and the rest just goes undone...

So, my attempt to blog EVERYDAY certainly didn't work out the way that I wanted it too!!! But, just know that I'm so thankful for so many things in my life!! So thankful for new opportunities. So incredibly thankful for life!! I hope that you and your family have a great Thanksgiving!! The "Sister Girls" are heading out on Thanksgiving night for our annual Christmas shopping weekend in Birmingham! I'll have plenty to post on when I return!

K...

So this couldn't have happened at a better time, but today, I'm so thankful for Kids!! I mean, who doesn't smile when they're around a group of kids?!

Today is Veteran's Day and I was asked to sing at Lamar School with their fourth graders for their program. We sang a song together called "American Tears" and there wasn't a dry eye in the room! Really.

They gave me a Christmas Ornament and they wrote me a book of letters! I thought I'd share a few of my favorite parts of this book with you.

Dear Miss Abby--

" I'm so glad that we get to sing together. You could've went shopping or getting your nails done, but instead, you choosed us!"

"I hope that the audience will be as happy as a dog with a bone when they hear you sing!"

"Your voice is beautiful. Like a cricket in the middle of spring!"

"Wow! You are so much better than I thought you were singing. I just thought you were ok, but you're perfect! Now that we have you singing with us, we are complete!"

"By the way, I love the way you have your hair. I love the bob. It looks good on you!"

haha!! Are these cracking you up?!! I've just laughed and laughed!! They mean well. They really do :)

Happy Veteran's Day. Thank you to those who have served and continue to serve our country. We appreciate you and love you more than you'll ever know!

Happy Thursday!

J...

Today is the day to be thankful for something that begins with a "J..." and I'm loving these four people...

John Mayer Jack Johnson
James MorrisonJason MrazOh, if I could attend any dream concert, it'd be all FOUR of these artists in one night... all together... singing to ME! Such great music!!

I...

This is a stretch, but I'm thankful for good music and artists like Ingrid Michaelson. I'll tell you how thankful I am for 4 other artists tomorrow on "J" day, but Ingrid has definitely become one of my favorite musicians. I first heard her on Good Morning America and "shazammed" her stuff on my iPhone and it told me who she was, her album name and all that jazz.

My mom tells me that I listen to really weird stuff. And if you take a look at my iPod, I have everything from Christian music to rap, to country, to rock... it's just a really random selection. But I like to have plenty of options to fit my daily moods!!

H...

I'm so very thankful for sweet Harper.

Harper right after she was born in 2009...

and here's my big girl now with Peaches, her cat! I can't put into words everything I love about little miss priss but please know that she's one of my very favorite people in the world!! She changed every life in my family when she came into the world and caused us to all focus on God and our faith a little more when she faced surgery at such a young age. We prayed that she'd be a fighter, and to this day, she still is!! She's bad to the bone, and I couldn't have imagined her turning out any other way!! I love you Harper girl!!

G...

Today I am thankful for my relationship with God!!

I'm so glad that he's my heavenly father and that He walks beside me each and every day! His plans are so much greater than mine and I'm grateful that He knows where I'll be in fifty years, because I don't! Ha!! I'm not perfect in any way, but He sure thinks that I am.

Thank you God for loving me no matter where I go or what I do! I can't imagine NOT having you in my life. Thank you for guiding my steps and for giving me strength when I have none. May I always look to you for help, to your word for encouragement and to the people and situations that you place in my life for a glimpse of you! Lord, take me where you want me to go, let me meet who you want me to meet, tell me what you want me to say and keep me out of your way! Amen and Amen!!

F...

I'm so very thankful for my friends and family!! There's not a single way for me to name every person that has influenced me or has been a best friend at some point in my life, but I'm very grateful that I have so many people in my family and so many people that I call friends.

E...

I'm thankful for Emily, Jamey and Sarah...

These sweet girls are my first cousins! They're the "sisters" I didn't have growing up! We've all been so close our whole life and we enjoy every minute we get to spend with each other. Now that I'm working, and the three of them are still in college, one at Ole Miss, one at Birmingham Southern and one at Alabama, it's hard for us to get together! But we'll be going to see Mickey and Minnie together in a little over a month!!

Sarah, Emily and Jamey, I LOVE you all so much and I'm so grateful that God created us to be cousins!!

D...

Today I am super thankful for... and my upcoming trip to... DISNEY!! Thanks grandaddy and Grannie for sending all the grandgirls here for Christmas :) I am just as excited as a five year old and absolutely can't wait!! Love you both!

Alphabet Thanks

The season is upon us to remember to give thanks!

Initially, I decided that I would post EVERY DAY about something I was thankful for. Ha! It's already the third day of November and I've completely failed so far! But have no fear, I'll make up for it today with giving three thanks!

I'm ordering these post by the letters in the alphabet... and since there are 25 days between November 1st and Thanksgiving day, I think I'll just leave out either the X or Z and just be thankful for something else because those are just incredibly hard to come up with!!

So... today I am thankful for...

AMERICA! I've always been thankful that I live in a free country and that we are One Nation Under God, but being an American last night after the election results made living in America just a little bit sweeter :)

BURTS BEES! Oh, how I LOVE this stuff!! No explanation needed... Church Family! Where would I be withouth the friends and family of Highland Baptist and First Baptist Meridian. I count it as a huge blessing to serve among so many friends and love that God has placed me right here to do His work!! My youth family above and my children's ministry family below :)

Life...

If you haven't gone to your local movie theater to see this... ...you need to!! It's PRECIOUS :)

CANTON!!!

Most people would look at this picture and think that it's pure madness. Welcome to Canton! I can't stand to get hot or to be dirty, but there are two days a year when I dont' mind it at all. Canton is held the second Thursday in May and in October. The May market is pretty hot, but the October one is usually perfect!!

The picture above is only about 1/4th of the people. Canton stretches out a few miles... up both sides of the street, around the square, and down a whole other side! It's MADNESS!

I bought a few wedding and christmas gifts, but I also came home with two fabulous finds for myself!!

I had been in Turkoyz in Jackson a few weeks ago and found these really cool hammered charms that I wanted for a necklace that I have. You could choose from copper, silver or gold, shiny or matte finish, and then you could have them personalized. I wanted a copper teardrop, with my name! I recently told my mom to add that to my Christmas wishlist.

I randomly walked up to this booth and said, "Oh, mom, these are the charms I was talking about." The lady quickly told me that she hammered the jewelry for Turkoyz. She had a plate at her booth with some charms that she was trying to sell because they already had names on them. I loosely went through the charms and came across... YOU GUESSED IT!! A copper teardrop with my name (spelled correctly, too!) already hammered in!! I couldn't believe it. It was meant to be for sure!! I purchased that baby and have worn it proudly since!! Mom... scratch that item off the wishlist :)

I also went to another booth that had some artwork and bought my very first oil painting. This lady did FABULOUS work. She had every kind of canvas you can imagine, but her specialty was dogs. You can even send her a picture of your pup and she'll paint it for you!! I love me bulldog and it's sitting in my office... with my cowbell :)

If you've never been to Canton, you so should try and go!! Some of the stuff I don't even look at, but I love going to see all of the cool and creative things people are selling!! Can't wait until May!

Happy Birthday to the TWUNKLES!!

My grandmother and grandfather have three amazing children-- my mom and her identical twin brothers Rusty and Randy. Just to clarify, my mom is younger than these two and NEVER got in trouble for doing anything because of the things that my uncles got involved in when they were younger! Rusty & Randy turned the big "5-0" this week and so we celebrated this past Sunday with a cookout! My cousin, Emily, gave them the new name "Twunkles" this weekend... because they're our twin uncles! ha :) Randy is on the left, Rusty on the right!

And here are a few of their baby pictures just to prove how cute these little rascals were!! These were on the invitations that we mailed out!

Randy is on the left, Rusty on the right in these first two. Rusty is on the left in this one! Aren't they precious?We had such a great time! We gathered at our house after church and had burgers with all the fixin's, good dips, and my great-grandmother's 3-layer strawberry cake that my mom made!
SISTERS! My grandmother (mother of the twunkles and sandra d.) is on the right. She's, by far, my most favorite person in the world! And on the right... that's our grannie poe, my grandmother's sister! She's the funny one of the family... and ALWAYS has something to say :)
Rusty's daughter Emily, my grandmother, Rusty's other daughter, Sarah and me! Jamey (Randy's daughter) couldn't join us for the party because she had some obligations at that other school, Ole Miss!Little priss pot, Harper, was in attendance too!! She's another favorite on my list! I'm proud to say that she's in the process of potty training... she's growing up!

I will say that I had such a fun weekend and should have gotten many more pictures!! I love my family and I love being together with them and I'm so glad that my mom and our TWUNKLES were born!!

Mine Stuff...

I went to bed last night watching the exciting rescue of the first two men that were stuck in the Chilean Mine and woke up to seeing more tears and excitement from the friends and family of these hard workers!!I had my doubts nearly 70 days ago that we'd ever see this rescue take place, I'll admit. But I am thrilled that this was possible! God, thank you so much for giving those men the patience to endure everything they've been though since August. With 90 degree temps and almost 90% humidity daily, I know that there were points where these men wanted to give up! Thank you for blessing so many people with the talents and the skills and the resources to make this rescue effort possible! You walk with your people and never leave them! Thank you for that!

Happy Wednesday, Ya'll!

MSU/Georgia

(click on the collage to make it bigger)
I know this is extremely late, but here are a few pictures from the MSU/Georgia game a few weeks ago!! I had a blast with my sweet friend Lauren, and enjoyed getting to see some friends that don't live in Meridian anymore!! Hope you're having a fabulous Tuesday!

Happy, Happy Birthday!!

So today is a VERY important day!! It's REBEKAH'S birthday!!

Happy birthday, girl!

If you don't know Rebekah, you so should. She's hilarious!! We grew up in church together and have many mutual friends! Rebekah is definitely a faithful reader of my blog. She's the one that sends me texts that read, "Okay Blogging Babe!! Do I need to give you something to blog about?!" whenever my blog is way behind!! So, Rebekah, you get your own special post today! I hope that your year is fabulous! Thank you for reading and for being a friend!

Side note-- the picture above was taken at Rebekah and Steven's wedding two years ago. I also was the lucky one to catch the boquet at the shin-dig... but um, so far, that boquet hasn't brought me ANY luck!! One day, one day!!

Saw You At The Pole Rally

Last night, our church was the host site for the Lauderdale Baptist Association's Saw You At The Pole Rally. This is a time when hundreds of students gather in prayer and worship to celebrate what God is doing in their schools, among their peers and in their own life!

Look at this...(photo: courtesy of The Meridian Star)

Over 700 students turning toward the direction of their schools and praying for all that happens on each campus in the area!! Wow! What a great night!

I'm a Reality Television Junkie!

I LOVE reality television. I love a good competition and I think that's part of the reason why! So, after a really busy summer, all I was looking forward to was some good rest and relaxation in front of the television... only it was late July and August and there's almost absolutly nothing good on tv. Until this week!!

Ya'll I couldn't wait until Dancing With The Stars came on Monday Night. I cooked creamy chicken and rice casserole and some greens and settled in for a good night of entertainment. I have some favorites already for sure.

Kyle & Lacey- before DWTS, I had never heard of Kyle, but I had seen Lacey on So You Think You Can Dance a few summers ago. This boy has some rhythym and I think their personalities work so well together!! I think they'll go pretty far! I was really excited about seeing "Baby" this season, but I wasn't too impressed. I really couldn't even recognize her at first, and once I kept watching her, it hit me. This girl has had some MAJOR nose reconstruction. She doesn't even look the same. I know that "Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner" but she's definitely not in my corner of favorites at all! Oh, and Audrina and Tony. For the most part, I think Tony gets horrible partners every season. Audrina really surprised me. I thought she would just get out on the dance floor and flake, but she can bust a move!! Here's to hoping that they do really well!

And YES! I'm a Gleek!! But I wasn't one last night. I went to a football game for a few of my youth and the season premier didn't get recorded! TRAGIC!! So, I'll definitely have to find some time this week to tune in online and watch! I can't wait!!

And then tomorrow night is pretty darn exciting too!! Grey's anatomy left me in total shock and on the edge of my seat last season!! I have praise band practice right up until like 5 minutes before the season premier airs, but mark it down. My tail will be on the couch for the hour following! I can't wait!!

Are you a reality tv junkie? What are your favorite shows?!