Our First Christmas Together

This Christmas was very special for us since it was technically our first christmas together. We are lucky that we were able to celebrate Christmas with both of our families! We spent Christmas Eve with Chris's family...and they spoiled us! It was a great time of hanging out, eating good food (thanks Kim) and laughing at the funny gifts everybody got. Chris and I went on covert operations to get pictures of his family from when they were little to now (thanks to Dan's help) and I made Kim a scrapbook for Christmas. It was so interesting to see Chris and his family and how he has grown-up. I think it brought back many great memories for Chris and it was my honor to be able to create such a special gift for such a sweet lady. I'm just afraid we'll never be able to top that gift (what have I gotten myself into :)?).

Kim and her scrapbook

Matt and his new guitar

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...Snoopy boxers and Leg Lamp boxers (from A Christmas Story)

And the front...this is too funny!

Stocking presents

After we finished hanging out with Chris's family, we made the trek to Nashville. It was raining, and Zeppelin was being a pain, but we listened to Christmas music and began to talk about the new year, so it was actually fun. I also made my mom a scrapbook of all of our disney trips (I know, I'm pretty much awesome). Thanks dad for getting all the pictures. It was so much fun to create something I know my mom will love. We spent Christmas day with my family and had good times and great food! Grandmama got Zeppelin the cutest Santa outfit so of course I made him wear it. Be aware you may be blinded by his cute-ness!

Santa Zeppelin

Grandpa-LOVE HIM

Mom and her scrapbook...she cried a few tears

Too precious

Yea for Christmas!

Merry Christmas everybody!

UH OH...I Think I'm A Big Girl Now

December 13, 2009...the night that made my dad and Mr. James cry, the night grandpa had been telling random people about for months, the night I have been waiting for my whole life. It was a perfect day. On Saturday Uncle Gary, Mom and Dad, and Grandparents came up and Chris and I met them for lunch. We then came back to the apartment where we played "Seinfeld Scene It," Mom, Uncle Gary, and I versus Chris. We won, but only barely. That was lots of fun! We also played spades at the hotel they were staying at, Uncle Gary and I versus Chris and Dad. At first we were kicking their butts, and then we lost. But that was tons of fun too! Chris and I went to pick up Mr. James and Mrs. Debbie at the airport and then we all hung out at the hotel. On Sunday (Graduation Day), some of us went to church, then Mr. James and I went to my apartment so he could meet Zeppelin, and then I took the boys on a tour of campus. We all split up to go get ready and let me just say, I was having a PERFECT hair day (thank you Jesus)! We went to graduation at Thompson Boling Arena, which was waaaay too long but Dad and Mr. James cried a little bit! After we had a party at the Copper Cellar. It was great to get to see everybody and Mom outdid herself on the decorations! It was a perfect day!

The Graduation Ceremony

My AMAZING Neyland Stadium Cake
My Person(Grace)Kim(Chris's Mom), Me, and Chris
I love my MOMMY!
Too CUTE!

My Second Family (The Corks)

Mrs. Debbie and Mr. James

Daddy's "big" little girl

I'm so glad everybody came!

Thanks for my pearls!

Love her!

I couldn't have made it through without you guys. Thanks!

Everyone means so much to me and all of you guys helped me get to wear I am. I appreciate your love and support and am looking forward to the future!

In Loving Memory of Samson

Chris and his family got Samson when he was about 13. Samson has been pretty sick for a while but has recently took a turn for the worse :( Unfortunately Samson will have to be put down today, but it everyone knows it is what is best for him because no one wants him to suffer. We went to say goodbye to Samson last night. It was sad to see Chris say goodbye to his buddy. Please keep his family in your prayers (especially his mom as she has to take him to the vet today)! Love you guys!

Chris and Samson 12/07/09

Dear Gelato: I love you a-loto

So I promised some people I would put up pictures from my trip to Europe. Sorry they are really out of order. I got to go to Italy and Paris this past July to study abroad. It was amazing! I went to Florence, Siena, Cortona, Milan, Rome, Venice, Pisa, and Paris. I stayed in Castiglion Fiorentino, a small hill town in Tuscany. One of the highlights of the trip was the Cinque Terre. Its five hill towns tucked away on the Mediterraean Sea. There is a very rigorous 8 mile hike connecting these towns...which I did. It starts out fairly easy between towns 1 and 2, then gets more difficult, with 382 stairs at the end of the trail between towns 2 and 3, and then its rigorous between towns 3 and 4, and very rigorous between 4 and 5. Overall it took us around 4 and a half hours to hike the whole thing and we ended up at a beautiful beach where we spent the afternoon. Another highlight of the trip was our trip to Venice. It is a beautiful city...I wish Chris would have been there to enjoy the romantic city on water with me! I had a blast and can't wait to go back. Enjoy!

So close to the end of the hike

One of the 5 hill towns in Cinque Terre

Middle of the Cinque Terre Hike(I'm a little sweaty)

Grand Canal at Night

Overlooking the Grand Canal in Venice

Inside the Coloseum

At the Pantheon

Outside St. Peter's Bascillia in Vatican City

The Coloseum(one of my fav things)

Some famous bridge in Florence (realto bridge??)

Looking out from the Eiffel Tower! How cool is this!!!!!

So pretty!

Small town(like 8 residents)!

Our FAVORITE gelato place in Castigilion Fierointino

The Leaning Tower of Pisa!

At the end of the hike, we got to spend time in the Mediterraen Sea!

At the end of the hike(now there are only 6)

All ready for our hike(notice there are 9 of us)

We spent the night in these tents before heading to the Cinque Terre

It was an amazing trip! I am so grateful that I was able to go and experience other cultures and learn so much about myself. I now know that even if you are lost for 3 hours in a strange city where you don't speak the language and its 105 degrees outside (and you have all your luggage) that you will still make it through. Plus, it can't get any worse!

T-6 Days

Less than one week until graduation, and I couldn't feel less unprepared and more confused about the future. This is the day I have been waiting for and dreaming about for years, yet I wish it was further away because reality is not so very fun. I still have one strong possibility of getting a job with a great company (I've already had two interviews), it still makes me nervous because for the first time I dont know what the future holds. I've always known that around January 5th I'd be heading back to classes (sigh) and while it feels fantastic to know that I won't be...what am I going to do if I do not find a job? I am blessed to currently still have a job at Best Buy, and while I don't want to stay there forever, it is a job for the meantime. Praise God! Please pray for me as I should be hearing back today about the date and location of my third and final interview with Ferguson. The location will most likely be where I will end up moving in January, so hopefully its some place good! Please pray for patience for me as I continue this job search and that my interview would go flawlessly with Ferguson. Thanks in advance!

It snowed here on Saturday and Zeppelin was hilarious! He is such a little *girl in the sense that he was scared of the snow and refused to go to the bathroom outside. I was hoping to get some cute pictures of him in the snow but he had other plans. I went with Kim (Chris's mom) to a ladies tea at her church on Saturday and it was very nice. It was a great time of worship and fellowship and I am very glad I was able to go! The table decorations were so beautiful...it gave me great ideas for my tables in the future!

Chris has to go have one more root canal type thing on Friday, yes I know, two days before graduation...so please keep him in your prayers for a painless procedure and a quick recovery.

We are very excited to begin the holiday season. We both love Christmas time and it is fun to begin new traditions and try and figure out where we will be when type thing (which is kind of stressful). We even got Zeppelin some awesome presents for his stocking and my grandmama got him a santa outfit to wear on Christmas morning. I'll make sure to take plenty of pictures. I love you all and can't wait to see some of you at graduation. Thanks again for your prayers!

Job Search

I have been very frustrated lately with trying to find a job for after graduation. I had a few really good prospects these past few months, but they all fell through. This is the first time in my life where I feel like I have no idea what I will be doing in the next month, let alone the next year, and I am scared to death. I am a planner and to not have a job this late in the game is scary. I am blessed that I still have my part-time position at Best Buy, but I am counting the days until I can get out of there. Please pray for patience as I continue to search for a job and that a door would be opened for me. I know God has a plan that is better than I can imagine, I'm just struggling to trust him.

On a good note, Chris is experiencing very little pain after his root canal so that is awesome!

Here We Go

Well, I said I would never start a blog, and yet I find myself writing one. I figure its a good way to keep everyone updated on my life as things have been pretty crazy lately. It's my goal to update weekly, maybe more if life gets interesting. I love you all and we'll see how this thing goes!