Liam, Sam, Ava

So I just felt like posting some pics of my friends' child, Liam. He just never ceases to amaze me in how cute he is! And I love these pictures of him with Sam, their pug. They're slowly, but surely, learning to live in the same house and be at peace with one another. Ava is the first picture, my absolutely beautiful 2nd cousin...........I guess...........she is my first cousin's daughter.=) Jessie looked so much like this as a little girl, and I had that same little pixie nose. Guess I still do, but it's not as small and cute now. I'll be posting some pictures soon of our weekend with Matt and Meagan...........went to Memphis one day, where we took most of our pictures, and those mostly of animals at the zoo, of course. But there are a few of us!=) We had a blast, we're all a bunch of kids when we get together, always so fun! Coming soon.....

Utah Snow

Eric is in Salt Lake City right now, and is actually stuck there until they will let him drive his rental car down the mountain (he's at Snowbird). This is the same trip I went with him on last year when our flight got cancelled out there and a few hours delayed on the way back. It is what has made me swear off Frontier Airlines FOREVER! And if I never saw the Denver airport again, I would be thrilled. Anyway, Eric is having yet another adventure this year with something like over 2 feet of snow. I've totally lost track. They were supposed to get another foot today, but thankfully looks like it will only be another inch. It is actually illegal to drive down the mountain right now (they are just now letting people drive up it), or to ski up on the big slopes (the ski lift isn't even running). I can't even get my head around that much snow. I mean if people who live there are amazed, it must be pretty bad! Or I guess if you're a big skier, it's a good thing in your opinion. Here are a few pictures Eric took with his phone, so not the best quality, but look at how much snow is piled up on that cement thing in the 1st picture. Look closely, it's hard to tell just how much at first. Now I shall get back to wishing I was outside in our 80 degree weather today, but will have to be content with working in my cubicle. Fun times.

Charlotte Snow

While in Charlotte this past weekend, it actually snowed! I even got "stuck" there an extra day because of the roads being too bad to drive on. Now keep in mind, I went home to see my aunt and grandmother, who were visiting my mom, but do I have any pictures of them? No! I of course forgot the camera as usual, so these were taken on my phone, and I just don't usually like the way pictures of people turn out on the camera phone, you know? But they took some pictures, so hopefully I can get copies of some of those. Here are some pics of the snow and you'll also see one of me attempting to take a picture of the Bat Cave sign on the way into town. I just automatically think, "to the batcave!!!!!" when I see that sign.=)

Sickness and Sadness

Well it's that time of year. Eric was sick, then I was sick, then he was sick again, now I'm sick again. And he hasn't even been home very much! Talk about how much it must really stink to fly all over the country with upper respiratory issues, I'm sure not pleasant. I'm going to Charlotte this weekend to visit with my aunt and grandmother, who will be town to visit my parents. If anyone reads this and wonders why I didn't call them, I have limited time with them anyway, so I pretty much am keeping it family this weekend, not to mention I still have a cold. It hasn't kept me from doing much here, as everyone is sick anyway, even all the babies I'm surrounded by, so I still get to play!=)

A week ago today we had some layoffs here at work. We were told there wouldn't be any, so it was a SHOCKER, to say the least, and they laid off 5 people, which is 10% of our small workforce here. One of them was a very good friend and a partner in crime (we have very much the same attitude about work), and she had been here longer than most of the managers, not to mention other employees. It's been so weird this week with her not being here, and everyone's been in a little bit of a funk, too. I know we'll keep in touch, but I was a little dependent on her for when I needed to vent or just talk out my thoughts before passing them along to others, if you know what I mean.=) I know God has a purpose for her and for the rest of us, and I'm just praying that He will show us what that is. Well I hope everyone has a lovely weekend and know that you are in my prayers, you know who you are. I leave you all with a picture of my favorite doggie, and my special lil' man friend, Liam, who has been sharing in all the sickness lately as well. Get better, little guy!

My Companions While Husbandless

Pics from Destin and Christmas

Well, FINALLY here are the pictures I've been promising. All of them are on my facebook profile, so go there if you'd like to see the rest. These are just a select few from our trip to Destin with Matt and Heather, and then over Christmas when my parents were here and of course there's always a ton of Tyson.=) Not all that much going on lately, just my usual daily struggle to try and remember to thank the Lord I have a job. Eric and I both struggle in that area, but we continue to tell each other we are blessed to still be where we are, if that makes any sense. I won't say any more than that.=) Hope anyone who reads this is doing well!!!!

Happy New Year!

Hello all! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! As usual, I don't have pictures transferred to the computer yet from the camera, so here are some pics from my phone. And as usual again, most of the pics I take on my phone are of dogs. HAHA! But hey, I am such a dog lover, what can I say? We had a wonderful Christmas with Mom and Dad coming into town and Clint and Tyson staying with us as well. Tyson was neutered on the 23rd, so we tried (and we really tried) to spend the majority of the holidays trying to keep him calm so he wouldn't open up his stitches. Try to keep a 7-month-old, 50-lb. puppy from roughhousing and playing..............yeah, right. And he's so strong now, not to mention stubborn. It was fun to have a full house, though! We definitely missed having Sarah there with us, but we talked with her on the phone often, so it was kind of like she was there. Here are some pictures of our doggie friends: Tyson sleeping after surgery and then watching a Christmas Story on tv (he likes tv), and then both he and Freddie (one of Eric's parents' dogs) playing with new Christmas toys!!!! I'll post more of the people in my life soon, I promise!

Today

Well I'm the world's worst slacker of a blogger, I know. I spend more time reading other people's blogs instead of writing my own. Unfortunately for you guys, my life is quite consistent and normal and pleasant, so I never have much to write about! Actually, that's totally not true, there are at least a few things I could rant and rave about, but it's the same stuff everyone who reads this hears me say all the time anyway, and let's just say some things I really shouldn't put in writing! HA! There is such a thing as google, and I really can't have my thoughts on some issues getting into the wrong hands. I do want to share that I read a blog post the other day that just put a smile on my face because for the first time in a while, I felt like someone else out there can relate to how I feel! Mabel's House is where the post came from, and the gal who writes it is very quirky and funny. She had a post about baby names and how you should NEVER give your opinion or probably even ask about other people's baby names (SOOOO true, by the way). It came up in her post that she and her husband have not quite decided if they want to have kids or not, and she's of the age where everyone is asking and probing and giving her their opinion on the matter, especially because most of her friends her age have already hopped on that bus, or whatever the saying is.

WARNING: If you are a sensitive person, do not read any further.

I am so much in the same place, it's not even funny. I feel like my life these days has become only about defending my right to my own decisions, and even my right to privacy. I'm working on "the Rebuttal to end all Inquiries," and I might just say I'm infertile! I don't think a lot of people realize how absolutely RUDE it is to ask when you're going to have kids, and why haven't you yet, and you better hurry up before you get too old, etc. Or even worse, when you say you're not sure if you want kids or not, they look at you as if you just said, "I eat small children for breakfast," or something. How dare I even ponder if I want kids or not? Do I not have a maternal instinct? Isn't my clock just tick tick ticking away! Honestly, no! It's not! I haven't even been married 2 years yet, I'm only 28, all (and I mean ALL) of our friends are having children or have had them, so what's the rush? I have lots of other kids I can spend time with and then go home to my childless house. Well, I say childless, but Eric and I are truly still children at heart, we play board games and video games and play with toys half the time, we're definitely not feeling like we're getting old! I'm going to propose a challenge to everyone out there (the 2 people that read this, LOL) to see how long you can go without asking me, or any other childless people you may know, when we're having kids. Deciding to bring a child into this world is NOT a decision I take lightly. It's a lifetime commitment and this world just seems to get worse all the time......I'm just not sure I want to take that on. And if that makes me selfish, so be it, call me selfish. But think of it this way, asking us about our plans for children, etc., is basically like you coming up to me and asking me about my sex life. Or even to tell you all about my deep, dark secrets. It is a private thing between a husband and a wife and is just as important a decision as to who you'll marry, in my opinion!

Ok, I'm getting long-winded and probably very offensive, so I'll stop now about that. Hopefully you all can see where I'm coming from. I also wanted to write today so I could share with you the snow we had last night!!! It's such a rare thing here in Nashville, so of course all the schools closed and all the kids were outside playing, but it was only about an inch or two, but was on top of ice because it rained first. I took some better pics on my camera, but don't have those on the computer yet, so you'll have to settle for some from my cell phone. Also attached are the latest pics of Liam, my "adopted" nephew,=) and Tyson, my dog nephew. I'm going to be everyone's favorite aunt and spoil them rotten!

Until next time, when I promise to have a more delightful, charming, less defensive post.=)