Monday, December 29, 2008

Stellan


Please pray for this sweet baby. He is very sick at the moment. You can follow his story at www.mycharmingkids.net. His mom is updating the Twitter column from the hospital and there you can find the most up-to-date information. Her family members are updating her blog for her, but the twitter updates are more current.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas

Jay and I wish everyone a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.






Tuesday, December 16, 2008

100 Things...Part 1

So I'm sitting here watching my all time favorite Christmas movie...Merry Christmas Charlie Brown. I'm probably the only person who tears up while watching Charlie Brown, but can you get any more innocent than the love of Charlie Brown? The last 5 minutes of that movie make my heart smile.
I was talking to a good friend of mine (and someone who I look up to dearly) tonight at dinner and she mentioned that she finds out what is going on with me through my blog. So on the way home tonight it hit me, many of the people I work with really don't know all that much about me. I started thinking, what are 100 things that I think people should know/might get a kick out of knowing about me? Here are the first 50 that I came up with (in no particular order)...

  1. I have lived in 3 different places (Montevallo, Mobile, Calera)
  2. My favorite color is blue
  3. Seafood is my favorite thing to eat, with ice cream in a close 2nd
  4. I HATE hot dogs and mustard.
  5. I collect Peanut's Gang memorabilia as in Charlie Brown and Snoopy stuff
  6. I change hobbies with the seasons. Some past (and reoccurring) hobbies include: photography, painting, tablescapes, cross stitching, jewelry making
  7. I met my husband at my cousin's wedding. I caught the bouquet and he caught the garter. I was there to serve the wedding cake and he was a groomsman.
  8. I LOVE to cook especially bake. I enjoy teaching others to cook.
  9. I am painfully shy and blush very easily.
  10. I have always dreamed of being on tv. I have been on 1 PBS special, 2 news reports while in Mobile, 2 commercials (Mobile), and two on air interviews in Birmingham.
  11. I hope to one day have my own tv show. I used to joke that it would be a soap opera (oh I have some crazy story lines) but now I would love for it to be a cooking show.
  12. When I was in 5th grade, I was on the game show Nick Arcade. Nickolodeon came to Birmingham and chose people out of the crowd to participate. I was chosen for the show Nick Arcade, a game show that made the participants look as if they were playing inside of a video game.
  13. I was a cheerleader in high school (Go Bulldogs!)
  14. I was the mascot my senior year and received the UCA All Star mascot award
  15. I was Miss MHS my senior year
  16. I was Miss MHS Congeniality my freshman year
  17. My first job was as a babysitter. I kept 3 kids that through the years expanded to 6 kids. I loved babysitting for that family. I soon established a group of families that I regularly babysat for.
  18. I was a Pharmacy Tech for CVS pharmacy in Pelham, Columbiana, and Helena
  19. One summer I worked as a behavior specialist for a little girl who was autistic. My job was to work with socialization. When she was working with another specialist I was the nanny for her 3 year old sister.
  20. My first summer in Mobile, I was the public relations intern for America's Junior Miss. My job was to coordinate all of the news reporters who were coming for the program. I also coordinated all of the press passes, parent passes, chaperone passes, and back stage access. I was the assistant to the assistant who helped with the band--which was a boy band from Ireland.
  21. I worked at Kirklands for almost 4 years. I made it all the way up to a supervisor position. I loved getting to decorate houses all over Birmingham.
  22. I was a 2002--2003 USS Alabama Crewmate. I served as an ambassador for the state for the Tourism department. I traveled all over the state promoting tourism to Alabama. I was the first person in 20 years chosen outside of the Baldwin/Mobile area. It was one of the best years of my life.
  23. I served as a hostess of Mobile's Bicentennial celebration. I helped host parties during the Tall Ship celebration
  24. I am a member of Alpha Omicron Pi, Gamma Delta Chapter.
  25. I am very sensitive and get my feelings hurt easily.
  26. I am terrified of snakes
  27. I love sending Christmas cards
  28. I hope to one day write a children's book
  29. I have seen the musical Rent (not the movie) 7 times
  30. I used to dream of being on Broadway (but I don't like singing in public)
  31. I don't like to pray aloud
  32. I'm a MAJOR pack rat. I keep everything
  33. I have a very sensitive sense of hearing and smell. I hear things before most people (at lower volumes) and smell things that most people don't.
  34. I was born 6 weeks premature
  35. I was on the newspaper staff in high school
  36. I have changed my major 7 times (undergraduate and masters) Pre-med, nursing, sports and even marketing, occupational therapy, child life therapy/therapeutic recreation, elementary education, library media science, educational leadership/administration
  37. I love the show Secret Lives of Women
  38. I am allergic to milk but have learned how much I can tolerate before getting sick (hence my ice cream addiction)
  39. I collect movies (my video collection is 200+, my DVD collection is 150+)
  40. The summer before my senior year in high school, I spent 16 days in Houston, Texas participating in the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine. I got to observe an open heart surgery, experience an autopsy, hold a human brain and heart, and meet some of the top doctors in America.
  41. Spring Break my junior year in high school, I spent the week in Washington DC and New York city doing volunteer work and learning about citizenship in America
  42. My favorite candy bar is Milky Way Midnight Dark (the dark chocolate version of a Milky Way--heavenly!)
  43. I hate to clean
  44. Merry Christmas Charlie Brown (the first part of A Charlie Brown Christmas) is one of my favorite movies
  45. I love music and associate songs to different events and people in my life
  46. I am a perfectionist to a fault
  47. My favorite author is Jodi Piccoult
  48. I am an avid reader and get it from my Dad
  49. I am allergic to cats
  50. Fairhope, Alabama is one of my favorite places to visit
So, there is Part I. Did you learn anything new? I have a random life don't you think =) But I have lived, loved, and learned through every minute of it. Part II will come before Christmas hopefully. I leave you with a clip from A Charlie Brown Christmas. Can you tell that I love this movie?

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Life

This entry is probably going to end up all over the place, but life lately has been like that. The past week has been a week of ups and downs and extremely fast paced.

Lets start with the good news...I was accepted! Thursday, I had my interview for the Educational Leadership program at UM. It went really well and they even let me know there in the interview that I had been accepted into the program. I was also told that my portfolio had been the best this year and one of the best that they had ever reviewed! That made me feel great because I was really beginning to doubt myself because of all the hurtles I had to jump to apply for the program. Want to know what is even crazier...I am only 1 of 4 people who they accepted into the program. Yes, you heard me right, they only accepted 4 people into the program this time! How crazy is that? But since there is only 4 of this, they are putting us on a fast track and we will graduate in a year and a half instead of the normal 2 years. I am excited about this. I am ready to have my masters and I feel really good about this program. I have had a lot of support as I have told people about my intentions. I know it will be a challenge but I am ready to take it on.

Ok, now the sad news. A friend of mine from high school passed away this week. On Monday, his mom was unable to wake him and by Wednesday he had no brain activity. I have heard a couple of speculations as to what happened but I don't know the final story. His family made the tough decision to take him off of the ventilator Wednesday night and donate his organs. Please pray for the Barnes family, this has been a really tough year for them. I still can't believe that Wesley is gone. In high school, he was one of those guys that everyone loved. He played football and was always friendly to everyone. He had a great smile and sense of humor.
I wanted to go to his visitation Friday night, but I just couldn't. This is the first time that I have had people that I am close to pass away. Yes, people I have known have passed away and I have been to my fair share of funerals, but this year it has really hit hard that people that I am close to have passed away. I have a hard time dealing with death. First Linda and now Wesley, I just couldn't handle it alone.

Back to happy times, Christmas is almost here! I would post some pictures of my Christmas decorating, but it kinda looks like Christmas threw up in our house right now. There are decorations everywhere, one tree decorated, one that still needs to be decorated, and a mini Charlie Brown tree that needs to be finished. There is wrapping paper all over the floor, and a half finished It's Christmas Charlie Brown puzzle on the coffee table. Its a little overwhelming, I wish I could find some elf that would come and clean my house for me.

10 days of school left...it should be fun. If I can keep their attention for 5 more days, I will be happy. That last week before we get out for the break should be fun. On Monday, we have a field trip, Tuesday should be normal, Wednesday we are doing "Christmas Around the World" as a whole day activity, Thursday is our annual Gingerbread House Extravaganza, and Friday is "Polar Express" pajama party day. That last week should be fun. I hope our classroom elf Max can keep up with all the fun. The kids have been so funny about Max. Each day, they look to see where he has moved, and if he has made a mess. On Friday, they were pretty sure he had changed clothes =) Oh the imagination of 2nd graders!