The Canadys

Well I was Born in a Small Town.....

2011-12-13T18:40:00.000-05:00

Well I was born in a small town
And I live in a small town
Prob'ly die in a small town
Oh, those small communities

All my friends are so small town
My parents live in the same small town
My job is so small town
Provides little opportunity

Educated in a small town
Taught to fear Jesus in a small town
Used to daydream in that small town
Another born romantic that's me

But I've seen it all in a small town
Had myself a ball in a small town
Married an L.A. doll and brought her to this small town
Now she's small town just like me
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/j/john-mellencamp-lyrics/small-town-lyrics.html ]

No I cannot forget where it is that I come from
I cannot forget the people who love me
Yeah, I can be myself here in this small town
And people let me be just what I want to be

Got nothing against a big town
Still hayseed enough to say
Look who's in the big town
But my bed is in a small town
Oh, and that's good enough for me

Well I was born in a small town
And I can breathe in a small town
Gonna die in this small town
And that's prob'ly where they'll bury me
----------John Mellencamp

Today I realized that there are some things that I gained from my small town upbringing that will just never go away:
1. Casseroles can heal.
Births, deaths, or natural disasters, I've learned that no matter what, you must take a casserole. It will make things better. Always.

2. It's a lot of trouble to go to "town".
Almost every day before I come home from work I ask my husband if he needs anything "from town". Mind you, our house is 3 minutes from a gas station, a Chinese restaurant, a Krispy Kreme, a CVS, a Family Dollar Store, and a K-Mart. The grocery store and bank is about 5 minutes away and the mall is a mere 10 minutes away.

3. It's ok to call an adult by their first name, as long as you put "Mr" or "Miss" in front of it.
My in-laws are "Miss" Nancy and "Mr" Boochie.... I cringe if I mess up and call them by their first names only. It will always be "Miss Sharon" and "Miss" Polly or "Mr" Gary and "Mr" Fred. However, I cannot do this with former teachers. Even though Mrs. Slayton's son was one of my good friends growing up, she will always be Mrs. Slayton. and Mrs. Gordon and Mrs. Baugh will never be Miss Annell and Miss Ann - just wont.

4. Wave - you don't want people to talk about how unfriendly you are.
When you pass someone on the road or walking in a neighborhood... you must lift four fingers ever so slightly off of the steering wheel in a polite gesture of "hi". Sometimes, if you know the person in real life, you can even give a little nod. Failure to do so may lead you to be talked about among the social circles -----

5. Be involved - get out and do!
Shop locally. Support local charities. Attend functions such as plays and concerts. Go to the library. Support the local school's sports teams. Take what you have and make the most of it.

What I'm Loving

2011-10-19T13:26:00.000-04:00

In the spirit of jumping back in to blogging head on, I'm linking up with Jamie today for

Here are just a few things I'm loving on this great day:

{1} I'm loving that yesterday was my parent's 37th wedding anniversary!

{2} I'm loving that Fall will be here in full force in the next few days! I LOVE cool, crisp, weather. And to celebrate fall, I'm loving this candle from Bath and Body Works

Smells like my mom is making fig preserves in the kitchen!

{3} I'm loving that a "hometown guy" (kind of) will be leading the greatest college football team this weekend.

Clint Moseley played at Leroy High School, which neighbors my hometown. WDE!

{4} I'm LOVING pinterest !!! oooh, I have ~~wasted~~ spent so much time there lately. I love it! In the spirit of my #3 love, here are some pins from my "I say orange, you say blue" board :

WDE.

Simple.Auburn. Perfection

Sweet Auburn Scarf

Love this!!

{5} I'm especially loving the past few super sweet days with my sweet husband!

What are some of the things you are loving today?? Link up and share!

Picture Catch Up - June and July

2011-10-16T22:17:00.001-04:00

Ok, so maybe I lied when I said I was hopping back into the blogging world back in this post.....

Here's some photo fillers to catch you all up!

June

SJUMC VBS at the Lake

Celebrating K K E

July
Brooklee's Birthday

Brooklee and Grandad

Cousin/Best Bud Sage

Me and Sweet Hampton!

Bless It. I love this picture!

My mom and her three girls

Visiting with my old roomate -

We celebrated seeing each other again!

Jamie and Jerrod

Love her. We had so much fun after this!

The whole fam! I love Jamie's parents!!

Meeting Kellan! (My great nephew)

Feet like his aunt Christy!

Kellan Hayes Grimes

Kellan and MawMaw

Whew, that was exhausting! And I'm not finished with July!! Stay tuned!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2011-08-24T16:30:00.001-04:00

Told ya'll I'd be back soon!!

In my usual fashion, I'm popping back into the blog world by linking up with Jamie for

{1} I'm loving Love, Taryn

My sweet friend Taryn is opening up her etsy shop today! She makes some super unique and beautiful bags and baskets! Check out her blog and show her some L.O.V.E!

{2} I'm loving Pinning!
I know you all have heard about Pinterest, right? You haven't??? Oh man, you've got to check it out! It's a great way to ~~waste~~ spend your downtime.
Here are some of my favorite from my board "Things that Make Me Happy :) "

Turquoise and Milk Glass - two of my favorite things!

See a trend with the milk glass?

The beach. Always the beach :)

{3} I'm loving that my husband is conducting again!! He has been the interim choir director at Covenant Presbyterian Church for about a month now. The congregation has been so welcoming to him (and me!) and it's great to see him doing what he loves again. I feel so proud watching him, because I think he's amazing!

{4} I'm loving that football season is only 9 days away!!!! WooHoo! I can't wait to watch my
{National Championship} Auburn Tigers!!

Auburn Creed

I believe that this is a practical world and that I can count only on what I earn.
Therefore, I believe in work, hard work.

I believe in education, which gives me the knowledge to work wisely and trains my mind
and my hands to work skillfully.

I believe in honesty and truthfulness, without which I cannot win the respect
and confidence of my fellow men.

I believe in a sound mind, in a sound body and a spirit that is not afraid,
and in clean sports that develop these qualities.

I believe in obedience to law because it protects the rights of all.

I believe in the human touch, which cultivates sympathy with my fellow men
and mutual helpfulness and brings happiness for all.

I believe in my Country, because it is a land of freedom and because it is
my own home, and that I can best serve that country by
"doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God."

And because Auburn men and women believe in these things,
I believe in Auburn and love it.

-George Petrie (1945)

And, since this blog is supposed to be dedicated to BOTH of us Canadys, I suppose I should mention this place:

This spring Gregory graduated with his Master's Degree from Georgia Southern University. GSU has an up and coming football program and they have a really fun game day atmosphere. I've told Gregory that since it's impossible for us to root for each other's MOST FAVORITE teams, then we GSU could be our go-to-together-and-not-get-in-a-fight team! :) So, we'll hopefully be headed to a few games down in Statesboro this fall. Go Eagles!

{5} I'm loving that I'm blogging again! It's really a fun "hobby" and a great way for me to keep in touch with friends and family.

So, that's what I'm loving this week? How about you? Link up and join the fun!!

No Worries.....

2011-07-20T06:50:00.000-04:00

We're still here!! Just haven't blogged in quite a while...... it's been 2 months since my last blog!
Sure do miss you guys!

I've got lots of things to catch up on - pictures from our garden, a trip home, a birthday party, and new babies!

See you all soon.....

Love ....

2011-05-08T19:04:00.002-04:00

... is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. . .And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
- excerpts from 1 Corinthians 13:4-13

In April Gregory's cousin Phillip married his childhood love.... it was a beautiful ceremony that took place on Wilmington Island. I began this post with the "Love Passage" because I feel like this union was a true example of love and what love should be... "keeps no record of wrongs" "rejoices with the trutch" and "always perseveres".

Wilmington Island Club --- the wedding took place under
an arbor. Gorgeous. (via)

Gregory's nephew and Grandma

Phillip's grandfather (our Uncle Buddy) officiated the ceremony

Yep.

I don't if many of you know this, but Gregory once spent a year in Israel teaching. The school he taught at was started by Phillip's dad, Ross, who is a missionary to Israel with the AOG churches. I love to sit and hear the stories and look at all of the pictures that Gregory collected while he was there. Gregory actually taught Phillip and some of the young men and women who attended the wedding! I loved being immersed in the culture for just a little bit - apparently, Arabs are "never on time" as was whispered all around as the wedding was delayed in starting! :) And not to mention the music, the dancing, the colors. It was great!

Ross and his wife Margaret are still living in Israel and doing God's work there. They have worked hard to develop a strong trust with the people there. They have given up much for this life they lead, but they are truly living God's call in their lives. I've heard stories of some amazing things that this family has done!

**PS if you feel the call to go off and teach, the Jerusalem School is always looking for good teachers! :)**

Say What You Want Saturday!

2011-04-16T18:01:00.000-04:00

It's Say What You Saturday again today!!

Have something that you just want to get off your chest? Go ahead. It's Saturday!

Here are the rules: Feel free to list up to 6 rants (because anymore than that and you just become a whiny complainer). Make no apologies for your rants - just don't call out names, or be too profane. Also, if you disagree or offended by someone's rant, too bad. Don't leave comments to tell them that they are wrong. This is a no-juding blog hop. Most importantly, BE REAL. And finally, LINK UP and TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!

1. I love my job, but sometimes it can make me sort of jaded. I'm all for helping others and all, but I see so much misuse of government aid. For instance, if you can't afford to clothe and feed your kids and get them to their therapy appointments, then I'm pretty sure you can't afford that ginormous HD tv and all of the most recent video game systems. Or that iPhone. Just sayin'.

2. I don't like passive agressiveness. If I'm doing something that you don't like, or if you just don't like me, that's fine. Tell me. Be up front. I'm not very good at taking hints and I will just keep trying and looking like a fool. Don't worry, I'll be upset for a minute, but I'm pretty good about getting over stuff. Likewise, if I tell you that I don't like something that you did, don't take it personally. I'm just putting it out there rather than doing that whole "I'm avoiding you because I'm mad at you, but I'm not going to tell you and if you ask me what's wrong I'm going to say I'm fine" awkwardness. It's a waste of time.

Also (for example), if you'd like me to get you something to drink, ask me. Don't say "man, I'm thirsty....sure wish I had something to drink" (ahem, husband) I. can't.stand. that.

That is all.

Now, link up!

The Final Step

2011-04-11T14:53:00.000-04:00

I'm very proud of Robert Gregory Canady!

Today, he completed the FINAL STEP for his MM Composition!

For those of you who don't know, Gregory's road to his Master's degree hasn't been exactly easy. There was a little detour in there (to find ME!!!), and at one point, he thought that he would never be back in the world of academic music. However, it seems as if God planned otherwise, and ..... well, here we are!

I'm so thankful that G re-entered the music world, because I've never seen him so happy. This is what he was MEANT to do! I can't express to you all how talented he is - as a performer, a composer, a conductor, and a teacher. Now, we don't know where God is sending us from here, but this is a huge accomplishment for Gregory and will open a lot of doors for him. Please continue to keep him (us!) in you prayers as we seek to do God's will in regards to our careers!

Say What You Want Saturday

2011-04-09T19:37:00.001-04:00

I love to blog. I love to read other people's blogs.

It's great for keeping up with friends, getting crafting ideas, and making connections with people from all over.

One big trend in blogging world is to have a "blog hop". I've participated in a few of them myself. For example, you all know I love to link up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesdays. And most anybody in the southern blogging world has seen Kelly's Show Us Your Life blog hops on Friday. If you haven't checked them out or participated in one at least once, you should! Just for kicks : )

Anyway, while I was out driving to work this morning, I was thinking about how I should blog today, as I have been a huge slacker lately, and as I was scrolling through possible topics, I came upon what I feel is a BRILLIANT idea (brag, brag, brag).

I want to do a Saturday blog hop. And I want it to be GOOD......

Upon further inflection, I realized that there were a lot of "Feel Good" link ups out there... you know posting about the joy in the everyday, things you love, your favorites, 10 photos on the 10th, yadda....yadda....yadda.

I wasn't necessarily feeling all of that today, though. Today, I wanted a place to rant about some of the crappy things going on in my life and the rest of the world. I wanted to be able to put out my thoughts and not be judged and to put out a little.... REAL.

So, here's my first shot at Say What You Want Saturday

Here are the rules: Feel free to list up to 6 rants (because anymore than that and you just become a whiny complainer). Make no apologies for your rants - just don't call out names, or be to profane, or make any kind of death threats (this is the internet you know...can't be too sure of who's "watching"). BE REAL. And finally, LINK UP and TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!

1. Sometimes, I get a little angry when I see people who are obviously struggling financially that have lots of kids. I think it's really just because I want to have kids, but we have made the decision to wait until we are more financially prepared.

2. The country's tax system is stupid. I believe that Washington DC is filled with arrogant idiots who only care about increasing their own power.

3. I love my husband, but sometimes I do not like him and he does not like me. We don't get along EVERY SINGLE MOMENT of EVERY SINGLE DAY. That doesn't mean that we don't love each other or that we shouldn't be married. And, because I don't talk about how much I love my husband all the time via FB or blog, also does not mean that we are not happy.

4. I'm mad at myself for all the weight I have gained over the last few years. I look in the mirror and I realize that I'm now one of those women that I swear I'd never be. That makes me sad and depressed and even though I KNOW what I'm supposed to do, it doesn't make it any easier.

5. To the people in NYC who complained that the Charlie Sheen show they went to was "awful" ------
um, what did you expect???? He's a person who likely suffers from a mental health disorder that is either organic (bipolar, schizophrenia, etc) or drug induced - or both. You idiots paid to go see a person in an unhealthy state do a comedy routine about drugs, porn, and "Winning". Do you think he really cares if you liked his show or not?? Um, no.

Ok, so that's that - My first Say What You Want Saturday! Feel free to link up and join me!

WILW

2011-04-06T22:01:00.000-04:00

I'm so excited to link up with Jamie again to share some of the things that are making me smile! This week, there's lots of things I'm loving!

1. I'm LOVING that Gregory's recital was a huge succes this past Saturday. We had more loved ones and friends there than expected and all of the pieces sounded great!

My Composer and Me after the Recital

2. I'm LOVING this piece from Gregory's recital. (For those of you who don't know, he's getting his Master's degree in music composition) He composed this piece for his dear friend, Randy Martin. This is what Gregory wrote in the program notes:
In 1992 I was working in the garage at Derst Baking Company maintaining and changing huge tractor- trailer tires. It was a hot, greasy, dirt job. Mike Rowe would have loved it! During that time, I met Randy Martin, and my course in life was altered forever. He is one of two people who encouraged me to study music, and in January 1993, I enrolled in Armstrong Atlantic State University as a music education major while Randy moved back to his hometown, Pensacola. Over the years we would grow apart, become reacquainted, grow apart, etc.

I have watched Randy traverse some challenging physical, emotional, and spiritual terrain over the past 10 years, often leaving me amazed at his strength, resolve, and faith. Late one night ( I think it was 2005) while pondering Randy's present situation deep within my spirit, and why "bad things happen to great people", I became overwhelmed with sadness. This is a feeble attempt to express what this man has meant to me over the years. Sometimes words are simply not enough. Randy, this is for you and your family. "May God always hold you in the palm of His hand"...

"An Irish Blessing"
Words: Anonymous
Composition: R. Gregory Canady
Performed By: Georgia Southern Chorale, Dr. Shannon Jeffries, conducting

3. I'm Loving that it's Master's Week here in Augusta!! Right now, people all over the country (and world) are focused on our little city! I love the excitement that's in the city now. And, although we haven't yet gotten to actuall go inside the National, I LOVE that I get to drive by it EVERY day on my way home from work!

Happy Wednesday Ya'll!! Be sure to spend it with your LOVES!!! :)

All we need is LOVE!

2011-03-23T18:56:00.000-04:00

It's Wednesday again!! :) I'm linking up with Jamie again this week for

(1) I'm LOVING this beautiful weather! So glad that Spring is here to stay!

Source

(2) I'm LOVING my new phone, the Samsung Focus

Source

I never buy things like this for me, but I really use my phone a lot for work and was tired of having to deal with the crappiness of the phone I had, so I bit the bullet and invested in this. I LOVE it!! It's lots of fun and so easy. I opted for the Windows phone because I was familiar with it and it synced up super easy to my Outlook, which holds my schedule and patient numbers and work email. We have ATT and I've never really been satisfied with their customer service, but Amanda at the local office was a treat to work with!!

(2b) I'm loving that Ya'll is on the word predictor list!! :) Made my day.

(3) I'm LOVING this girl:

Meghan.
Meg.
Meggles.
Meg - Han.
Hope you had a GREAT 31st birthday! (I know you spent it loving on that sweet, sweet baby!!)
I miss you lots and really hope to see you soon!

(4) I'm loving that in just under two weeks I will be attending this:

Graduate Composition Recital

Robert Gregory Canady

Saturday, April 2, 2011

7:30 p.m.

Carol A. Carter Recital Hall

If you are in the area, please come and support Gregory! This is a huge accomplishment and I am so proud of all the hard work that he has put in to this recital. If you can't attend in person, please remember Gregory and me and the performers in your prayers and thoughts!

(5) I'm loving the PEACE that I have recently felt has washed over me. I have been struggling with a lot of things lately and recently, I've just felt God's peace resting over me. I feel a resurgence of faith and hope and I believe fully in God's ultimate plan!

(6) Of course I'm loving my sweet, and talented husband ........

(who is NOT an Auburn fan, but wore this shirt because ~~I begged him to~~ he loves me! :) )

....... and all of YOU, my friends and Family!!

Hope the rest of your week is filled with sunshine and moments that make you smile!!

Top O' The Mornin'...

2011-03-20T17:52:00.003-04:00

I've been working A LOT lately and Gregory's been so crazy working on his recital so we decided we deserved a little vacay. St. Patrick's Day fell on a Thursday this year, so it seemed like the perfect time to head to Savannah to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Many of you may not know that Savannah is the home to the second largest St. Pat's parade in the world (source). Gregory has often talked about it and, honestly I just didn't believe that it was as big of a deal as he said. It seems in the part of the world where I grew up, the only parade talked about during this time of the year was Mardi Gras - I honestly had never heard about the big celebration in Savannah until I met my husband. However, I have learned that it truly is a BIG DEAL. In fact, nearly 400,000 people descend upon Savannah to celebrate (source). The festivities really begin a few days prior to the parade with the "Greening of the Fountains" in Forsythe Park.

On the morning of the parade, hundreds of worshipers attend Mass at the beautiful St. John's Cathedral before heading out to celebrate. (We did not go to mass. We are not Catholic!) Gregory also tells me about the traditions of pancake breakfasts, and having green grits and green beer before the parade. We did not take part in this little tid-bit of tradition this year. Not sure if I can bring myself to eat green grits!

The picture became very pixelated when I enlarged it, so you have to strain your eyes to see,
or you can just go here to see where I got it from.

I took these pictures of the Cathedral when we visited Savannah last summer

A statue of St. Patrick inside the Cathedral

The weather on parade day was beautiful - sunny and mid to upper 70 degrees. There were dogwoods and azaleas in bloom all over. It was, in a word, perfect. The atmosphere for the parade is very family oriented and everyone seems to be in great spirits (as with Mardi Gras, things get a little seedier after dark, but we're not going to focus on that here! :) ) We met up with one of Gregory's friends from college and her family and had a front row seat for the parade.

( I snapped lots of pictures - some that I had no idea as to why I took them, but I didn't want to miss anything. I made it through half of the parade (about 1.5 hours) before my battery died in my camera. )
Here are some of my favorite shots

We are not entirely in focus here, but we NEVER get pictures of us together.

The start of the parade!

This is Austin and he's beautiful.

He loved the parade and took every bit of it in!

So, as part of the tradition of the parade, girls put on bright red or pink lipstick and run out and kiss the soldiers who walk in the parade (over the years this has carried over to bagpipers, drummers, float riders, whatever, but mostly soldiers). We saw some girls fly out and almost knock down these poor guys with their kisses. It was a hilarious sight to see! The guys on the end racked up on the smooches!

I loved this. I was super emotional during the parade for some reason and had tears come to my eyes on more than one occasion, but this one really got to me. Many veterans were in the parade as well. There was a bus full of older veterans who were possibly POW's. I loved this quote painted on the bus: "Veterans stood up for us from 1776 Bunker Hill to 1945 Berlin to 1954 -- to 1973 Bien Hoa to 2008 Baghdad and in between... a grateful nation STANDS UP, THANKS them, and SUPPORTS them". I love that. Each time any group of soldiers passed by the crowds would stand and clap and cheer. *tears* Anway, we had a few young girls near us who were putting some big smooches on the young soldiers as they passed. When this bus came by and stopped in front of us, the girls ran out to kiss the veterans. (not a lot of the other girls did that). The best part was that one of the men reached out and wrapped up one of the girls. She was going for the cheeks, but he was having nothing of that - playa wanted on on the lips!

After the parade, we headed back to our friend's house to rest up and debate about whether or not to head to River Street. Since I had never been there for St. Pats, we decided to check it out - CRAZY. There were tons of people milling around and the later it got, the louder and more inebriated every one got. (click here to see news coverage)

We didn't stay long (um, I'm claustrophobic!! and we're obviously getting old because we were pooped!) but we did hear a great band playing from an apartment balcony! <-----(one of the things I love about places like Savannah and New Orleans)

With St. Pat's falling on Friday next year, it's sure to be a HUGE deal! Why don't you all take a vacay with us? We'll set up tents and chairs in one of the squares. We'll make sure to have lots of yummy food. Can't wait!

My Loves!!

2011-03-09T09:01:00.000-05:00

It's Wednesday again and today I just couldn't wait for Jamie to put the link up, so I'm doing my post before she even has hers up!

Here's What I'm Loving this Wednesday:

{1} I'm loving this sweet face:

Welcome to the world Bennett! You are so precious and I can't wait to meet you. I'm so happy for your mommy and daddy and I know they are going to make wonderful parents and you are going to be one great son!
(Bennett was born yesterday 03.08.2011 in TX. His mom is a great friend of mine)

{2} I'm loving that my family just keeps growing and growing! Last week my niece Brittany and her husband Stephen welcomed their second son, Hampton. If you're counting that's 3 grands for me (and one more on the way!)

Sage meeting his brother for the first time

{3} I'm loving that today is Ash Wednesday.

Last year was my first year to participate in Lent and it really did bring me closer to God and made me realize that my priorities were not (still aren't always) in the right place. Last year I gave up Facebook for Lent because I felt that it was becoming way to prominant in my life. I took the time that I would have ~~wasted~~ spent on Facebook to try to become more productive with my day. This year I have decided to give up things that I feel may hinder me from being a true sanctuary for Christ. I'm giving up all forms of alcohol (don't worry, I'm not a drunk, I just like a glass of wine after work!! and a margarita every now and then ) , fast food, and eating out. I feel like these things have started to gain a priority spot in my life, and have kept me from being the best person I can be. They also have a strong hold on me right now as I am struggling with weight issues. I pray that during the next 40 days God can speak to me about my dependency on these things to give me comfort and He will lead me to find other more healthy outlets.

{4} As always, I'm loving my sweet husband, our families, and our dear friends.

What I'm Loving

2011-03-03T00:13:00.001-05:00

It's Wednesday again! Woo Hoo!

I'm linking up with Jamie again. Have you done it yet? Come on and join the fun!

{1}; I'm loving the news that I just got from Gregory: he passed his hearing! Yay for him! It sounds like he had a very stressful day, but the good news is that he passed, so now it's on to his recital and then oral comps and he will be finished with his Master's of Music in Composition. I'm a proud wifey :)

{2}; I'm loving that Spring seems to be here to stay in GA. Words can't do justice to the pretty days that we've been having!

{3}; I'm loving The Christmas Tree Shop. Have you guys ever been here? I walked in to the one here in Augusta today and I swanee I walked around with my mouth open the whole time! There is so much STUFF in there! From toys to housewares to candles to beauty products. Crazy! I was a little overwhelmed by it all. Their prices were really good too. If you have one near you, you should definitely check it out!

{4} I'm really loving my girl friends this week. I've finally met some really great people here and that really helps me feel at home. However, I do miss my group of amazing friends from college and from Pensacola. I've met some of the most amazing women ever. I MISS my old friends tremendously and I cherish my new friends here.

{5} I'm loving YOU- my friends, family, and others that take the time to read my silly little blog. You make my day! :)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2011-02-23T11:11:00.000-05:00

There's so much to be loving on this week!
Go on over to Jamie's blog and see her happy post and link up with her too.

Come on, all the cool kids are doing it! :)

{1} I'm LOVING this weather. mid 60's to low 70's in February. Yes Ma'am!!

{2} I'm loving these blogs by some of my favorite people:

   [Rivers Loves] (my amazing niece, Rivers has a new blog!)
   [Falling from Trees] (Rachel is a sorority sister and friend from college)
   [Peanut Butter and Honey] (Claire is also a sorority sister and friend from college)

Go check them out and tell them I sent you!

{3} I'm loving this picture that Jamie had posted on her blog today

I.want.to.live.there!!

{4} I'm loving the peace that Gregory and I are feeling over our decision to join the church that we've been attending. We joined St. John United Methodist Church this past Sunday. As Gregory mentioned at the service, "It just felt like home'.

{5} I'm loving my sweet and very busy husband!

All the Single Ladies...

2011-02-22T21:18:00.000-05:00

The time is getting so close for Gregory's final recital! Just over a month away!
I'm so excited for him, but I'm a little sad for me because it means that right now music is pretty much the only thing on his mind!

Poor me.

He's been in Statesboro (Georgia Southern University) since yesterday morning - he'll come back some time tomorrow, head off to rehearse music for the ensemble he's singing in, then hopefully we'll get to see each other tomorrow night. After that, he's got to go back to Statesboro to to work with some of the musicians/vocalists who will be performing at his recital.

The first big step in this process happens on March 2nd - (Next Wednesday). That's when Gregory will have his "hearing" {a panel watches videos or live performances of his work and declares if they are "recital worthy"}. Greg's not so worried about the "worthiness" part as he's gotten lots of positive feedback already, but the logistics of getting it all recorded and everyone there is a little stressful.

Next, is the big night - his recital. It's on Saturday, April 2nd in Statesboro. My parents (and hopefully some sisters!!) are planning to come, so I'm very excited about that. I'm so amazed by Gregory's talent and I can't wait for others to see what he's capable of!

After his recital, he has one more task to complete, and that's oral comps. Basically he has to go in front of a panel and they ask him all sorts of questions and it seems very scary to me, but he really doesn't seemed phased by that at all!

Finally, it's graduation day - May 7th!!!

Until then, I'm afraid I'm back to living the life of a somewhat single girl. It's not quite as fabulous as I once thought it to be! Seems I've rather gotten used to having Gregory around, even if he does smell funny and drive me crazy by telling me the *same* story over and over or crack himself up by doing that *same* thing with his hair every time he gets out of the shower.

A Thank You Card

2011-02-12T16:22:00.001-05:00

It only takes a few minutes of watching some pundit on Fox News or CNN, or listening to any sort of talk radio for the word "taxes" to come up.

"No new taxes"
"tax the rich"
"Fair Tax"
"wasteful tax spending"
"health tax"
"green tax"

Everyone has their own thoughts and opinions about who should pay what and how much and what we'd like to see taxes go towards. There are people who would like for their tax money to not assist anyone who doesn't work and there are some who may rely too heavily on the tax dollars of others.

I have my own views on this too, but that is not what this blog is about. Today's blog is about something that my eyes were opened to yesterday that I'd like to share with all of you.

This is a thank you card.

So much focus is put on what our state and our country is doing wrong. Everyone concentrates on the misuse of funds. Where is the talk of the RIGHT USE of funds? I believe that deep down, most people have the same inner core. We all want to love and be loved. Everyone cries when they are hurt and smiles when they are happy. I believe that most people truly want to do good -for themselves, their neighbors, and their world. I believe that, as it is with myself, a little thank you is all it takes to make even the toughest of efforts worth it.

This is a thank you card.

Dear Friends, Family, and People of Georgia,
I'm writing this to say thank you for the gifts that you recently gave three young people. Because of your efforts, your contributions, these young people will very soon be given something that has no monetary value ~ a voice. You see, you might not think it, but that little bit of money that goes from your paycheck each week IS sometimes used for a good thing. A very good thing. Recently, three of my sweet "friends" were able to recieve a communication device. Something that their parents' commercial insurances do not cover, something that would be taxing on any family to pay for out-right. But something that is possible for each of them because of the TEFRA/KATIE BECKETT DEEMING WAIVER. And you.

This is what it is meant for.

Each of the children that I mentioned before are affected by a different disability that prohibits them from speaking, but does not prohibit them from thinking, or wanting to communicate. Hopefully, with these devices, we can soon find out if ES is crying because he's hurting, or because he's mad or scared. We can find out what 15 year old JM really wants to do for fun in speech and at home. And hopefully, sassy miss FB can finally tell us all what the meaning behind all of her crazy faces are! But most importantly, these guys will get the freedom that most of us enjoy. The freedom to communicate without barriers or censorship, because in effect, up until now, their freedom of speech has been censored by their disability. And, YOU helped.
And on behalf of JM, ES, FB, and countless others in our area that you nor I will ever know,
Thank you.

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

2011-02-02T20:33:00.000-05:00

{una} I'm loving that it's Wednesday. Wednesdays are my favorite days right now. On Wednesdays I'm out traveling doing home visists with EI (early intervention). Ironically, I'm also super busy on Wednesdays, but I love being out in my car , traveling all around town. And, I've got some of the CUTEST kiddies ever. Plus, Wednesday means only two more days of work, then time to relax!!

{dos} I'm loving that THIS BLOG is back up and running!! I've missed being able to catch up with my sweet friend. I'm also loving that her husband is back home and doing great after a rough week in the hospital.

{tres} I'm loving this cutesy little lovely that I bought on Saturday during my antiquing day. Typically, I HATE brids (the live ones any way), but I find myself softening up to them. And this one is such a beautiful, happy color, that I had to have it. I call it my "blue bird of happiness". And it is just that.

{cuatro} It's birthday time!! So many of my friends have birthdays this month:
*ahem*
Happy Birthday to you... happy birthday to you.. happy birthday dear
Taryn, Emily, Amy, Aimee, Seth, Jeremy, Kelly, Preston, Benji, Megan, Susan, and Ro-ob. Happy Birthday to you!
{cinco} I'm loving the sweet comments regarding this post. Ya'll I promise I wasn't feeling super sad...just a little homesick for friends and family. Just don't think I've ever really let them know how I felt before then :)

As always, I'm loving my sweet little family

And of course, I'm loving you too! Head on over to Jamie's precious blog and see what everyone else is loving!

January Re-Cap

2011-01-30T16:45:00.000-05:00

Today is January 31, 2011!
To me, it seems like it's been a long month - January always does seem long to me. It's a GORGEOUS day here ~ probably high 60's, the sun is shining, and there's just a little bit of breeze. It's perfect!

It almost fools me in to thinking that Spring is here. It's so nice, I can't stand the thought of cold, nasty weather coming our way again, but I'm sure it will turn cold again one or two more times before this weather is here to stay. Alas, in just a few short months, it will be hot that you can't even breathe when you step outside, so I better just take it all for what it is and save the complaints for later, right?

Since I was so bad about blogging during the month of January, here's a run-down of what the Canady's have been up to ~

01.01.2011 New Year's Day
We spent New Year's Eve in Savannah, visiting Gregory's grandmother in the hospital. She fell on Christmas day and had to have surgery to repair her broken hip. While we were there we spent some time with Gregory's friends Peter and Sheila, and their daughter Maggie. We can't say enough how much we love these guys! Their house is always open to us as is their kitchen ~ we always have the BEST food when we're there. They're quirky and lovely and to me exempify Savannah (the REAL Savannah, is not quite the Paula Deen Savannah, as some might think :0 ) I've mentioned Peter on the blog before. Early last spring, he was diagnosed with throat and mouth cancer. He had the tumors removed and underwent radiation and chemo. The course of chemo he took was extreme and he was very sick for a while. He lost nearly 60 pounds in just a few months, as he wasn't able to eat at all during that time. In late summer, early fall the doctors cleared him entirely of cancer ~ just in time for his 65th birthday! When we visited him, he had just returned from a doctor's visit and he continues to be cancer free. In fact, the doctors paraded him around to everyone because they were so astonished at how well he's done!

Peter loves to grill

I took this at Peter's 65th birthday parties. Peter and Sheila's backyard parties are infamous!

Peter and Sheila sharing a birthday kiss

Just some pictures I took of their sweet daughter Maggie

01.03.11 Happy Birthday Mom!!
01.08.11 Gorgeous Day for a Hike
Last year, we decided that we needed to be a lot more active and the best way to do that is to find something that we LOVE to do. We both really enjoy hiking, so we made a pact to try to walk all of the hiking trails in all of Georgia's State Parks ~ we're even collecting "badges" to put on our walking sticks of eac park we visit (insert laughter here). Luckily for us, Augusta is very close to lots of places. There are about 5 parks reasonable near us. This time we chose to go to Hamburg state park. When we got there, we were surprized to find that their office was no longer open, but we had a nice hike none-the-less. No badge though!! :[

01.09.11 and 01.10.11 Snow and Ice Storm
Wow. I don't think any of us expected snow and ice like this. It was so nasty!! I didn't believe it was going to get this bad and I don't think any of us were prepared for how long it would stick around! Needless to say, we didn't go in to work on Monday and Tuesday, we had a a delayed start and only one person showed up! Things really didn't get back to "normal" until Thursday and Friday.
I didn't take any pictures because I was tired of snow. But, here's a funny little video I found on YouTube.

01.20.11 Gregory begins classes
This is his LAST semester! WooHoo! He's doing such a great job on getting his recital ready. It's going to be great! I'm so proud of him!

01.29.11 Diet Time
Gregory and I have decided that we've both got to REALLY make some changes in order to be healthier and happier. We began to start really thinking about the choices that we make when it comes to what he put into our bodies. We've also pledged to be happier. This comes in ways of doing good things for ourselves and for each other.

So that's it - that's our January! Gosh, I hope that you don't feel like you've wasted five minutes of your life reading that!

Here's to February!! May it be full of love and joy for each and every one of you!

You Don't Know What You Got Till It's Gone....

2011-01-27T23:50:00.001-05:00

So, here's a recipe for you:
Ingredients
one week of supercharged hormones
one 50+ hour work week
one husband working on his recital for his Master's Degree
one really sappy love story
one sobbing emotional break-down (I don't know WHY I'm crying!!)
one jumbo Texas margarita

one night alone (husband is away working on recital)
no tv
insomnia

Mix together, plop it in front of the computer to do some Facebook reading, throw in a few chats with friends back home and soon you will have it - don't worry, it will look a bit lumpy, just keep mixing it and soon you will have your very own great big blubbering goop of -

HOMESICKNESS.

Tonight I'm sitting here awake and alert. I should be pooped - wait I AM pooped - but I just can't bring myself to lie down to sleep. So, now I am here, pouring this all out to you.....

Don't you feel special?

Tonight, I'm really missing my Home. Not the place where I live now, not the places where I was before, but my actual home. My family, my little town in Alabama. Where everyone knows everyone and they all know your "business" too. Some people tell you about your "business", but some have the good ol' southern decency to talk about your "business" to others but would never shame you by discussing it to your face.

Yeah, that place.

When I was growing up, I knew I wanted to be out... I knew that I wanted to do things and see things that my little town just could not offer me. Back then, I might have been eager to leave... may have said that I couldn't WAIT to get out of there. In fact, I'm pretty sure that back then, I looked down on people who didn't want to leave. Shame on me.

See, I know that it was meant for me to go. I know that my purpose is here....if I had not left, I would not have fulfiiled my calling (working with children with special needs), I would not have met some of my most dearest friends, I would not have been hurt so badly by love that I thought I would lose my mind....then realize that no... that wasn't love. I would never have learned how to live by myself... all by myself. I wouldn't have met my husband and learned that this...this is love. Yes, it was my purpose to be here...

I'm in no way stating that I regret the choices I've made or that I want to go back forever. But, every know and then, I miss that little town and the beautiful people that are there. My family is there.... and oh, I LOVE my family. I don't say it everyday, nor do I always show it... but they are my strength. I do love them so. Social media is so great in many ways, but so sad in others.... every day I see my loved ones going on in life, celebrating graduations, baseball games, marriages, babies, even deaths.... all things that I wish I could be a part of but distance makes it so hard. Tonight it is hard.

And there's more to my little town... I tell Gregory or some of my friends about what it was like for me growing up and they kind of laugh and think it's ubelievable that I can (almost) name every.single.person. in my graduating class. That yes, I did have friends who lived on dirt roads. And yes, do wave at everyone that you pass. And there's this restaurant called Ward's - well, it used to be Ward's now it's Ber-?? Never mind, it will always be Ward's and the service is kind of slow, but everyone will be there after a football game, or baseball game, or beauty review, or ..... and we do sit in our trucks and cars in parking lots as a social event. And yes, people will know your business and people will talk about you behind your back - but in most cases those same people will be praying for you when you are sick. They'll bring a cake to you when someone dies, or they'll offer to drive you to Mobile for your chemo treatment....

Dear Grove Hill, Alabama - my home. Tonight I miss you. I miss your people and I miss your places. I'm thinking of my childhood there and I'm so thankful that I grew up in your arms. I haven't always appreciated you or spoken kindly of you. I ran so far away from you, but don't think I never looked back. You are always there - when I stop to let someone go in front of me in line, when I smile at a stranger, when I look around to see who I know and who I can speak to, when I wave to people passing by - you are there.

Playing Catch Up!

2011-01-23T21:47:00.000-05:00

So, here it is almost the end of January (can you BELIEVE it??!!) and I'm still falling down on the whole blog business!

December was crazy as usual. We filled it with work, parties, family get togethers, birthday parties, rehearsals, and concerts. Greg and I promised to only do stockings for one another this year, but neither of us held to that! We didn't go all out, just got each other one or two things that we've been really wanting. I got a great pair of winter boots (which you will see came in super handy) and I gave Greg a "sport" watch.....which he has not gone one day without wearing since. Every so often he still says "have I told you how much I love my watch?". Yesss. Score one for the wife!

Once again, I failed at getting Christmas cards out....wait, you're not surprised by that are you? Maybe I'll send cards out for some other festive occasion, like Valentine's Day, or maybe Earth Day. They make those right? Anyway because I know you all wanted to see it, here are some of Christmas decorations

(taken on my phone, a bit fuzzy)

We spent Christmas with Gregory's family again this year, as we spent Thanksgiving in Alabama with my family (can't believe I didn't blog about that). It's always tough being away from my family and I miss them so much on Christmas Day! We made several phone calls however and it is always wonderful to get to spend time with Gregory's family This year was great because we did something entirely different......
after St. John's Christmas Eve Service (umm which EVERYONE should come and experience at least once!!) we left Augusta headed for Pigeon Forge, TN.
{note: SJUMC Christmas Eve service is over at midnight. uh-huh. These Crazy Canadys passed Santa and his sleigh on their way home to the North Pole. The reindeer gave us quite an inquisitive "are you crazy" look}
We arrived just as the sun was coming up. We had a few snow flurries on our way in, but none were falling when we made it to our cabin. We said some hellos, hauled in our luggage and Greg and I plopped down for some rest. I woke up a few (read: 2) hours later and found this outside my window:

that's the cabin next to ours

We must have brought the snow with us! So, of course I got up and went to play outside in the white stuff! Who needs sleep? We were there for 5 days... I would get the rest! (Gregory apparently needed to rest he slept ALL day)
I wasn't going to waste my first ever White Christmas! And, here in the South, we're so used to the snow staying for only a short while.... who knew we'd have three continuous days of snow!! Sunday and Monday we weren't even able to get down the mountain because our cars were snowed under. Here's what three days of snow looks like:

We were finally able to get down and head into town. We felt like we had to do aLOT in two days, but it was really a great time. The snow made us take the time to STOP and rest and just enjoy the season. Interestingly, Gregory and I had sort of the opposite result than one might think being snowed in would have on a couple... when we arrived, we were tense and short with one another - it's been a trying season here - but by then end of the trip, we were much closer. We seemed to enjoy one another's company more, we laughed more, we talked more. And, that carried over for us at home too. It truly was a time together that we wont forget! Thanks so much to Gregory's parents and sister for putting this together and for EVERYTHING that you do for us!!

Great Ideas from a Great Girl

2011-01-13T08:52:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, I want you to go and check out my sweet friend Katie's blog. She works with Willow House designs and is amazing!! She's been sharing some of her amazing designs and decor. Go and check her out!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2011-01-12T18:32:00.000-05:00

What better reason to jump back on the blogging band wagon than this? Everybody get ready, it's

I'm linking back up with Jamie to celebrate all the little things that I'm loving this week!

Really, there's not much to say here, but this:

Waaaaaar Eagle!

My beloved Auburn Tigers won the NCAA National Championship game on Monday. It's been such an amazing season for the Auburn family!! I don't mean to be obnoxious with all this Auburn talk, but it is really something that I love, love, love!

I'm also loving the blue skies that we got to see today! It's been cold and dreary these past few days and although the temperature didn't get out of the 30's, the gorgeous blue sky made it at least look like spring is on its way!

I'm loving that today is this sweet girl's first birthday

photo by Nicole Ryan Pitts

Happy Birthday sweet Sailor!!

And, as always, I'm loving this guy:

I've not made it easy for him to love me back always, especially this week, but I'm sure glad he does!
Today as I was doing paperwork at my desk I had Pandora playing on my computer and our "wedding song" came on..... it instantly took me back to our Day and it put a huge smile on my face. Thanks G for taking me the way I am!

Testing Testing 1-2-3....

2011-01-09T16:40:00.000-05:00

Soooo, I'm trying my hand at blog design! It's taken me pretty much the whole Sunday to get this far - but it's pretty good, I think! Thankfully, it's so miserably cold out that I don't feel so bad about wasting the day away in front of the computer! We're bucking down for "Winter Storm 2011" - and hope you are too!!

More to come friends, stay tuned!

Up and Running Again Soon

2010-12-03T23:43:00.000-05:00

Hi! Nice to see you again. It's been a little while hasn't it?

Uh..... yeah, sorry about that!

I'm just being a little teesy weensy bit lazy about uploading pics onto the computer and thinking of things to blog about and all that kind of stuff.

BUT, I've missed blogging and I hope to have some posts up soon!!

You must read this Blog!!!

2010-11-02T09:38:00.000-04:00

http://www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/

Its an incredible story of a 20 something girl who heard God's call to move to Africa to do His work. I'm sure she didn't realize what all He had planned for her over there when she first agreed to go! Please take a few minutes out of your day to read some of her amazing posts.

What I'm Loving .....Sunday Edition

2010-10-31T14:58:00.000-04:00

Hello Blog Friends! It's been one heck of a week for the Canadys. After our quick (and successful!!) trip to Auburn, we rested up and vegged out on Sunday - well Greg rested up. I coughed all day. I was sick again on Monday and went to the doctor instead of going to work. And, well, then it all went down from there. I've got more specific posts coming up - like all about our weekend in Auburn, and sadly, saying goodbye to one of sweet furry children. Also, I'm hoping to get Southern Sundays started back soon too. Stay tuned!!

But, I did want to take the time to jot down a few things that I'm loving this week:
{1} I'm loving me some zithromycin!!!! I've had the "crud" for a while now and I had to finally give in a get some real medicine. This "Z - pack" worked wonders!!!

{2} I'm loving my friends and family!

So many people took the time to leave us sweet messages when we announced that one of our sweet dogs, Barkley, passed away. We are at times, admittedly ridiculously attached to our dogs - especially this one. For everyone to understand our sadness was very touching!

{3} I'm loving that for the first time ever, AUBURN is ranked.........#1 in the BCS!!!!!
Woo freaking hoo!!!!
(i started this post on Friday!!)
{2A} I'm loving this run by Heisman trophy candidate (hopefully) Cameron Newton
{2B} I'm loving this run by Ontarrio McCaleb to put AUBURN up late in the 4th quarter against LSU
{2C} I'm loving that the offense and defense showed up against Ole Miss on Saturday night and that my Auburn tigers put an end to the ridiculous "roadblock" and "trap game" talk. Auburn is legit. Give us some credit!!

{4} I'm loving that I'm sitting here right now with the widows open and a sweatshirt on watching about five squirrels scurrying around in my backyard. it's finally Fall in GA!!

{5} I'm loving my sweet husband today and always. I'm loving that God sent us his gift of PEACE this week in regards to some difficult issues that we have been struggling with. Thank you Lord!

{6} I'm loving that my sweet friend Amy gave me my first blog award this week!!

Neat, huh? Amy and I actually know each other in "real life" as well as blogging. We grew up in the same small town in Alabama and went to middle school and high school together. We were actually pretty close growing up (sometimes inseperable! I remember this older man in church would always ask where my "buddy" was if she and I weren't together. He said he was always used to seeing us do everything together!).
As often happens, college put some space between us, but it's been great to connect back with each other and blogging was a big part in helping us re-connect. She's got a sweet, sweet spirit and is always doing fun things over at her blog A Southern Love. Be sure to check it out!

So, this award came with some stipulations which state that I must follows these four rules:

{1}: Thank and link back to who gave you the award.
{2}: Share 7 things about yourself.
{3}: Pass it along to 7 blogs you've recently discovered and enjoy
{4}: Leave the recipients a note, telling them about the award.

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[1] I love to eat sour things. Particularly lemons and limes. I have been known to eat three limes in one sitting. I can eat super sour things and not make the slightest face. I LOVE it. It's bad for my teeth, I know, but I just can't stop.

[2] I like to paint - like do art paint - but I haven't in a while. I'm afraid to do things and show people because art is like putting your inner thoughts and feelings on display for everyone to see. I like the things that I do, but I'm afraid that other people won't understand them and wont think the same. I'm also afraid that people tell me things that I have done are good because....well, they're not going to tell me to my face that they don't like them!!

[3] I have an insane fear about blood clots and tire blow-outs. Seriously. I'm a little hypochondrachy about blood clots and I'm convinced at least once a week that that's what the weird pain in my leg or arm is. I mean it's not so bad that I go to the doctor once a week, I always talk myself out of it, but it's always lurking in the back of my mind!! And I have pulled over more than once on long trips to check the tires to make sure that they are indeed secure and have the right amount of pressure. I've never had a blow-out - I've never seen a blow-out. But I'm scared to death of it happening as I'm scooting down the intersate!!

[4] My favorite color is blue.

[5] I love to cook. I do not enjoy baking.

[6] I'm not a good keeper of the house. I try really, really, hard. There are a few rooms that I'm good at keeping clean - like the kitchen and the bathroom. That's because everything there has a "space". I tend to leave things around without really knowing that I'm doing it. I really get down on myself about this, because I know that "cleanliness is next to Godliness" and also because I like things to be clean. It's just hard for me. Sorry Greggers, you missed out on that one! :)

[7] I wish I was more "outdoorsy". You know...one of those who hikes and kayaks and camps and rides horses.... I really wish I took the time to get out more and really see nature face to face like that.

So, that's 7 really random things about me!

So, now I've got to pass on my award. I've chosen:
To the Ends of the Earth
Little Mrs. Domestic
Scott Chaney Writes
Coffe Break Mom
The Donovan Family
RantsRavesRidiculous
Finding Joy Through My Journey
Chasing My Own Tale
Swallowed by a Fat Girl

Be sure to check out these blogs and tell them I sent ya!!

Give 'em hell! Give 'em hell! Stand up and Yell. HEY!

2010-10-22T22:25:00.000-04:00

So, are you ready for my #1 Favorite thing about Auburn football and this weekend

(Ok, so I know that all of you non Auburn fans were ready like, three days ago, but thanks for playing along :))

#1.... Memories like these:

My friend Meghan and I met in graduate school at Auburn. We bonded over long car rides, sketchy mobile homes with holes in the floor, and a hypoglycemic supervisor during our early intevention practicum. We made fast friends. She listened to me go through my crazy ups and downs of graduate school - from a horrible break-up and get back together only to breakup again and then my kind of crazy, cooky downfall in to poor choices. Somehow, she stuck through all of that craziness (ya'll I really did kind of lose it a little in graduate school. not lying) and she's now one of my dearest friends. She did her CFY in NOLA and I was in Pensacola. Living in New Orleans, she of course made some great friends that so happened to be LSU fans (bless their souls!! :)) We started a little "tradition" of trying to get to every LSU/Auburn game together.

I think this is our first go at it. This is in Baton Rouge

I think this was in 2005. Meg and I were trying to keep the crazy LSU fans at bay, so we put on purple paw print tatoos. It worked. Being girls may have had something to do with it too :)

The next year we took a road trip to Auburn and brought some LSU'ers along. And ohmygoodness!! It was a great time!!

We had a more subdued trip to Baton Rouge in 2007, but it was just as fun. Meg's new boyfriend (now her husband) joined us for this trip and Greg and I had JUST been introduced! He was back in Pensacola and actually called me while I was at the game. But, hehehe, I was actually at the game with another guy, so I didn't take his call!

(To clarify, I met both guys around the same time and I wasn't dating either of them and this guy and I totally went as friends!!! Plus, this guy wore loafers and shorts to the football game. Uh,no)

Ok, sorry for that little juncture off of the topic, but I just kind of made the realization of how all that worked itself out! Here are the pics:

I can't wait to see what memories tomorrow will bring!!!

War Eagle, win for Auburn, power of Dixeland!!!!

Dear Auburn,

Please please please show up with both the offense and the defense tomorrow. Please protect Cam Newton because without him, ummmm we're not much. It's kind of important that you win this game because I have spent a lot of time on these silly posts and I would like to be able to show my "face" in blogland again.

Please and thank you.

Sincerely,

Christy.

On to vict'ry strike up the band....

2010-10-22T13:43:00.002-04:00

#2 I posted a little about Auburn's pregame in this post, which included a video of almost all of the pre-game festivities. But, I wanted to go a little bit more in depth about pre-game at Auburn.

It gives me goosebumps.

Really and truly. I know that on a number of occasions, usually right before football season begins or something, I can just think about Auburn and the pre-game stuff and I get goosebumps. It's just so darn Exciting to me!! It's just like the emotion inside that stadium is so electric and I love that our band and cheerleaders follow the same traditions EVERY GAME. I love knowing that when I go this weekend we'll start off with Two Bits and then go to Weagle Weagle and Bodda Getta.

Come on Tiger Fans, everybody get your hands up for Bodda Getta!

Then we all direct our attention to some section in the stadium to watch Spirit soar around the stadium.

Waaaaaaaaaaar Eagle! Hey!

It's getting closer and closer to kickoff. The excitement is unreal.

The JumboTron lights up:

Does your band have a pre-game video?

I LOVE this video. LOVE it.

The video cuts to live feed of the band getting ready to take the field. The drum majors exit the tunnel slowly, with their heads held high. They are in command. They got this.

Everyone watches as the head drum major twirls his mace wildly. Finally, he raises it high in the air and with an air of dominance, he thrusts it deep into the turf.

The crowd goes wild.

The drums start their cadence and the AUMB high steps their way onto the field.

Kick-off is less than 10 minutes away.

Now, it's time for War Eagle, Glory, Glory, God Bless the USA, and the National Anthem. then It's time to spell to spell out Auburn

A-U-B-U-R-N!

T-I-G-E-R-S!

The band moves into it's AU formation and the shakers start going like crazy.

I forgot to mention the shakers before.

If you are going to an AU game, you must have a shaker. You MUST.

"Remember what we said men. This place was great way before you got here. And we are not going to let our people look at us, and let them down"

*guitar riff*

duh.duh duh duh. duh duh duhhhh......

Eye of the Tiger. Oh yeah.

Game On.

War Eagle, fearless and true....

2010-10-20T22:36:00.000-04:00

FIGHT ON YOU ORANGE AND BLUE!!
#3. Game Day Outfits!!
This is to prove to you all that I really AM a girl!
(After my last post, I'm afraid some of you were wondering!)
I know that this is really an SEC trend, but I LOVE to see all of the gameday outfits at Auburn. We don't just wear team t-shirts and jeans, here in the SEC we do it up right! I can only think of a few times when I didn't really put a lot of thought into my gameday outfit. From super fun dresses and accesories, to great sweaters and tops, gameday is not just about supporting you team, but doing it in style!
Here are some of my favorite Auburn gameday outfits:

source

So cute right?!! I'm currently working on my gameday outfit, but I'm pretty sure it's not going to be as cute as the ones above (considering the model has a good 20+ lbs on these girls !!!) But, I'm not going to wear just some ordinary t-shirt, you can bet!

Don't worry guys, only 2 more days of these posts! :)

War Eagle!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2010-10-20T17:00:00.000-04:00

I'm thinking my blogger might blow up soon because this is my...4th post this week!!

It's Wednesday again and you guys know what that means!
I'm linking up again with Jamie for

{1} I'm loving SEWING.

I've finally started using my Christmas present from last year and I'm definitely LOVING it! So far, I've made one pillow and a few fabric flowers to add to a headband. It was so much fun getting together with the girls and working on our projects. We're going to try to get together once a month to work on projects and throw ideas around.

Yay "sew sisters"! :)
Here's my pillow. I'm waiting until the whole flower project is complete to post pictures:

{2} I'm loving that tonight's girl time with sweet Taryn and maybe some other fun girls. I'm LOVING that I'm finally starting to make some real friends here in Augusta and I hope to really make some life long friends. Anyone who really knows me knows that I cherish my friends and I love to be surrounded by fun and loving people.

{3} I'm loving the pic that my SIL sent me yesterday of our "Christmas in Dixie" mountain get-a-way. Can't wait!

{4}I'm loving that my UGA loving Hubby is excited to put on his orange and blue (his birthday gift...heehee) on Saturday. He's being a good sport about heading to the Plains and is being sweet about letting it be about
ME. Thanks, G!!

{5} I'm loving the lesson that I learned from the parable of the unjust judge and the widow.
Pray without ceasing. Even though it doesn't seem like it to you, God hears your prayers and will answer them. In HIS time and in HIS ways, but your prayers do not fall upon deaf ears (Luke 18 1-8).
~Encouraging thought!~

{6} I'm loving YOU!! Thanks for stopping by!

4.Ever to Conquer Never to Yield

2010-10-19T22:48:00.000-04:00

It's a little late, but here's my #4 reason why I'm so excited about this weekend's game:
#4. It's going to be an AUsome game!
(ok, please don't pee on yourselves from laughing at my dorkiness. My name is Christy and I have a problem.)

Right now, Auburn is ranked #4 in the BCS rankings and LSU is ranked #6. Both teams are the only undefeated teams in the SEC and they are both in the SEC West, so the winner of this game has a good chance of being a contender for the SEC Championship.

Are you still there girls? Didn't mean to lose you with all that football talk!!

Anyway, this game is always a great and exciting match-up and both AU and LSU have had some pretty down to the wire games this season, so I'm sure it will be a nail-biter. And there's nothing like a fast paced game at Jordan Hare!

So, bring it LSU we're ready for this!!

The Countdown is On!!

2010-10-18T09:08:00.001-04:00

5 days 'till I'm back on on the Plains!! So, because I'm so ~~dorkily~~ happily excited about my upcoming trip, I thought I'd share the top 6 things I love about Auburn, especially Auburn game day!

5. War Eagle Fly Down the Field!

THE most common question I get as an Auburn fan has to do with the 2 mascots controversy.

Here's how Auburn's website tells the tradition:

"War Eagle" is Auburn's battle cry (not a mascot or nickname)

The most popular story about the battle cry dates back to the first time Auburn met Georgia on the football field in 1892 and centers around a spectator who was a veteran of the Civil War.

In the stands with him that day was an eagle the old soldier had found on a battlefield during the war. He had kept it as a pet for almost 30 years. According to witnesses, the eagle suddenly broke free and began majestically circling the playing field. As the eagle soared, Auburn began a steady march toward the Georgia end zone for a thrilling victory. Elated at their team's play and taking the bird's presence as an omen of success, Auburn students and fans began to yell "War Eagle" to spur on their team. At the game's end, the eagle took a sudden dive, crashed into the ground, and died. But the battle cry "War Eagle" lived on to become a symbol of the proud Auburn spirit.

The 1914 contest with the Carlisle Indians provides another story. The toughest player on the Indians' team was a tackle named Bald Eagle. Trying to tire the big man, Auburn began to run play after play at his position. Without even huddling, the Auburn quarterback would yell "Bald Eagle," letting the rest of the team know that the play would be run at the imposing defensive man. Spectators, however, thought the quarterback was saying "War Eagle," and in unison, they began to chant the resounding cry.

There is another story surrounding the 1914 Carlisle game. Each time the Indians had scored during the season, fans and the Carlisle players yelled, "War Eagle." But on this particular afternoon, it was Auburn's own Lucy Hairston who adopted the battle cry as he danced across the goal line for the only touchdown of the game.

Another version of the War Eagle story comes from Indian lore. Legend says "War Eagle" was the name given to the large golden eagle by the Plains Indians because the eagle furnished feathers for use in their war bonnets. The rarest version of the origin of the "War Eagle" cry grew from a 1913 pep rally at Langdon Hall where students had gathered the day before the Georgia football game. Cheerleader Gus Graydon told the crowd, "If we are going to win this game, we'll have to get out there and fight, because this means war." During the frenzy, another student, E. T. Enslen, dressed in his military uniform, noticed something had dropped from his hat. Bending down, he saw it was the metal emblem of an eagle that had been loosened while he cheered. Someone asked him what he had found, and Enslen loudly replied, "It's a War Eagle!" History was made as the new cry echoed throughout the stadium the next day as Auburn battled Georgia.

source
~ So, there's no true answer to how the Battle Cry (not mascot!!) came to be, but it's been a part of Auburn for, like, forever. Over the years it's become not only a battle cry, but a greeting (nothing like seeing that orange and blue in some obscure place and yelling out "War Eagle" across the way), an exclamation, and a term of endearment.

~ During the 2000 football season, War Eagle VI began a tradition of performing a free flight before a home football game. War Eagle VI, and later other eagles kept by in the Southeastern Raptor Rehabilitation Center in Auburn, flew around the stadium before landing on the field as the crowd chanted "War Eagle". source

Seeing the eagle fly before the game is a beautiful and exciting tradition and the number 6 reason that I just can't wait for Saturday!!

Happy Weekend!

2010-10-17T20:54:00.000-04:00

Can you believe that it's already 7:26 pm on Sunday?! Wasn't yesterday Friday!!

I can't believe how fast the weekend has gone by. I mean, I love my job and everything, but I still think I could use one more day off! :0

Us Crazy Canadys had a pretty fun weekend..... Greg was feeling a little yucky, so he took it kind of easy most of the day yesterday and I got up and headed over to my friend Emily's house for a little sewing lesson!
It was really a blast. There were two "teachers" and three of us "students" and we had waaay too much fun for any lesson. I mad a cute little pillow for our living room and I've caught the sewing bug. It's a bit time consuming and you really have to plan ahead for a project (uh, not my strongest point) but, it's fun. I think I did a pretty good job on my pillow too. Greg keeps telling me how "impressed" he is!

After "class" I had to rush home to watch the Auburn Tigers take on Arkansas. Man, what a crazy game!!!
Auburn scored 65 points - the most EVER scored in an SEC game - of course, we also gave up 43 points, which is nothing to really boast about, but a W's a W! War Eagle!! Auburn is now ranked #5 in the AP polls and LSU is ranked #6, so next week's game is going to be HUGE! I can't wait!

After the game last night, Greg and I went to watch the Riverhawks - Augusta's new hocky team. We had as much fun people watching as we did watching the game. The 'hawks didn't win, but it was a good time. It was fun to go on a "date" with my sweet hubs.

We started today out in Sunday school at our new church, St John United Methodist. We've been going there for about a month or so now and we're really starting to feel at home. They have an amazing choir and they've even rehearsed one of Greg's pieces of music to perhaps perform soon! There's not a lot of people our age there, we definitely feel more comfortable here than at the previous church we were going to. And, the people of the choir and of the church in general have been so welcoming. It's nice to "belong" after so long of just trying to find that one place where we felt we were supposed to be.
-> go to this podcast and forward to around the 33:20 mark and you will hear Greg singing Tenor in a quartet - (this was the same week as his first rehearsal with this choir!!!) <-

So, here it is, now 10 minutes past when I started this post and now that I've bored you all with our life - it's time to move on and get ready for the week! Wishing you all a great week!

Do..do..do.dodo... I'm Loving It!

2010-10-13T22:07:00.001-04:00

Woah. I'm such a slacker. I had really high hopes of doing more posts over this past weekend, but I got busy I guess and never sat down to do it! I can't believe it's already been a week since my last post!!!

Anyway, it's Wednesday, so I'm linking up again to this cute blog and celebrating this:

So, here are the things I'm loving on right now!
{1} I'm loving this sweet little Georgia fan

That's Sailor and she has THE most adorable squeal and THE most beautiful eyes!!
Thanks K and E for letting me get some fun time in with you and this little girl this week!!

{2} I'm loving that the M FM announced this week that they are having a baby BOY!!! I am NOT loving that they live so far away and that I cannot spoil said baby boy, but none-the-less, I <3 them and I am so, so, happy for them!!

{3} I'm loving this pic of our newest son, Barkley:

Greg (a UGA fan) got these Tiger ears for Barkley to sport during the Auburn/Kentucky game last week. Precious. Is it crazy for one fat, ugly dog to light up our lives so darn much?!

{4}I'm loving that in just 10 days I will be on the Plains and will get to see some of this:

the GREATEST pre-game ever!!!

{5} I'm loving that God knows everything about me and yet He still loves me.

{6} I'm loving that next month we will be heading home to Alabama/Florida to visit our family and friends for Thanksgiving. I can't wait to see everyone!!

{7} I'm loving my sweet husband for teaching me that there is always something worth fighting for.

{8} Again, I'm loving YOU!!! Thanks for visiting and all of your support and love :)

P.S. I am NOT loving blogger or my computer for wigging out on me while I was trying to put together this post!!! Argh!!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2010-10-06T14:15:00.000-04:00

Ok, guys, I've done it again. I've gone and hopped on one of those blog hops again today.
Can you tell that I'm having a hard time coming up with my own things to blog about?!

Anywho, two of my favorite bloggers, Amy and Lyndsie, always link up for What I'm Loving Wednesdays and I thought, well I'm loving a few things this week, so why not?!

So here are some of the things I'm loving right now:

(1) My Job
Mostly because frequently I get to have moments like this:
~Yesterday I helped M out to the car after a fun and busy session. I was just about to go back up to my room when mom and M came back into our office, I assumed M must have needed to use the "facilities".
Mom says: "nope she was in the car seat and started fussing and then started doing the sign for kiss and pointing to the door and I realized she wanted to give you a kiss."
And with that little miss M walks right up to me, plants one on my cheek and turns to walk out the door. Business done. I thought about that all day and just smiled.
~ and sometimes we get treats like home-made apple pie. That's a good enough reason right there to love your job, right?

(2) This Video
Which kind of correlates directly to my job. Check out the greatness:

1. To have speech like that after Cochlear Implants and deafness is great. Great language!!
2. The accent? Hilarious.
3.We really do act like that sometimes in our session. Lots of cheering. Lots of over-emphasizing words. We pretty much act like goobers all day long. Fun times.

(3) I'm loving that my computer says that it is currently 67 degrees here in Augusta, GA.Yippee!!

(4) I'm loving that 38 years ago yesterday this man was born:

and I'm loving that God chose him for me and that He planned our lives perfectly so that G and I would meet at just the RIGHT time in both our lives to know that THIS is what GOD had DESTINED for us.

(5) I'm loving that in two short weeks I will be in this place:

That's the "Loveliest Village on the Plains" folks and we are going to be there in two weeks!! I'm so excited! It's been more than two years since my last football game at Jordan-Hare and I'm head over heels excited. Remember in this post where I mentioned that I received the MOST DESIRED gift ever for my anniversary? Well the sweet husband (a Georgia fan) agreed to pay waaay too much money for tickets so that we could go to see Auburn beat LSU! And, I'll get to see some long lost friends, so that makes the trip even sweeter! I usually don't wish for days to go by any faster, but I'm hoping these next two weeks will just speed along!

(6) I'm loving YOU!!!! My friends, my family, and whomever just happens along this blog. Today I'm feeling very happy to have all of you in my life and I want you to know how much each and every one of you mean to me!

Gettin' a Little Wild and Crazy!

2010-10-02T10:19:00.000-04:00

Hey guys! I'm going to get a little wild and crazy here and participate in a blog hop!! O.M.G. I've gone a little off my rocker!!

I'm pretty sure that most you who read this have heard of kelly'skornerblog. Well, if you haven't, it's a great blog and she's usually doing lots of fun things. She's had this Show Us Your Life thing going for a while now and it makes for some great weekend entertaining to scroll through and see little glimpses into other blogger's lives. Well, for the next few weeks she's doing Show Us Where You Live - she's spotlighting different rooms in her house and asking others to play along as well. And, well, since so many of my friends and family have no idea what kind of place we're living in, I thought this might be a fun way to play along. I've missed a few of the rooms, but I really wanted to spotlight the dining room for three reasons:
1. It's one of the most complete rooms in the house (yes we've been here a year, but we've still not "completed" all of our rooms. Budget people!!)
2. It's the room that most has a "style" to it.
3. I really want to show off the dining room tables and chairs as many of you have seen it "before" and not "after".

Ok, so here goes. BUT, please remember that we RENT this house. I would LOVE to paint the walls, but we've already painted three other rooms here and we just waited on this one because it was not a "we must paint over that" kind of situation.

Looking from the dining room into the living room. Sorry for the funky angle!

I LOVE the arched entry!

I'm not sure of the technical term for this piece. I call it a buffet, but I realize it's not long enough for that. It's great for storage however!

I did the painting, Greg contributed the Mozart bust and I got the lamp from Big Lots!

My collection of antique milk glass. I found most of it when I was planning our wedding. Each table had a different vase with a bunch of hydrangeas inside. I've always been drawn to milk glass and I continue to be every time I go to an antique shop. I'm pretty sure I'm going to continue with the collecting.

Ok, now before I show any more, I want to show you what the table and chairs looked like before:

I know, yuck right? A friend had this dining set in her shop and I just fell in love with it though. Look at the really cool lines of the legs and the back of the chairs! And the seats are so nice and wide. I just KNEW this set would look amazing with a little bit of love. My parents bought the set for me when I completed grad school and went off to live on my own. I didn't have the money or the facility to re-do it own my own, so I used it as is with it's ugly seats and everything!! But then, I met my sweet husband and he was nice enough to do this:

LOVE HIM!!!!!

And now, our dining room table looks like this:

LOVE IT!!!!

We haven't painted the other two pieces, but I'm kind of liking it the way it is right now. I think it gives some extra color and character to the room rather than it being all brown. What do you think? Do you think we should paint the other pieces or not? Oh, and I'm really having a hard time deciding on what to put on top of the corner cabinet. It sounds weird, but I've kind of got an aversion to putting decorative things on top of furniture pieces. Yeah, weird. But JLB, KBW, VPB - I need your input!!!

2010-10-01T22:12:00.000-04:00

Here's a little catch up of what we've been doing during our blogging time-out!

We celebrated our 2nd Year Anniversary on September 13, 2010. We played it sort of low key on the actual date, because my precious hubby had already gotten me my MOST DESIRED anniversary gift (more later). He did surprize me at the office with flowers and a sweet card and we headed out to a yummy dinner at this precious place in Augusta called The Polka Dot Pig. What a sweetie!

September 13, 2008

The rest of September really kind of flew by. Greg has returned to his lessons in Statesboro and will finish with his Master's Degree in music composition in May, 2011. He has his final recital on April 2, 2011 ~ he has to put together an hour's worth of original compostions to be performed. He's pretty far along on most of his pieces - in fact, he's got many of them completed and in the hands of the performers already. He's also gotten some rave reviews about a few of his pieces that he's passed along. I'm very proud of his amazing talent and I can't wait to hear his work performed!
Work is going great for me. I had a very busy summer with patients, but I saw a bit of a decrease in my caseload once school started. Also, my schedule has changed dramatically. Where as this summer I had full mornings and lighter afternoons, now I may have a patient at 8:00 and 8:30 and no one else until 1:00, then I have 5 kiddos in a row after school! It's been good though, as it's allowed me to do some work in the office and get a bit caught up. I think God knows exactly what He's doing and could tell I needed a little breather!

The last weekend of September, our office had a bit of a girl's weekend and we headed off to Edisto Beach, SC for the weekend. We had such a wonderful time getting to know one another and bouncing ideas off of each other and just.... getting away! We're all already looking forward to next year's get-a-way! It was a gorgeous weekend and although it was not my "crystal clear" water of the Gulf Coast and the sand was kind of gray and had waaaay too many shells in it, I fell in LOVE!! We sat outside ALL day and just enjoyed the breeze and the gorgeous blue skies and the sound of the ocean. It was an amazing time!

Other than that, we've just been loving on these three crazy guys:

And getting ready for a super busy October. We've got lots of stuff going on, so be ready!

It's Been A While...

2010-10-01T22:05:00.000-04:00

Since my last post. Mind if I share a *moment* with you all?

I've really been struggling with some things the past few months. Not too long ago I was driving towork or something and I realized that wow. I'm 30 years old. I'm no longer the youngest one around and I can no longer really blame things on being young and inexperienced. I mean, I know I'm not OLD and all (that's when you're 35 right?!) but I do realize that it's time to grow up about certain things and I'm working hard on identifying those things that I really need to change.

Now, don't worry, I'm not going to bore you all with my lists and I'm not pulling for pity points - I'm just stating the truth about what's been happening around here. One of the biggest things that I've found myself doing is getting caught up in envy or coveting - and my main source for this comes from silly things such as Facebook and ... you guessed it, blogs.

Thing is, I LOVE reading through blogs!! I really enjoy the craft and recipe ones and there's my friends whom I adore and their blogs are so great because we can really keep in touch. And then there's the ones with those amazing stories - love stories, baby stories, survival stories. But, sometimes I get so caught up in things such as how great of a "wife" someone else seems compared to me, or how wonderful someone else's love story is, or how amazing their new house and decorating is - and I start to focus on that. I start to think about how SallySue is so much "more" than me or how jealous I am that Dick and Jane get to travel so much while we haven't yet really been on a true honeymoon and it sometimes makes things turn dark and nasty in my mind so that I can't see all of the great things that I DO have in my life.

So, in a nutshell, that's it. That's where I've been the past few weeks or months - just kind of in a funk brought about by self-doubt and the evils of social media!! :) But, I'm feeling a bit resolved these days! And lucky for you guys, I've got the blogging spirit again!! Yippee!!

Thoughtful Thursday

2010-08-12T19:11:00.001-04:00

Scott Chaney Writes: I love smart marketing.

2010-08-11T08:19:00.000-04:00

Swagger Wagon.

Check out this hilarious video. Thanks to Scott Chaney Writes for letting us know this video exists!

Happy Wednesday!

Family Visit

2010-08-06T21:32:00.000-04:00

Last week was a busy week for the Crazy Canadys!! My parents came for their FIRST visit to Augusta!!!
They arrived here just after lunch time on Wednesday and spent Thursday and Friday morning with us. On Friday, we took a Highway 20 ride up to Charlotte, NC to see my sisters, Damita and Amanda. Greg couldn't go with us because he was not feeling very well and had to take care of our crazy kids. I only stayed one night there, but we had a great time together. It's been a while since all of us were together like that!!

On Saturday after a DELICIOUS breakfast (thanks, Manda!!), we loaded up and headed to Lazy 5 Ranch.
It's a fun little ride through zoo where you can feed all kinds of wild and crazy animals right off the back of a wagon. If you're not the wagon riding type, you can drive through in your car. It has been so crazy hot here lately, that we thought we may have made a bad decision, but when we got out there, it was overcast and breezy and I don't think the temperatures ever got out of the mid to late 80's. It was perfect!!
Here are a few pics from the ride:

Our Horses!

Koda is quite possibly the best big brother.

He does a lot for his little sister. He's such a sweet, good guy and I'm so proud of him!

Cousins :) These guys rode with Damita and me and I was AMAZED at how much they talked to one another. They chatted the ENTIRE drive!

Look closely and you can see the food flying around!

Amanda, Zander, and Mike

I'm in LOVE with the close ups!

Quite Possibly my FAVORITES:

And More....

They had a good deal of exotic animals there. There were also a few zebras, but you are not allowed to feed them because they may bite. They didn't seem to care that much about us, so I didn't get any pictures of them, which is sad because I LOVE zebras! Also, there were about 100, 400, 008 pot bellied pigs roaming around... ok,not that many, but there were a lot of them! They were too far down from the wagon to get any good pictures! Here's a few more of the animals we saw:

And, probably the cutest thing I saw the whole trip:

Yes, I think that IS the World's Tiniest Goat

All in all, it really was a FABULOUS time. The only thing that would have made it better would be to have had ALL of my sisters and my brother and their families together! When I look at these pictures and remember the time that we had it reminds me that I am SO BLESSED with my family.We are blended, but I believe we are blended together perfectly~

I've always remembered "I love you" being spoken in my home~ by both my mom and my dad. I've had friends who say they KNOW their parents love them, but they would rarely hear the words spoken. Thank you mama and daddy, for not being afraid to make sure we heard those words. I love you!

Thoughtful Thursday

2010-08-05T22:31:00.002-04:00

"…. People universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough. But that's not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of Personal Effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around theWorld to find it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must NEVER become lax about maintaining it, You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don't, you will leak away your innate contentment.

It's easy enough to pray when you're in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments.

~Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat.Pray.Love

Say Hello to Our New Baby Boy!

2010-08-04T22:40:00.001-04:00

Boy oh Boy It's a New Bundle of Joy!

Can you believe we added another furry baby into our household?!

Bob "Barkley" Canady

Talk about Crazy Canadys!!

Greg's boss Gerry found this sweet thing roaming along Davis Road in Augusta. Gerry, a dog LOVER, already has 5 rescued dogs and just couldn't keep this handsome devil. Well, he brought him to work and needless to say, Greg just fell in love. It took me a touch longer to love that face, but we just knew he needed a good home. His health was questionable from the start and we've had a few scares, but he's been a true treat to our home! We're thankful we can make whatever days he has left just as enjoyable as possible.

Barkley does not really get excited about anything but food. His favorite place to hang out is in the kitchen because he's pretty sure that if he hangs out there long enough, someone will come in and drop a few pieces of food or something! When he's not in the kitchen he's right. up.under. you. Like, I mean right under you. If you're sitting in the recliner, it's impossible to get up without pushing the sweet thing out of the way! He doesn't snuggle, but he LOVES for you to pet him under his big fat head. And he's so ticklish!! It only takes a little scratch to get those back legs going!! He's just as afraid of thunderstorms as the other two and sometimes he falls asleep while sitting up. If he gets startled, he'll just start barking with this silly little bark. My FAVORITE thing about Barkley is the way he sleeps:

Not kidding. That tongue is out every.single.time! He's also quite the snorer!

A few weeks back, Gregory woke up to find Barkley surrounded by a pool of blood. We rushed him to the vet and discovered he was having some issues with his kidneys. We really didn't expect him to make it through the night, but Gregory just didn't want to give up on him. With some love and care, ole Barks was back to his normal self. Unfortunatley, we're thinking that Barks is getting sick again with his kidneys and we're not sure he'll pull through again this time. BUT we've fallen in love with him and we'll take care of him as best as we can for as long as we can!

101 and A Little Fun!

2010-07-17T14:45:00.000-04:00

Ok, so my friend Amy tagged me in this fun little game ~ I don't usually do these but I have been such a sloucher about posting lately, I'm up early, it looks kind of fun, and it's my 101 post!!! So, here it goes!

Three For Thursday (er, Saturday)

Three Names You Go By:

1. Christy

2. Miss Christy

3. Cricket

Three Places You've Been:

1. Savannah, GA

2. New Orleans, LA

3. Grandfather Mountain, NC

Three Jobs I Have Had

1. Pediatric Speech Langauge Pathologist

2. Sales person at The Gift Gallery in Grove Hill, Alabama (my most favorite job!)

3. Bank teller (can you believe I was a bank teller when I was in high school?! I worked the drive through a lot. I used to freak people out by calling out their names on the speaker when I saw them at the store across the street. Good o'le small town fun!)

Three Favorite Drinks

1. Sonic Strawberry Limeade

2. Fresh squeezed lemonade. I like anykind really but I will agree with Amy that Toomer's Lemonade is some of the best there is!

3. Champagne

TV Shows I Watch

1. Top Chef

2.The Soup

3. Gray's Anatomy

Three Places I would Like to Visit

1. New York City

2. Greece

3. Alaska

3 Favorite Retro TV Shows

1. Saved By the Bell (oh my goodness, is this really retro now?!!)

2. The Golden Girls ( I think my college roommate Kristen and I have watched every single episode. Note to potential gift buyers ~ I would LOVE to have the DVD set!!!)

3. Cheers (this makes me think about my daddy....)

Three Favorite Dishes

1. My mama's tomato gravy and home made biscuits

2. My peach cobbler (I got the recipe from my mom, but I've spiced it up a bit)

3. My husband's corn chowder

Three Things I'm Looking Forward To:

1. Our 2nd Wedding Anniversary

2. Taking my husband to Jordan Hare for his first every Auburn football game. (I'm so glad he'll see what a college football game is REALLY like! ; > )

3. Gregory's final concert and completion of his work for his Master's Degree in Music Composition from Georgia Southern University. I can't wait for people to hear the beautiful pieces he has created!

Three People I am Tagging

1. Samantha

2. Amber

3. Buffy

Southern Sundays ~ Grits!

2010-07-04T14:35:00.127-04:00

Vinny ... "What's this over here?"
Cook ... "You never heard of grits?"
Vinny ... "Sure, sure I heard of grits, I just actually never seen a grit before." ~ My Cousin Vinny

So, what is a GRIT anyway?

Grits are small broken grains of corn. They were first produced by Native Americans centuries ago. They made both "corn" grits and "hominy" grits.(source) The word "grit" can be linked back to the traditional Northern European dish grit gruels, a dish with an oatmeal-like consistency that was a staple in the Middle Ages.

To make grits, corn is ground through a mill and passed through screens. The finer part of the product is grit meal, and the coarser becomes grits. Traditionally the corn is ground through a large stone mill - grist mills.

Mingus Mill in Gatlinburg TN

Did you know THIS about Grits?

Three-quarters of grits sold in the United States are sold in the South stretching from Texas to Virginia (source)
Georgia declared grits its official prepared food in 2002 (source)
The World Grits Festival is held in St. George, South Carolina every April.
Not to be outdone, the National Grits Festival is held in Warwick, GA... also in April.
Corn flake cereals are made from white corn grits (source)
You can use dry instant grits to kill ants
GRITS is also an acronym for a brand Girls Raised In The South (teehee.teehee) It's also an acronym for the Georgia Registry of Immunization Transactions and Services.

How do you eat your grits?

My all time favorite is just good ole' grits with lots of butter, salt, and pepper. I like my grits to be a little bit thin and the BEST thing is to pile them on top of a fried egg and then mix it all together. Yummy!!

Grits are no longer just a breakfast food. Personally, I love cheese grits as a side ~ they're most commonly served as a side to seafood or fried chicken. Can you believe that Grits bars are even popping up at southern weddings?! Since marrying my husband, a Savannah native, and moving here to the eastern part of Georgia, I've been amazed at all the different restaurants and recipes for Shrimp and Grits - it's a staple around these parts! Grits are popping up in all kinds of places and in a lot of new and exciting ways. Just the other night we went to a nice steakhouse for dinner. When we recieved our beautiful plates, we were curious about the little orange squares that were nestled near our steaks. Hashbrowns? Nah. They were.......... FRIED CHEESE GRITS!

Buttered, cheesed, or shrimped, grits are a true southern staple. Honestly, I'm not so sure why grits are such a southern standard, but I know that I can recall grits as part of some of my favorite breakfasts way back into my childhood. I'm pretty sure that grits will always hold their place of stardom in the southern world!

Hey, try these recipes!

Happy Eating to All Ya'll! :)

Souther Sundays.... Where'd They Go?

2010-06-27T18:34:00.000-04:00

Hey friends!! Sorry, sorry, sorry for the lack of posts!!
In case any of you were really torn up about the lack of Southern Sundays posts - I promise I haven't given them up! I've just been crazy hectic the last few weeks and I've been in a blogging (ok, maybe everything) funk. I've got some fun ones up my sleeve for July, so don't give up on me!

Love ya'll!!

Southern Sundays: Homemade Biscuits

2010-06-13T21:46:00.000-04:00

"Hey Christy, what's your favorite food?"

A Biscuit.

"Really, a biscuit?"

Yep.

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BISCUIT:
Pronunciation: \ˈbis-kət\
Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural biscuits also biscuit

Etymology: Middle English bisquite, from Anglo-French besquit, from (pain) besquit twice-cooked bread
Date: 14th century

1 a : any of various hard or crisp dry baked products: as (1) British : cracker 4 (2) British : cookie b : a small quick bread made from dough that has been rolled out and cut or dropped from a spoon

2 : earthenware or porcelain after the first firing and before glazing

3 a : a light grayish-yellowish brown b : a grayish yellow

source

"Hard or crisp"?!
Uh-uh. Not here in the south. We like our biscuits soft and fluffy, preferably served piping hot, smothered in butter, and topped with sweet syrup, jelly, or preserves.

They also make quite tasty sandwiches (I prefer mine with patty sausage and cheese) and come in handy at supper time to sop up the left over gravy and whatever else you can't pick up with your fork.

My favorite biscuit dish? Homemade biscuits with tomato gravy. Yuh-uhmmmm.....

Who knows how it happened, but biscuits have always been a staple here in the south. I think they became so popular because they 1. taste delicious 2. are made out of ingredients that are staples in almost every household 3.inexpensive to make 4. can be diverse (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) 5. make many and 6. taste delicious.

Did you know that there is an entire documentary relating to The Rise of the Southern Biscuit? It has companion book ~ The Biscuit Dive Guide that serves as a cook-book and a guide book to the best biscuit places in the south. Can you believe that?! Anybody up for a road trip?

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I think biscuits, like sweet tea, are something that Southern women take pride in. I know I've heard my mom and dad and aunts and uncles reminiscing about my grandma or some other family member or friend ~ "she sure could make some good biscuits" or "she always made those hard biscuits". I remember watching my mom make biscuits and asking her repeatedly if I could help. She always let me try to do it, but was ever-so-watchful as to not let me go and "mess up" her biscuits!

A few years ago, mom gave me a book that contained some of our favorite recipes of hers. It included recipes like potato salad, how to cook a pot roast and, oh thank goodness, how to make biscuits!

It's a great little book -can you believe she hand-wrote all the recipes on index cards? Almost all of my favorites from my child-hood are in that book (ahem, mom I could use some more recipes!!) And to have it in her handwriting is great. I know I will treasure those for a long time! It's actually what inspired me to do these Southern Sunday posts. I've used my biscuit recipe card a few times now. I must say that it did make me feel a little proud of myself when my husband oohed and aahed over my first batch of biscuits. He even bragged about ME to HIS MOM!! (now you know he must have liked those biscuits!!). Mom's recipe was very detailed and explained to me just what to do to get the perfect biscuit ~

Drop Biscuits

2 cups Self Rising Flour

1/3 cup Crisco

3/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 450.

Make a "well" in flour add Crisco a little at a time until the flour is crumbly

take the flour from the outside to the center and "cut" it in. You can use a pastry cutter or a fork, but really, who wants to do that?

< crumbly. Mom's recipe says it looks kind of like grits. Mine does not look like grits. Never. Not once.

Make another well in the flour and add the milk. Again a little at a time. (USE YOUR HANDS!)

Now you have two options:1. you can drop dough by spoonfulls (hence the name Drop Biscuits) on to greased pan and bake for 10-12 minutes.2. For more uniform biscuits, dip your fingers in flour and shape the dough. Pat the tops a little flat before baking. Bake 10-12 minutes.
* for extra yummy biscuits, melt some butter and brush on top of the biscuits as they are baking.

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And, just in case this recipe isn't the biscuit recipe you know and love, check out some of these sites:

Paula's Recipe

Alton Brown

Southern Plate (looks like a cute blog!)

Mama's Biscuits (Super Cute video)

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Biscuits take a little bit of work. You've got to get the mesurements just right and work the dough just so. But there's nothing quite like the taste of a homemade biscuit ~ well, there used to not be. Today's world is all about speed and conveinance. And, you would think it couldn't be done, but there actually are some really great tasting frozen and canned biscuits out there. Even my mom has a bag of frozen biscuits in her freezer for the sake of conveinance. I know that no one has the time to make homemade biscuits every day (uh, and I think I'm supposed to say that it's not healthy to eat them everyday). BUT the purpose of these posts, if you remember is to PRESERVE TRADITIONS. So, get in there and ask your grandma or your mom or your great-aunt Lulu to show you how they make their biscuits. While you are in there, ask her about her childhood. Who made the best biscuits in her family? Who taught her how to do it? You may have so much more than a cooking lesson...

* Remember to leave your comments! Did you use the recipe? Maybe you have your own favorite recipe...I love to read your comments and thoughts!

My Love to all ya'll!

Christy

No Words......

2010-06-12T10:35:00.000-04:00

Just CUTENESS.

Addendum

2010-06-07T23:01:00.000-04:00

My husband just read my Savannah post and informed me that he has in fact met Paula Deen - at her old restauraunt, before she was PAULA DEEN! Huh, who knew?

Southern Sundays: Southern Cities Tour

2010-06-07T21:51:00.002-04:00

As part of my Southern Sundays theme I'm including a southern cities tour! I'm excited about this because now I can plan lots of trips to do some "blog research"!

We're starting off somewhere that's quickly growing very near and dear to my heart:
Hello, Savannah, Georgia!

Photo Source
Ok, so this was an easy starter. Since my sweetie hails from Savannah originally and it's only a short drive away, we get to go down quite often. We just so happened to be down there this weekend on a short notice excursion. On the way down I asked Greg, "oh no, what am I going to do for Southern Sunday?!" that's how the southern cities tour got added into the theme! I also happen to have a few pictures already, and of course the best historian and tour guide!

Savannah was founded on February 12, 1733 by Englishman James Edward Oglethorpe. Oglethorpe, an English parliamentarian, was moved to investigate the state of English debtors prisons after the death of his friend, Robert Castell. He found that many of the prisoners were honest, hard working men who were imprisioned only for their debts. In 1732, the original Georgia Charter was issued. The first lines of the Charter credit the destitute and poor as fine and proper colonists -persons, who “through misfortune and want of employment” were “reduced to great necessity, insomuch that by their labor they are not able to provide a maintenance for themselves and families”. The colony of Georgia was founded to offer solace to these poor debtors and to relieve England the burden of having to care for them. It also served the purpose of strengthening the British Empire and expanding the English trade markent. Once he found what is now known as Savannah, Oglethorpe laid his plans for the construction of the city. His plans provided that the city be laid out in a perfect grid pattern.source

Savannah has always drawn tourism because of it's rich history. However, tourism in Savannah boomed in the 1990's after the publication of the famous novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The novel was made into a movie directed by Clint Eastwood and starred Kevin Spacey. You will hear love and hate tales from Savannahians regarding Midnight ~ however I bet no one can argue that it has done wonders for the city as far as revenue! I love to read, but I must admit I hard a hard time with Midnight the first time I read it. However, after I had been to the city, I went back and read it and it carried a whole new meaning. I love any stories about a "yankee" who is converted to Southernism! The movie? Well, that's another story... if you can get past the horrid fake southern accents, it's entertaining and worth a 1.00 red box rental!

Even more recently, Savannah has had another boom in the tourism business because of Paula Deen. Sunday we were in downtown at 9:30 am and already, there was a line at her restaurant, The Lady and Sons! We were there once in the pouring rain, and still the line wrapped around the restaurant!! I'm not a patient person and I'm not a picky eater, so uh, no I haven't been in Paula's restaurant yet. It's crazy though... she's everywhere! They even have "The Paula Deen Tour"! My "insider" says though that the new restaurant is not nearly as good as the original. (no, he's never met her).

Alright, so this post could go on forever, but I'm trying to learn the art of "editing"! So, here's a quick list of my own personal "must sees" for when you visit Sweet Savannah (you must, must visit!!)

Riverstreet (warning ladies, do NOT wear heels!!) While on Riverstreet be sure to check out Riverstreet Sweets from some pralines.
City Market, stop in for a slice of pizza at Vinnies (it may look dirty but it's yummo. You may want to sit outside if grime goons you out)
any of the historic churches of savannah we particularly love The Cathdral of Saint John the Baptist, Independent Presbyterian, Saint John's Episcopal Church and Temple Mickve Irael
eat some hash at Clary's Cafe (it's from the book)
drinks and jazz at Jass'd Tapas Bar
Tybee Island Light House... while you're out that way, check out Fort Pulaski and
The Breakfast Club (get there very early! Try the crabcake eggs benedict
Bonaventure Cemetery
check the SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) website before your trip to see if they have any exhibits going on while you're there. I saw a signs this weekend for a Diane Von Furstenburg exhbit. They also have a supposedly magnificent sidewalk art exhibit in early spring

That's only the beginning!! I could go on and on about this city. I LOVE Savannah. From it's architecture to its history, to its art, to its culture ~ it just fits me. It's a great champion for the preservation of southern culture. For more details and information about Savannah, check it out on Wikipedia. I found lots of great information there. Let me know if you plan a visit. I'd love to experience Savannah with you!

Lots of love ya'll.

Christy

Southern Sundays : Sweet Tea

2010-05-30T22:06:00.001-04:00

I've been wanting to do something fun and different with my blog for a little while. I feel like Greg and I kind of have a boring life and all of you loyal readers probably get tired of seeing videos of our dogs and our extended family and what-not – and no, we don't plan on having babies anytime soon. So, that leaves that out.

Personally, I love blogging. I especially love to read other people's blogs, but I really enjoy writing too. I don't know if you guys get any special kicks out of my posts, but I wanted to try to spice it up just a tad and do something to draw some people in. (Come on other blogging friends, please tell me that you watch that "Follower" counter like I do and secretly get a little giddy whenever it increases. So what if complete strangers may read this post and see my pictures? They like me!!!)

Sooo, I decided to come up with one of those really cheesy fun theme days -

Welcome to Southern Sundays.

I'm a true Southern girl at heart. There are traditions and customs to the Southern way of life that I just adore and live for. As I've gotten older and am now married I try to stick to these traditions, but find that there are some things that I just don't know how to do – things like making jelly, planting a garden, or making the perfect biscuit. Things I've always relied on my mom or my aunts to do for me. There are also ways of life like manners, monograms, Bridge games. These are things that I am afraid may pass away with the generations. I think that young southern women need to make the effort to keep these things alive to pass on to our children and grandchildren. So, every Sunday (hopefully) I will come to you with something ultimately southern. It may come in a how to or a just because. Maybe even as simple as "hey, remember this". I'm coming up with a list of things that I always wanted to do – and asking for your input too. Let me know if there's something you always wanted to know how to do – or share your own ideas about what it is to truly be a southerner.

Now, on to the gettin' on:

I figured the best place to start is one of the most important and well-known southern staple. It also happens to be one of the simplest ones to incorporate:

Hello, Sweet Tea.
Sweet Iced Tea is a staple among almost all southern households and restaurants. You can go to the simplest of picnics to the fanciest of dinner parties and I can guarantee that sweet tea is going to be one of your beverage choices. Of course there are some people who believe sugar is bad for you, or that have the diabetes - for them, there's always the unsweet option (with sweet-n-low, of course).

Wikipedia defines sweet tea as "a form of iced tea in which sugar or some other form of sweetener is added to the hot water before, while, or after brewing the tea but before the beverage is cooled or chilled and served. Adding sweetener to hot water allows for supersaturation of the solution, enabling the tea to hold more dissolved sweetener than under colder temperatures. Toward that end, sweet tea is often brewed in simple syrup[1] which is sometimes tempered with baking soda to eliminate bitterness"

Did you know that the first tea grown in America was in South Carolina in the 1700's? In the 1800's variatons of the drink became popping up in the form of punches and liquor drinks (Savannah's Chatham Artillery Punch is an example). Iced tea became popularized (not invented) at the 1904 World's Fair when an entrepeneur poured his hot tea through ice pipes to cool it down. For more neat facts, click this link: history

"My sister was the designated tea maker in our house. I remember we had one little pan that was the tea-pan. It was bent and and the bottom was stained brown from the years of use. I would stand right there with my sister and my mom when they were making the tea, trying to remember exactly what to do and when. I couldn't wait for when I would be old enough to be in charge of making the tea! When it was finally my turn, I worked cautiously on making everything just right. When the pitcher was made, I dipped out a spoon-full for my mom and waited for her approval - oh what tension was in that moment waiting to hear if I had made it to her liking! There were some times when I got a "that's good!" with a smile and an approving nod, then there were sometimes when I got a "that's good" with that up and down tone and facial expression that people always give when they really don't like something but have the where-with-all to know that they shouldn't say, "well, that's not good at all". Thank goodness my sister was around.

When I got older and lived on my own, I rarely drank tea. When I did it was either hot(*gasp*) or............. I bought it. (*bigger gasp*)

And then I got married...... to a sweet tea-a-holic. All the tension and apprehension that I felt when I was younger came rushing back to me when Gregory took that first sip. It was like my entire legitimacy of wife-dom was in that sip. Oh, how I wanted him to love it!

"That's good" *lilting voice and no eye contact*

"Like, that's really good or just ok good"?

"It's ok".

*I run into the bedroom, slam the door, and fling myself on the bed while crying "I'm a terrible wife!"*

Luckily, my husband had lived alone enough and craved sweet tea enough that he devised his own "award winning" (in his head) sweet tea recipe. He was kind enough to teach it to me and now I'm proud to announce that I too can make one heck of a pitcher of tea. He's given me permission (he's gloating!!) to share it with all of you so ya'll can share the love:

Crazy Canadys Sweet Tea

*we use the coffee pot to brew our tea*
Pour eight cups of water into the coffe pot and put 2-3 Tetley family size tea bags where you would put your coffee (ahem, don't use a filter),
While the water is brewing, fill a gallon pitcher or ....jug... with 2 cups (+a titch more) sugar
Pour the hot brewed tea in the pitcher and then finish filling the pitcher with water, stirring as you go.

I like my tea with lots of extra lemon. Some people put sprigs of mint in theirs. However, I rarely have sprigs of mint at my house, so I don't really do that. I've heard of some wacky variations like adding fruit to your tea, but if you ask me, nothing beats the real stuff.

What about you? How is your recipe different? Do you have any tips or tid-bits? What do you think about Southern Sundays? Leave a comment!!

Love ya'll!

(Be sure to check out the video below!!)

Thunder Over Augusta

2010-05-22T11:59:00.004-04:00

Every May Augusta has it's Thunder Over Augusta to celebrate Armed Forces Day. They have lots of great stuff all day long and they end the night with a huge fireworks show over the Savannah River. Gregory and I went last year and really enjoyed it, so we were excited to go back this year.

I mentioned it to my sister and she planned a surprize trip for her daughter, Jaiden. Damita had to work on Saturday - so it was a quick trip. She picked Jai up and they headed out from Charlotte. Jaiden had NO idea where she was going! She was excited to be here - she didn't need any fireworks! But, we went to the show anyway and she loved it!

Lena Rivers Brunson, Senior 2010!

2010-05-15T08:19:00.025-04:00

I remember when my sister found out she was pregnant for the first time.

I remember when they found out she was having a girl.

I remember when they told me they were going to name her Lena Rivers and call her Rivers. I remember the dream that I had that they kicked me out of the hospital room because I didn't want to call her Rivers.

I remember when my sister and brother-in-law took me and my "boyfriend" (we were in 8th grade) to a college basketball game and she didn't want him to hold my hand because she wanted me to hold her hand.

She used to call my "My Tities" - her version of "Christy".

I remember the picture of little Lena Rivers kissing "Big" Lena Rivers (her great-grandmother). Its precious. It's still on my mom's fridge.

I remember her first day of Kindergarten, the hours long good-night kisses for her mom and dad and me, her love of Deana Carter, spinning lamps, Amy adn the cheerleaders (imaginary friends)and the time she pretended she couldn't see anything because she wanted glasses - her parents made her aplogize to us because she made us worry so much.

Rivers was not my first niece born. Nor is she my favorite- I don't have favorites. But, she was the first one born when I was old enough to remember and really be involved as an "aunt". My mom kept her while she was little and she and hung out a lot. Plus, I was a Jr. High dork and nuisance and I was always hanging out at their house. About a year or so before I graduated high school the Brunsons moved to Montgomery, Alabama. They told me I could live with them if I wanted to go to Auburn University Montgomery, so I did. Rivs was in Kindergarten and I was responsible for picking her up from school some days and she and I had lots of fun together.

And now she is graduating high school.

And I can't be there.

Because I am 7 hours away. In Georgia.

And that makes me sad.

So, I devoted a gigantically long post just to her.
She is beautiful and has a fun and quirky personality. She makes me laugh. She has a passion for God and is going to make a huge difference in this world. This summer she goes on her first overseas mission trip - to Guatemala. She will go to Judson College in Alabama - a Baptist school for women. She's wants to be a missionary. This past week at Awards Night, she was awarded almost $50,000 in scholarships. She is fearfully and wonderfully made and I love her and I'm so proud of her!!

When I was home in March, I took Rivers on a little photoshoot. Rivs, her mom, and I rode all around Grove Hill, Alabama taking these pictures. We had so much fun!

Rivers ~ you are such a beautiful and special young lady and I am so proud to call you my niece. I am so sorry that I cannot be at your graduation, but I will think of you all night. I know that you are going to do AMAZING things with your life and I will be here to support you through it all!

I love you!

Technical Questions:

2010-05-11T17:40:00.002-04:00

Hey blog friends!! I've got a tech question for ya'll:

Do you compose your new posts from the blogger page or in word?

I've tried to do it in word, but I'm running into problems with uploading pictures (something about a server?!)

Would love your help!!

Thanks yo.

2010-04-24T00:04:00.011-04:00

Remember in this post I told you about my great vacation? Well, I really did go on a vacation! I just haven't written about it yet!

When I found out my friends Katie and Macey were going to both be in Pensacola at the same time, I scheduled some time off to go to visit. I haven't seen Katie since her baby shower and it's been even longer since I've seen Macey! We were able to all plan a get together weekend and it was wonderful!!

I left Augusta very early on Saturday morning - it's about a 7 hour trip from here to my sister's house and another two or so to Pensacola. I ended up at my friend Aimee's house around 10 on Saturday night - for any of you who didn't know I lived with Aimee before Greg and I got married. It was so great to be back in my old "digs"! Aimee and I had some great time catching up. Unfortunately, yeah.... I got no pictures of that. Just take my word for it that Aimee is adorable and tons of fun. She was so gracious to let me stay with her!

Sunday morning, AC was baptised in the same church her mommy and daddy got married in. Katie and MG's family rented a beautiful home and had us over to celebrate AC's big day. Go here and here to read more about it. (Yeah, no I don't have pics of that either. gah) Anyway, it was a great day, with great friends and sweet babies all around. It was so wonderful to catch up with some of my old friends

After lunch, I headed out to Pensacola Beach and Surf Burger to meet up with another old friend and roommie Jamie. Now Jamie lives in Navarre, so it's a bit harder to get together with her. We had a great but way too short visit. Jamie- come see me soon!!!

I did get a few pictures on my trip to Pcola. Aimee's house is just down from Big Lagoon Park and I went out on Monday to relax and take some pictures. It was so quiet out there!! BLP is a beautiful place, but it was really affected by Hurricane Ivan a few years ago and some of it's "beautifulness" is gone. But, I think I got a few good pics:

Really the weather couldn't have been any more beautiful. Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference between the blue sky and the blue ocean. Gorgeous.

Later in the week the girls got together for one last time at one of our favorite places, Peg Leg Pete's. Bring on the Bushwhackers and the good times!!!

So thankful for these girls!!!

Ahh, Peg Leg's. I don't know if the food is the BEST I've ever had, but it's really good and the atmosphere is just fun. If you're ever in the area - you've got to go!!

Katie and I rode together from Peg Leg's and we kept talking about how much fun we had and how we should do this once a year. I'm already ready to start planning for next year!

Family Ties

2010-04-08T21:52:00.006-04:00

My great nephew Sage turned 1 in March. It's really hard for me to be so far away from my family now that I have two sweet greats. Sage's mommy and daddy (my niece Brittany and her husband Stephen) had a party for him at their home in Prattville, Alabama. Here are a couple of pics that I stole:

Sage's Nana (my oldest sister Julie) had planned a birthday party Sage with the family on my first day back in Alabama. Unfortunately, Sage came down with the flu and we weren't able to celebrate with him. But one of my other sisters, Veronica, and my mom came over to meet us and my precious great-niece Brooklee and her mommy and daddy (Julie's oldest daughter Cassidy and her husband Stephean) came down from Mobile and we got to spend some sweet time together. Luckily Sage started feeling bette and I got to spend a little bit of time with him later in the week. They are THE CUTEST and most precious little things!! I could play with them all day!

My sister Julie and her husband Kenny have built three homes in Excel, Alabama. This home is their last and I think the best! They have beautiful porches on both the back and front of the house. This is their view:

Here's the view from the front porch rockers. The bushes in the foreground are close to the porch. Then you see the yard and the dirt drive. On the other side of the drive is a huge cotton field. It's so beautiful in the winter. Cassidy and Stephean got married in the front yard in November. The cotton was at full bloom. It was the most beautiful wedding ever!

The back porches faces a cow pasture!! I love it! The cows are precious and come up to the fence a lot to see what's going on!

Even though we didn't get to celebrate Sage's birthday, we still got to have cake! Veronica and Julie's youngest daughter Kendyle share the same birthday, March 18. Julie got them this cute, yummy cake.

"Happy Birthday to Two Heifers!"

And a few more pics from our time together:

Nana and Grandad LOVE their grand babies!!!

Fisher Price Ball Bopper = BEST TOY EVER!!

Poor Kendyle's been losing her place on the family picture table, so we went out to took a few fun pictures......

While we were there Julie pulled out a video from Christmas, 1986. I had just turned 6 years old!! It was so fun to watch!! Veronica got her first car and I got my first cabbage patch doll! We also got to see and hear footage from our extended family. My grandmother was there telling how blessed she was to see Christmas again and praying to see at least one more. She made it for another 10! We also got to see aunts, uncles, and cousins who have gone on the heaven. It was such a precious sound to hear my aunt Trudie laughing again! I've decided to take more videos of those special moments. Pictures are wonderful, but theres something so special about seeing your memories actually AS THEY WERE... walking, talking, breathing, smiling......

Being away from my family has made me realize how important family really is. These know me to the inner core and love me still. I know that no matter what I do, they will continue to love me and support me in all that I do!

Well, shoot...

2010-04-07T15:41:00.002-04:00

Bad news to post today :(. Gregory and two other co-workers got news today that their job positions were being eliminated. This really came out of nowhere, and will take effect at the end of this month. Gregory and I are a little shocked and stunned, but we know we will persevere!! We've been through it before and God blessed us with this job, and we know He will bless us again soon. Please say a little prayer for us ~ pray that we can be positive and faithful (umm, me especially) and PATIENT (yeah, me again on that one). Thanks!!

Coming Soon!

2010-04-06T00:20:00.002-04:00

No, not babies!
Last week I had some new motivation to put up some new blog posts. I found out about two more people who actually check my blog! Yay :)

So, last week I had a GREAT vacation! Lots to post about: babies, besties, blue angels, and more! I've just loaded some pics on the computer and I hope to have a post up soon!!

"Because Rare Isn't So Rare..."

2010-02-27T11:35:00.009-05:00

Tomorrow, February 28, 2010 is world Rare Disease Day. Until recently, I didn't even know that the "Day" existed. Then, I met this sweet, precious one:

Frances B., 3 years
(with permission)

This is Frances. And I. heart. her.

Frances was born with Macrocephaly-Cutis Marmorata Telangiectatica Congenita. When Frannie was diagnosed, there were less than 100 other children with the same diagnosis in the WORLD. Frances' family and doctors were at a loss as to what the future held for them and with how to make even the first baby steps towards her care. Thankfully for them, they were able to make contacts and do research and find a network of people to communicate and share stories and questions such as "what do we expect?" and "what did you do when?". With talking to Frannie's mom, I cannot express how much peace and comfort she has found in finding these connections. This little girl and her family have come to mean so much to me in the short time that I have worked with them. They face life's questions with unbelievable strength and faith and tackle the struggles head on. What they've faced in the past three years has really opened my eyes to this cause. On Frances' caringbridge site, her mom posted these stats:

More than half of the 30 million patients in the United States affected with rare disease are children
Approximately 15 million Americans have rare diseases for which there still is no approved treatments and no research in progress
Approximately 80% of rare diseases are attributed to genetic defects, many which are untreatable and life-threatening
In the 25 years since the Orphan Drug Act of 1983 was signed into federal law, the FDA has only approved approximately 350 treatments for all rare diseases combined
Check out www.globalgenesproject.org and wear jeans to support Rare Disease Day on Sunday, February, 28th, 2010!
NOTE: **The above statistics were taken from the global genes project. :)

I'm asking all of you who read this to join me and others tomorrow as we wear jeans to raise awareness for Rare Disease Day. You can go to www.globalgenesproject.org to learn more.

Please help spread the word!!

Tis So Tweet....

2010-02-26T20:53:00.001-05:00

Do you tweet? I signed up for a twitter account. Um, not sure why. Just wanted to be like all the other cool kids I guess. The best part is "following" famous people...or sort of famous people. So far, I've only tweeted one time. I'm a little nervous. Of course, I've only got one follower, so........

Let me know if you tweet. Maybe we can tweet together. We can all be sweet tweeters.