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 24 {Something that makes you cry}

There are several things that make me cry.

• I cry when my babies get hurt or when they are sad or something is wrong and I can't fix it. I feel like it is my job as a mother to fix everything for them and sometimes that just isn't possible.
• I cry when my kids make me happy. There is no better joy in this world than that a parent gets from watching their child.
• Extreme Makeover Home Edition, I mean really???? I have never watched it and not cried.
• I cry when my family and friends are hurting, I care about them. I laugh with them so I cry with them.
• Every year when we go to National Police Week in Washington,D.C. I cry when we go to the Fallen Officers Memorial and read all the notes,cards,letters,and photographs that little kids have left to their murdered parent. Its absolutely heartbreaking.
• I cry when I watch the news and hear stories about child abuse or a missing child or murdered kids. Number one reason why 99.9% of the time I choose not to watch the news. It is just depressing!
• And last but not least, sometimes I just hold all the stresses of daily life inside of me and never talk about it until one day I just cry. Sometimes it just feels good to cry and get it all out.

Day 22 {Something that upsets you}

Abortion upsets me very much. I believe that life begins with conception. I believe that if a person is old enough to think they are ''mature'' enough to have sex then they should also be prepared. Just because someone isn't ready for a baby doesn't give them the right to terminate that child. How could anyone be so cold and cruel? There are thousands of people who want to adopt a child. Why not give someone else a chance at happiness?

It also upsets me when people have kids and don't take care of them. Children deserve the best chance at life. They deserve to be treated with respect, yet be disciplined when need be. They deserve good memories. Children don't deserve to be abused or molested or murdered. I don't understand why we keep seeing all these stories on tv about parents killing their child because they think life is better without them. Don't want the child, or can't afford to care for it then give it to someone who can give them the life they deserve.

There are thousands of people who so desperately want to have a child of their own and will never get that. So the next best thing is adoption. This whole situation gets me really upset, so before I get all worked up I will leave it at that.

Day 23 {Something that makes you feel better}

Sometimes everyone has a bad day including me, and no matter what makes me upset or sad or stressed out my children can always make me happy. Their laughter brings me so much joy.

My husband always knows when something is wrong. He gives me the biggest warmest most loving hugs and then he fixes the problem. They are my life and I am so thankful and blessed to have the three of them.

Day 20 {This month}

• This month has been very hectic.
• Some things have been good, others not so good.
• Still I remember the things I have to be thankful for.
• November didn't start out so great first there was the death of my friends baby. I mourned for them and with them. I have been a little depressed because of that.
• There have been two visitors nights at the dance studio, and still another to come.
• My step daughter had her high school dance recital and it was amazing.
• My husband started training a new rookie. So I don't get those little phone calls and texts like I normally would.
• My parents came to visit as well as several of our friends.
• I had the monthly club meeting and it went well.
• I have been busy planning the club Christmas party. I'm looking forward to that next month.
• We had the babies Christmas photos made, and I even started doing a little Christmas shopping.
•  There just never seems to be enough hours in a day to get everything done.
• I am going shopping tomorrow to get everything to make Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. This year I decided to stay home and invite friends and family over. I'm very excited!
• A plus side to this week/month is that I get to go shopping on BLACK FRIDAY  with my sister in law.
• Then on Friday we are going to have Thanksgiving dinner at a friends house.
• Saturday we are taking baby Nate to have his photos made.
• That pretty much  sums up the month of November.

Day 19 {Something you regret}

I don't regret anything. I believe mistakes in life are just lessons learned. I choose to take a bad experience and learn from it, so that later on down the road I can be better prepared for a different situation. When my children are older they can come to me for advice, and hopefully I will be able to help them with information from my own personal experiences. I know they will still make mistakes, because they are human and humans are far from perfect.

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 :)