Let The Things You Love Be Your Escape :)

1 week down 16 more weeks to go...

2012-01-30T22:18:00.002-05:00

So week one of half marathon training ended Saturday and a new week began on Sunday. Let's just say that I am struggling a bit. I have been on that loves running however, I do like how I feel afterwards. Last week I ran about 3 miles on a very hilly course. Needless to say that was a big mistake, at least for right now. At one point I thought I was never going to make it back to my house and if I was struggling with 3 miles how in the world was I going to be able to do 13.1 miles and live to tell about it?!?! Well in the midst of my little pity party, ha, I was reminded that I do have to start somewhere. I cannot just expect to be able to up and run 13.1 miles easily right off the bat. Rome was not built in a day. I think this whole training process might take a toll on me more emotionally than physically because I like to feel as though I have accomplished something after each run. So I pray that I learn to become more disciplined and develop more patience during this whole training processes. Wish me luck! :)

It's official...I have lost all my marbles!

2012-01-23T22:23:00.003-05:00

So this past weekend I was talking with my boyfriend's mom and sister and they talked me into running a half marathon with them. I signed up today and it is official, I am running my very first half marathon. I am very excited but also very nervous at the same time. We are running the Divas Half Marathon in Myrtle Beach. It is a big nationally know race called Run Like A Diva. Hopefully I will be able to blog my training progress for you all. Today began day one of train for a half marathon. I did a 30 minute walk/run. I started out walking Rambo but his little legs only lasted on loop around the neighborhood so I dropped him off and ran the rest. By running more I think it will help me maintain my stress during my final semester of grad school. Please join me in my new journey to prepare for a half marathon!! Now back to grad work.

2011-12-29T18:02:00.004-05:00

Ok if you have not heard of Pinterest or if you have and just havent visited the website then DO IT!!!! I have recently become obsessed with it. I found a recipe for loaded potato soup on it. The recipe came from Live A Little Wilder blog. I made it for my parents the other night and it was so good!! For Christmas I got a KitchenAid mixer and it is my new baby!!!! I seriously could go bankrupt buying things to make with my new mixer. To go along with the potato soup, I made homemade bread. I was nervous at first because to make homemade bread you have to have time and patience...two things I normally do not have a lot of but luckily break provided me with both. My next thing I want to make is the Santa Fe Chicken Fajita Soup.

My new baby and her accessories

The bread: It is round because I did not have a loaf pan...

The final product!!

For real Paula you should watch out there is a new chef in town. :)

Watch our Paula...

2011-12-29T17:28:00.006-05:00

Since I have had so much down time during break I have worked on my cooking and baking skills. I had no idea what to get my dad for Christmas other than a funny t-shirt that said: "I came, I mowed, I kicked grass" because even though I live on my own, he still comes to mow my lawn! I sure do love my daddy!!! After thinking for awhile, I decided to make him a homemade caramel cake using my grandmother's (his mother) caramel icing recipe. Not to toot my own horn, toot toot, but it was pretty delicious and daddy loved it. :) To make the cake I just used a box cake recipe but for the icing all you need is powdered sugar, light brown sugar, whipping cream, vanilla extract, and butter. Below is the masterpiece:

The beginning stages of the icing

The final stage of the icing

My final masterpiece after daddy ate a slice!! He loved it!!

My other thing I made was a pound cake! Usually I struggle with making the pound cake stay moist by Oh buddy it was real good!! All you need is butter, sugar, flour, almond extract, cream cheese, baking powder, and eggs. Here is the final product:

Christmas Season!

2011-12-23T15:50:00.004-05:00

I cannot believe Christmas is just 2 days away. 2011 is almost over. So much has happened in the past year and I am so lucky for the many blessings that were brought to my life. In 2011 I finished my first year of teaching, first year of grad school, bought a house, went to Alaska, and paid my own bills. There are times I come home from work and I am still in shock that I am a "big girl". I love having my own house and be able to provide for myself, although I did not mind at all living with my parents. :) I used to absolutely HATE yard work, especially picking up pinecones. Lucky for me my house has one tree and it is not a pine tree. I have thoroughly enjoyed Christmas break so far. I never realized how badly I needed a break to kind of get myself back together and run some errands. I completed all of my Christmas shopping yesterday...I was a little behind/didn't start until Wednesday. My only complaint about break is that I wish it was a little bit colder outside so that it would feel like Christmas! I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!

Be the Shark not the Goldfish

2011-11-14T21:11:00.004-05:00

I just started reading this book tonight called The Shark and The Goldfish by Jon Gordon. I have only read a little bit of it but already I 100% recommend this to everyone.

The back cover is what hooked me instantly.

Not many know this but I have been struggling the past few months with change. Some of the change is for the better while other parts not so much. It weighs on my physically, mentally, and emotionally. My hope after reading this book is that I can be more like the shark and not the goldfish.

Update

2011-10-19T22:23:00.002-04:00

It has been over 2 months since my last post and so much has gone on since then. Work, grad school, and coaching have consumed all of my time lately. Teaching science this year is going well. I still love math the most but I do enjoy a change and I love the hands-on experiences. :) Coaching is going well. My girls have been working so hard this season and we have competed in 3 competitions already. They have placed 2nd at all 3 competitions but have been improving each week. We have this weekend off but start back up next weekend. I am halfway finished with the Fall semester of grad school which means I am almost 3/4 of the way finished with my masters degree. I will graduate May 5, 2012 at 3pm...yes I am counting down the days. I absolutely love my degree program and I am learning a lot of useful information. However, I am ready to not have the stress of grad school in my life. I have been living in my house for almost 3 months and I still love it so much!! I finally had a fence put up in my backyard. Eventually I want to paint the half-bath downstairs and my bedroom but that will be a later project. My dad finally installed a ceiling fan in my bedroom and one of the bedrooms upstairs. I will post some new pictures soon!! My goal is to update more often then every 2 months but I cannot make any promises. ;)

Alaska = AMAZING!!!

2011-08-07T22:51:00.004-04:00

I loved Alaska! The weather was in the 50's most of the time and the scenery was gorgeous! I saw whales, grizzly bears, bald eagles, and a sea lion. Kaitlin (my best friend from college) and I took a ton of pictures. So about the trip...the plane ride there was a bit rocky because there were several screaming kids on it. Also I had the middle seat so I felt trapped and could not stretch out. It was 5 long hours to Seattle. We spent the night in Seattle and then set out for our cruise the next day. Once we left port, we were at sea for one day and then we hit Tracy Arms Fjord to see some glaciers. We did not actually dock anywhere so we basically were at sea for two days. On Friday we arrived in our first port, Skagway. Here Kaitlin and I did some rock climbing. It was so much fun. Since we were at port from 7am until 9pm, Kaitlin and I decided to ride in a floater plane over to Haines where we rented a car and toured the town for a few hours. This is where we saw grizzly bears and a bald eagle. We were within 100 feet of the bears and it was truly something else! I did at one point, while I was running across the field to get closer to the bears, feel like I was on the discovery channel creeping through the fields filming bears. After our bear adventure, we stopped and had dinner at Fireweed. It was one of the best pizzas I had in along time. We flew back to Skagway in time to get back on the boat and sail on to your next port. Here are some pictures from the first few days of the trip. I will post more pictures later but here a few for now.

Sunset from the plane to Seattle.

Seattle, WA

A tiny iceberg in Tracy Arm Fjord.

The breathtaking glacier!

Glacier up close

One of many waterfalls!!

Alaska Adventures

2011-08-03T01:10:00.002-04:00

For the past 7 days I have been on a cruise to Alaska. It was WONDERFUL!!! I want to go back (just not right now). So much happened since last Monday when I flew out to Seattle to begin the cruise and because I took TONS of pictures, I will have to update slowly. I am currently sitting in my hotel in Seattle typing this entry. I fly out tomorrow (Wednesday) and will be traveling all day. I will try and start sharing my adventure on Thursday. But a cruise to Alaska is something everyone should do!!!

Updated house

2011-07-07T10:59:00.003-04:00

My house is moving along rather nicely. This week they are painting the house and installing all of the hardware. By the end of next week it should be completely finished and had the final inspection. I close on my house July 22 and move in shortly after closing!

House!!!

2011-06-01T14:53:00.007-04:00

My house is coming along very nicely!!! I feel like I am waiting for a baby to be born or for Christmas because I am SO ready for the house to be built so I can start decorating and to buy furniture!! I dont want to by anything yet because we have nowhere to store it right now. The builders are moving so fast with the house I am amazed each time I go up there. Enjoy the pictures. There will certainly be more later. :)

All Grown Up...almost

2011-04-24T18:36:00.002-04:00

As of Friday at 11 AM, I officially became a home buyer. I bought my first home and in 120 days it will be built and ready for me to move in. My house is a starter home and in a new neighborhood about 5 minutes from work. On Monday I pick out my carpet, countertops, flooring for the kitchen and cabinets for the kitchen and bathroom! So many decisions but so exciting!! I will post pictures throughout the process and of course when the final product is complete. :) Oh being a grown up is fun and scary all at the same time...oh and quite expensive!! ;)

Pre-approved :)

2011-04-19T20:55:00.003-04:00

Today I met with the mortgage guy to learn that I was pre-approved for the loan for my new house!!! I am super excited and cannot wait to get this house built. It will be in a new neighborhood near where I work. All these homes are cute little starter homes!! I go back and meet with the Realtor this week to officially write the contract!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!! More updates to come throughout the house developing process!! :)

The past few months

2011-04-12T20:41:00.003-04:00

Wow...I am TERRIBLE at updating this thing. It is not like I have been busy or anything ;) The end of the semester is approaching in the next month, semester 2 of graduate school is almost over, and cheerleading is starting up again!! Phew! Next week I will be on spring break FINALLY!! I do not know who decided to make it this late this year but seriously this is crazy. My kids and I are mentally done and we still have 6 weeks after spring break before summer. Luckily it is broken down into tolerable segments. After spring break we have 2 weeks until PASS testing. Then after that we have 2 weeks until exams and then my first year of teaching will be complete. Crazy how I am finally doing what I have always wanted to do. This first year has certainly had its ups and downs (WAYYYYYY more ups than downs though). I absolutely LOVE the women I teach with on 6th grade hall and I absolutely love teaching middle school. For the longest time I only wanted to teach 3rd or 4th grade and when I had 5th grade as my placement for student teaching, I was very upset. I didnt want to teach 5th grade because they were "too old" for me. The 5th grade class I was in, was actually at the middle school because they needed more numbers to have an assistant principal. I fell in love with the middle school atmosphere. My kids I teach this year are so much fun!! They have amazing personalities and I have really enjoyed being able to watch them grow over the course of the year. I will truly miss them next year. Last year I coached cheerleading at my old high school. I have always wanted to coach cheerleading ever since I was a cheerleader in high school. This week we are having tryouts and I am very exciting about getting a new group of girls to work with and coach. I am proud to say that I have survived the second semester of grad school. There were times this semester that I honestly didnt think I was going to make it because of the intensity of one of my classes. Luckily I met a woman who works at Chapin High School that is in my classes. We have been able to work a lot together this semester and we will be in classes together for the remainder of our program. That is a MAJOR plus!! My main drive is that May 2012 this will ALL be over with! :)

My Bucket List

2011-01-09T15:01:00.002-05:00

Since 2011 has started I have been doing a lot of thinking about just living my life to the fullest and "letting the chips fall where they may." July 30 was the day my life changed and my future began. I got a phone call telling me that I was just given the job at Chapin Middle School. Since then my life has changed. I love teaching so much. Sometimes I put in 12 hour days at school because I just cant get enough of it. Even though I work a lot, I would not change it for the world. I am only 22 so why not live my life to the absolute fullest. I saw the Bucket List a few years ago and started making my own bucket list. There are so many things I want to do before I am too old to do them. This summer starts the beginning of my bucket list!! Kaitlin, my best friend from college, and I are going to Alaska for an Alaskan Cruise. One of the ports we are stopping at is Skagway, Alaska where we are going to go rock climbing! I cannot wait to climb the White Pass. We have been talking and decided that we are going to train to climb Mt. McKinley in Summer 2012!! I know God has plans for me and when the time is right, he will show them to me!

A picture is worth MORE than a 1000 words...

2010-09-20T22:04:00.006-04:00

‎"Most of our life is a series of images, they pass us by like towns on the highway. But sometimes a moment stuns us as it happens, and we know that this instant is more than a fleeting image. We know that this moment, every part of it, will live on forever."

Tonight I was looking through an old photo album my dad put together for me of pictures when I was little. Ironically enough, a lot of them involved Granny. As I was looking through these pictures I really see how special and close our relationship was. Below are some pictures :) (sorry that the pictures are very tiny. Ill try to do some resizing later)

I was always Granny's little helper. Anytime we would go visit her, I would help her cook or clean the dishes. I loved being wherever she was. Granny was my safety net. I knew that no matter what when I was with her, I was 100% safe.

Granny always helped me figure out how my toys worked. I knew she would always be there to help me learn.

Back to the safety net, I always felt safest in her arms. She had this warm presence about her. She would hold me in her arms and all my worries would just fade away.

We bonded most on that swing. She and I would go outside into her backyard and swing and talk. A lot of times I would tell her stories that I made up off the top of my head about the most random things. I was never able to tell the same story twice. Haha. But she would always listen and every now and then ask me questions about my crazy stories. I loved when she would tell me stories about daddy and his brothers (George and David) and sister (Alice).

Granny and I always loved being silly. One day she had some new wigs come in and we decided it would be fun to try them on! :) I believe this was one of my most favorite days with her! Everytime I see a wig, I think about this picture and that day.

Granny even played with me and my new toys I got for Christmas. How cool is that?!?!

Even in the family photo she is always by my side watching over me. She was and always will be my Guardian Angel.

Granny hands down made the BEST chocolate cake!! Whenever we would go visit her, she made all kinds of goodies. She had a caramel cake for my dad because that was his favorite. She made a chocolate cake, carrot cake, homemade chex mix, she always had a jar of antique candy, circus peanuts and cookies. I think that is where my "fat kid camp" syndrome came from ;) I think tomorrow I am going to look for more pictures!

Timeless Memories

2010-09-19T20:04:00.004-04:00

"Sometimes people write the things they cannot say."

I have decided to write a few blog entries about my Granny. She was such a phenomenal woman and I think it will help the overall healing process by sharing some great stories about her. It has been 2 and a half years since she passed away but she was such a big part of my life (20 our of the 22 years I have been alive). And anyone that knows me knows that I have a hard time letting go. Losing her really changed my life. I am not the same person I was 2 and a half years ago. I know that even though she is not physically here, doesnt mean that she is gone because I have all the memories we created. But there are days where I could really use her here. She always knew exactly what to say to make it all better. Oh how I miss her so much! When I was younger the family would always go up to see her the day after Christmas and spend a few days with her. So below is the last picture she and I took together which happens to be the day after Christmas when daddy and I went to Alabama to visit her.

2010-08-29T20:39:00.003-04:00

"I can honestly say you've been on mind since I woke up today. I look at your photograph all the time. These memories come back to life."

For the past two days I have been thinking a lot about everything. Today all of the upperclassman moved back to Erskine. It is so weird to not be moving back to college. I still cannot believe that 4 years flew by. College was such a wonderful learning experience. I learned so much about Education (since that was my field of study :) ), life, myself, and so much more. I made some of the greatest friends ever! Also throughout the 4 years I lost some people. Given the chance to repeat the last 4 years, I would change a few things but then again I do not think I would be where I am at today. I had not been to the lake in a long time to take pictures of the sunset so I decided to go yesterday. Taking pictures really helps me escape the worries of life. Below are some of my favorite pictures I took:

There is nothing like a gorgeous sunset to help you heal!!

More pictures!

2010-08-21T21:42:00.003-04:00

Here are some more pictures of my classroom. The first day of school was AMAZING!!! I love the people I work with. They are beyond awesome!! I am excited about what the rest of the school year has waiting for me!!

NEW JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-08-18T02:35:00.005-04:00

Since I cannot sleep at the current moment, I figured I would update my blog. A few new things have happened over the past few weeks. As of last Monday, I am currently an employed teacher of the Lexington/Richland School District 5. I will be teaching 6th Grade Math this year. I am BEYOND excited about my job! I started school last Thursday and my kids come this Thursday. The past few days have been very overwhelming but I am really excited about this school year! Below are some pictures of my classroom before and after. I have not taken any recent pictures of my room but I will today and add them soon!!

When I first walked into my portable this is what it looked like. I had to get all of that other stuff out before I could set up my stuff.

Now here are some pictures of my room after I got in there.

I have been working in my room like crazy this week. I will update soon :)

Rambo

2010-07-29T19:06:00.005-04:00

The day after I graduated I went and got a puppy. His name is Rambo and he is a black/tan dachshund. We have another dachshund that we got when I was in the 6th grade. His name is Rocky. :) I have always wanted another dachshund and my parents said that I could get one after I graduated from college. However, they did not realize I was going to be so literal and get on the day after graduation!! The past few months have been very trying on me mentally, physically, and emotionally. Rambo has been such a blessing and allows me to love him unconditionally! Below are some pictures of him!

He loves my brothers dog Boone a lot!! They are the best of friends. Anywhere Boone is, Rambo is sure to be there soon!

Change

2010-05-31T23:14:00.002-04:00

"Change. We don't like it, we fear it, but we can't stop it from coming. We either adapt to change or we get left behind. And it hurts to grow; anybody who tells you it doesn't is lying. But heres the truth: The more things change, the more they stay the same. And sometimes, oh sometimes, change is good. Sometimes, change is everything."

This quote pretty much describes the last four months. I began student teaching in February and that was a huge change within itself. I had to adjust to being at the middle school every day and not have the "college life" so to speak. I was used to being at Erskine all day every day with classes and such and then all of a sudden that stopped. But I eventually adjusted. Then May 15th I graduated and yet again that was a huge change for me. It is still weird to think that 4 years of college has come and gone. So now I enter the "real world" and for once in my life I do not already have a set in stone plan. When I graduated high school my next step was attend college. Now that I have graduated college, I plan on getting a teaching job but right now with the economy...jobs are not readily available. Plus I do want to go to graduate school to start earning my masters but my application is not due until July so I will have to wait to find out if I get in. So right now I patiently wait and see what the Lord has instore for me!!

As a side note: I am in Tennessee this week on vacation with my dad's side of the family!! My aunt and her husband rent a huge cabin for the week and the WHOLE family comes up and stays!!! I am so excited for this week! Everyone started arriving today. I will try to get better at updating my blog so my goal is to try and update each day of vacation :)

God's Beauty

2010-01-02T19:53:00.008-05:00

I love to take pictures! When I have a camera in my hand I get picture happy and snap tons of pictures. My favorite thing to pictures of is the sky. I am obsessed 100% with the clouds and the shapes they make. Last year I was at the park and took a picture of a cloud that was shaped like a heart. This was by far the coolest thing I had ever seen. Below is the picture:

Yesterday, I went down to Lake Murray to take pictures of the sunset. The sunset last night was breathtaking! I had never seen such a beautiful sky as I did last night. I was mesmorized and captivated by the beauty God was showing me. I love the clouds in this picture! I think the clouds really add to this picture. They are dark but gorgeous.

This one is my favorite picture that I took!!

I did not notice the sailboat at first but I think that it added to the picture!

I wish I was on that sailboat so I could see the sunset closer up!

Halfway There!!

2009-12-14T21:09:00.002-05:00

So tomorrow I finally get to go home for Christmas break! I am so excited and so very ready to be home!! Tomorrow will be my last Fall semester at Erskine!! I will not have to be back at school until the end of January. I am an elementary education major and I will be certified 2-6 grade but hope to teacher 3rd or 4th grade! But with jobs being the way they are I will not be picky about what grade I am offered. Next semester I will be student teaching and I cannot wait! It is hard to believe that I will be graduating in a semester and starting a whole new chapter in my life, but I am ready for the adventure!!

Thanksgiving Traditions!

2009-11-27T16:41:00.003-05:00

I love family traditions!! I know I said in my post about that beach that if you could describe my family in one word it would be tradition, well that it still very true. Holidays is when our traditions become more and more big! For Thanksgiving every year, we go out to eat for dinner. When Grandma Florence (my mom's mom) was alive, she used to cook Thanksgiving but when she passed away my grandfather did not want to cook. Therefore they decided to start going out to eat. We started going to Morrison's Cafeteria every year ever since I could remember. Then Morrison's turned into Piccadilly's and we continued to go. Last night we decided to go eat at Lizard's Thicket because we could go later. It was wonderful! I have always wanted to cook on Thanksgiving but decided that it just would not be the same. Tonight my dad and I will put up our Christmas tree. I usually put the tree up, daddy puts on the lights, and I decorate it. Christmas is by far my favorite season and I think Christmas Eve is hands down my favorite day of the year!! I will post our Christmas traditions soon. :)

Davey :)

2009-11-23T13:12:00.009-05:00

So a few weeks ago I went to Florida to pick up Davey for my boyfriend, Daniel, for his birthday!! I know it is kinda crazy to just randomly go to Florida one day to pick up a dog but I did not go by myself, Sara and Kaitlin went with me! He is a bulldog/lab mix and is the perfect dog for Daniel. They are so much a like it is crazy! One similarity is they are both grumpy when they first wake up and take FOREVER to actually consciously wake up. But I love them both nonetheless :) Below are some pictures of Davey. I will be adding more when I put them on my computer.

The ride home to see Daniel :)

playing with moo-moo

sleeping while Daniel ran in to the USC Volleyball game. He can fall asleep instantly!

This one is definitely my favorite! I love how his tongue is sticking out :)

He really is a great dog!! He is sweet and the BEST nap time puppy!!

Davey came over to play with my dogs one night and he decided to corner Rocky under my dresser, Rocky was not too thrilled. I hate not being able to see Davey and Daniel everyday because I am away at school. BUT, I only have a few weeks until the semester ends and then I will only have one semester left until I GRADUATE!!! I am very excited about graduating but nervous at the same time.

Sunset

2009-10-24T23:23:00.007-04:00

One of my favorite things to do is take pictures of the sunset! Last weekend when I was home for Fall Break I went to Lake Murray to take pictures of it. Here are some of my favorite pictures from that night:

This one below is my favorite one that I took. It makes me think of my grandmother! She is a wonderful lady that I miss everyday.

Counting my many blessings

2009-10-24T23:08:00.007-04:00

At the beginning of August, my mother had her annual physical. During her physical she had a chest x-ray where the doctor found a large mass in her lung. After several different tests, her doctor told her she needed surgery and needed to go see the lung specialist. After speaking with the specialist, he told her that he needs to take out the mass and have it tested for cancer. He then proceeded to tell her that he felt certain it was cancer.
Hearing this completely broke my heart and has really affected my last month and a half. Just the thought of losing my mom tore me up. I fought back tears for several days after hearing this until one of my best friends hugged me and assured me everything was going to be alright. At that moment I cried and I did not stop for a few days. I was scared for me and my mom. I could tell that it was really stressing her out which in return stressed me out. I didn't want my mom to be scared!!
Her surgery was Tuesday the 15th. It was a long morning for all of us. I came home from school the night before to surprise her. She kept telling me to stay up at school but I did not listen. I needed to be near her on that day. We arrived at the hospital at 5:30am and she went back for surgery shortly after that. We waited for what seemed like hours until finally the doctor came out. The moment I saw him I just stopped breathing. He and my dad went into the consult room to talk about the results. When my dad came out the first words that came out of his mouth were "It's not cancer!" I felt like I could finally breathe!!! All I wanted to do was see my mom but I couldnt because she was in recovery. Finally around 2pm I was able to see her! She has been in the hospital since Tuesday. Originally she was going to be released Friday or Saturday but then the doctor changed it to Sunday or Monday. I have gone up everyday to see her and each day it looks like she is progressing more and more. Thursday was her worst day there but she survived it. She and her sister are both strong surviving women!!! My aunt has been through more in the past 10 years of her life then anyone should ever have to go through!! I am so proud of my mom for being strong!! Today was family day at Erskine and my parents came to visit me! Mom is doing so much better now and has been back at work for two weeks. Here is a picture I took for her! It is called "I Can Breathe Now"

Flickr

2009-07-13T22:37:00.002-04:00

So I have been introduced to Flickr by my wonderful friend Dorothy. She has been doing it for almost a year and loves it. I love the pictures she takes. She really has an eye for a great picture and is a great photographer!!! She amazes me with her pictures!! So hopefully I can post some things on here that I post on there. Attached is the url for Dorothy's page and my page. Go on and look. It is a pretty cool site to look at!!

Dorothy's link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dor619/

My link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40132106@N02/

You Just Don't Mess With Tradtion

2009-06-19T23:00:00.004-04:00

If I had to describe my family in one word it would be tradition! Everything we do is based on tradition and I would not change it for the world. Every year for the past 25 or so years my mom's side of the family goes to Surfside Beach for a week. My mom and aunt rent a house and we all go done and have a blast. We go Saturday to Saturday. Every Friday before we leave, we all go to the bookstore to buy magazines and/or books to read during the week and we are not allowed to read them until we leave Saturday. On our way down we always stop at Cooper's Country Store to get a snack...this usually marks our half way point!

And every Saturday for dinner we have baked ham and biscuits. Over the past 6 or so years we started taking Khaki and White pictures all because mom found a picture of all the kids wearing white tops and jean bottoms back from when we were younger. We wear white shirts and khaki bottoms. Below are some of the pictures taken over the past few years.
Pictures from 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 Beach Trip:
BubbleShare: Share photos - Easy Photo Sharing

But by far the thing I love the most is our flags that we hang up on the back porch. Each flag represents our schools:
USC: Les
Wofford: Tate
Dutch Fork: Artie
Clemson: Matthew
Erskine: Me

So tomorrow we begin another adventurous week full of tradition and I am SOO excited!!

Just another day at the farm :)

2009-06-19T22:44:00.005-04:00

This week at work was nutrition week. On Wednesday we made edible art and today we went to a vegetable farm. It was very hot today but we still all had fun!! :)

The start of something new!

2009-06-13T11:13:00.009-04:00

So for a while now I have wanted to start a blog but I had nothing real exciting to share like being engaged or being pregnant, so I just kept putting it off. Well even though I am neither of those two exciting adventures I just decided to bite the bullet and try it out. Hopefully readers you will enjoy! I have been working at a summer camp for the past few years and it has really been a great job to have because I get to work with wonderful people and play with kids all day long. Each week of summer has a different theme. This past week we talked about manners. The children learned about proper etiquette. On Friday we took them all to Olive Garden so that they could practice their good manners! I was pretty nervous at first taking 25 kids to the Olive Garden but it was a success!! They did AMAZING!! They were so polite and used excellent manners!