Has it really been a month?

I've been working in Alabama for a month now. Time seems to have flown by but I am sure that has to do with the fact that I am working 12 hours a day and have only had 3 full days off since I got here.
I miss blogging so much! I try to at least read some blogs but I have not commented faithfully at all. Thankfully, Honey(Heather) brought her laptop down here with her and she is sweet enough to share it with me. That's right. 3 Clegg girls all working down in Mobile together. :) Our town home will be ready this coming Friday and I am SO beyond excited about not living in a hotel.
T has been able to come down here to visit twice and I am so thankful that on his days off that he is willing to drive 4 hours to be with me, even when I still have to work. Those are precious moments that I absolutely cherish. I asked to have this upcoming weekend off so that I could go home and move some things back for our apartment but it was not approved. I haven't been able to go home since I got here and I am having withdrawals. I miss T, my family and my friends but I know that this is temporary(even though it is a long term temporary). Hopefully there will be some normalcy in my schedule and routine once we move into the apartment.
Some things I appreciate:
- T. He is so sweet and so supportive. This is by no means easy but we both know it is necessary. He is forever patient. He had about an hour to teach me to drive Heather's standard car and, though I am by no means good at it, I did it!
- My job and work family. This job has and will enable us to not struggle so much financially. If you have been around this blog for any amount of time, with both of us in college and working average paying jobs while in school, money has been a serious issue. My first paycheck was for a week and a half and, basically, equalled what T and I were making together in a month at home. I still can't even wrap my mind around it. But I am very grateful and blessed.
- My parents and siblings. My whole family was together on the 4th of July since I was graced with having the day off thanks to watermelon. :o) Then my mom came back and spent some time with us "big girls". More moments I cherish. My sisters, Rachel and Honey, are an ultimate support system. Rachel and I work the same shift but on completely different areas of the site and she is still living with family friends while I am at a hotel. Heather is working night shift so we only catch little moments together every once in a while. Despite not seeing them consistently, I am so grateful to have them here with me.
- Jade. After working 12 hours with all men, it is SO nice to have a female to hang out with after work. I met Jade through her brother, who works with me in the Boom Repair Shop, and we instantly hit it off. She works in the office for one of the subcontractors and she is basically the only female with that company. We are both starved for female companionship. ;) 

Some things I am looking forward to:
- Moving into our apartment
- A trip home, whenever that may be.
- Getting into a routine.
- Cooking, blogging, and making the most of my evenings.
- Getting a DVR. :) I have cable in the hotel but with our crazy schedules we can't really watch any shows consistently. I look forward to being spoiled and having it on hand again.
- Buying a brand new mattress and bedroom furniture for the bedroom that Honey and I will share.
- Having my dog Lady here with us once we're in the apartment. T and I decided that Lady should come stay with me so I can have some "company". He will be keeping Coach with him in Mississippi. Coach doesn't adapt to new surroundings as easily as Lady does and he enjoys the yard and being able to run free. So even though Coach is "my" baby, he will be staying at home with T and Lady will be coming here.
- Mani and Pedi with Jade sometime this week.

Where did the time go?

Once again, I went a week without blogging. I sat down wanting to update but feeling like I didn't know where to start. I decided to catch up on my blog reading first and found my inspiration. Ashley is hosting a 7 things party - so I am joining in!
7 things about Ashley - right here, right now.

1) I miss my mom. She is out of town for Spring Break with our church's middle school choir. I can't wait for Common Ground's homecoming concert on Sunday.

2) I have a seriously sick hubby right now. T rarely gets sick (unlike me!). The following might be TMI but I don't know how else to explain and document what has happened without these details. It started as gas(burping) on Thursday evening. It slowly progressed to diarrhea and last night he started throwing up on the way to his parents' house. Over the last few days his stomach has slowly swollen, obviously bloated and hard, sensitive to the touch. I went to work this morning because he insisted that the didn't need to go to the doctor. I got a text message from his mom asking me to please bring him into her clinic at 2pm so I left work early(thank goodness for a somewhat an understanding boss). They ran blood work and did a stomach x-ray but they didn't see anything unusual. He has lost almost 10 lbs from his normal average weight. So they sent us home with 3 prescriptions to be filled to treat the gas, diarrhea and vomiting. They said if the swelling doesn't go down after he has been on the medicines for a little while, then we will go from there. He is a pitiful patient and absolutely does not like the fact that he is on an all clear liquids diet. Poor T-baby. :(

3) I have serious senioritis. I am ready to get my 2 degrees and find a full-time job. This whole working 35-40 hours a week AND being in school thing is for the birds. ;)

4) It is Spring Break and I decided to throw off my work schedule. Instead of closing at work every night as per usual, I am working 11-7. Not sure if I like this(even though I was only there for 2 hours of my shift today). The morning crew is very different from the night crew and not in a good way. I am still looking forward to getting home before 11pm every night this week though.

5) We did SO good on the eat from the pantry challenge in January but I have totally gone off from that. I am determined to do better and finish March off by spending less on groceries. I desperately need to find time to catch up on all of my coupons. It's lost somewhere in my long, long to do list.

6) I was supposed to go on a Spring Break weekend trip with some of my girl friends from church to see one of my dearest friends, Savannah, at school. She goes to Pensacola Christian College in Florida. They don't get a spring break so it has worked out in years past to go visit her on the last weekend of our spring break. BUT this year their Bible Conference is that weekend. So no trip. :( Instead, I got to take the money we had put aside for my trip to go clothes shopping. It helped make the situation a little better. ;) I was SO excited to find clothes that made me feel comfortable and adult. At 22, I still want to be in style and fashionable but apparently I have a different definition of modesty than most clothes designers. When I have money to shop, I can never find clothes that I like, make me feel good about my body and are MODEST. Anyone else have this problem? I think I might dedicate a whole different post to this. ;)

7) I feel completely guilty eating food when T can't have any. So here it is 9pm and I have not eaten dinner yet. Oops. I guess I need to go fix this problem.

Sorry it is nothing in-depth or insightful right now. Too many things swirling around in my mind, I guess.
Since I am school free, hopefully I can get back into my blogging swing. Is it weird to miss blogging?

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Face Spasms? Seriously?

I have Complex Migraine Episodes(CMEs). I have had migraines since I was 12-13. My history with it is a whole different post in and of itself that may (or may not) be posted one day.
Last night at work, around 5 o'clock, my eye started twitching. My head had been hurting but hadn't hit migraine status yet. I took some pain reliever at work but it didn't seem to dull the headache. After a few minutes of my eye twitching/blinking, the entire right side of my face started spasming. What in the world? I have had muscle spasms in my right arm and/or leg for years in conjunction with CMEs but I have never had muscle spasms in my face! The spasms last intensely, almost non-stop, for over an hour. My dad brought me a muscle relaxer to work and it helped some but it didn't take the edge off completely. I was also having the normal spasms in my arm. By the time 8 o'clock hit, I was completely pooped. Think of doing a very intense muscle workout for HOURS on end and how tired you would feel afterward. That is basically what muscle spasms do, an intense, high speed "work out". So between the exhaustion from the spasms and the muscle relaxer, I was sleepy and out of it. My parents came to Chickfila to pick me up. Mom drove me in the echo with Poppa following. We dropped it off at Capital for T and then they took me home. My face was still twitching when I went to bed.
I will be starting some supplements in the next few weeks that are supposed to help with the migraines. I am really hoping that this approach will help. I have been on so many prescriptions and none have fully helped. Most have had weird side effect, such as Topamax. I haven't been on it for years but that med stops your body from producing sweat. And guess what? I still can't sweat! While some think this is a great thing, I personally don't. Your body has no way of naturally cooling itself off and overheats way too easily.
I am considering using my blog to document my journey with the supplements and possibly new diet. I think it would be a good way to keep track of everything.

Menu Deviation (Edit: Bachelor, Disney)

Oh, my goodness. Today has been one of those days where absolutely nothing goes according to plan despite my good intentions. Anyway, if you are friends with me on facebook or follow me on twitter, you already know that my nose IS broken. It is fractured from the top of my nose(around the point where my glasses rest on my nose) and goes up between my nose.
I will go into the details after I go to the ENT on Wednesday, including the story of how it happened. Cheapest form of facial reconstruction, I'm sure. ;o)
Tonight we deviated from the menu because T surprised me and fixed supper for me. He made baked lemon pepper fish, wild long grain rice, and green beans. It was so delicious and absolutely amazing to not have to cook after my headache of a day.
I am still running on very little sleep. Hopefully a dose of Tylenol PM will help with that problem. I'll be heading to bed as soon as my last batch of Friendship bread finishes baking.

P.S. What in the world is going on with this season of the Bachelor? I just have no words. Thoughts?

P.P.S. As soon as I hit publish, a Disney World commercial came on. 3 weeks from today we will be on our way. SO excited!

Key to Success

The key to success? Not breaking your key off in the door.

T's key broke in the door last night as he was getting ready to leave for his weekly 7am-7pm shift. He had to leave the door unlocked but everything was safe and in place when I got home from work last night.

I locked the door from the inside when I got home and had to let him back in this morning. We made the maintenance call around 7:30am and finally got the door fixed around 1pm(ish). It is our first experience with the after hours/weekend "emergency" maintenance call. Considering it wasn't REALLY an emergency, I guess the long wait wasn't that big of a deal. Unfortunately we didn't make it to church.We had to be here to let them in to work on the door and we didn't want to leave the door unlocked for the whole morning.

In other news, I am "preparing" myself for the switch to local channels and DVDs. Ha.

I am having a Hayley Mills day, most of which are Disney. Surprised? Didn't think so. ;o)

I am watching as I put away all of my Christmas decorations, deep clean and put things back into post-holiday order.

Apparently blogger has made some New Year's Resolutions changes. Hmmmm. Looks like it will be nice but it definitely threw me off. And my little post that should have taken only 2-3 minutes to post pictures and type took closer to 20 minutes. Ha

So Long, Farewell

Disclaimer: I know some people think we are crazy for this, but this is my record book of sorts. When I look back at the changes we made in 2010, I want to know the reasoning behind them and that is what I am doing - documenting our decision and reasons behind it. Thank you and happy reading. ;0)

Trevor asked me last night what I thought about giving up cable. The thought was absolutely shocking to me at first but the more we talked about it, the more I saw his reasoning behind it. The most obvious reason is that it would be saving money by eliminating an extra bill. Another reason that he pointed out was that with our crazy work schedules, we often find ourselves sitting in front of the TV the few waking hours we have together. T said he would rather go for a walk with me, put together a puzzle or just spend quality time with me without the TV as a backdrop. This reason melted my heart a little. I LOVE spending time with T and it is so rare for us to have time together, and we often miss out on doing anything truly worthwhile. This will also help us fulfill one of my 101 in 1001 goals(to spend quality time daily with each other).
I am by no means saying that this will be easy but I think it is a challenge that I am definitely willing to take on. It's not like we will be cut off entirely from television entertainment. Local channels broadcast some of the shows we watch weekly, we can watch other shows not on local channels on the internet and will will be keeping our Netflix account.
We will be making the switch to local channels only in the next few days. In the meantime, I am going old school and recording what I want to save off of my DVR to my ancient VCR. Ha.

Yearly Transitions

2009 has been a good year but definitely not an easy one. Thankfully, the hard times have, as always, made us stronger. I might be the only one who seems to think that 2009 passed WAY too quickly.
We moved 3 times in 2009.
We each have had 2 jobs in 2009.
We transitioned to living back in Mississippi rather than being in Florida.
I worked hard and got a 4.0 GPA for spring, summer and fall semesters of 2009.
There is so much more I could say about this year but it is so hard to sum it all up.

It has been a very hard year financially. Though there are weeks when we do work 40+ hours, neither of us have full-time jobs. There have been months when we made less than our rent total. God has provided, bottom line. We've done without a lot but we've learned so much from it and grown closer. Sometime in 2010 T will be leaving for basic training with the Army. I will be graduating in May. So there may still be months of struggling and "barely making it". I will be resting in the fact that God will continue to provide and that this will not last forever.

My goals for 2010:
- Spiritually: I want to grow more this year. I want to become stronger and have a more consistent quiet time.
- Financially: I want to continue to learn and use coupons. We will be sticking to a strict budget and try to save as much money as possible.
- Health: eat healthier, exercise. To me, it isn't necessarily about getting to a certain size or weight. I simply want to be healthy and take care of my body.
- Personally: I want to become a better wife/homemaker. I love Trevor with my whole heart and I want my actions and expressions to show that in everything that I do.

I will add to these goals and expound on them as time goes on, but those are the basics of what I intend to accomplish. I know that so many start the year out with such good intentions and lofty goals. Having goals down in writing helps me. Also, accountability is a must. For my few faithfuls out there, feel free to question me and keep me accountable about my 2010 goals as well as my 101 in 1001.
What are your goals for 2010?
I hope everyone has had a blessed 2009 and that you will continue to see God's grace, mercy and blessings in 2010.

Life Happened... Again(My 99th post)

I didn't get to post last night on my night off because T was using the computer to get some work done for his online class. Yes, I failed again.

Tuesday night I got off work and went to the hospital to see my brother Josh(13). He is having an EEG done to try and figure out what is causing his migraines. The tests are supposed to last 24-72 hours. Hopefully they will be able to figure something out and give him relief. He is so young and has already had migraines for a couple of years.

Let me just say, that God is SO good. Yesterday, God provided us with a second car to use until T's car can (finally) be fixed AND a full-time job for T. T's car has been out of commission for so long. It broke down before we went to Disney (2 years in April-May). We saved up money while we were there, put almost $1500.oo into it, and had it running for all of TWO days before it blew another head gasket and the radiator cracked. Beautiful, right?

Since we were both working at the same place and going to school, it was fine for us to have only one car. Less money spent on insurance, gas, etc. But

1) I am now working in the completely opposite direction

2) since it is now "off-season", the cafe where T works isn't open many days meaning his hours are cut even more

3) T will be leaving sometime in the spring for the army - no date yet.

4) He will not be taking classes in the spring (obviously) so he needs something full-time until he leaves

5) I will still have to get to school (a 30-40 minute commute) next semester

T starts work today! They will be working around him finishing the semester out AND they hired him knowing he would be leaving eventually. With the extra income, we can now justify having 2 cars. His parents are letting him use one of their cars until he can get his fixed. The plan is to fix his car, he'll drive it to work and I'll have our car for school and work, and then when he leaves for basic training we'll put his car up for sale.

Unfortunately, his schedule is a little crazy right now. He works tonight 11pm-7am, Friday 5pm-5am, and Saturday 7pm-7am. Nuts, I know, but God has provided and I have ZERO right to complain. :o) Also, I work tonight 4-11 and Saturday 9am-5pm. So we won't be seeing each other much but we are still squeezing in a date tomorrow afternoon. I was supposed to work tomorrow night but one of the girls only got scheduled for 1 day this week, so I gave her my Friday shift. I got more hours than I was expecting, so I didn't mind sharing some of my hours.

Last night after choir, I went to Wal-mart to pick a couple of things up. I came outside and my driver's side door was standing wide open. I could tell someone had gone through it. My backpack was open and things were moved around, but NOTHING was missing. I was kind of scared to get into the car though. Ha.

Since this is my 99th post, I will try posting my giveaway tomorrow and answer any questions if you feel so inclined to ask any. ;)

I want to be a wife and mom. Period.

All I have ever wanted is to be a wife and mom. I am not opposed to working but for me, I want to be a stay at home mom one day. Thankfully, with my Architectural drafting degree I can work part-time from home when that time comes. Children are not in our foreseeable future... but I will be completely honest. I have baby fever. Badly. And we are not even sure that we can even have children of our own. When I was paralyzed and finding out the extend of my spinal problems, my doctor told me I would not be able to carry a baby to full term and if I could, then I would most likely be paralyzed for the rest of my life. Add on top of that the fact that Trevor had some health problems several years ago that might make getting pregnant even harder. I trust completely that if God will fill the desires of my heart to be a mother, whether it is through our own children or through adoption. And my prayers lately have focused on me trusting in His will, and requesting patience.

Sometimes it is frustrating to even be in school when all I want right now is to take care of my husband and work towards that goal of being a mom. I keep reminding myself that I am so close to being done that I can almost taste it. May will be quite a celebration, for sure.

Since I have started working again, life seems to be speeding by me. While I know that this is God's plan for us right now and a way to help provide, I can't wait for this to be over. Or more accurately, I can't wait to get adjusted to where this is manageable. I am taking 19 semester hours this semester which turns into approximately 35 hours in class a week. Add working on top of that. I am so grateful for hours and to be earning money. But how in the world do I balance school, work, and being a wife?

Strangely, I am not really stressed. I'm not sure how to describe it. Seeking more hours in the day? Needing to reorganize? Discouraged? Something...

My classes were cancelled for tomorrow and since Wednesday is my day off at work, I plan on sleeping in and catching up on TV/Netflix, but I am determined to get a lot accomplished. I will share the fruits of my labor later. Maybe that will motivate me even more - having documented proof of what I did or didn't do with my day. ;o)

This too shall pass. And though it is hard to find the time to do everything I need to do I WILL find time to Be Still. I won't quit school. Period. It isn't an option for me. But I'm still looking toward my ultimate goal of being a full-time wife and mom.
It is so hard considering that very few of my friends are married. We can't really relate to each other on the wife/mom type of level and many of them don't even understand my desire to be a stay at home mom. Any encouragement and advise would be appreciated. I think maybe I just need to find new friends who are on that wife/mom page. =)

On a different note, I have discovered the beauty of scheduled posts. My last two posts were scheduled. It's so nice to take advantage of some down time to go ahead and type up multiple thoughts and posts without loading it all down into one random post(which this one might be categorized under - Oops). I think I might blow my monthly posting average out of the water this month. Not hard considering I have never posted more than 8 posts in a month. Ha. Now I am determined to post more often. Not going to lie, getting feedback and responses has been motivating me to be more active in posting. I will do my best to keep reading and commenting in my spare time(especially down time at school).

I'm going to call it a night but look for a post tomorrow detailing my day of productivity. =)

How I survived...

How I survived... Getting my wisdom teeth extracted.

Lots of soft foods. =) And many doses of Tylenol. The stitches dissolved fully today which means my mouth is on it's way to healing. And hopefully we can get this jaw dislocating thing figure out soon.
I was offered the job at Yankee Candle and started working Monday. I went to my 2nd interview for the drafting job and they aren't hiring until January. And I got a call today from Chick-fil-A. I ended up taking the job with Chick-fil-A over the job with Yankee Candle. The position with Y.C. was seasonal, requiring full availability on the weekend. Chick-fil-A offered me a non-seasonal position and the benefit of having Sundays off and they work around my church schedules(Wednesdays off, and time off for Best Gift - our Christmas program) won out over working at Yankee Candle. This way I should have a job until I graduate in May. I think it will all work out better this way. I am SO excited to have a job. I love being at home but right now I need to be working. One day when children come into the picture that will be a completely different story. :)
Looking forward to camping with my family this weekend. My parents go to the homeschool camp out every year. The place where the hold the camp is Trevor's favorite camp from his childhood and boy scout days, Camp Dixon. We are both excited about enjoying some cooler weather and being outdoors. Now, if we could just get this rain to cooperate. :o)

Guess who had surgery today?

Yeah. That's right. I went in for my consultation at the oral surgeon and they said I needed them out ASAP. It was either get them out today or wait until mid-November. They strongly suggested that I do it today instead of waiting another month. So... I no longer have any of my wisdom teeth. :) (and typed smilies are the only smile this chipmunk will be doing tonight) I decided to go with local anesthesia instead of getting the IV and "going to sleep". So I was awake through the whole thing. It was actually kind of interesting. And went A LOT faster than I expected.

My jaw will still need some work. Honestly, that is where most of my pain is coming from now. My jaw keeps cramping and locking up.

And I am hungry. Of course!

By the way, if you are reading this. Please let me know. :) Especially since I will be a sitting duck the next few days. If I am not already reading your blog, I'd love to read it!

Beyond Random Hodge-Podge

And so another week has begun. I CANNOT believe that it is already October. And you know what? It is 80 days until Christmas. =)

I am still jobless but I had 2 interviews yesterday so hopefully something will work out soon. I'm trying not to get discouraged and make the most of the free time that I have to get things accomplished at home and stay on top of my school work.

You want to know what made my Friday night? Downloading AutoDesk Inventor. Yeah. I know. Geeky, slightly strange, etc. I love AutoCAD(ok, not every day but for the most part). And we finally started using Inventor in my Friday Machine Drafting class on Friday morning. I fell in love within a matter of minutes. Hopefully it isn't a shallow, short lived love. :)

My youngest brother, Caleb, stayed with us for the weekend with the exception of Saturday 2pm - Sunday morning. He had a lot of fun playing with Lady and Coach and using up all of his energy. Saturday morning and early afternoon was busy but we had nothing planned for Saturday night which is very unusual and so nice. Trevor surprised me by taking me on a date. We went to Yankee Candle and he bought me 2 candles(we had a buy 1, get 1 free coupon. Yay!) and then took me to the new Five Guys burgers. It was delicious but, oh my goodness! Those burgers are HUGE and so filling. I think I am going with the "kids" menu next time. :o)

Church was great Sunday morning. We came home, left the screen door open on the porch and just relaxed in the living room. Caleb and Trevor both fell asleep watching a football game. Caleb was asleep on the sofa with Coach and Lady was asleep with Trevor in the recliner.

What did I do with my Sunday afternoon? Compiling a complete list of Disney movies in chronological order that also includes that current edition is out, dates that movies went back into the vault, dates current movies out of the vault will be returning to the vault and when the next few movies will be coming out. Obsessive compulsive much? Yes, most definitely. :) I want to one day have a complete collection of all (good) Disney movies. Especially the old classics(both animated and live action) and the Masterpieces Collection. So I am working on a list of what I have and what I definitely want so that I can start getting them as they are out of the vault.

Yesterday went by rather quickly. I got a lot done in my classes and I got to eat lunch with my sweetheart. I had an interview at 4 and another one at 6:30. Trevor surprised me by having grilling hamburgers and making french fries while I was gone. It was so nice to come home to dinner ready and I didn't even have to clean the kitchen afterwards. Amazing!! I loved it! :o) I caught up on my Army Wives, Diet Tribe and watched some of the Dr. Quinn episodes while catching up with friends via phone calls, texts, and AIM conversations. I don't think I have used AIM that much or had that many conversations going on since Jr. High. It was hard to keep up with but I loved catching up with everyone. I hate that so many of my good friends live so far away. Good excuse for a vacation though, right?

Today, I had a project due by the end of class for my Mapping and Topo class and nothing due for Cost Estimating(so nice). We have rehearsal tonight for Pinelake's Night of Praise tomorrow night at 6:30. If you love music and worshipping through music, then come check it out. :o)

Serious crash

When it rains, it pours.
I feel completely overwhelmed right now. On the bright side, my sinus infection is gone. :)
But now, my bottom left (#17) wisdom tooth is infection from the sinus infection. It is barely through the gums, but it is pushing to get out without room so it is rubbing against my jaw. Really painful. Orajel, the syringe injections the dentist gave me, and Advil are my new BFFs.
I am waiting on the local School of Dentistry's Oral Surgery department to call me back about scheduling my appointment for my consultation and surgery.
I almost broke into tears last night. It appears that my laptops harddrive crashed. My laptop has 2 large harddrive, the C: drive was rather full but the D: drive was not even half full. I don't know what happened. I went to turn it on and it went through about 3 cycles of trying to restart and do the safe mode startup. I have no clue what to do with it. I was scared of making it worse so I just closed it and left it alone. I should have known better but I don't have my pictures backed up. I don't have much of anything backed up, actually. Any suggestions on what to do before I have a complete emotional breakdown? :)
I can still read the blogs from my phone or at school but my posting will be limited until we get this fixed.

Labor Day Weekend Pictures - a wee bit late ;)

Friday night, Trevor had a home game to coach at CCA so we didn't head out of town until rather late. We got to my grandmother's house around midnight. This is the sight in the den that greeted us. Caleb was sleeping on an air mattress... but he was burrowed down and it just looked like a pile of sheets. You can barely see his head in this picture. Guess the poor little dude was tired. :)We spent Saturday working on Grandmommy's house. Some of the family had made a trip several weeks back and scraped paint from the windows and put fresh paint on them. There were a few windows that didn't get done so we finished those. We (meaning the men with Grandmommy, D'Lynn and I supervising) tore down a covering that my grandfather had built about 25 years ago. The wood was starting to rot, so Grandmommy asked us to just tear it down.
My dad and I couldn't think of what to call this thing. It isn't quite a gazebo. I think it could be categorized under awning, covering, etc.
I remember many, many summer mornings spent eating breakfast on a table under this covering. And hours curled up with books. Next time we go back we are putting bars on her dining room windows - the ones you can see on the right hand side of most of those pictures. Because of how the house is built, the garage is on the left hand side of this courtyard, making those windows the only windows that her neighbors can't see. She said she would just feel more safe if there was no temptation for anyone looking to break into her house.

We went to church with Grandmommy Sunday morning and then ate a delicious lunch before heading home. I took the opportunity to snap a few photos. Our family isn't very good about taking pictures together on a regular basis. For some reason the pictures didn't turn out the best quality, not really sure why. :(

My Poppa and Grandmommy.

Me and Grandmommy

Me and my youngest sister D'Lynn GraceMe and my sweetheart. :o)

Sunday night Winnie came over to spend the night. We stayed up watching Harvey Girls, Calamity Jane and the original version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair.

All 3 of us took advantage of the holiday and slept in Monday morning. I cooked breakfast and then Winnie and I settled in to watch a ridiculous amount of Dr. Quinn episodes that had accumulated on our DVR. All in all, it was a great relaxing, lazy day.

Tuesday was my birthday. I got my free Seattle Drip coffee in the morning on the way to school. That night Trevor and I went on a free birthday date. Because of the way things are for us financially, I knew that this birthday wasn't going to be anything extravagant. But it was perfect. :) Trevor bought me "The Last Song" by Nicholas Sparks which came out on my birthday. I love Nicholas Sparks' books! We used some of my free movie passes to go see Julie and Julia and used a coupon for a free pizza, brought it home and had a picnic on the living room floor. It was so nice to be able to relax and not worry about cooking or cleaning. Trevor set candles up all over my bath room and drew me a bubble bath. It was so nice and relaxing! He cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed the entire apartment while I was enjoying my bubble bath. :)

The rest of the week was rather "normal" with school, working here and there and getting a lot of things done around the house. Trevor's team played in Meridian last night. I had to miss the game because of Pinelake's choir retreat. We went to a camp about an hour away and had a practice session last night and two today to get a jump start on learning the music for our Christmas program. I am so excited! I can't wait to see what God is going to do with this program. :) Unfortunately, I got another headache and had to skip out on most of the rehearsal last night. It is so frustrating. Anytime I get a headache - migraine, sinus or otherwise, I throw up. Which means I have been throwing up an average of 2 days a week for the past 3 months. I hate missing out on this and I despise being unproductive. I am just praying for a solution and some relief.

Tonight we are going to my parent's house for a big birthday dinner to celebrate several birthdays in our family. BJ's birthday is Sept. 3, my birthday is Sept. 8th, Trevor's and Heather's birthday is Sept. 15, and Caleb's birthday is Sept. 19th. I can't wait for my Poppa's homemade pizza and for homemade Milky Way ice cream! =)

Time Flies...

But I wouldn't exactly describe the past week as fun.
The final homestand at work (last Friday through Tuesday) was absolutely exhausting. Tuesday we were packed for the final game of the season. Because we were understaffed because of most of our college students leaving, I had 2 suites upstairs (one catered, one concessions) AND I got sent to make a "quick run" to VIP(downstairs behind home plate). There was nothing quick about it. I had well over 20 orders and stayed swamped for over an hour and a half. The concession stands were running out of things and my guests were running out of patience. For the most part everyone was nice and understanding that I was down there by myself... but there was a group of three guys who didn't even place an order who kept getting on to me for everything. I brought back an order for a man that was sitting down the row from these three guys but by the time I made it back with this man's order, he wasn't in his seat anymore. The three guys started calling me every name in the book, cussing, saying I was too slow so he had to go get his own order, etc... and then one of them threw his beer on my lower legs and feet. That was it. I broke down into tears, left the man's order and change with my season ticket friends, Mrs. Rita and Mr. Doug, and walked up the stairs as quickly as possibly. At the top of the stairs was the man who had left his seat. I told him that I left his order and change with the people who were seated behind him. Apparently the man hadn't gone to get his own food, he had gone to the bathroom. I went back upstairs, told my boss what had happened and washed my face before going back to tend to my suites.
I hate when people treat those serving them horribly. I love my job but that was just ridiculous. We don't HAVE to keep anyone down in VIP to take food and drink orders but we try to have someone down there when we can because they pay alot more for their tickets. So if you know someone is not assigned to your area but is choosing to serve you and help you anyway, why would you mistreat them? What in the world would you do that to anyone???
I am just glad that it was the last night of work. The season is over and even though that means I am currently without a job, after Tuesday night I need a break! Oh, and I had my first test of the semester at 8am the next morning. Exciting, right?

Wednesday, my sinuses were bothering me again so I came home from school around 3:30pm to take a nap with every intention of getting up to cook dinner and then leave for church and choir. But... I never made it to church. I cooked dinner around 5:00pm for Trevor and ate a little bit but then I got sick, again. I have no idea why but it seems like every single time I get a headache(sinus, migraine or otherwise), I throw up. To say the least, it isn't fun and it is very annoying. I went back to sleep and didn't wake up until our alarm went off at 5:30am.

Yesterday I had another test. I did not feel good about it at all... I took my time on it and answered every single one of the 6 bonus questions because I knew I needed all the help I could get. Mr. Cockrell graded the tests as we handed them in so I didn't have to wait over the weekend to know how I did. Amazingly, despite having an awful sense of dread as I turned it in, I had 4 points counted off BUT I got 4 of the six bonus questions. To say the least, that made my day! Yesterday afternoon I spent my time alternating between studying, cleaning, cooking dinner and baking cookies.
Side note: I have to have background noise of some sort in order to study. This is probably a result of having 6 siblings and very rarely experiencing silence when studying. ;)
So, for my "background noise" I enjoyed watching Sammy Davis Jr Live in Germany and the Welk Stars through the years special. We started watching White Christmas, one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies, but we didn't finish it. I am not sure how we managed it but we both went to by at 10. Try as we might, we are both night owls and we are usually doing good if we are in bed by midnight. :)
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I just finished my last test for the week. Right now we are on break before we have to start another lecture. Oh the joys of a class that only meets once a week. =)
Tonight I get to watch Trevor assist in coaching CCA's football game. I didn't get to watch their first game because of work but I am excited to go tonight. I love fall because of football, the weather, and knowing that Christmas is just around the corner.
Tomorrow morning we will be heading to Ponchatoula to spend the day doing repair work and odd jobs at Grandmommy's house. My parents and younger siblings are all leaving this afternoon to go to Ponchatoula, so we should have a good sized group and get a lot done. We will head back to Mississippi Sunday after church and lunch so that we can get back in time for the annual Reservoir Baptism.
Maybe on Monday I will get to enjoy my holiday, extra long weekend. :) Tuesday is my 22nd birthday and Trevor and I will have been married for exactly a year and a half.

Have an amazing weekend!

Who Knew?

*EDIT: I am playing around with my blog - so please excuse the mess. :)*

I knew that it was going to be a long week, but LONG doesn't even begin to describe it. Between working and school, the days were very long and tiring. I had a constant headache from Tuesday on. For the most part it was dull but by the end of the day, it was throbbing. My throat was hurting and my stomach ached/cramped. In the wee hours of Friday morning, I woke up really sick. I skipped class and Trevor took me to the doctor. I have a sinus infection but rather than draining out of my nose, like it should and usually does, it was draining into my stomach. Which explained my I was so miserable.

They gave me a shot, an antibiotic and a nasal spray. I worked Friday night but I came home in so much pain that I just cried once I got to lay down. I have never hurt like that before. Saturday I spent most of the day trying to rest. Apparently I don't rest very well. :o) I got sick again Saturday night and spent Sunday REALLY resting. I hated missing church but there was really no way around it. The only time I did not rest was for a short trip to my parents house to pick up our school supplies. (*SIDE NOTE: I love school supplies!*)
School today wasn't too bad. I only felt sick for a little while. It seems that I am fine except for a short while after I eat or if I get too hot. Sounds lovely, right? By the time I got home from school I was really tired so I decided to take a short nap... which turned in a 3-4 hour nap. Oops. Obviously my body still needs some rest and time to recover. Once I woke up, I cooked dinner and then spent the rest of the night snuggling on the couch with Trevor and catching up on some of the shows on our DVR.
Hopefully this week will be a lot better than the last one. :o) Goodnight!

Long Week Ahead

*I have edited and re-edited this post numerous times. I just can't seem to get my thoughts down. You have been forewarned...*

We found out yesterday that Trevor's Grandpa Mac has been given a week to live. We are both really at peace about this. Grandpa Mac became a Christian a year ago. I am just praying the rest of Trevor's family will have strength and peace about this. I have never been a prayer warrior... I'll honestly admit that and I truly want to improve.
I am the type that has to have everything organized, planned and prepared. This is a situation where I have to completely turn it over to God. Despite having a peace, I want to "fix" things. So whenever I want to organize, plan, or prepare, I have been praying for His will not my own. I'm definitely challenging myself on this one.

We start school on Monday and we both work Monday - Friday. My class load is somewhat heavy this semester (17 hours) but in the spring it will be so light that I will have to take some extra easy courses in order to stay full time.
Here's my schedule: (not that anyone other than my mom cares haha)
Monday & Wednesday
8-11am Architectural Design 1 - Mr. Cockrell
12-2:50pm Advanced CAD - Mr. Cockrell
Tuesday & Thursday
9-11:30am Mapping & Topography - Mr. Lewis
1-3pm Cost Estimating - Mr. Cockrell
Friday
8-12 Machine Drafting - Mr. Cockrell

I had Mr. Lewis last semester but I have never had Mr. Cockrell before. I'm not going to lie - I am slight nervous about having a new teacher for 4 classes. Should an be interesting. :)

Have a blessed Sunday!

Quotable 4th graders

I left the church Monday morning with the children's group for camp. We took 127 kids and 41 adults. It was a lot of fun and very much exhausting. My dear friend, Katie, was a cabin co-chap with me. We had 6 4th grade girls from the Madison campus of our church. We had many laughs, mostly generated my some of the things our 4th graders said. Here follows some quotes from our lovely girls.

"I'm going to join a sorority when I go to college." - A
"What sorority?" - T
"Ole Miss!" - A
She continually insisted that "Ole Miss" was a sorority

"You're married? Oh Em Gee! You are so old! I thought you were in highschool but you're, like... old!" - A

"We eat sushi twice a week. My favorite is chicken teryaki... I like the fried rice with it but the vegetables are GROSS!" - A

Some of the girls wrote a song. This was all they came up with... and they sang it almost constantly the whole 48ish hours.
"Chrystal earrings. Chrystal earrings." - T and R
"I like tea and tea likes me" - T
"Stick to the subject, stick to the subject" - R
"Chrystal earrings, Chrystal earrings" - T and R
And they sang those few lines over and over.

Yesterday, I was laying in bed trying to recover from a watermelon allergy attack from lunch and the girls came in to get ready for games and waterfront time. It is amazing what children when say when they think no one is paying attention.
"My mom had to go buy me a one piece bathing suit just because of this camp." - A
"Oh, I only have one piece bathing suits." - R
"Well my mom says that guys only like girls who wear a bikini." - A
"Well MY MOM says that girls who wear bikinis only wear them because they don't have brains and personality to get guys to pay attention to them." - R

Last night when we were getting ready for bed:
"The reason I wiggled so much last night was cause I didn't have music to listen to." - E
"Ok. How about if we all get quiet, I will play us some classical music so we can all go to sleep?" - Me
"Classical music? Do you have Poker Face?" - R

I am sure there were many, many more but those are the ones sticking out in my mind the most right now. It was a good trip. I will leave you all with a video of Caleb on the blob at the waterfront Monday afternoon.

Dear blogland, I must confess...

Confession #1

We have lived in our apartment right at a month. And even though the fitness center is right across the parking lot, I did not make use of this dear amenity until Tuesday. I have since had 2 behind-kicking workout sessions. And it feels great. =o)

Obviously I am not the only slacker in the complex. Mind you, I can see the fitness center from my back porch. And it is rarely ever used. While I like having working out buddies, I do not like working out with people I do not know. It freaks me out. And makes me feel so uncomfortable to the point that I want to run... out of the building. Don't ask me why. Because I won't be able to give an answer. Am I the only one that feels that way? I like having a work out buddy to keep me motivated and will encourage me along the way. But there is nothing encouraging about Mr. Body Builder who ran for an hour straight without breaking a sweat.

So I am not going to advertise to the other people in the complex the beauty of the fitness center. I am going to be selfish and keep it to myself. ;o)

Confession #2

I have been enjoying not having work or school this week. Perhaps too much. The thought of getting up to drop Trevor off at work tomorrow morning and going to my cleaning job. Is it too much to ask to just be lazy the rest of my life?? Just kidding. Rather, I would rather just be a home body and only have to leave when I want to leave. But I think I will save that for a time when I have my dream home, not this apartment... oh well. Maybe one day, I can be a somewhat lazy, home body. haha

Confession #3

It absolutely bothers my curious side to know that people read my blog and don't comment. Quit lurking and make yourself known! :o) Please comment when you read. I will be glad to return the favor and read your blog and comment back.

Confession #4

I don't like water. Period. I'd much rather just have my Powerade slush from Sonic(ugh, evil happy hour). I have tried the whole Crystal Light thing. It works for me for a while but then I just get tired of it. Any advice/suggestions? I really have cute back on drinking soda. And I love lemonade but don't like drinking it constantly. I'm begging you. Well, not fully, but asking in a furtive manner. :o) What is the point of working out if I am not going to drink the amount of water that my body needs?

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I think I will stop confessing for now. Honestly, though... if you read, please feel free to comment and I will return the favor. =)

Long Time No Blog

It has been a week since I last blogged. I was doing so good and then life got in the way. :)
I am getting over a kidney infection. I was completely out of commission for most of Thursday-Sunday. The pain was absolutely awful. My MIL gave me some samples of a prescription, my friend Martina gave me some cranberry pill supplements and I have been major friends with cran-grape juice. Yes, I know I am supposed to drink plain ole cranberry juice. But I don't like it at all. So I drank Cran-Grape because I like it. I compromised on that one because I knew I would not drink much, if any, of the Cranberry juice but I already like the other... so I drank something with cranberry rather than nothing with cranberry. I didn't go to class on Friday. I told Mrs. West that if I couldn't get comfortable in my bed and sitting is painful then 5 hours straight in a computer chair would be unbearable. I came back yesterday and I was still ahead of everyone else.
I am not going to class tomorrow. If Trevor can get off work, we have a funeral to go to for sweet Kristin Purvis. She went to school with Trevor and played basketball at Tri-County. She was the first person to ever befriend me years ago when Trevor and I started dating. She came and sat with me after she got finished playing her basketball game and she talked to me while we watched Trevor play.
Thursday will be my last day of class. I will come in and finish the project I started today in class, turn in my take-home final exam, and my assignments for my other class and be DONE! So excited! I need some relaxation. I want to enjoy my last free summer before getting a big kid job! :) Thursday is also my amazing mother's birthday. Not sure what all we have planned. I have the night off of work but Trevor does not. I work tonight, tomorrow, Friday and Saturday. Trevor will be working Monday through Saturday this week. Needless to say, I will pamper him with one of his favorite meals on Sunday evening. ;o) I may even let him pick the movie we watch.

I am going to get to work on this take home exam.
OH YEAH, we get cable and internet this afternoon! I have so many of my shows to catch up on. Pitiful, I know!