It Has Been Too Long!

I got busy with the holidays and just quit blogging but I miss it and want to get back into it! I still read other people's blogs daily and I want to be a part of the blogging world! I see other people making lifelong friendships through blogging and I hope to be there someday. I guess I'll do a quick re-cap since November...

December 2011

Let's see, in December I turned 26 and started dating my current boyfriend, Daniel. Here we are at my housewarming party on 12.16.12 (2 days before we became "official" and 3 days before my birthday):

And here we are, ready to go out for New Year's Eve:

My dad threw a surprise birthday party for my step-mom. She was so excited and surprised!

 I decorated my own little Christmas tree, pink of course! One of these days, I'll need a bigger tree as my ornament collection grows!

Cooper went and met Santa at PetSmart. He loved him!

My handsome brothers on Christmas morning with Cooper and Lucky, my Grammy's dog:
Don't they look thrilled to be up early?

Cooper (mine), Coco (my parents' dog on top), and Lucky (right, Grammy's dog) after a long Christmas morning. Don't they all look like brothers?

My sisters and I did some Pinterest-inspired Crayon art, mine is the pink one of course!

We also threw my brother, Philip, a baby shower. I can't believe the only picture I took was of him with a baby cigar? He had a great time and got lots of stuff for the baby!





I guess I hit the important pieces of December. I enjoyed it because I got to spend a lot of time at home for my step-mom's birthday and Christmas. I'm thinking it was probably the last Christmas all of us siblings will be able to come home all at the same time. We are growing up and live further away and Philip has started a family now!

Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving! Its so nice to spend time with family and friends and reflect on all the things we have to be thankful for. There is just so much to be thankful for that I could never write it all.

Of course I'm thankful for the normal things like food, clothing, shelter, family, friends, etc. But since I've started working for Child Protective Services, I have really started to reflect on my life and what a great childhood I had. Of course I suffered a major loss with my mom passing, but overall I had it pretty good. We had a nice house, drug-free parents, and although we weren't rich, we never went without.

Wednesday, I worked at the pharmacy (2nd job) for a few hours. I'm a nationally certified pharmacy technician and i have been working in pharmacies since I was 16. I enjoy it, so I work every other Sunday and sometimes when I have days off at my regular job. Anyway, I worked Wednesday and then packed the car and headed home to Peachtree City! That night, I went to a little get together with my parents and got to see a lot of my friends's parents and catch up.

Thursday, we had Thanksgiving lunch at home. At home, my dad, stepmom, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, baby brother, and Grammy (stepgrandmother) were there. My brother, Philip, couldn't make the trip from Kansas City, so we Skyped with him and his girlfriend. I miss him and hope he can make it home for Christmas! We had a great meal with yummy ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, green bean casserole, squash, and dressing. That night, we all watched a movie and went to bed.

Friday, my dad worked on my car putting on new brakes and doing a "tune up." So nice that he can do that kind of stuff and I don't have to pay expensive labor charges at a mechanic. He spent a lot of time on it and I'm so thankful he did that. My brakes were pretty bad and squeaking alot, so I feel much safer now! After he finished, I headed back to Augusta.

It was a nice visit at home. Everyone pretty much got along, even the 3 dogs! I wish I had taken pictures so this wasn't such a boring post. I think my dad got some, so I will have to borrow his camera next time I am there to upload photos.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that everyone took some time out of their day to say "thanks!"

Grandma's Memorial Services Continued

So I left off with Saturday's church services...

Sunday, we did more visiting with family, my stepmom flew home, and my dad, sister, brother, and I drove to Gilman, Iowa. It is a small, sweet little farming town that Grandma grew up in. My Grandpa George is buried there and Grandma wanted to be buried next to him.

The Iowa part of the family joined us at a cute little hotel that night and we did more visiting and more showing of the slideshow. We usually only see the Iowa family in July during our family reunions, so this year was a bonus to see everyone twice, even if it was a sad occassion.

Monday morning, we had the graveside service and buried Grandma's ashes next to Grandpa and said out final goodbyes. It was beautiful weather. The cemetary was so nice and incredibly old. We saw many graves from the 1500s and earlier! After the service, we went to a local church and had lunch. The ladies from the church were so sweet and cute and they kept saying how much they enjoyed making our family lunch. So cute!

These are some of Grandma's grandchildren: Andy, his wife Colleen, Mary, Ella, Hannah, Sean, and me at the church.

Some of the Iowa cousins and us: Daniel, his son Harris, Andy, Colleen, Mary, Ella, Sean, Hannah, me, Katie, and Christian. It was so nice seeing everyone twice in one year!

After lunch, we headed back to Kansas City to do more visiting :) Tuesday we flew back to Atlanta and I headed back to Augusta and worked Wednesday.

It was such a nice trip seeing friends and family, especially my brother Philip. We miss him here in Georgia and can't wait to see him and our new niece in February!

Grandma's Memorial Services

Way back on Columbus Day weekend (October 5-11), I went to Kansas City again...this time for Grandma's memorial services. My dad, sister Hannah, brother Sean, and I flew into Kansas City on Wednesday night. It was really late when we got there, so we went to my grandparents house and went to bed!

Thursday, my stepmom Debbie flew into town and we all did a little shopping. That night, we had the best pizza in the world (Pizza Shoppe) at my brother's girlfriend's family's house. My brother has moved in with Sydney, her parents, and sisters because they are having a baby. That's right, my first niece is on the way :) Hannah and I had met Sydney and her family in July, but the parents have never met each other. The dinner was very nice and we felt welcome and comfortable for what could have been a very awkward situation!

Friday, we did a little more shopping, visiting with friends and family, and just hanging out at my grandparents house. I don't really remember anything special about that day, so I guess it was uneventful. Makes me wish I would have blogged about this trip sooner!

Saturday morning, we had the church funeral for Grandma. Yes, this is the same Grandma who passed away in July. She was cremated and we scheduled the funeral for a holiday weekend so that everyone could travel to Kansas City. Grandma's daughters live in Texas and her sons live in Oregon. We live in Georgia and the rest of the family lives in Misourri and Iowa. The service was beautiful. My stepmom made a slideshow of photos from Grandma's 87 years on Earth. I think she is going to put it on a website...if she does, I will be sure to come back and put the link in. After the service, everyone went to my favorite Mexican restaurant ever, Mannys!

We all had a great time visiting, laughing, and remembering Grandma. We had the slideshow playing there as well and people really enjoyed looking at the pictures.

Here is Sydney, Philip, and Hannah (the twins) at lunch. I know you can't see Sydney's belly, but she looks great for being almost 6 months pregnant here!

Here is me and Aunt Emilie at lunch. Aunt Emilie is such a great person! She has lived with Grandma for about 10 years taking care of her and her house. Aunt Emilie and Grandma even moved to Georgia after my mom died to help my dad take care of us. It was so nice having family, especially my mom's mom and sister because it was like having a little part of Mom still with us. They moved to Texas in 2006 after I went to college, the twins were in high school, and my dad was remarried.

Here is my dad, brother Sean, brother Philip, Grandpa Tom (dad's dad), and Uncle Kent (dad's brother). My dad met my Grandma back when he was 16 years old, and his parents were friends with Grandma since then as well. It was so nice that so many family members from my dad's side came to remember Grandma, very sweet.

Saturday was a great day, good weather, and a wonderful service to remember Grandma. Next up...the rest of our visit to Kansas City!

It Has Been Tooooo Long!

Wow, since the last time I posted, I moved, changed positions at my job, went on a trip, and lived every day life! I guess today I will start with my move!

I recently moved into a house with my BFF, Kenny! We have lived together before and decided to do it again. It just makes sense to have a roommate to share bills and responsibilities. Kenny loves my dog Cooper and he doesn't mind helping me with him when I work late or work out of town. This is us at the beach with my little brother, Sean:

So, we are now renting a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home in a great neighborhood. We have a great fenced yard and an awesome sun room to relax in! We love it! I wish I had a picture of the house...guess I need to add that to my to-do list.

I still have a few boxes to unpack, but it will get done! We are having a housewarming party in a few weeks, so I need to get moving! Anyone have any ideas for yummy appetizers to serve??

Remembering 9.11.2001

September 11, 2001, I was in my first month of 10th grade at McIntosh High School in Peachtree City, GA. People were getting calls and texts from their parents, but the teachers and principals wouldn't say anything. We finally found a teacher that would give us minimal information, but I really didn't know what was going on until I got home from school that day. I remember going home and seeing my dad in shock and the tv was on. My dad said to us, "This is going to change your life. Its going to change all of our lives." And those words are still true today.

After 9/11, America changed. People were angry, but they were supportive of each other. People were patriotic and flew flags and joined the military. Security processes changed, not only at the airport, but everywhere. Airport security is still changing and probably will continue to do so. Racial profiling has become a way of life for some security officers while others refuse to even look at certain races for fear of being called "racist." If a security officer is being extra thorough, it can be irritating to those of us who are impatient, but I am thankful for them.

Its 10 years later and I do think people have forgotten what America went through on that September day. I know 10 years is a big deal, but really every year should be a day of remembrance for 9/11. I don't remember anyone on the news or radio mentioning the anniversary any other year. This year, there is some special on that day on every channel. I've watched several of the specials. They are interesting but just so sad. I'll admit, I knew the basics of that day, but I don't think I really comprehended the actual severity of it.

There were more than 2000 deaths that day, more than 3000 kids lost their parents. Many more first responders had died of cancer in the past 10 years. While its too early to tell if the cancer was caused by breathing in the toxins and dust from the rubble, I believe it has something to do with it. As Americans, we should be thankful for those who lost their lives to save others. We should be thankful to the firefighters, EMS, police, and regular people who stayed behind in those towers to help others escape. We should be thankful to the regular people on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania because they took charge. And we should be thankful for those who fight for our freedom every single day.

I'm thankful and I'm proud to be an American. I'm taking a moment today to remember those lost and those who were left behind. And I'm going to try and make it a point to continue remembering, everyday.

Thankful Thursday

Since I keep missing "What I'm Loving Wednesday," I decided to do a "Thankful Thursday." I always try to think about the things I'm thankful for. In my line of work, I am thankful everyday that I have had a pretty good life and childhood. I've been through losses and tough times, but nothing like what I see every day. So that's my first thing I'm thankful for!

I'm thankful that in 23 days, I am moving into a great little house with my best friend! The house is great and I can't wait to get in there and start decorating! Here we are when I graduated from college:

I'm also thankful that my vet's office still has heartworm medication for Cooper. I heard on the news that the only manufacturer that makes the medication for the United States has temporarily shut down. Vets all over the country are out of the medication. I've seen those heart breaking commercials about dogs that get heartworm and have to be isolated and injected with poisons and even still may not survive. I would hate it if that happened to this little guy:

I'm thankful that I just got to talk my baby brother, Sean for almost 30 minutes on the phone. Usually its about 5 minutes and he is distracted by the tv or computer, but this time was different. We talked about school, Cub Scouts, piano lessons, etc. I even got to say his bedtime prayers with him over the phone...so cute!! 

I'm thankful this work-week is over! Tomorrow, we have a furlough day and Monday is a holiday. I definitely deserve this 4 day weekend! I am on call until Monday morning at 7:00 AM but let's hope I have a very quiet phone :)

I'm thankful that I have confidence in prayer. If I didn't believe in prayer, I think my life would be miserable! I saw a church sign this week that said "Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil - it has no point!" It seems so simple and it is a great play on words. So I'm just thankful for my faith.

I have a million things to be thankful for, but these are my top things right now. Hope everyone has a good holiday weekend!