all! After about a 3 minute phone call, he managed to convince me that everything would be ok and to just do what I could because after all I was doing too much anyway. I felt a bit better but I still just felt like crying.

I skipped my daily workout yesterday afternoon because I was so exhausted and just had too much crap to do. Thankfully, I knocked a few things off my list last night at home.

I hate having an Art class until 9 pm. I mean seriously. On Mondays I leave home at around 6:45 and don't get home until around 9:45. I better be freaking Pablo Picasso after this class.

I hate that I won't get to see Nathan at all next Tuesday - our 5.5 year anniversary :( Yes, it is not new for us to not see each other on such "special" days. However, everything just hit me harder yesterday and I wasn't happy about it.

I'm so ready for Nathan to be moved and for everything to be sort of done at his place. I know things are never completely done when you own land/house/etc. but I feel like working over there every weekend is a job in itself.

Truthfully, I'm just ready for us to be married. Yes, we're not even engaged. Yes, I can't believe I just typed that.

As stupid as this sounds... I hate the new Facebook layout.

Last but not least, I hate the things that we women must experience each month. I can't believe I just typed that either.

I died last night when I went to sleep, and for good reason. Today has been a much better day though! I started off observing some kiddos and with some super nice (and much needed) compliments from the girls who observe with me.

I am also excited that we have received an official announcement from my aunt and uncle of what baby girl's name will be. Of course, I won't be revealing that until she is here in November :)

I have also loved looking through my friend's Scentsy catalog this week. Lots of smelly goods to put in Nate's place!

Lastly, I am thankful that even though I find it hard to balance life sometimes, my hard work is paying off.


Yes, that's what I made last week with Mary Kay! I was super psyched after I figured all of this up. I have big goals and this is just getting me one step closer :)

I apologize for any grammatical errors there may be in this post. I have decided to leave it as is to capture the rawness of my typing and emotions ;)

I promise this type of post will not become a norm for me... I just had to type all this out so that I can look back in a couple weeks/years/etc. and laugh at myself. Because if we can't laugh at ourselves, then we are taking life WAY too seriously :)

so many blessings!

I'm having a terrifically awesome Friday, y'all! I am on a high right now and have so much to be thankful for! It rained at our house and we desperately needed it. I just found out I'm going to have another little girl cousin to spoil - and buy tons of cute stuff for! I am off work all next week. Mom made some delicious apple cinnamon muffins this morning. See what I mean? Life is so extremely good right now. Thank you Lord for the many things I don't deserve!

I'm looking forward to having all next week off before school starts up. Here's what I plan on doing:

--Help Nathan finish painting the trailer and gradually start moving things over to his place


--Watch Miss Priss play some T-ball


--Organize my backpack and other miscellaneous things. I never have time to do this when school starts so I need to get it all done!


--Most importantly, recharge my batteries and catch up on rest!


--Luke Bryan concert with my boy! cannot wait! I'm probably going to pass out/drool/scream my head off when he comes on stage.


--Spending quality time with the people I love!

The best kinds of vacation to me are the ones with no concrete plans where you can do whatever you please. My blogging will probably slow down during this time but I can promise it's for good reasons :) This girl is ready for some time off and, so far, the weather looks very pleasant!

Enjoy your weekend!

real.

I have an awesome life! But sometimes I feel like this blog is too sugar coated. I would like to share this story with you from last night. Nobody is perfect.

I have a VERY slow leak in one of my tires. Every now and then it has to be aired up. Yesterday afternoon it needed it. No biggie, right? I wish. I'm not sure what got into me. I had been pretty busy that day with Nate's cousin's baby shower so I guess I can blame it on that. Anywho...

I leave my car at Nate's farm because he doesn't think it needs to be driven anywhere because the tire might go completely flat. We run over to my house to get the air compressor. For some reason it WILL NOT work for us. And in the process of trying to figure it out we let out almost all the remaining air in my tire. Great. Now I definitely can't drive it anywhere! I get frustrated because I just want it to be fixed. I tell Nathan to move and let me try and I probably accused him of not doing it right. I plop down in the gravel driveway and start hitting the air compressor because that's obviously going to make it start working. Well, surprisingly, it didn't work. Nathan is amused and calmly tells me we can just go to his house and get their air compressor. So after I hit the malfunctioned compressor some more we go to his house and grab theirs. On the drive over to his house, he assures me that it will get fixed and there's nothing to worry about. After a while, I start to believe him and feel better. Eventually, the tire gets fixed but it took much longer than I wanted it to!

I was pretty disappointed in myself for getting worked up over something like that. Thankfully, Nathan and I are good for each other in those situations. We have both learned how to calm the other down during life's inconvenient moments. I was exhausted after all this so I collapsed into bed. The tire was still fine this morning but I'm going to take it somewhere soon to have them check for a small leak. I don't want anymore Sunday night stressful situations!

Despite all this, I had a great weekend! I'm looking forward to mine and Nate's flea market trip tomorrow. Hopefully the rain will cooperate with us! :)

Have a great Monday!

Times are good.

Remember me? I just came out of hibernation. Actually, it's more like isolation. School isolation. I have been extremely busy over the past 6 or 7 weeks and I have the planner to prove it. My highlighter just ran out of ink - if that helps my case any. I can breathe now though. I completed 95% of the work for this semester this week and only have three tests left until Summer! Oh, how I can't wait!!

I have quite a few pictures on this post to share the highlights over the past few weeks.

First - I killed my first longbeard turkey a couple weeks ago. In the Spring of 2009, I killed my first turkey - a Jake. This was my first mature bird though. Confused? Let me explain.
>Jakes -- around 1.5 to 2 years old. Very curious and usually the dumbest. I call them the teenage turkeys.
>Longbeards -- always older than 2.5 years. The biggest and hardest-to-kill turkeys. I call them the Daddy and Grand-Daddy turkeys. Nathan believes my turkey was about 3 years old.

moving on...

Nothing ever goes as planned with me and Nathan. The original plan was to kill a turkey after it came off the roost because Nathan had been scouting and saw them many times before. Of course, it didn't work out that way. The morning started with us walking about a mile in the wind and cold rain to the land of no turkeys. After waiting for around 3 hours, Nathan changed the game plan. We then set out on another mile hike. During this time, I managed to fall butt-first in cow poop and knee-high mud. I am not exaggerating, people. Then, in a mature fashion, I threw a temper tantrum. I ranted about how much I hated turkeys and was on the verge of hating Nathan. I hated that my brand-new camouflage was dirty. I'm not sure why I expected it to stay clean. I then proceeded to throw my chair in the mud. It gets better. After attempting to gather myself, we finally made to where Nathan wanted. We finally got to stop walking. We got set up in our blind and I realized it wasn't a wise decision to throw my chair in the mud. For I had to sit in it until a turkey showed up. At this point, my anger was replaced with ignorance and I convinced myself to stop acting like a child. Meanwhile, Nathan is trying to stop himself from laughing at me and telling me just how dumb I was. Bless his heart. It wasn't long after that and a turkey finally showed up. I shot three times and finally killed it. It was a great mud-covered day. I was quite thankful for my warm shower later that night. My turkey weighed 23 pounds, had a 10 inch beard, and one inch spurs. See some snapshots from the day...

Nope, that's not a grizzly bear. It's Baylie. She was quite interested in the turkey... eating it, to be blunt.

I am very excited to share the next bit of news with you.

After searching and saving for nearly a year, Nathan became a 51-acre landowner on April 18. That's right, these pictures are of HIS land. I cannot begin to explain how proud and excited I am for him.

These pictures were taken from the website we found it on. They were taken back in the winter so you can imagine how much greener everything is now. I have been meaning to take more current pictures, but we have been so busy that it hasn't crossed my mind. Hopefully we'll get around to it soon.

I could choose to complain about how busy we've been cleaning everything but I don't want to...

This is a moment we've both been looking forward to. It's such an amazing season of life and we knew it wouldn't be "all roses". We knew we'd have to put in a lot of hard work but the end result will be worth it. We know this is something you don't experience often in life and we're taking it all in.

We're looking forward to spending many Summer days here. Bonfires, cook-outs, and cornhole games are sure to be in our future.

It's been a busy Spring so far but I'm thankful for all the good that has come from it.

When times are good, be happy...
--Ecclesiastes 7:14

Honest & Refreshing

God works in mysterious ways. I accidentally stumbled onto this a little while ago and can't even describe how much I love it! I don't want to say much about it so I hope you'll take the time to read it. I love the honest, refreshing look at this issue in Christianity -- it's always nice to have someone else put my feelings into words.

Enjoy!

This is blog-worthy.

I broke my word and am posting a blog. But it is one to remind me of what really matters. The one thing I've learned this semester is that, at times, I am way too blessed to be stressed :) Thanksgiving is an even better time to remember all the many things I have been blessed with. I am going to compile a list for my own sake of blessings to see how great my life and God really are. I know I won't be able to remember everything I would like to include -- that itself is a blessing.

--My best friend and boyfriend who I would go crazy without.
--Sweet Lily who always manages to make me smile.
--My parents and sister for always being there.
--My extended family for their continued encouragement and laughter.
--My job.
--All the kids in the world for inspiring my career choice, and for, well, just being kids.
--The newest addition to my life this year, Baylie, for her unconditional love.
--WKU.
--Food, shelter, clothes, and a comfy bed.
--The outdoors.
--Finishing my 22 page, 5300 word research paper. :)
--God for his love and mercy.
--My Bible.
--My close friends who make life fun.
--Country music.
--The ability to wake up each morning, take life in, and enjoy it.

My life is amazing, without a doubt. Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Announcement

Hello world. It has been over two weeks since I've found the time to post something on here. Life is moving at 100 miles an hour for me right now. I am drowning up to my eyeballs in homework and am away from home for almost 14 hours twice a week. This crazy pace leads me to my announcement. I am taking a break from blogging until the middle of December - aka: when the semster ends. There simply aren't enough hours in the day for me to do everything I need to get done... much less what I want to get done. I need to focus my time on my schoolwork right now. This semester has by far been my worst and is literally kicking my butt. Each week I think it will get better but I have yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I feel that making this "announcement" will make it more official to me. I am sorry to my devoted readers (Mom) - haha!

If something exciting happens I will post about it. I may load a few pictures along the way but I don't have the time to sit down and write. As we speak, I just finished reading 33 pages about research arguments and once I publish this I will begin studying for the 3 tests I have this week. Boo!

I don't want to be all negative today, though. I know this crazy semester will probably be the worst in my college career. I also know this is just part of what I have to endure to begin my teaching career, a dream of mine. I remind myself everyday of what I drag myself out of bed for and it is definitely worth it. So, until we meet again I hope you all have a wonderful Halloween and Thanksgiving. I am excited to know that once I do log-on again it will be extremely close to Christmas... what's not positive about that? :)

Sending you smiles and laughter :)
Kaylyn

I love this crazy, tragic, almost magic, awful, beautiful life

That title pretty much sums up my life in the past two weeks... it has been a whirlwind! School started and that itself is enough to wear me down. The transition from my be-lazy, do-nothing summer to the hustle of classes just about got the best of me! (Which is why I haven't posted lately.) Work has also been busy and since I am taking two night classes this semester I drive home at night some days... even more reason to be tired :) BUT, this week has already started off on a more low-tempo pace. Thank God! I can't handle being so stressed for a long period of time. I am looking forward to going to the tanning bed after work then going home for an afternoon of TV watching and relaxing. So there's my explanation for my lack of blogging. Now to an update in my life...

Labor Day weekend was absolutely beautiful! I went shopping with Mom, read some books, and mainly enjoyed the beautiful weather. I'm waiting for it to make a permanent return for Fall. :) I have noticed that the leaves are starting to change a little so I know it's just around the corner! Last week didn't consist of anything but school... blah! This past weekend I spent a lot of time with Baylie (who is still growing like a weed) and Nathan. Our time together lately has been very low-key and uneventful. Since we don't see each other Monday-Thursday (which is hard) it's nice to just catch up on the weekends. We've always had a relationship where we can have a great time doing pretty much nothing. I think it's because we're both pretty laid back people.

I was able to wake up Saturday morning and remember 9/11. Do you remember where you were? I do. I was in elementary school and we were called into our homerooms. My teacher at the time is one of the best I've ever had and I remember the look on her face. I just knew something was wrong. We prayed and had a moment of silence. Such a fitting thing to do. I wasn't old enough at the time to actually comprehend what was going on so it's important for me to watch the footage each year... it helps me remember the tragedy our country went through. I am so fortunate to live in this country. I hope you were able to take some time and remember that day.

I hope the past couple weeks have been great for all of you! As a sidenote I would like to add that my blogging patterns will be out of whack now that school has started... I promise your life will go on ;)

Laugh about something today! :)
--K