Starkvegas Weekend

Look at this sweet face! Isn't she precious?  If you haven't met our sweet, sweet puppy Lacey, you definitely should find a time to see us!  She is wonderful and the best travel companion!

On Friday, Lacey and I set out for Starkville.  My Dad's side of the family had a "birthday party" celebration on Sunday which really means a get together.  Apparently everyone has birthdays in January so we use it as an excuse to see everyone.  And I used that as an excuse to come to Starkville. You definitely don't have to twist my arm too hard!  So all of last week, I had been planning my weekend in Starkville.  

Friday night, Lacey and I got to Starkville in time to run by the "office."  She waited patiently in the car.  Then we got to go pick up one of my favorite Starkville residents, Allison Mc.  While I don't have any pictures of our time together, it was just wonderful to sit in the Union and catch up!  I got to hear about her many adventures.  I seriously think that Allison's life could be the most interesting movie you've ever watched! She loves life!  And I loved catching up with Allison! 

Then, Lacey and I went to my parent's house to visit and wait on David.  He couldn't leave Memphis until 5pm.  Joys of the real world.  We had a fun night with Mom and Dad watching the movie Wall Street.  Good movie by the way.   Saturday morning, mom cooked a big breakfast! I've missed my Mom cooking for me. I'm the chef of the family now so it was nice to be cooked for all weekend!

Saturday afternoon, I was off to the soccer fields.  I found out on Monday that my friend from our Columbus church, Chelsea was going to be in town Saturday for her brother's soccer tournament.  She doesn't like soccer, so she was completely fine with me breaking her out for the afternoon!  I found out Thursday that my cousin was also playing soccer in the tournament so that meant I'd get to break my five year old cousin Sydney out as well!  We spent about 30 minutes at the soccer field getting everyone together.  Then it was off for our adventures that afternoon.

Sydney pitched a fit because she wanted to go bowling.  Bowling.  Now, y'all may not know this, but David Adams LOVES bowling.  He would prefer to Lunch and Bowl every day of the week (side note: Lunch and Bowl is something at the bowling alley here and it's exactly what it sounds like.  It's Lunch and two games of bowling....and David Adams loves it).  In fact, he did go every day for 2 weeks before we moved.  Not exaggerating.  He went everyday!  So off to the bowling alley we went where we found out that all of the lanes were full.  Relief. UNTIL someone decided to pitch a fit in the middle of the bowling alley. Joy.  Luckily, it was short lived when I asked if she wanted ice cream. YAY for a mood change! 


After some good Bops where Chelsea and I were able to catch up, we decided to go to Dandy Doodlez in Starkville.  There was of course a stipulation!  NO POUTING, CRYING, TEARS, ARMS CROSSED TANTRUMS!  She pinky promised and off we went!  Sydney picked the cutest cupcake box to paint.  When she asked me what she'd use it for (this five year old thinks things through unlike her cousin!), I responded..."for your silly bandz of course!"  Who knew those were still cool because she flipped for it.  Chelsea chose a rubber ducky.  Not really rubber, but it looks like one.  And I chose an ornament that is cut to be like the state of MS with a paw print for Starkville.  I thought it was special since we just moved away!

Here are a bunch of pictures from our painting time together.

Some of those photos were taken by none other than Sydney, if you couldn't tell.  Forgot to mention her "Skittle." Have you ever heard of one?  That is that blue streak you see in her hair.  It's like a hair extention, but it's blue.  She also has a pink one.  I wish my mom was cool enough to let me have a "Skittle" when I was five.  Haha.  I told her that, and she did point out that she let me have a hair wrap every year at the beach.  Do y'all remember those!  I was the cool kid who got mine in June when we went to the beach and didn't cut it out until after January.  Yes, I was cool.  So maybe it's a good thing I didn't get a Skittle.  Don't you love our artwork though?  After we were done painting, we ran to the grocery store for my mom--which was an adventure in itself.  Let's just say, I know people thought that was my five year old I couldn't keep under control!  But aren't cousins supposed to be fun and aren't you pretty much supposed to be able to do anything with them?  Chelsea, Syd, and I twirled down the aisles of Piggly Wiggly.  For once I was glad that I lived in Memphis! Haha!

After dinner at the cabin, Sydney left with her mom and brother to drive home.  David and I took Chelsea back to the soccer fields to meet up with her family so they could go home.  And on our way back to the house, David and I decided to stop in on one of our favorite Starkville families--the Lovings!  We knew that we had to leave immediately after church on Sunday to go to the "family reunion" so we visited until about 9:30pm at their house.  They were exhausted when we walked in, but after about 10 minutes were wide awake!  I can only hope they fell asleep after we left as they were extremely wired after we left!  (*I did ask Matt at church and he said they immediately went to bed because they were worn out!)

When Ava and Tessa saw us, they said, "David...go to sleep."  I think I've mentioned that when we baby sit them, David will get "tired" and fall asleep.  I think he really just wants a break, but it's a fun event for the girls to say the least.  He told Ava Saturday night that he wasn't tired.  She asked what would make him sleepy, and he told her a glass of water.  So after a glass of water, he was fast "asleep."  I don't have a video or a picture from Saturday night, but I do have a video from one of the nights we babysat them.  I told them to wake him up that they had to tell him a funny joke.  This video is so funny because it's them telling David a joke I taught them.  Or shall I say attempting to tell the joke:

Matt and Jenny, I will understand if you never let us babysit your children again!  It might be too much to reveal everything we do with your children.  If you couldn't tell, David and I are trying so hard to hold back our laughter in this one!  I love them!  I hope one day they still remember all of the fun we had!

Sunday was the family reunion, and I have zero pictures from it because my camera battery died.  It wasn't really a family reunion where you think of your dear old aunt Sue coming and pinching your cheek.  Or one with lots of deviled eggs and chocolate pies.  Our side and my grandmother's sisters side met for lunch at Lake Tiak-O'khata. We had fun catching up with each other--especially since the last time I saw most of them was at our wedding.  HA! If you're married, you know that means I don't actually remember SEEING them!

And that's an update on how our weekend went.  I'm still in Starkville working for a little this week.  David had to return home yesterday afternoon.  If you're in Starkville this week, let me know!  My evenings are completely free.  Minus this little lady who consumes a bunch of my time!  I missed her today!

Gator Bowl Book

I love using Shutterfly to create memory books. And the more you use them, the more great coupons they send you!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Red Hots Video

Apparently I'm in a YouTube video sharing habit these past couple of days!

If you haven't read this post, I would strongly suggest you do so before continuing.  It will make the video make a WHOLE lot more sense. 

This is the video from Crosspoint's DNow.  Just pay no attention to the psycho in the crazy red outfit with red hat, hair, glasses, shorts, long johns, shirt, and jacket.  I don't know her and have never met her in my life!   



I have to say, this was probably my favorite DNow to be a part of.  Feel like I say that every year, but it was just so good to be back home with my wonderful girls!  They are amazing and though the videographer didn't get near as funny footage of us as he did the Jr. High girls, make no mistake, there was plenty of it.  

I love these girls! I am so blessed to have been able to witness their passionate pursuit of Christ for the past 4 years.  You girls challenge me to go deeper, and even though you ask tough questions that I don't always know the answers to, it makes me so happy to know that you are seeking to know about His glory, power, and grace.  I've gotten to walk with you through so many seasons of life and watch how those seasons in turn have shaped molded and changed you.  I know the LORD has awesome and powerful things in store for each of your lives!  Katie C., Katie B., Holly, Molly, Danielle, Amanda, Hannah, Alex, and Mames, where my Red Hots @t?!  LOVE yall! (and to my purple jr. high girls: while I don't know all of you, I love you too!)

Personal shout outs probably aren't cool on blogs.  So sorry!  But I've kind of started using my blog as a journal through our year.  So bear with me.  The funny stuff and crafty stuff will be back tomorrow! And one day, there will be pictures of a clean house posted on here.  I'm just trying to keep your attention!  Haha...actually it's because my house isn't clean right now, and I've been working on school and updating the blog.  Oh and washing clothes.  It seems I do that weekly now.  What happened to once every three weeks?  Oh college...how I miss those days.  And the Chi O house that had 4 washers and 4 dryers.  2 hours and every article of clothing washed.  Sigh.

I'm ending this blog now because my mom and my husband will say tonight, "do you know how many times you got off subject on your blog today?" And I'll say, "when have you known me to EVER stay on subject for more than 2 minutes?"  Okay fine ONE minute!  Hope everyone has a blessed day!

The Marshmallow Test

A couple weeks ago, David and I saw this video at Downline.  (which, by the way, if you live in, near Memphis, or want to move to Memphis, you should really check out).  Anyway, we watched this short video in class. 

It's about marshmallows.  I really like marshmallows.  With hot cocoa.

Back on subject.  This video is great.  A church/media group in Texas designed, implemented, and recorded it to show the struggles of temptation.  It is little kids who are tempted with marshmallows. If you have 3 1/2 minutes, I suggest you watch it.  The idea is simple.  Set a kid in a room with nothing but a marshmallow.....and some hidden cameras.  Tell them not to eat it until you come back, and if they can wait, they'll get two.

Please check out these little kids responses:



Oh my goodness!  I see myself all in this!  Don't we do this with sin?  God commands us not to do it, and we'll receive far more than we could imagine at a later time.  Satan wants us to go after instant gratification.  And isn't this exactly what we do?  We look at it, turn it over, stare at it, roll it in our hands, lick it (or taste a little bit of how it would feel), smell it, pinch a little off, pretend to eat it, kiss it (my favorite), bang our head against the wall trying to decide....etc.  Then, like the little girl, we can bite in and enjoy it and try to put it back the way we found it to cover up what we did.  But it doesn't look the same.  

Thankfully, it doesn't end there!  God, in all His power and might, saw it fit to give us GRACE.  Grace that we didn't deserve, but freely receive.  He can take our marshmallow and put it back together again.  Even if we, like the last little girl, decide to take a bite out of it right in front of His face before He can even give the directions to us.  

If this doesn't show our sinful nature, I'm not sure what does.  Little kids. A marshmallow. And temptation.

Kitchen Wall Art

Our kitchen is yellow.  And not a golden color either.  It's baby room yellow!  I realize, I've failed to provide pictures of our home, but I promise one day soon.  Those of you who know me well or have been reading the blog for awhile know that I. Cannot. Stand. Yellow.  Like I don't even tolerate it well.  I think it stems from my mom who never, ever, never dressed me in yellow as a child.  To this day, there is no yellow in my wardrobe.  But, our kitchen is yellow.  Oh, don't worry, I've gotten approval to paint it a nice soft tan or brown.  I just need to go pick out the paint so that our landlord can approve.  And sadly, that hasn't been at the top of my priority list!  Maybe one day, but that day isn't today.  So I'm stuck with yellow.

Every time I walk into my kitchen, I see yellow.  I love to cook, but in yellow?  I know, you think I'm exaggerating, but this girl picked out red and brown for her kitchen.  And believe you me, I stuck to it!  In the hopes that my kitchen walls would be any color OTHER THAN buttercream baby yellow.  

Enough, I know.  But sadly, there is this yellow wall above my stove and oven.  I was dumb and didn't take a before picture, but visualize with me.  There is nothing above my stove, but a yellow wall.  So I improvised.  I had this idea to create something cute above it for very cheap.  Wait till you see what I spent. 

I started with 9 of these.

Not so cute, I know.  But they were 9x7 plaques that I got from the Dollar Tree.  And the best part was, they already had picture hangers on the back.  But seriously, who would buy these and hang these like this?  They say Faith, Family, Friends The Keys to True Happiness.  While I don't disagree, I would never hang something so ugly.  You can tell it was just a dollar.  Total: $9.

I broke out a bunch of my scrapbook paper that I already had.  Now if you want me to count this in cost, I will.  Though I did have it all.  One day I'll show you all of the paper that I have. Until then, you'll have to trust my husband, my friend Kate who lived with me, and my mom. Oh and me...you can trust me.  It's ginormous.  But 9 pieces at $0.25 each because I always only shop when they are on sale. Total: $2.25.  


I cut the pieces to size and Modge Podged them on.  I've always been a fan of glossy Modge Podge until recently.  Now I use Matte finish and I'm in LOVE!  I won't go back to glossy.  And I seriously refuse to include this in the total.  But if I must, I probably used $0.50 worth.  


So total, I spent $11.75ish on these.  And honestly, in my checkbook, it only looks like $9.00.

I love it! I don't notice the yellow NEAR as much!  Thank goodness!  Let me know your thoughts?  It was so easy!  You can do it too. The only thing that is tricky is the Modge Podge.  It always causes the paper to wrinkle on me.  But I have a trick.  If you brush the paper with Modge Podge on the top (like the colored/design part) and let it dry for a little bit, it will make it not bubble.  When the paper is dry, it will probably curl up a bit--that's not a big deal.  Come back and put a thin layer of Modge Podge on the plaque (or whatever you're sticking it to), then slowly roll the paper onto the plaque.  Then finish with a layer of Modge Podge on top of the design again if needed.  It's not always needed, so you decide. 

Hope y'all like it! If you come see me, you can tell me what you think in person.  Otherwise...comment away!  Although, I know you won't.  Come on!  I want to know who is reading my blog....ahem Chelsea! :)

Red Hot's on Fire

Fair warning! These are some of the most embarrassing photos of my life!  But it was also some of the most fun I've had!

Last weekend (yes, I'm late updating yet again!) I was privileged to lead DNow for the Senior High girls of Crosspoint Baptist Church in Starkville with my friend Mamie.  I drove to Starkville Friday morning to catch up with some people at MSU that I needed to discuss work with.  After a little time on campus, I went to Columbus.  When we unpacked all of our wedding presents last month, we discovered that one of our crystal glasses was the wrong pattern.  11 were right, 1 was wrong.  So I took care of that.  I had previously planned for my friend Chelsea's mom--from our church in Columbus--to meet me at Belk with Chelsea.  Chelsea rode back to Starkville with me and came to Friday night's DNow events.  And I didn't get a picture with the two of us!  Luckily, someone else did.  Chelsea is on the left and Danielle is on the right. 

Friday night was awesome.  After dinner at the church office, we made our way to Lee Hall where all Matt Piland from Atlanta spoke and there was a great band to lead us in worship the entire weekend.  Starkville does a city-wide DNow every other year. It was great fun to be around all of the youth in Starkville and not just our church.

However, I love being around just our youth.  I've worked with these youth for four years, and we've all become really close friends.  I look around at them all and most of them came to our wedding.  I miss them so much in Memphis.  Anyway, we went to our DNow house--the Edmondsons.  I feel like I could be a member of this family!  Molly, the daughter is like a sister to me.  It's been so neat to watch her grow spiritually and grow up in life.  She graduates from High School this year which is just crazy!  Her parents are so wonderful!  First off, they agree every year to let 8-15 girls stay at their house. (I know...right!)  Mrs. Kathy was in charge of my bridesmaid luncheon.  She asked one day if she could do it, and it was planned by that afternoon!  Of course, when we got to their house, Mrs. Kathy's legendary brownies were hot and waiting on us. Yuuuummm.  Bad part about DNow...eating WAY too much. 

After our session, it was time to discuss the second most important part of the weekend.  Of course the first is learning about God and growing nearer to Him.  Three years ago, we started something called the "Color War."  The Junior High and Senior High compete in colors.  We dress up in our color of choice and then we do a skit/song to prove who is better.  And we talk "trash" all weekend.  So at about midnight Friday night, we began planning.  Our color this year was Red (if you couldn't tell from the title).  We were the Red Hots and since Mrs. Kathy's fave color is red, she had decked the entire upstairs in RED!  After planning all night, we came up with the cutest skit ever! More on that later...

I seriously have the most competitive group of girls ever.  They want to win at whatever is put in front of them.  The first year, we were the Pink Ladies.  And we had a killer song to "All the Single Ladies" by Beyonce.  Except with changed the words to "All the Pink Ladies."  It was wonderful and there was ZERO competition between the Jr. High and Sr. High.  Last year however, my girls decided to use our afternoon break time to play.....Rock Band.  Yes, I'll admit I'm a bad influence.  I absolutely love singing my lungs out to Bon Jovi...."ooooh we're halfway there! OOOOH livin on a prayer!"  Just imagine...  Anyway, we were the Girls in Black last year, and decided to do a spoof on the Taco Bell Black Jack Taco commercial.  Needless to say, it was an EPIC fail!  But we didn't care---we had lots of fun with Rock Band.  This year, we were out to win it.  


Please prepare yourself for the pictures below.

Our skit this year consisted of a play on a bunch of commercials and TV shows.  We had everything from Red Pajama Jeans, to the Bachelored who picked Rednardo instead of Redberto, Cherry Springer where Scarlet and Ruby were in a fight over their house burning down, Red House Furniture, Publishers Clearing House, RedState where Mayhem did his best to wreck a car, Apple of My Eye--our version of Eharmony, and the list goes on and on.  It actually was really funny.  Because the people changing the channels could pause, rewind, and mute us.  I'd say we beat the Purple Girl Swag any day of the week!

Saturday afternoon brought more competition as the girls were charged with the task of collecting can food for the Calvary Baptist Church pantry.  We went to people that we knew so that we could really rack up the points.  That meant taking the list in and asking for top point items mainly.  My girls came through and beat all of the other teams by about 150 points.  The Red Hots dominated!  Thanks to all of the Crosspoint members we could think of who lived from Green Oaks and past Wal Mart on the Wal Mart side of Hwy 12.  We were limited to only that area.  At least we stayed in our area and didn't cheat like the Jr. High girls!  Oh well, they collected a lot of food too and that's all that matters. 


Saturday night after canned food and dinner, we headed back to our host homes to watch a movie called To Save A Life.  It was really good and thought provoking.  But you know us girls, as soon as that was over, we had to watch Miss America.  Like my friend Megan Fly (find her blog on the side--She's a Fly Girl), we were able to fast forward through everything but competition and finish in an hour!  Great fun. 


After church Sunday, Lacey and I crashed on the couch.  My mom was wonderful enough to dog sit for me. Though she will tell you she kind of owed me since I've dog sat Skip plenty of times.  I totaled up my hours of sleep for the weekend.  I've never pulled an all nighter for school.  I'm kind of proud of that.  I woke up Friday morning at 5am to start my rather long day which finally ended at 3am on Saturday.  Total, I slept for 10 hours and surprisingly this is the first time ever I've worked a DNow and not been sick.  Probably because I slept all Sunday afternoon and night. 


Here come the pictures:

My Red Hots.  David said it was sad that it took him 3 minutes to figure out which one was me.  If you can't tell, I have on red shorts, a red lamae (sp?) jacket, red lips, red tshirt, red flowers, red sunglasses (know which one now?), and the best part---A red wig!  My reasoning? If I wasn't going all out, there was no way they would!

You've heard a lot about the Lovings.  Unfortunately, Isabelle got a horrified look on her face and ran to her mom in tears when I walked in the room. Guess I have that effect on children.  Ava and Carson refused to take a picture with me. But TESSA!  Oh thank goodness for TESSA!  Tessa thought I was cool!

The competition! GRrrr!  Laken and the purple Junior High girls!  Hey Laken...Purple - Blue = Red!   (they were the blue team last year!)

We put aside our differences though and danced the ho-down in the main session.

This is Molly.  She's headed to Ole Miss next year against my plotting, planning, and ploying. (hence the wig).

Our group at Lee Hall. For the record, I didn't have my Uggs on when we did our skit.  I had on my red socks. Head to toe red baby!  Red Hots!

I'm not really sure why the band guy decided to sneak in our picture and try to kill us. Disregard his red shirt. He's clearly a purple team fan!

All ready for church Sunday morning

It was such a fun weekend at HOME!  I cried before I left and when I got back to Memphis.  I know that will go away one day. Until then, I guess Lacey will have to deal with the brunt of my tears.  And my mom.  Who laughs at me when I call her.  Before you think I have a bad mom, laughter is warranted when your almost 25 year old daughter calls you with what I call hiccup tears.  I usually laugh through the tears with her!  Haven't cried all week since though so that's a good sign!

Well, David just walked in from duck hunting.  It was his last trip of the season as we'll be in Starkville next weekend.  If you haven't read about my first experiences with duck hunting, you should.  Though this morning I didn't mind him getting up so early because it meant Lacey got to get in the bed with me.  Tough life our Lacey dog is having these days!  Haha.

Randomness

I've stared at this blank blog post forever.  Knowing I need to do a life update for us, but not desiring to or having the needed time to do it.  I promise an update on our life is coming soon.  I also promise that there will be some of the craziest photos of me on the next blog post because I helped with Disciple Now last weekend.  Let's just say, I went all out.  Life has been slow and busy the past few weeks.  I've been hard at work on school as well as trying to get our new home livable.  You don't realize how long it takes for that to happen.  Maybe I'm just really bad at unpacking and exceptionally indecisive.  I've changed where I've put things a million times.  I don't think any piece of furniture is in it's "original" spot!  Haha!  Lacey and I plan to take pictures this afternoon of our home (since it's fairly clean).  Maybe there will be an update by tonight.  Maybe....

Meet Lacey Lou

Meet our new puppy, Lacey!  We're still waiting on the snow in Memphis to melt, but here's a picture from us playing in the snow.  She is a six year old Shetland Sheepdog who came to us from the same people that Skip, my parent's dog, came to us from--Ozark Crest Shelties. While she grew up with the Hannah's at Ozark Crest in Nixa, Missouri, Lacey was bred at a kennel named Laureate in Canada.  Yes, that's right.  As David says, we have a Canadian Sheltie, aye?  Her official name is Laureate L'Audace.  Which I assumed was French and looked it up.  Apparently, it means "the audacity."  And I don't know why I shared that with you, but I felt like you should know!  Since she came to us at age six, we figure, why change the name?  So she'll remain Lacey.  Or as I like to call her Lace, Lacey Lace, and Lacey Lou.  Or Sweet Girl.  It just kind of depends on what I'm feeling!

 

The Hannah's (owners of Ozark Crest) show Shelties.  Thomas is their current star.  If you've ever been around me when a dog show comes on TV, you know I stop what I'm doing to watch the herding category.  Thomas has been known to be there and frequently wins it all.  He's won a ton of shows and awards.  He also is Skip's daddy. These are the breeders that show him.  Skip came to my family when he was six months old.  That meant he was potty trained already.  My parents agreed they never wanted to get a puppy ever again.  Skip was too easy.  I emailed around Christmastime to ask if they had any dogs.  Forgive me for being the most homesick person on the face of the earth who desperately needs a friend in Memphis.  Not that I don't like Memphis, I'm just home working on a master's degree and really need a companion in the house.  So I emailed to see if they had any dogs.   So when the opportunity presented itself to adopt a six year old, while we had to think about it a little bit, we were game. 

So on their way from Dallas, TX to Florida on Monday, the Hannah's stopped in Jackson, MS to let us get Lacey.  However, there was a threatening ice/snow/sleet/BLIZZARD storm approaching Mississippi.  So for fear that I wouldn't be able to get to my puppy on Monday, I traveled home on Saturday.  Good decision.  All day Sunday we waited on the power to go out with dad hard at work trying to make sure it didn't go out!  And guess what, it didn't!  Monday, we met the Hannah's a little later than expected in the same Wal Mart parking lot in Richland that we got Skip from three years ago. 

Skip and Lacey.  They are now cousins, siblings, in laws?  I don't know.  I guess technically Skip is Lacey's uncle.  But really, they are dogs. Does it matter?  Skip isn't too sure what to think of Lacey.  He has been an only dog too long.  When David called to ask me how Lacey was doing and if she was in shock, I answered...not as much as Skip is in shock.  He literally HID behind my mom!  

It's amazing how two Shelties can look so much alike and yet so much different.  Skip has a small face and a lot of hair!  Lacey just lost her coat because she's coming out of season.  The Hannah's told us she'd get it back.  However, she looks perfect to me.  It doesn't bother me at all!

She loves the kitchen.  Any time anyone gets up, she runs to see what they are doing.  She doesn't beg.  In fact, we've yet to hear her whine or bark.  (which doesn't bother me AT ALL!)  I would like for her to be able to "talk" to us at some point, but it will just take some time.  She helps me in the kitchen frequently.  Except she's scared of the oven.  When I open it, she runs.  Which is a good thing in my opinion because it means she won't come near it when it's open.  Which means she won't get burned!

Lacey is such a fun addition to the Adams family!  She is a social girl who loves attention and loves to be in the same room as you.  She is super affectionate already and hasn't shown her stress in ways that I thought she would.  The first night, she went from room to room to room.  But we simply followed her and petted her a bunch.  She loves to lick hands that have been holding any kind of food and will give her mommy and daddy kisses in the face if allowed.  

My mom bought her a big pillow when she took over Skip's in Jackson.  Gotta give it to her grandma (which by the way is a terrible name for her!).  She bought a huge one!  Plus Lacey is little.  But she absolutely LOVES it!  Currently, she's relaxing like this! 

Gotta give it to her...at least she's comfortable. 

For this homesick girl, this dog is amazing!  Yesterday, I got a little...um....emotional.  (for those of you who remember me in Sessums or McKee...emotional probably isn't the right word).  I just held her and she licked tears away from my cheeks.  I told her that she and I would make great homesick companions.  As we were sitting in the floor of our living room, I was complaining to Lacey about how I would never find friends like I had in Starkville.  Basically my own little pity party.  (I do know God has friends for me here, by the way...I just forgot at that moment).  I looked up to find a scrapbook that my bridesmaids gave me.  It's on the bottom level of the bookcase with all of my other scrapbooks.  They gave it to me on my bachelorette trip, and while I read it all then, I had forgotten how special every note is to me.  Yes, I have a lot of friends who read this that weren't in my bridal party.  But there's just something about your bridesmaids.  If you've had the opportunity to have bridesmaids, you know what I mean.  They are the ones who know you inside and out.  They are the ones who, even when you haven't talked to them in a really long time, pick right back up where you left off.  Marriage causes less time to keep up with each other, but we still manage.  I asked Lacey if she wanted to meet my best friends.  They each took the opportunity to write me a letter and put some photos with it.  I flipped to the first page and had her attention for a minute.  I read the letter.  I dabbed tears.  I flipped the page.  She looked.  I read the letter. I dabbed tears.  I flipped the page.  She smelled it. She walked away to lay on her pillow.  I read the letter.  I brushed flowing tears away.  Repeat, repeat, repeat.  You know the cool thing about books like these?  You can read them on one day of your life and hear something you needed, then read them on a complete different day and get something completely different that you needed.  On one of the pages, my friend had typed a bible verse. It said...

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."  -Joshua 1:9

It was exactly what I needed.  I know that's super personal and all, but I learned a long time ago to just quit worrying about what people thought when you get homesick.  I've been homesick and crying hysterically in the dorm room, in the library, on the drill field, at Wal Mart, in the middle of a test, the list could go on and on.  I hope someone needed reminding of that as much as I did.  And thanks to one of my friends for writing it!  Lacey walked over about that time and started licking tears.  She probably just wanted to lick, but at least it felt like she was getting rid of them.  

I laughed and we went back to work.  I know this dog is going to be so much comfort.

Oh and in case you were wondering....YES, David likes her too!  He comes in from work and lays in the floor to let her lick him and to pet her.  I think it helps because she acts mildly intimidated by his stature.  Haha!  I think she'll have his heart in no time!

Get ready for many more adventures of Lacey Lou!   

Long Ride Back from Jacksonville

In case you didn't know, it is TRULY a long ride back from Jacksonville!  I'm so thankful that this song didn't apply.  I'm sure most Mississippi State fans know it.  Corey Smith wrote it about the Georgia Bulldogs, but we can definitely sing it about our Mississippi State Bulldogs!



We got in from the Gator Bowl last Monday, January 3rd. We set out Wednesday the 29th for Jackson, MS to meet my family and drive to Jacksonville, FL.  It was a long drive, but we chose to split it up into two parts.  The first part, we drove to Tallahassee, FL.  We spent the night at an ALoft hotel. It was really contemporary, but they let Skip stay for free, so it was fun.  


We woke up early in the morning and Skip and I went for a walk while the boys loaded the car back up.

We had another really long drive (yet, not as long as the first) to Jacksonville.  You can let David tell you he doesn't love Skip, but this picture proves different.

We decided to stay at Amelia Island about 30 minutes away from Jacksonville.  We got there on the 30th so that we could spend the day playing in Fernandina and on the Beach.  Fernandina Beach is this cute town with lots of antique stores.  I'd love to go back with lots of cash and a big truck to take home all of my finds. But that's a different story.  


When we got to Fernandina Beach, we went to eat lunch at this great place called Brett's. It was amazing seafood!  They have amazing views. Here's my hubby and I at the table.

We made sure to take our picture with the Welcome Mstate fans to Amelia Island sign.

We left downtown Fernandina and went to our condo.  We immediately changed clothes and headed for the beach.  It was so much fun. I wouldn't think the beach would be fun in December, but it was the perfect weather! Daniel and David even got in the water.  Okay, so they just put their toes in, but still!

The next day was PARADE DAY!  While the parade was fun, it lasted FOREVER!  The Shriners were cute at the beginning, but then got super annoying!  Someone around us said they were just big kids who refused to grow up.  They remind me so much of the Flinstones, it's not even funny! Haha!  Here are a few pictures from the parade.

 

 

And then after the parade, we ran into this crew!  They are members of our Crosspoint family.  The Alexanders, Lowrys, and Amburns.  They absolutely mean so much to David and I, and it was SO good to see them after our move.  I get to go back this weekend and see them all since it's Disciple Now, and I'll be helping out.  I cannot wait.  This is a special picture for David and I!

 

And then it was gameday....  (these are out of order, I'm sorry!)

We were explaining to this (drunk) U of M fan why we rang cowbells.  We wouldn't let him ring ours, but we did feel the need to explain!

52 to 14.  FIFTY-TWO to FOURTEEN!  What's funny is that we started our season with an awesome win to a U of M team and ended it to one as well.  When we played Memphis at the beginning of September, it was shocking to watch.  Simply because our team did not look like the MSU I'd grown up watching.  The same could be said for the Gator Bowl.  We were in disbelief.  I knew our team had it in them, and I'm so proud of my bulldogs!  So glad it ended in a Bulldog victory! But even if it hadn't, it was still so fun to go bowling!  It truly is a GREAT day to be a Bulldog! :)