10 Blessings of 2007

1. First and foremost we found a church home this year. It is somewhere that we can grow as Christians and live out our marriage like we pledged to do.
2. Wes got his dream job at TVA Brown's Ferry, and though he works his booty off, the job in itself is an immense blessing.
3. We were able to buy our first house and I am so grateful to not have to rent anymore!
4. I had many many friends welcome babies this year and each and every one of those babies is a precious gift from God.
5. Though I have had some ups and downs this year with the career aspect of my life, I am blessed that God has allowed me to take a year off work to make sure I want to be a teacher for the right reasons.
6. I really learned the importance of family this year. I now know to make the most of every moment I spend with them because it might be my last.
7. I believe I have one of the most caring and patient husbands out there. He has had to put up with some major emotional breakdowns from me and he is always there for me. I love you Wes!
8. I was blessed to be able to keep up better with old friends. That was mostly thanks to this blog :)
9. I have been blessed with good health this year. That I am extremely thankful for :)
10. I got to get away a couple of times this year. That is always good :)

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that 2008 is a blessed year for all of you!

New Years Resolutions and Goals

Well 2007 is almost over. Hard to believe. This year has felt like it has flown by. However it was an extremely blessed year for me and my family. Now it is on to 2008. I wanted to state some resolutions and goals that I have for myself for the year.
1. I plan on tackling my terrible habit of procrastination. I believe I am the world's worst at this. It can really bring unnecessary chaos into a persons world. My mom's advice to me is to get the things I most dread out of the way first. That's pretty logical, hence I won't be wasting time while dreading something.
2. I want to be more organized. I am not totally unorganized, but I could stand to be more organized.
3. I want to be in the know about anything and everything baby.
4. I want to explore my more creative outlets this year. I want to learn some new hobbies and crafts. I see all these people who make the cutest things and I think to myself why not? I can learn to do that too.
5. I want to read through the Bible this year. I have a plan for daily reading and I can't wait.
6. You always hear people say I want to lose weight. Well I want to be healthy. I really want to be able to touch my toes again. I haven't been able to do that in a while because somewhere in the last 10 years I have lost my flexibility.
I have other small goals but you get the gist. Now I want to wish all of you a blessed and happy new year. I hope 2007 has been good to you and that you look forward to a fantastic 2008! Happy New Year!
P.S. Here are a few pics from Christmas.


The present was bigger than her!



I have some from Wes' family as well but I will save those for later! Have a great weekend!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

This will probably be my last post till after Christmas. Today I made six containers of cookies for Wes' instructors at work. I made Colleen's Pecan balls and some white chocolate dipped "snowmen" which are actually nutter butters. :)



They kinda look like alien snowmen LOL
Anyway though I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Hope Santa brings you all good things :) Enjoy your families and stay safe! Love to you all!
Happy Holidays!

Lions...Big Loveable Kitties :)

Today I spent my day on campus at UNA shooting pictures for a Christmas present for Wes' Uncle James. Uncle James is bed ridden in a nursing home in Florence due to a disease that has taken control of his muscular system. My mother in law Kay called me last night wanting to know if I'd mind coming to Florence today to see if I could find a picture of UNA to hang in Jame's room. Well I was pretty sure that it would be hard to find the kind of picture she was thinking of of the UNA campus (you know those big ones like they take of Auburn and Alabama? That's what she was thinking of.) I told her I'd check off campus bookstore for her but I knew that on campus bookstore was already closed for the holidays. Then I came up with the idea to go around taking pictures myself. Well then Wes came up with the idea to do this big collage frame...it's hard to describe but when we finish it tomorrow night I'll post a picture of it. I'm pretty excited about the idea and I think James will love it. I forgot to mention he graduated from there when it was still Florence State Teachers College.
Anyway I also spent a lot of time at the lion habitat with Leo and Una. They are amazing creatures. Even though I have walked that campus many many times I have never really stopped to take pictures or just watch these big kitties. They are very people friendly. If you are ever in Florence and are near UNA's campus between the hours of 9am-6pm then swing by and check them out. Here are a couple of pictures I got of them.

Leo III

Una (pronounced You-nah)

These babies are 5 years old. They were born on November 18, 2002. I remember well when UNA received them in the late spring of 2003.

I couldn't resist adding this picture. I got lucky and caught him in a yawn :)

10 on Tuesday

1. This time next week it'll be Christmas.
2. This time in two weeks it'll be 2008.
3. I am completely overwhelmed and unmotivated today!
4. I really enjoy acting goofy in the car with my hubby.
5. I am done Christmas shopping with the exception of my hubby's stocking stuffers.
6. Have you ever discovered how when you go to the grocery store on an empty stomach and hungry that you buy a lot more?
7. My niece is turning into a drama queen :)
8. I really wish my house phone would quit ringing because every time either I or the machine picks it up all it is a series of beeps....very annoying!
9. I am making the pecan balls that Colleen brought to my cookie swap this week!
10. It is sad that my Christmas cards are just getting out today...oh well better late than never!
Happy Tuesday all!

Weekend Recap

Hello everyone I hope all had a great weekend! I guess I got my wish on the cold weather :) When we left for church yesterday morning we saw snow flurries :) Our weekend was good. We had my extended family Christmas on my mom's side Saturday down in Hartselle. We played a Christmas Bingo game that I had made up for my class last year. That is what these people are doing in the pictures.


My mom took the pictures. She just goes around snapping and doesn't really try to catch one particular thing you know lol! Now of course I have to put one of Macy in here as well.

She was playing cash register with her Uncle Wes :)
We also went to see Little Zach have some of his first taste of Christmas Saturday night. My mother in law doesn't know if she is going to be able to get him on Christmas day when we are all there so she wanted to give him some of his Christmas Saturday.

Aww...my hubby is going to be a great daddy one day :)

Little Zach wanted to join me and Wes in our picture


He knew exactly what to do with the toothbrush :)

Here he is on his new little truck...it took both Wes and my father in law to put this together!
He seemed excited to have some new things to play with but as for him understanding why he was getting it...that wasn't happening. Of course I know that it takes a few years. Macy is two and a half and this will be here third Christmas and she is just now understanding. Susan took her to see Santa and she didn't care for him much...lol. But still she kinda understands what Christmas is. I am looking forward to Christmas Eve when we have my immediate family together and I get to watch her open presents.
Me and Wes also took a picture of us in front of the in laws tree.

I hope everyone has a great week this week!

What is up with this weather?

I have a lot of Christmas shopping left to do and I just can't get into the mood when it's almost 80 degrees outside! Now mind you Christmas is the only time of the year that I want it to be cold. After the holidays it can go right back to being warm warm warm. I usually hate January and February weather! Depressing! So anyway why is it so warm? This can't be good...it can only mean that we are in for some heck of storms soon. I guess this is Alabama weather.
So I finished A Walk to Remember at about midnight last night. I read it in a day and a half on and off. It was very good, sad, and sort of kind of like the movie but it did have some total differences. Usually I like the books better than the movies but the verdict is still out on this one. I am mulling it over. I have moved on to the book Step on a Crack by James Patterson. I think I might have found me a new thrill writer I enjoy.
I am excited because last night we decided that the week of our anniversary this year we are going to Disney World. Wes has never been and he wants to go before we have kids one time. Well since our anniversary is when we are going to officially start trying for baby number one then we figured that we'd have to take advantage of his next non-training (this way he doesn't miss anything important) week and go. Well his next non training week is the first week of July which just happens to fall during our anniversary and the fourth of July. So it's off to Disney for us! I am in search for the best vacation package now :)
I hope everyone has a great hump day! The week is halfway over!

Guitar Hero, Cookie Exchange, and Kitties...A Weekend of Pictures!

This weekend was full of pictures so I'll pretty much let them do the talking!



This is Wes and I playing his birthday present Guitar Hero III! (Please excuse the fact I am in my jammies!)

This was our snacks at the cookie exchange.



This is the yummy cookies the ladies made. They were all fantastic and creative and I really appreciate all the effort they put into it!

Colleen and Monica smile while waiting in line.



Jennifer and Ashley give the camera a smile :)

Me, Ashley, and Jennifer

Colleen, me, Monica, and Klancy
And last but not least a couple shots of my kitties!



Again ignore my PJ's.
Hope everyone has a great week!

Happy Early Birthday to my wonderful hubby!

Saturday is Wes' birthday and I wanted to wish him a happy early b'day on here! I am looking forward to this weekend! Getting to go out to eat twice! And not having to pay either time! Whoo hoo! Also my cookie exchange is this weekend so I'll have pics next week. I'll have pics of the awesome gift I got Wes too...I'm looking forward to it as much as he is lol. So I want to wish everyone a happy weekend...and I'll be seeing some of you on Sunday! Happy Birthday Wes!

10 Things I remember about High School

Okay most of those who read my blog went to high school with me. So instead of doing a 10 on Tuesday I thought I'd honor the fact that we are about to celebrate our 10 year reunion. So here is 10 things I remember about high school. Feel free to post your ten in my comments or on your own blog :)

1. I remember getting locked in the bus bathroom on our way to Chicago ninth grade year. I was banging on the door and everyone was laughing so hard it took a minute to before someone could help me out. Even the chaperones were laughing. When I got out the whole bus was staring at me!
2. "Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"
3. I remember 11th grade year during football season we were playing stands tunes during 1st period. We had just gotten the sheet music to "Jungle Boogie" and John Griffin had brought the sound track to Pulp Fiction in and we were listening to the song to hear it. I remember Mr. Nichols groovin to it up on the podium!
4. Theresa Godbey having a wreck with Mr. Sloan in the school parking lot one morning before school.
5. The stadium lights going off at Gold Smith Shipman junior year right before the first ballgame and having to wait to use Milton Frank stadium to play the game.
6. Lauren I remember our first ever school bus ride to a football game ninth grade year going to Huntsville and we were sitting near the front and thinking we were going to die because the driver was driving all crazy!
7. One word...Yellowdogs!
8. Another one related to Lauren...remember 11th grade year Solo and Ensemble was at Johnson High School and your mom took me, you, and Laura Phillips but we weren't going to play for like 6 hours? So she agreed that you could drive us back to H'ville later that afternoon in the Topaz :) Remember almost missing the turn off of Rideout Road to the interstate and instead of going down and turning around you whip it over and me and Laura was sure we were going to launch out over the road into the air and onto the interstate. Ahh fun times!
9. Lunch room boycott! I still have the newspaper article about that one!
10. Many Many fun times in 5th period yearbook with Ms. Stroh!

Man I remember so much more! Overall looking back high school was some fun times :) Happy Tuesday!

20 Things about Me!

Okay so Colleen posted this in her blog and so I am going to do it. I'll give the same disclaimer she did. I would love to learn 20 things about you that I may or may not already know. You can post it in your blog or in my comments. If you post it in your blog then let me know you have done it. Okay here is to Colleen for starting this :)

1. I have attended 5 different colleges. My dad fondly calls it the tour of Alabama.
2. I am truly a girly girl. Shopping, mani's and pedi's, the color pink, you name it.
3. I am a college football fanatic. ESPN is a regular channel I watch during the fall. I can thank my big brother for that one.
4. I have been to 19 states and then the Bahamas 4 times, Mexico, Grand Cayman Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Jamaica.
5. I have swam in 4 different oceans: the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic, and the Pacific.
6. I don't have a gall bladder anymore.
7. I have endometriosis.
8. I have dissected an octopus.
9. I have a heightened sense of touch. I love to get massages and have my hair played with.
10. When I am pregnant with my first child I plan on finding out the sex but I am not spilling the name until he/she is born because I don't want someone to sway me with their opinions.
11. My cell phone opens in two different directions.
12. I can waste a lot of time on You Tube. It's my boredom site when I have nothing else to do.
13. I have OCD tendencies. Not for everything but I do have them for some things. Like here is a weird one. If I have already showered and am clean and Wes hasn't showered yet I don't like for him to touch me at all until he is clean too.
14. I am literally afraid of throw up. Yeah funny since I am a teacher. It's not that it just grosses me out, I am terrified of it. If someone tells me they feel like they are going to I am on edge. I freak out, literally. I wonder if there is a phobia name for that one.
15. I am constantly having to spell my married last name to people. What is so hard about McClanahan? But I am always getting this say what look when I tell people my last name.
16. I am a closet Hannah Montana watcher.
17. I always read the bulletins people put out on Myspace.
18. I am tongue tied. I can barely stick my tongue out.
19. If I ever want a new career I am going into real estate. I love houses!
20. I actually like filling these things and other surveys out.

There you go! Hope everyone has a great Monday!