Easter Weekend!

Easter has come and gone and I hope that you had a great weekend with your family and friends!  I know that I did!  Easter morning started with me getting up early and getting ready for church because I was supposed to lead worship for a sunday school class.  My mom came over at 7:30 Easter morning for us to swap Easter baskets... yes, we're both adults, but it's something we enjoy doing!  Take a look at my basket...

and here are some pictures from the Easter lunch at my mom's house...

Oh, and HAIRSPRAY!!  Have you gotten your tickets yet?!  I sure hope so!  Last night, the leads had to take headshots for a big picture they're trying to create.  So, Lucinda did my hair.  This was at the end of the night, so it needs to be flipped more at the bottom.  But that's MY real hair!!  And it took THREE shampoos to get all of the harispray out :)

Easter

The big weekend is here.  The weekend that most women are preparing and cleaning their homes, and cooking big meals for Sunday lunch.  The weekend where people are frantically running around trying to finish getting shoes and accessories for their Easter frocks.  The weekend where children are waiting to dye eggs and go on egg hunts and turn into bed early so they can rise and see what the Easter Bunny has filled their baskets with.  It's also the weekend where Jesus was crucified and buried in the tomb only to rise on Easter morning and give us a new hope- a new life.  For most, Easter gets hectic.  We worry about what the Easter menu is made up of and whether or not we're following the traditions that are there every year, wether we're dressed in the right fashion trend, what the children can wear to outdress everyone else in their sunday school class and what we can put in the Easter baskets to out-do last year's gifts.  It gets crazy!!  I'll admit it- I love Easter and the craziness.  But take a look at this video.  This was on CBS last night and I missed it.  But it gave me chills.  It reminded me of how great our God really is.  Reminded me of the promise of Easter and gave me a few minutes to just reflect on what Easter means to me as a Christian.  Just take a few minutes- you won't regret it.

Oh to be able to have that talent and sing like that girl!! She's phenomenal! 

This time last year, we were preparing to see my childhood friend, Abby H., get hitched!! My how fast things can happen in a year.  Since last April, one of the friends in this picture is engaged, one has lost her father to his battle with cancer, one has moved even farther away in Texas, one is one year closer to graduating in the Master's program (stike the music and hear the angels sing... that's me, that's me)!  Ha!!  I loved singing in this wedding and getting back together with all of my friends from high school!  Happy FIRST anniversary to you and Robert, Abby H.  I hope ya'll are having a great time celebrating in NYC!! 

I hope that you and your family all have a wonderful day tomorrow as we celebrate our Risen Savior! 

The Kitchen Stuff...

A few weeks ago, my family from Birmingham brought my housewarming gift to me-- Some much needed pots and pans!!  I've been so busy that I've yet to cook a meal.  But this past Saturday night, I put the pots and pans to the test!

Saturday nights menu consisted of Boiled Shrimp and Potatoes!  So YUMMO! 

And for dessert?!  RED VELVET CAKE BALLS!  I got the recipe from my blogger friend Kelly, and now I know what all of the rave was about!! 

The thing that I didn't think about was this... 

Yep, red velvet cake turns everything red.  My hands, my clothes, my countertops... there was red EVERYWHERE!! But the end result was so worth it!

Yesterday, our church had a spring fling.  This was a big church picnic, BBQ, Easter egg hunt, petting zoo and an appearance from the Easter bunny, too!!  It was a great day and it was so much fun for all of our kids and their families!!

And today, well I'm just so thankful for best friends and time out of our busy schedules to catch up!!  There are parts of the city of Clinton that are a mess from the bad weather last Friday, but that didn't keep me and Britt from getting together and enjoying a much needed hour of girl talk and pimiento and cheese!! 

Stormy Weather

Oh wow!! Yesterday afternoon was CRAZY with all the weather around our area.  We heard about the possible sever weather and all of the things that come along with it, but all morning yesterday, nothing happened.  We waited, and waited.  Around lunch time, my grandmother called and said that she had heard about a tornado that was in Clinton, MS and that two people were dead.  I quickly got onto facebook and saw all of these posts about the tornado touching down on Springridge Road and I began to panic.  I am on Springridge road every other Monday.  That's the high traffic area for those around the campus of Mississippi College.  I have friends that work and live around there.  Pay close attention to this vide.  It was taken yesterday from the east bound lane of the interstate between the Springridge and the Clinton/Raymond Rd exit.  The lime green sign is Froghead Bar & Grill, there the movie theatre, and then the tornado begins to cross right on across Springridge Road.   



I was able to get in touch with Taylor, Kristen, Michele and Brittany and all of them were fine!  No damage was done to their houses or anything.  But my sweet friend Kristen from high school was completely overwhelmed when I talked to her.  She lives in a complex off of HWY 80 in Clinton where the tornado was also.  Her duplex didn't have any damage whatsoever, but her neighbors on both sides weren't so lucky.  Their duplexes were destroyed from trees falling and power lines.  I can't believe it, and she surely is in shock! 

We had our own little damage around the Meridian area.  The schools kept students until almost 4:00, and there were several homes that were destroyed, but for the most part, the tornado hit the surrounding area of Kemper county.  There was even a school bus that was unaccounted for a good part of the afternoon.  Once it was found in the ditch, all of the chldren and the driver were unharmed... and lots of parents were able to take a sigh of relief!

Here are some other pictures from the storm in Clinton and some of the weather in Meridian...

Meridian...

*all photos taken from The Meridian Star and The Clinton Courier

Will you please join me in prayer for all of these families and these towns that have been damaged.  My family and friends were all very fortunate and many of them are joining together in Clinton today to help clean up the city.  Many lives were changed in the matter of a single hour.  Wow.

Crazy Busy...

This week is flying by!!  Like, I can't believe that it's almost the weekend-- but I'm not complaining one bit!! 

My life these days basically consists of leaving home before 8:30 and going to work and not returning home until 10 or so at night after play practice.  So, my house is still clean beacuse I'm just not here that much!  HA! 

Speaking of the play?!  My legs are finally back to normal after all the dancin' I've been doing lately.  Last Sunday, I had dance rehearsal from 1:00- 4:45 and I danced the ENTIRE time!!  I could barely walk on Monday! HA! 

Look at this video... if this doesn't make you excited for Hairspray, I don't know what will!!  I'm PUMPED that the show is getting closer and that all of my friends are getting their tickets!! 

Do you see why I'm worn out?!?!?  And that's just one dance... out of the 8 that I'm in!!!

I'm having a blast though!!

I can't wait for the weekend!  I'm dropping off my guestroom bed to be antiqued so that I can get my bedroom ready and so my guests will have a place to rest their heads :)

Hope you're having a great day, friends!!

Weekend...

This weekend went by sooooo stinkin' fast!!  Friday, I was off from work and got to sleep late after a late rehearsal night on Thursday!!  I also got to have lunch and love on this sweet little man...

Sweet Baby Mason Hill!!!

I've only gotten to see him twice and the first time was his third day home and he just wasn't happy :(  But Friday, oh, I just couldn't put him down!!  I ate quickly and just snuggled with him and got to visit with his mama and his great!!

Friday night, I headed to Birmingham for dinner, shopping and a play!! 

The first stop?  The Cheesecake Factory of course.  I was a plain jane and got a boring burger for dinner so that I could chow down on THIS...

 The Reeses Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake.... yummmmm!!

and look at the back of this thing... ya'll, it was incredible!! 

 And the play??  Well, I wasn't too impressed.  The actors were great, but it was just really hard to follow.  The music was incredible, but I love plays that have lots of costume changes, fabulous music and there's never any dead time... guess that's why Hairspray is my favorite :)

Saturday was a day that was spent with friends! Shopping, eating, catchin' up!  My kind of fun!

And Sunday, well I thought Sundays were supposed to be a day of rest, but not yesterday!!  Oh. My. Word.  I went to church and then ran home to change clothes for a 1:00 rehearsal.  I didn't sit down until my tail was in my car at 4:40 heading back to church.  I danced the ENTIRE 3 1/2 hours.  I was a nasty, sweaty, mess.  And ya'll KNOW that I hate to sweat!!

And last night after I finally got home, I spent 3 1/2 hours taking tests, quizzes and writing papers for school!!  The semester is almost over thank the good Lord and I don't have much left to do! 

So this morning, I slept late and am just chilling out in my big comfy chair, taking it easy.  I'm heading to an FCA Luncheon at noon, then to State Bible Drills and then back to the theatre!! 

Happy Monday Ya'll!!

Hairspray!!

HAIRSPRAY TICKETS GO ON SALE THIS COMING MONDAY!! 

If you're not a season membership holder and don't already have your tickets, please call Meridian Little Theatre at 601.482.6371.

Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for students, military or Senior Citizens

and you can come to the Friday, Saturday, Tuesday or Wednesday night performances at 8 pm, or the Sunday afternoon performance at 2 pm. 

Maybe I'm a little partial, but this show is going to be GREAT!!!  

Don't wait too long to purchase your tickets, they'll go fast!! 

Something BLU

I have a small little obsession with this new line of girly stuff called BLU GERTRUDE.  It originated in Jackson through Courtney Yancey and friends.  Courtney's husband, Lee, was the youth minister at FBCM for several years, is currently a Senator for MS and is running for State Treasurer!  Anyway, if you talk to anyone in Meridian, they can tell you that Courtney is brilliant when it comes to being artsy!!  She takes trash and turns it into treasure.  She's had her hands in almost every type of art in Jackson since they moved there.  When we became facebook friends, I noticed this new little line of headbands that she was making and her business had such a catchy name.  I've been waiting on some to come through Meridian.  And boy did it.  Today.  Like, I was buying as it was being unpacked from a suitcase :)

Courtney is the mastermind behind all of this.  She designs and lays out the look of all of the pieces and then someone comes behind her and sews.  How fun would this job be?! 

Not only does Blu Gertrude consists of a line of headbands, they make cuffs,

Baby Bands

Guitar & Camera Straps

Earrings...

and their wedding line...

So this stuff has taken the city of Jackson by storm!  Migis, Gingersnaps and several other stores carry all of their products.  Well... I FINALLY got my hands on some today and can't wait for my hair to get a little longer for a cute little ponytail so that  I can sport this...

My new headband...

and my new key fob!

I'm pretty much not scared to try anything once.  So... we'll see how this goes!  But regardless of how it looks on me, you MUST find you some Blu products for your life!!

Sidenote* I asked for a piece of this for my birthday/ valentines, but I didn't get any.  So I mentioned something about it a while back and my mama said, "Oh... I looked all over the place for some Blu Elenor!" ha!!  No wonder I'm just now getting some for myself!  Be sure to ask for Blu GERTRUDE!!

Just so you know...

I think I've done a darn good job here lately of giving you some random things to read about (cough, cough, REBEKAH!!)  So... I couldn't let a beautiful, FUN weekend happen without updating you-- and I really didn't want to break my stride :)  So there are just a few things we need to catch up now, huh?!

FIRST AND FOREMOST!!  Y'ALL!!!  Grey's Anatomy?!  What in the world were they thinking?  I went to play practice for all of 10 minutes and was told I didn't have to stay so I was able to watch the new episode.  But, um, when did Grey's turn into a musical?!  The story line was great, but it would've been much better if they would've gotten those mediocre singers to just act!!  If the purpose was to get people buzzing about the show, then kudos.  That's all I've been hearing about for a few days.  I just wasn't that impressed.  But, I will admit that I downloaded Callie O'Malley's (or whatever her name on the show is now) version of "The Story" on iTunes because I thought it was pretty good!!

Yesterday I spent my day giving back to the local schools.  I was asked to judge the "PSE Math Olympics" all morning yesterday.  Oh what fun!  There were all of these tents set up with games such as "Bubble Mania, Build It, Spin a Yarn, Suitcase Relay, Hamburger Hut, and tons of other stuff.  These fifth graders were divided up into teams and had to compete against each other in these math centered games.  I was in charge of judging "Spin a Yarn" The students had to take 9 meters of yarn, and make 8 different geometric shapes.  They received points for teamwork (everyone's hands had to be on the yarn at all times), and they received 2 points for every shape that made correctly.  They had to make easy shapes like squares and really difficult shapes like a triangular pyramid-- that's a 3-D object, folks!  I was super impressed with the whole morning! 

After I finished at PSE, I went out to Clarkdale to speak to their Bible Club during lunch.  Such a great group of kiddos!  I enjoyed it so much!

Saturday I had the BEST intentions of making a day in my hometown and supporting the arts at the Three Foot arts festival.  I spent all of 45 minutes downtown.  I was totally disappointed.  They had a ton of things for kids to particpate in, and lots of food, but the number of pottery, jewelry, art, and other odds and ends booths were incredibly low.  I didn't buy a thing- and that's just not like me!  I was just envisioning "art in the park" all over again- with so many vendors and booths that you could spend days shopping and looking.  I'm heading to Fairhope next year for their big arts festival, hopefully.  I hear it's absolutely incredible!!!

I did see Amanda though...

and I saw this precious sight too...



Tonight I'm heading to Diamond Jims in Livingston for dinner and celebrating!!  My tastebuds can hardly wait! 

Tomorrow I'll be leading music and singing at FBCM.  If you don't have a church to attend or you would like to tune in on channel 6 @ 10:30, please do!  Go and find a place to worship tomorrow!