Day 25 {A first}

As a child I often dreamed of going to the beach. Our parents hated the beach so they would never take us there. I grew to hate going to the mountains, always the same old boring vacation. It was so predictable. I do enjoy the mountains, but not  all the time. I like to see new places and new things, new adventures.

When my husband and I were dating he wanted to take me to Mobile to meet his family. It was Thanksgiving, and I had many reasons to be thankful that year. I was thankful to have him, and to be out of a bad relationship. I was thankful to be going on my first trip to the beach.

So we got into his car and left his parents house. I may have been 20 but I was just as excited as a child. It was only a twenty minute drive from his parents house but it seemed like a long trip. I will never forget stepping out of that car and hearing the waves and the seagulls for the first time. I still remember how it felt to have the fresh ocean breeze blowing in my hair. I remember how the sand felt between my toes and fingertips. It was chilly but I didn't let that stop my enjoyment. I wrote our names in the sand.  I watched a cute little crab scurry across the beach into his hole in the sand. I enjoyed everything about that day. Dauphin Island will always be a special place to me, not only because it was my first beach experience but because of who I was with.

Since then we have made many many trips to Dauphin Island. One of my most cherished photos is a picture of my husband and our six week old baby boy under the Dauphin Island Pier. I have pictures of both our children there, the two of us, and family pictures. They are more than just pictures they are moments in time that meant the world to me. We have made several beach trips to Savannah,GA Amelia Island,FL, Gulf Shores,AL and Dauphin Island and D.I.  still remains my favorite place. My husband is amazing, and he has made so many of my dreams come true. I look forward to each and every day that I am blessed to share with him.


One of my favorite songs was written and preformed by a group born in Mobile, The Band Perry. The song is ''All your life'' and my favorite quote comes from the lyrics
''Would you walk to the edge of the ocean Just to fill my jar with sand Just in case I get the notion  To let it run through my hand ???? Let it run through my hand''
My husband did just that. My little sand jar collection sits proudly on a shelf in our living room.

Day 18 {Your favorite birthday}

My favorite birthday is my 25th birthday. It was freezing cold that day, and really windy. Whitney and I went to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. I got up early  that morning got dressed, and drove about two hours to pick up Whit. Then off to Atlanta we went. We stopped along the way to get gas, and snacks. Later on I had to pee really bad so we stopped at a gas station in Atlanta and I got creeped out because nobody was in the store. No customers, no clerk just a car outside. I think I ended up waiting until I got to the aquarium.  It was the first time I had been there. We laughed a lot that day. We were leaving Atlanta and there was a car at next to us and it had bag of chips hanging out of the door. We thought it was hilarious! On the way back home we stopped at the Olive Garden in Anniston{I think it was in Anniston?} We had a great lunch and great drinks! Then we stopped on the side of the road in Pell City, and we parked facing up a hill. We wanted pics of a pretty waterfall in the woods just off of the roadway. We got out took our pics and then when I tried to drive away the car was stuck. The ground was wet and we just had to be parked uphill. We got unstuck by backing down the hill into the road. HAHA it was hilarious. There was mud all over the sides of my Xterra. The best part of the day wasn't going out of town or eating out, it was getting to spend the day with my best friend. We have made a lot of memories over the years, and I always enjoy making new ones with her. Maybe in February we can make another day trip for my birthday :)

Day 13 {This week}

• Sunday - I spent the entire day at home being lazy with my family. We watched Fast Five, and it was just as good as seeing it the first time.
• Monday - I did a ton of laundry. After my Hubby came home from work we all went to Costco. I got a bunch of stuff we needed. Afterwards the babies and I went out to eat at O'Charley's with some friends. Then we went to Target and I bought one of baby girl's Christmas gifts.
• Tuesday - I stayed at home all day procrastinating even though I had a billion things to do. I did manage to get a few things done at home though. I even caught up on blogging. 
• Wednesday -  Someone knocked at the door in the morning. I opened it to see our neighbor and her daughter. They said ''We have bad news'' I stood there looking at them in shock and said ''What's wrong?'' They didn't say anything they just stared at me. I realized exactly what was wrong. I said ''NO!!'' and they both started crying,I started crying. Their two month old baby girl ''Amaya Faith'' had passed away. She was doing so well,they were even saying she would be home at the end of the month. This was a shock to everyone. Her mom had went for her nightly visit, she changed her diaper and it had blood in it. She got the nurse right away, the nurse took the baby to the doctor on call. He immediately sent her for x-rays. It showed that she had air in her belly. At midnight they took her in for emergency surgery. She had a hole in her intestines due to a bacterial infection. Normally they would be able to repair it. Hers was so bad that there was nothing they could do. They took her off of her machines, and let her family hold her until she passed. She left this world at 4:53 am November 9th, 2011.  This family has become more than just friends, they have become like family to us. The rest of my plans have been cancelled for the week. I can't believe I will be attending a funeral for a two month old baby girl. I never in my life thought this would ever happen. It's heartbreaking. I know that God has a plan for everyone, sometimes it's just hard to understand that plan. This is the third baby they have lost, it just doesn't seem fair. I don't question his plan, I just wish I could understand a little better.
• On a lighter note it was Visitor's Day at ASD. Which meant that I got to take my little girl to her dance class and stay and watch everything she  has been learning. It was nice to be able to go, it was the only time yesterday that I wasn't constantly thinking of the baby. I am so proud of my baby girl. I was reminded yesterday of just how precious life is, and I held my kids even closer.
• Thursday - 
• Friday -
• Saturday -

Gatlinburg,TN

Our friends invited us to go to Gatlinburg with them, they completely paid for everything. The hotel,food, and attractions. The only thing I paid for was a few things for the kids and having a few ''Old time photos'' made. Such a blessing that we were able to go and that we have such thoughtful friends!




a train at the Chattanooga Choo Choo museum

 Saturday October 8th was the day we left. We stopped in Chattanooga. First we went to the Chattanooga Choo Choo and toured the museum, went on a trolley ride, then visited the gift shop. It was a lot of fun and my little conductor had tons of fun!


After that we took a trolley over to the Creative Discovery Museum it was a blast for all of us. We spent several hours there. I would love to take the kids back again sometime.

We stopped and got something to eat then made the rest of the trip to Gatlinburg. The weather was beautiful there, mostly in the 70's. The tree's were beautiful! We spent an entire day at Over Gatlinburg, we did the chair lift multiple times. We did the alpine slides, the water slides, the animal exhibit,the playground, the maze, and the train.                                                                      

We visited Fannie Farkles multiple times when we were there. The kids loved it, I loved it, lol everyone loves that place! The babies got airbrushed t-shirts, lil man picked Angry Birds, and Miss Priss picked out a ballerina one. She had her photos made at Ole' Thyme Photo. I think they turned out really cute despite the fact that she had a boo boo under her nose due to her runny nose that started Saturday.

One night we were standing outside of a candy store, watching them make the taffy. All of a sudden there was a man dressed up as Captain Jack Sparrow! Not only did he look like him, he talked like him, and his movements were exactly like they are in the movies! We were quite entertained by him. My sweet angel said ''don't let him shoot my mommy'' gotta love the way little ones think! We explained to her that it wasn't a real gun, and that he was only wearing a costume sort of like Halloween, only it wasn't Halloween. She was happy with that and wasn't afraid of him anymore.

We went to eat at Texas Roadhouse, which has great food but poor service. The police were called there because the waitress added gratuity to a check, probably because she knew she wasn't going to get a tip. They wanted her to remove the gratuity, and so they called the police. There was a lot of yelling involved. Anyways I was amused by their high-chairs for the little ones! They are made out of old saddles! Cute idea if you ask me!

We had a wonderful time with our friends. I'm glad that my step-daughter was out of school for fall break and got to go too! I enjoyed spending time with her and the babies.

Monday we ate at the Pancake Pantry, lil man fell asleep waiting on his food. Out of the dozens of times I have been to Gatlinburg it was my first time eating there, I absolutely loved it.



Chocolate chip pancakes

 After breakfast we made another visit to Fannie Farkle's. We all played then cashed in our thousands of tickets for prizes. We walked the strip in Gatlinburg one more time, then started the trip back home. We stopped to see a small waterfall.

We stopped at a train museum in Townsend, it was closed but we still took photos of the kids with the old engine outside. Later on we took the Foothills Parkway, we wanted the scenic route home.

Along the parkway there was a place to stop and park. Then we had a half a mile walk up the mountain to get to what is called Look Rock. I managed to get a cramp in my calf during the walk up the mountain. It was well worth the view once we were at the top though. We could see Maryville, Cades Cove, Clingman's Dome and several other places from this one place. We got to see the sunset while we were up there, and it was absolutely beautiful!

Beautiful view from Look Rock