Untitled Post

Well Hello!!  Before you read any further, you should know that this post is totally random!

Today was a sweat-fest at work! Everybody that was working today, plus some of my youth, wore junk clothes and cleaned out the stinkin' attic at the church.  I'm pretty sure that my mom pulled the "I'm your mother card"  and pretty much made me take part in the joyous festivities!  I tried EVERYTHING to get out of helping.  I hate cleaning.  I hate sweating.  And I hate having sore calves and aching feet from hauling up flights of stairs and loading trailors full of stuff.  If you ask some of the workers today, they'll tell you that I did NOTHING, but I beg to differ.  It's done.  That's all that matters.  

On a totally different note, I've found an app for all of you iPhone users that's a must!!  It's the walgreens app.  Now, before you say that I'm such a nerd, I do not make out my shopping list or locate flu shots (which IS an option), but I snap a quick pic of my prescriptions and they are uploaded and refilled in a flash!!  LOVE. IT! 

Also... I've made a "big girl" purchase-- a hammer and some nails!  Every girl needs to feel handy every once in a while, and I needed to do a few little home improvement things around the new abode, so I picked one up!  It's nothing impressive, but I can say that I have one if anyone ever asks!! 

I'm already in my PJ's and ready for American Idol!!  Who is your favorite so far?  Me?  Paul & Pia all the way!!!

Pure-deee funk!

I'm not really sure what's wrong with me other than the fact that I'm staying up way to late trying to watch everything that I've DVR'd in the past week, but I am wiped out!  I came home this afternoon from work and took a nap at 4:00, only to barely wake up in enough time to be at play practice.  I yawned all. day. long. 

This week is spring break in Meridian and for the first time in a long time, I'm super jealous that I haven't packed up and hit the road.  I work with students and the fact that they're all facebooking and tweeting pictures of their fun at the beach, Belize, Hawaii, etc. doesn't help my feelings at all!! 

The closest I got to enjoying the beautiful day was taking a drive with the music cranked up loud and my sunroof open as I drove to Collinsville, Marion and various churches in Meridian delivering t-shirts.  That is, until I saw this long rubber strip fly into the top of my car!!!  I was totally freaked out because I thought it was a snake.  Yes, I was the fool driving down Hwy 19 with my hand out of the sunroof trying to hold onto whatever it was that was flapping away!  When I pulled over, I noticed that the rubber seal on the top of my windshield had peeled away.  So I spent my afternoon at Novus and now am sporting this cool look around town...

I've just finished writing one paper that's due on Monday and will be working on another one sometime this week.  Hopefully I will have another room in my apartment to show you in just a few posts.  I will be using the beautiful weather on Thursday to antique my guest room bed and hopefully get that room ready for future house guests.  

Until then...

Team Emily

Well, Brad pulled through for Team Emily.  Yep, he PROPOSED to the girl I wanted him to choose for the finale.  She's so sweet.  And beautiful.  And soft spoken.  And real.  And for the first time all season, I totally thought that he was just as smitten with her as she was with him-- until After the Final Rose premiered.  He is tee-totally in love with Em and she's just um, not so much with him or so I thought.  He was super excited to see her and she was full of reservations!  Anyway, they say they're getting married and I was so glad to see the ring back on her finger. 

Poor Chantel though.  I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.  I would be a puddle on the floor if I were in her shoes.  But, he had to let somebody go, i guess.

I will say that his proposal just melted my heart.  If you didn't get a chance to watch, I've included it below.  The quality is pitiful, but it's all I could find! Grab your tissues, ladies.  These are a sweet few minutes :)

A Weekend in Review...

This weekend was absolutely gorgeous ya'll-- even though I had a New Testament midterm and an Ethics paper to write.  I decided that I didn't want to procrastinate and have to work on that when I would've much rather have done something else, so I tackled those first assignments on Friday morning!  Then, it was officially spring break :)  I spent the rest of the day Friday with my grandmother and great aunt doing what we ladies do best- SHOPPING!!  We went to lunch at Olive Garden, then went to the antique and flea market on 45, then for pie and coffee at Weidmanns!  I enjoyed spending the day with ya'll grannie and grannie poe! 

Friday night, my mom took me to dinner and we spent the night just returning and buying stuff to finish up the apartment!  Satuday was spent getting my washer and dryer put in.  Can I get an 'Amen?' I've never been so happy to do laundry in. my. life.

Saturday night was spent with three friends that I haven't seen since before Christmas.  Brandon, Lauren and Debo wanted to celebrate my birthday, housewarming, and making the play so we went to dinner, came  back to my place for a movie and just spent time making fun of each other and enjoying each others company.  Lauren told me earlier this week that it'd be like Christmas when she saw me because she had so many gifts to give me... boy, was she right!!

I LOVE this frame and the picture holder!  I need to find an easel for my frame, but my picture holder has already been hung in my kitchen (only with a command hook, mom) and all of my christmas cards that were cluttering my fridge have been added!!  It's quite cute!

She also gave me one of my favorite gifts ever!!  It's framed pictures of THE landmarks and fun stuff of Mississippi State University.  A drawing of the Chapel of Memories, the cowbell, The Hump, Left Field Lounge and all that jazz!!  I love them! Such a nice gift!

And because Lauren is just as giddy as me about my shot at being Tracy in Hairspray, she gave me these little happies...  every girl needs a hot pink comb, right?!

As if all of that wasn't enough, she fixed me a trashcan up with all kind of kitchen stuff that I needed!!  I was just trying to scrounge up some magnets the other day and almost bought some extra dish rags!  She knows me all too well!

After we ate, it was time for a movie!!

This was what we watched on Saturday night...

 The A-Team... I'll be honest.  I wasn't a fan.  It was a blow 'em up, shoot 'em movie... just not me :)

I went to bed late and we had to spring forward so I missed an extra hour of sleep.  So, Sunday afternoon I crashed on the couch and watched...

This was such a great choice!!  Betty White was hilarious, and so was Jamie Lee Curtis!  It's a great girlie movie! 

Then Sunday night, I had some friends over and we watched this...

This is definitely my new favorite movie of all time!!  It's precious... you'll laugh. You'll cry. And you'll find yourself smiling the whole time :) 

I hope ya'll are ready for a great week!! 

Heavy Heart

Just like many of you, I woke up to images on the news of what happened in Japan overnight.  Wow.  That's pretty much all I can say.  I can't stop watching the news.  My heart is so heavy for the people that have been effected by the earthquake and the tsunami.  I had some friends leaving tomorrow for Hawaii and they are obviously cancelling their plans.  Stop what you're doing and pray.  It's time to get right with God, folks.  We, as Christians, believe that God will take care of us and that He has a greater plan for us than we could ever imagine.  So we cling to the hope that He will continue to work all things together for the good of those that love Him and know that He is working in ways that we can't see or understand right now.  God, open the eyes of so many.  Heal our land. Most importantly, use these natural disasters to transform our lives so that we continue to be more and more like you!

Fabulous Find...

A few years ago I was in Jackson at my favorite store ever, TARGET!!  I was making my usual rounds... first through purses and jewlery, then clothes, then shoes and then on to the fabulous kitchen/ houseware sections, when this caught my eye!!

I LOVE shoes.  I refer to myself as a shoe lovin', purse buyin', budget bustin' shopper at heart and I was so excited to see these shoes!  I wear them all the time.  They're pretty comfy, too!  But everytime I wear them, someone compliments me on them and says, "where did you get those and how much?!"  The funny thing is, the reason I like them the most is that they were $7.98 on the clearance rack!!  Makes the purchase so much sweeter!

GUESS WHAT??  Tomorrow is FRIDAY and SPRING BREAK for so many of you!  Be careful with all of your travels and have a great time!

Much Love!

 

Good Morning Baltimore!

Yep, that's the tune that I'll be singing for the next two months!  I have spent the last two nights of the week at Meridian Little Theatre trying out for the lead role of Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray.  I am so, so excited!  From the time I saw the play for the first time, I always said that if Meridian ever got the rights to it, that I'd try out.  After talking myself in and out of audtioning for weeks, I decided on Monday afternoon that I'd give it a shot.  I cannot tell you how much competition I was up against.  Every person could sing, dance and act.  There were tons of people that tried out for all of the roles and I wasn't so sure that I'd even be Tracy. 

But, I got the call this morning with the good news.  So, mark your calendars folks for May 12-18 and get a ticket to this fabulous play! 

ramblings...

Well, I CAVED!  Yep, I did it.  I joined the wonderful world of tweeting and set myself up a twitter account.  If you tweet, twit, twitter, whatever you say to suit your fancy, then follow me @abs_0214.  I'd love to follow you, too! 

It was about 10:30 when I got home last night.  I hadn't had supper and since I'm in my own little apartment and trying to save money-- okay, maybe that's not totally true.  Maybe because most of the drive-thrus were closed, ha!-- I decided that I'd just eat something that I had in my little pantry.  There wasn't a huge selection, believe me.  So I got comfy on my couch, watched "The Women Tell All" episode of The Bachelor and ate a reeses peanut butter egg, or two or three :) 

I'm SO pulling for TEAM EMILY!!  I want her to be the chosen one super bad.  I think she's precious.  I'm STILL not crazy about Chantal and I'm even not lovin' the fact that Ashley, the dentist, might be the next bachelorette.  She's crazy for sure! 

It's done nothing but rain today in my good ole hometown.  We're in for some pretty bad weather for tonight, I think.  So ya'll go home, get in your pj's, eat you some peanut butter eggs, and catch up on some reality tv.  Those nights are the best :) 

P.S.  REBEKAH.... am I doing a GREAT job or what?!?! haha!

sweet goodness...

Last Thursday, I was about to leave for a youth basketball game in Quitman when I got a phone call that told me to come and pick these two things up... 

Yep, two loaves of homemade sourdough bread and a homemade poundcake!  Happy Housewarming to me from a very faithful reader, Betty!  It was absolutely scrumptious!  In fact, I'm on starch overload!  ha :)

As I was pulling up to my new home after picking up those two gifts, I spotted this...

My sweet mama planted me some beautiful geraniums and gave me a watering can with the sweetest note!  Thank you mama!  I think about you everyday when I see my "cheery" front porch.  Also, thanks for texting me and reminding me when I need to bring the plants in-- cause you know I know NOTHING about taking care of plants!

Saturday was such a dreary day around town.  It did nothing but rain.  All day.  So, I spent the day doing some shopping at the new Enterprise Pharmacy and Gifts and shopping for groceries for my youth get together on Sunday night.  When I finished all of that, and changed out of my soakin' wet clothes, I got ready to go and be the emcee at the Clarkdale Middle and High School Beauty Review.  Oh my word.  I've never seen so many fifth grade girls look like they're 30!!  All in all, it was fun and the winners looked beautiful and I can mark "emceeing an event" off of my bucket list!

I hope that you are having a great Monday!  I'm sitting in seminary class as I type this and should probably be paying attention!  I am paying for school after all! 

Premier Fabrics

If you're in need of having ANYTHING monogrammed, go and see Dia at Premier Fabrics in Meridian (by the old Sack & Save grocery).  SHE. IS. AWESOME.  She monogrammed my towels and my shower curtain for my bathroom and charged me a darn good price... like, um, $18.50 for all four pieces!  That's a steal my friends!  Anyway, we need to support the businesses like Premier Fabrics in our area, so go get your initials put on something :)

Ya'll have a great weekend!

Can I Please Just Say...

...that I'm loving my life and I'm certainly loving you today!  I got an email late last night about a 24 year old at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary that passed away after he collapsed while jogging.  You'll have to go here to read the entire story, but it broke my heart.  That's a  year younger than me folks- and he had only been married a year or so.  It's so sad.  Please pray for his young wife and his family.  It's such a reminder to me that at any minute God could take us.  It's so important to let those around us know that we love them!  

In other news, I'm rather disappointed in what I've seen in Idol so far.  I just so happened to flip on Fox this past Tuesday and got lucky that it was even on.  I've only watched one episode so far and it's been killing me to not know what's going on.  But I do have a favorite- yep, Paul McDonald.  Mmmm.  I could listen to him for hours and there's a few other perks too.  He's 26.  That's good.  And, he lives in Huntsville, AL.  That's not too far of a drive from my little town.  I'm kidding, I'm kidding.  But I love him, I do.  

I'm in the midst of changing stuff around on this blog.  I've had this design for a little over a year and since so many things in my life are changing, why not my blog design too?!     

Movin' on Up

So... back in the last post I told you that I was moving out on my own... and I did this weekend!! Can I tell you how much I love the independent life?!?! Why did it take me so long?! ha! Here are some pictures from the apartment. I left the kitchen, the bathroom and the second bedroom off because I haven't taken good pictures yet-- oh, but I will!!

My FAVORITE room... the living roomThe little dining area... isn't that table runner just THE CUTEST?! Pier 1, my friends!

This is your view when you walk in my front door...My bedroom

Since I've been starting out on my own, I had to purchase lots of new goodies for my new abode. Well, I NEVER knew just how indecisive I really was until this past weekend. No, really folks, my sweet mama was having to make all of these decorating decisions for me because I couldn't make up my mind.

However, you guys were taking care of me for sure. My sweet friends have given me gift cards, grocery cards (thanks Ivey's), TJMaxx gift cards (Thanks Sherry), wall decor (Thanks Ms. Sandra) laundry baskets full of the necessities and even DIET COKES AND TOILET PAPER!! (Thanks Joy & Terry and Sharon & Kate). I'm tellin' ya! Ya'll have done super well!

Even though I needed to buy the necessities, my eyes were fixed on the cutesy things like these... I didn't buy them, but a friend of mine was listening ever so closely and she bought them for me as a housewarming gift! LOVE!! And these came along with a Bed Bath & Beyond giftcard and a Winn-Dixie Gift Card...

Oh, and because I refused to grocery shop up until last night, some friends gave me this laudry basket full of goodies. I have to report that the reeses peanut butter eggs are gone and I was forced to eat something else for breakfast this morning!

Thanks so much for all of your well wishes! I'm getting the internet set up this week at the new place and having two little get-togethers this weekend. I should have some fun pictures to blog about next week.

Until then...

The Top Ten... since Thanksgiving...

Sorry for taking myself a little sabbatical, but I've been crazy busy since Thanksgiving.

Here's what you've missed with my busy little life:

1. I WENT TO DISNEY WORLD!! Oh my word- I can't put into words exactly how much fun Sarah, Emily, Jamey and I had, but it was the best trip ever! Grannie and Grandaddy- thank you so much for sending us. We'd love to plan a trip to San Francisco next year, hint hint!!

2. CHRIS TOMLIN!! I got to run over to Jackson for a night back in December and worship with the best of the best- Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockles and Louie Giglio! WOW. That's all I can say!!

3. CHRISTMAS!! What a fabulous day it was to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It even snowed a little and made for a "white Chirtmas." I had a youth christmas party, family christmas stuff, friend get-to-gethers and all that jazz!! It was a jam packed Christmas week for sure!

4. Gatlinburg!! After only being home for seven days, I turned around and took my youth to the Winter Xtreme conference in Gatlinburg. Oh. What. Fun. This three day conference was jam packed with bands like Skillet, Francesca Battistelli, Newsong, Newsboys and Mercy Me and speakers like Matt Pitt, Johnny Hunt and Josh McDowell. This was such a fun trip. However, I came home ringing in the new year with a bunch of nausea. It sounds very pitiful, but I was in bed by 9:30 that night and slept late the next morning! Exhausted is an understatement.

5. MY CAR WINDOW WAS BASHED IN AND MY PURSE WAS STOLEN... in the church parking lot! Yep! I was at praise band practice on night, for an hour, and walked out to open my car door and see that a brick had been thrown through my window and my purse was GONE!! Go ahead and say it, "Why was your purse in the car, abby?!" It was a moment when I thought I could just trust the world I guess and I didn't think any differently! Anyway, he only got away with my favorite purse and hobo wallet, my makup and everything in my purse, but he didn't spend any of my money OR FBC's money because I had all the debit/credit cards cancelled. Just makes me mad! I had to have a new window, two new window motors and a new regulator-- it's been a long month to say the least!

This picture doesn't do it justice. I have the video from the security camera and everytime I watch it, it just makes me FURIOUS! Anyway, blogger won't let me upload it!

6. Harper's Birthday!! My big girl turned 2 this year and is funnier than ever! She had a story-telling birthday party because she loves books and I was busy making invitations and planning her little shindig. We even fit in time for Harper's new favorite hobby: watching basketball!! We've spent a couple of afternoons just eating mexican, watching basketball, having M&M's for dessert and having girl time singing and dancing in the car!!
7. Disciple Now- This past weekend was a ton of fun with all that was going on. I was able to join with other youth ministers in planning a worship experience for a little over 500 people in Meridian. This was a great time of worship, bible study and mission experiences for all involved. Here's my little group! I love them so much!

8. GO PACKERS!!! I don't know how you celebrated superbowl sunday, but look at this nice treat we had at our superbowl party! It was delish!!

9. Did i mention that I am moving?? MOVING OUT, that is!! That's right! I'm excited to announce that I have put down a security deposit and am moving out into my very first apartment! After looking at a house or two and calling about several apartments, I just decided that renting was the best option for me right now. I'll have to show you some pictures when I get my little place all fixed up! I can't wait!!

10. Oh yeah, and I've packed on another semester of school! ha!!

It drives everyone around me crazy that my life is crazy busy, but I might as well try and do it all now before I settle down!! I hope that 2011 is treating you all very well!!

TOMORROW'S FRIDAY!!!!