thirty days

Here is my newest task, thirty blogs in thirty days. This will let people know a little more about me. It will also make me take a look into the past, a look at my fears, my dreams and everything in between. It looks like a fun idea, and I hope that you guys will join me and participate in 30 blogs in 30 days as well. Below is the list of the daily topics.




Day 1 {Introduce}
Day 2 {Your first love}
Day 3 {Your parents}
Day 4 {What you ate today}
Day 5 {Your definition of love day}
Day 6 {Your day}
Day 7 {Your best friend}
Day 8 {A moment}
Day 9 {Your beliefs}
Day 10 {What you wore today}
Day 11 {Your Children}
Day 12 {What's in your bag}
Day 13 {This week}
Day 14 {What you wore today}
Day 15 {Your dreams}
Day 16 {Your first kiss}
Day 17 {Your favorite memory}
Day 18 {Your favorite birthday}
Day 19 {Something you regret}
Day 20 {This month}
Day 21 {Another moment}
Day 22 {Something that upsets you}
Day 23 {Something that makes you feel better}
Day 24 {Something that makes you cry}
Day 25 {A first}
Day 26 {Your fears}
Day 27 {Your favorite place}
Day 28 {Something that you miss}
Day 29 {Your aspirations}
Day 30 {One last moment}

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

Gone but not forgotten

I haven't been on here in a few weeks. I'm sure I have missed a lot of good posts. There are also a lot of things I wanted to blog about, but unfortunately didn't get to. So lets play catch up ...................

It has been a year since the murder of my friend Stephen Harlow Williams. I was able to go to his viewing, but not the funeral because I was going out of town. I still haven't made it to see his grave yet, although I would like to. I really don't even know where it is. I've heard that the trial is supposed to start soon. Other than that I know nothing. He was a beautiful person inside and out. I still have the messages saved that he sent to me. The messages contain nothing important, its just nice to have them. I miss his beautiful eyes, and hearing his voice. I still pray for his family. I know this past year has been more than a challenge for them. I still think of him often. I can hear any song by Taylor Swift and instantly think of him. Especially her song ''Hey Stephen'' which is a great song. His favorite number was 13, I think it is odd that he passed away on October 13th.

Stephen Harlow Williams March 20,1986 ~ October 13, 2010

                                                                                                                    
It has been three years since Brandon Allen Koch was killed in a car accident. He was on his way to work when it happened. We weren't close friends but he was still a friend. He had the cutest dimples, and he could always make me laugh.  We have lost so many of our friends who all went to the same school. When I think about how many have actually passed away it is a scary number. I don't always understand why these things happen, but I do know it is part of God's plan.

                                                           TheBand Perry ''If I die young''

sixteen days

Today was a very exciting and special day. I had the honor of going to the NICU with Rachel to visit her baby girl. The hospital is about five minutes away. We had just enough time for a little chit chat. She told me that she just wanted to give me a warning in advance that the baby is small. I was thinking this whole time and trying to imagine for the past two weeks just how small she was.

Once we got to the hospital it took a few minutes to find a parking space. Then we went inside to the NICU. We washed our hands and headed in the direction where she was. The blanket was lifted off of her incubator and I stepped closer to get a better look. I thought I knew but really I had no idea at all, about just how tiny she would be. I really wasn't prepared at all. I never in my life imagined a baby could be so tiny. It really caught me off guard and shocked me. I began to cry, and Rachel told me to stop before I made her cry too. Just to try and give you an idea of how tiny she is, make a fist with your hand. Her head is smaller than an adults fist.

She is the smallest most beautiful little girl, she is just perfect.  She has the tiniest hands and feet, everything about her is so adorable. I wish I could just hold her and kiss her! I am completely amazed at the work of God, HE is so awesome! I could even feel his presence in the room. I stared in awe over her, she is truly a blessing! Today she was 16 days old!

The nurse asked Rachel if she would like to change her diaper. I think she was shocked because her answer was ''can I''? She did a fantastic first diaper changing! Even the diapers are so stinking cute, I should have stolen one lol! They are smaller than baby doll diapers! She forgot her camera, so I used mine to capture her first diaper change from her mommy! I will ask and see how she feels about me adding photos, so maybe later on I will add them but not for now.

I have prayed for her multiple times since she was born,but to finally be able to meet her was just an honor. She has already found a place in my heart. I will continue to pray for her and her family. Today was a wonderful day!

I also got news that my step-daughter will be induced at 5am. So I went to a local crafts store to purchase items to make her a wreath for her hospital door.

the letter ''n'' in the center of the wreath

the wreath I made for tomorrow

While I was at the craft store I came across a wooden cross. I immediately knew I had to buy it for Amaya Faith's mommy!

I don't think I could have found a better gift to buy her than this today! I'm so happy that I found it. I came home and made the wreath for my step-daughter's door. Later on I even made a special gift for Amaya. I took a regular sized baby stretchy headband and cut it and made it into one that will{hopefully} fit her. Its pink and ever so cute! I took a photo of it next to a regular sized headband, to show the difference in size.



Isn't it cute????

 Hopefully the nurses will allow her to wear it just long enough for photos! I already can't wait to see her again! But until then I will continue to pray for her! And I'm looking forward to our new family member arrive tomorrow.

annual Fall cruise-in

The past several weeks I have been running around like a chicken with i.............(you get the idea) collecting items to stuff the goody bags,working with vendors and local businesses to collect door prizes. I absolutely loved it!


Yesterday has come and gone, I can finally say I did it. My first event as president was a success! We work with a local Ford dealership, to have an annual fall cruise-in. Its basically like a car show, only the cars  aren't  separated into judged classes. Instead we give out specialty awards and sponsor's choice awards. Proceeds benefit the Madison County Veteran's Memorial here in the Rocket City.

Everyone arrived Friday afternoon at 5:30 @ WAF to start stuffing the goody bags and setting up everything for the show. I slept a total of four hours Friday night. I got up at 5am Saturday to get ready to go back to the dealership. I arrived there at 6:30 am along with other members and WAF employee's to start setting up the registration tent, the t-shirt sales table, and the PA system for announcements and music.

Last year was a huge flop because of all the rain, we only had 53 entrants. This year we had a beautiful fall day, it was warm in the upper 70's and thankfully there was no rain. We had 89 registered entrants this year! Which is such a blessing! We had loads of fun. There was really only one thing that went wrong, and that was the fact that our microphone decided to quit shorty before our awards presentation.

There were several vendors on site, one selling lemonade, another selling coke and BBQ sacked lunches, a toy car guy, and several automotive vendors. After the show there was plenty of food leftover so it was donated to the local food bank.

I had a blast meeting new people and making new friends. Last year Sharon {who is our MCA director} brought her niece Karen along with her. Since it rained she decided to get into a water fight with one of the members named Skip. So it was only natural for me to help her keep the tradition alive.

I asked Skip to come over to where I was, luring him into our water fight trap. Karen soaked him, which was followed by a desperate attempt of retaliation. I unexpectedly got a TON of ice cold water poured over my head. It felt nice actually since I was so hot after being up on the roof. {myself and two others went up there to get an aerial photo of the car show, the roof is white and reflected the sun right onto us & goodness it was hot}

Tomorrow I go back to the dealership to hand off the money to be donated to the local Veteran's Memorial. Its still a work in progress. It feels good to be a part of something big, and to know we are making a difference in our community.
You can find out more about the memorial at this link Madison County Veterans Memorial

I can't wait for our annual May car show now! I'm already starting a notebook of ideas!

vertigo

The cake the babies picked out for their Daddy.

                                                                               

• Yesterday was my husbands birthday. I let the kids pick out his birthday cake.
• Today was my mother and father-in-law's wedding anniversary.
• I have a major stress headache! Anyone care to give me a massage?
• My step-daughter is 2cm dilated, she was sent home though. I still think we will have a baby within the next few days! I can't wait to meet him & hold him. Her second baby shower is Sunday, so lets hope he stays in there until at least Monday.
• I went to a meeting today at the Ford dealership about the car show next week. I'm so excited that everything is coming together. T-shirts were designed & ordered, they arrived today! We have plenty of things to stuff the goody-bags with. I order the trophies tomorrow. Dash plaques are finished. I still have door prizes to collect from local businesses. Tomorrow I go get new tires put on the trailer (we use it to store our equipment in) So with all of the club stuff going on I feel like my head is spinning in circles.
• I went to the hospital today to visit my friend. She was getting ready to be released. Since it was an emergency cesarean she was put to sleep, and by the time she was awake her baby was already in another hospital's NICU.  So first thing she was heading over to the other hospital to visit her little miracle.Visitor's aren't allowed unless the parent(s) of the baby are there. So hopefully Saturday I can go visit. I didn't want to go today or tomorrow, because I know she will want to spend time alone with the baby since she hasn't even seen her yet. I can't wait to meet her! I have seen pictures, she is so tiny and beautiful! I'm going to make her lots of pretty pink sparkly things tomorrow. She has a long journey ahead of her, so please continue to pray for her. I made a prayer page for her on Facebook so please ''like'' it and post a message of support to her family.
• Here is the link http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Prayers-for-Amaya-Faith/257419037631643
• I am extremely sleepy. My husband is still at work. I can't sleep without him. Its 1am and I still have an hour before he will be home.
• I started this blog several hours ago, but because I am bored I keep clicking on ''edit post'' and adding random thoughts to it.

                                                                                   

faith hope love prayer

Today I was cleaning my son's room. I thought I heard someone at the door, but then it stopped. I assumed it was my daughter since she was in the living room. Then my phone began to ring. It was my sweet neighbor and friend, who is like family to us. She was expecting a package and needed us to watch for it. She was leaving to take her father to visit someone at the hospital.

Her sister was pregnant and due December 26th. She has been on bed rest for the last several weeks. She had been taken to the hospital at 4 am because she had gone into labor. She has already lost two babies in the past due to premature births. So this has had everyone on edge for a while. I have sent many prayers for her and her baby. (as well as many tears)

She was given a drug to help develop the baby's lungs, so that it would have a better chance of survival. She was taken to the operating room for an emergency Cesarean.

They hadn't even announced the sex of the baby yet. Nor had they even made a final decision on a name.                                                                

                                                                                      

She was born today by cesarean, and weighed in at two pounds. She is 13.5 inches long. She was transported to another hospital with a neonatal intensive care unit. It's known as one of the best in the state. She will be in good hands there.


So now everyone knows that she is in fact a sweet baby girl. I have sent out prayers as well as prayer requests to family and friends throughout the day. Prayer is a powerful thing. I received a message late this afternoon letting me know that she was breathing on her own. Something the doctors say is extremely well for a baby her age. She is big for her gestation period too, thank goodness because that will help her grow and develop faster.

                                                                                     

Her mommy has been worried sick and in tears all day and wasn't up for visitors. So tomorrow I will be going with her sister to visit her at the hospital. The  baby is so tiny so she is on a restricted visitation schedule. I hope we can make it by her hospital too, I would love to see her. I know I won't be able to touch her or hold her but seeing her will be a blessing.


They picked out the sweetest name for her, but I won't say it on here since she isn't my child. It's a perfect name, and very well chosen for the situation. She isn't out of the woods yet and will need prayers for weeks, maybe even months to come. So please keep this sweet angel in your prayers.


Love,
Jaybee