G is for GREAT picture

That's really all I've got this morning...a GREAT picture of my daddy that one of his best friends sent to my mama. Back in the 70s, daddy and a couple other people owned the "Cotton Street Fountain" in downtown New Albany. I absolutely love this picture.

F is for Frappuccino, Facebook, and French Toast

Jack decided to get up 30 minutes early this morning, so I've been up since about 6:20 which is fairly early for us. I was ready for work a little after 7, so I had plenty of down-time. I have been debating lately on whether or not to join Facebook again. I've been in "facebook rehab" a couple times, but this time was the longest! I decided why not? I miss talking to friends from my major and girlfriends I made that live other places. Since I was up earlier, I had plenty of time to decide I was going to stop by Starbucks and get a caramel frappuccino. I used to not touch anything that was related to coffee, but I love these things. Just needed that extra kick this morning. Last but not least, the french toast. I have been craving it. Casey makes YUMMY french toast, so when he gets here, he'll have to make some for me.

E is for Extra Monday post (lame, sorry)

As mentioned in the previous post, I had a great weekend. One I've been needing for a LONG time. Kayla was in town, so we did some hangin' out! Friday night I met her and Amanda up at the Veranda. Saturday afternoon we went to the movies to see Baby Mama...so cute by the way! Don't even get me started on my $2 ice water though! MAN! Saturday night we went to State Theatre and had a BLAST! We danced the night away and even hit up a late-night. Hadn't done that in forever! It really was one of the best weekends I've had in a while, so thanks, girls.

P.S. No, that's not the same shirt both nights ;) haha

D is for Dancing..and Darn Good Weekend

You shouldn't be surprised my D is for dancing. It's only my favorite thing to do. I took dance lessons for about ten years and then found myself teaching dance for two years. I really miss teaching dance. And now, I always look forward to having friends in town that will go dance with me...hurry home Mandi, and what a DARN good time I had with Kayla and Amanda this weekend! Those pictures will be posted soon! Until then, here is a CLASSIC picture of Mandi and me dancing at the Veranda a loooooong time ago :)

C is for Community College

Yes, Community College. I spent my first two years after high school at Northeast Mississppi CC, and I wouldn't trade those two years for anything! I had some of the best times ever there. Northeast is located in Booneville, MS..only about 45 minutes away from New Albany. So even though I was away from home, I really wasn't. It was just enough distance for my first college experience. My freshmen year I lived with Kayla in the dorm (Mississippi as it was called). It was actually really nice, and we loved it! Our neighbors on both sides were NA girls, so that made it even more fun. Two doors down were the Lann twins who I would later reconnect with! They are Gaskin's cousins :) Kayla, Renee, and I spent a lot of time making new friends at the BSU. I think we all three had a different guy to crush on! I made some great friends that year. Two of my best friends at NE were Matt Lott and Dave Stovall. They started a band called, Freshmen 15...and today they are becomming HUGE in the contemporary Christian music industry! They have some new band members and have changed their name to Wavorly. I am so proud of them!Northeast was a wonderful experience and one I will remember forever. This picture is from my freshman year. I look so young! I sometimes wouldn't mind being 18 again...

B is for BIG sister

I decided to make today's post about my big sister, Em. (Her name is Emily, but that just sounds weird coming out of my mouth.) Em is three years older than me and has always been someone I admire and trust. When we were little she was so mean to me! Don't deny it, Em, you know you played pranks on me and convinced me to do stuff I shouldn't! We always had two barstools in the kitchen, and she got the "first" one--the one furthest from the wall. Why we thought this one was cooler, I'll never know. She got the front of the bathtub--closest to the faucet. She convinced me to open my mouth and close my eyes while she shoved the bar of soap in my mouth. She shoved minute steak up my nose. She convinced me to play the cheese game. That game will remain private!! haha. I will admit though, I did have fun with that one!

Em did "take charge" when we were younger, but as we've gotten older, I've needed her to be the one in charge. When I moved to Starkville, I was nervous and afraid to be away from home. Thank goodness she was here. She helped me adjust to living on my own. She fed me! and basically helped me earn my degree. She picked me up from the Kappa Sig house when you know who gave me the shaft! She came to my apartment in the middle of the night (9 MONTHS PREGNANT) to scare off an ex-boyfriend!! No matter what happens, she is ALWAYS there for me.

Em, you have taught me so much and allowed me to make mistakes and learn from them, all the while, guiding me to be the best I can be. I still look up to you and think you are one of the smartest people in the world. Thank you for being the BEST BIG sister! I love you.

A is for Alphabet Game

I have made the decision (this could be a BAD one) to play the alphabet game with Mandi. I first got this idea from reading Emily Stringer's blog and thought it could be fun. You post something new everyday using the letters of the alphabet in order. So, here goes. We'll see if I can go all the way to Z!!!

HaPpY WEdneSdAY!

I'm sitting at my desk a little while ago, and this guy comes around the corner holding some flowers. In my mind I'm saying, "Please be mine, please be mine!". YAY!! They were mine. It is so fun to be surprised with flowers. Since today is Administrative Professionals Day and I took my lunch hour yesterday to look at an apartment for Casey, the card says, "To my favorite administrative professional and real estate agent". Ha. Thanks, Case :)

Good Times

I had a great weekend. Friday I picked Casey up at the airport, and we stopped at CiCi's Pizza for dinner. We had realized that we'd never eaten pizza together, so we hit up CiCis. It was fun. Friday night we went bowling with Renee, Stephen, and Austin who were in town for a softball tournament. We played 3 games, and I didn't win any of them but I DID beat Casey 2 out of 3, and that's all that matters!! Saturday Casey and I went apartment hunting but had no luck. He's moving in three weeks, so he might be bumming off people for a while. We had lunch at the Union with Renee and crew. Saturday night we went to eat at Old Venice with Emilia and John then hung out at the Veranda for a little while. After church on Sunday, we took Jack for a walk around the lake. He LOVED it. Before heading back to the airport, I made him watch Adventures in Babysitting from like 1987. One of my favorite movies ever! The weekend was a lot of fun, and I can't wait for Renee to come visit me again for a girls' weekend!!

Celeb Crush(es)

Is it ok to be completely jealous of Shannon Elizabeth and Edyta Sliwinska? Well, I am, and I'll tell you why. They both dance with the hottest guys ever on Dancing with the Stars. Haha. Rachel and I were just discussing our secret love for Derek Hough (professional dancer), and we've previously admitted to drooling over Jason Taylor (pro football player). HA. But seriously, I think I'm gonna figure out who to contact about how to pitch my idea for, Dancing with the Normal People!! I think Derek and I would make great dance partners!! ;)

"Just cause I'm not there, doesn't mean I don't know!"

Quote of the day! Thanks, Mandi, for all our chats over messenger. What would I do some days without them! I had so much going on in my head this morning, and I appreciate your advice. You're right, just cause you don't live here anymore, doesn't mean you don't understand what's going on!

You know me too well ;)

Man's Best Friend

I was told this morning to "get to blogging!!". I was thinking back to older posts and realized I have not mentioned my dog Jack! I'm such a bad mother.

I've had Jack for about a year and a half. I had been thinking that I kinda wanted a dog, but I just couldn't make up my mind. Emilia had a friend that worked at the Columbus Humane Society, and she told me one day that her friend had taken home this dog but just didn't think she could keep him since she had two other dogs. She convinced me to take a look at some pictures of "Mr. Milo" and to go visit him. He was so skinny and cute, and I took the friend up on her offer to let this dog come home with me for a night or two. How did that go? Let's just say for the next couple of days I was BEGGING somebody, anybody, to take this dog away from me! He was so hyper and too much trouble. I felt sorry for him, but I just didn't think I could do it. Well, nobody wanted him...not even me. The poor thing had been sent back to the shelter a few times already, so something in me just wouldn't allow him to go back. I changed his name to Jack (Mr. Milo wasn't working for us). And here we are, a year and a half later. I don't know what I'd do without him! How could I have ever wanted to get rid of him. He's such a sweet dog and has calmed down a good bit! Who cares that he's ridiculously spoiled and slightly heavier than he once was?

Jack is a beagle/jack russell mix. He also goes by Jack Jack, Jackers, Stickers (from my niece), and Jack Cristil when he's in trouble.

Engagement Party & Honoring Matthew

Another weekend has come and gone. Friday night I worked the baseball game and then went to an engagement party for my friend Emilia. We had a great time, but of course I was home by 10 and in bed by 10:30! This was just the beginning of all the parties and celebrations to come--I have THREE weddings in a row in October. (bridesmaid in two).

On Sunday I was so lucky to be invited to go with the Gaskin's to an organ/tissue donor recognition in Tupelo. Lots of families were gathered around, and we each had a balloon to represent our loved one. We released the balloons all together, and it was a very special, emotional moment. Then we all gathered at the GumTree Museum for a program where they showed a very sweet slideshow with donors' pictures. The picture of Matthew was so cute! I miss him so much!! I am so thankful to have been able to go and honor my wonderful friend.

Mission: Get "fancy"

C'mon Mandi! We can do this.

Ok, we're trying to jazz up our blogs. I've done pretty well with adding good pictures and now the collages. I click around on other blogs and get so many great ideas...now it's just figuring out where they come up with it all!

So the mission, if we choose to accept it, is to be more creative and make these blogs more fun to look at!

Collage Happy

I am experimenting with this collage thing. Thanks for the help, Jade!

How BLONDE Can I Be??

Seriously! I do not know what my problem is when it comes to cooking. I told my mom tonight that the Lord just did not intend on me being able to cook. I decided the other day that I was finally going to put all these cookbooks to good use. (My friends and family have been giving me SIMPLE cookbooks for a few years now--I think they're trying to help me out!--It isn't working!) I got out my trusty, Any Blonde Can Cook, cookbook and wrote down a few recipes to try. Tonight, I decided to go with breakfast pizza. Simple, right? Not for me. How can you possibly screw up breakfast pizza? It had like maybe 5 ingredients! The last step was to beat 4 eggs and some milk and pour over the top. Ok, fine. I beat the eggs and milk and begin to pour...

...apparently I'm an idiot because when I go to put it in the oven, the egg and milk starts running over the sides. Yep, that runs into the bottom of the oven (the HOT oven). I take it out. It runs everywhere else. I just started laughing. It's all I could do. I clean it up and give it another go. Mind you, my apartment smells a bit like burnt something! I gave it a shot. It would've tasted good had I just done it all right in the first place. Wow, what an experience. I think tomorrow night I'll go with something else...We'll see how it goes!

Not much to say

I don't have much to say this morning, but I do have some cute new pictures to share. OH! I filled out my first bracket this year, had NO CLUE what I was doing. I simply picked the teams at random, and guess who I picked to win it all? KANSAS! Go me. Haha. Enjoy the pics.

So long, Houston!!

I have some very exciting news to share. Casey (my boyfriend) is finally moving back to Mississippi! We have spent our entire relationship at a distance. Even though we've only been dating a little over 7 months, I think it's time to finally be in the same town! We've built a solid foundation with LOTS of trust, FAITH, and commitment.

Currently Casey works for Exxon in Houston but has been thinking (unbeknownst to me) about switching gears. When he came to town last weekend a day early (surprise, Nat!) he informed me that he had a job interview in Columbus. I tried not to get my hopes up too much and just trust his judgment. For the last few days, we've prayed, talked, weighed his pros and cons, and prayed some more. He made the decision yesterday, and it's great news. Not only will he be closer so we can finally spend more than a weekend together, he'll be so much happier in his new job and will find much success!

I think I'm going to try to make one more trip out to Houston. It'll be a little bittersweet I'm sure, but I won't miss the flights out there! Casey will be here sometime in May. Congrats to Casey! and ME ;)

"As we forgive our dep-tors"

Cutest thing I've seen in a while!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR4PQ30VkBk&feature=email