• Winter Retreat 2017
    Life

    Winter Retreat 2017

    February 26, 2017 - By 

    Every February our church rents out Shocco Springs for 2 retreats that happen simultaneously. For the last 6 or so years, Drew has been in youth so he’s gone to the youth part of the retreat which is called Winter Retreat. The rest of us usually go to the Family Retreat that happens just up the hill. This year since Alex is now part of youth, he attended Winter Retreat. Rob and Drew are both Disciple Group leaders, so they went as leaders. So that left me, to either go to the Family Retreat without my family, stay home, or…

  • Trombones vs. Trumpets 2017
    Life

    Trombones vs. Trumpets 2017

    February 2, 2017 - By 

    Sunday was the Annual Bodie Bowl, where the trombones and trumpets wage war on the football field. The intense rivalry begins on the marching field every August when the band convenes to prepare for the upcoming AU football season. Even after the last note is blown, the last flag is popped, and instruments, equipment, and uniforms are returned, this staunch rivalry never dies. To continue the tradition, these 2 sections of the band meet on the football field not to march in concordance, but to see who can cross the goal line more. Here’s a few pics from the action……

  • Christmas Day 2016
    Life

    Christmas Day 2016 in Pics

    January 19, 2017 - By 

    Christmas was a little odd this year, since we got back from our cruise on Christmas Eve. Santa must have been hungry! Pics of our tree before opening presents We enjoyed the Christmas Day service at church Drew actually smiled for a photo with gift from Santa! Excited about my gifts! Family pic at church since none of us really in the mood beofre getting to church After church we headed up to Moreland to spend the day with Rob’s family. The calm before the cooking storm… This is Sweetie…she makes me laugh. My nephew staring in to space My…

  • Life

    Memories of the Month {12.2016}

    December 31, 2016 - By 

    This month I was happy about: going on a cruise right before Christmas. Christmas Cruise This year I’m going to rate the books & movies. Here’s my rating system: ♥ ♥ = Love it! A must read/see! ♥ = Really good! Highly recommend. ✓ ✓ = Good, not great ✓ = Not much to talk about X = Awful. Total waste of time Movies I watched were: Rogue One ✓ ✓ Hackshaw Ridge ♥ ♥ Christmas Belle ♥ TV Shows I watched were: Prison Break (Netflix) – finished it! ♥ ♥ One Tree Hill (Netflix) – finished it! ♥ ♥…

  • Family Date Night at the Columbus Cottonmouths
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    Columbus Cottonmouth Fun

    December 8, 2016 - By 

    Back in January we got a killer deal for Cottonmouths Hockey game. They did the same deal earlier this month and its fun to take a quick drive to Columbus for some hockey and Waffle House. Our seats this time were even better, just behind the visiting team bench. Yeah, the Cottonmouth’s mascot, Boomer is really cool. It was also Super Mario Night, so the team wore special jerseys that they auctioned off after the game. It was Boy Scout Day. We sat right behind the Peoria Rivermen, the visiting team’s bench. We won in a sudden death overtime! Here’s…

  • Christmas Tree Shopping 2016
    Life

    Christmas Tree Shopping 2016

    December 6, 2016 - By 

    Rob got up early Saturday morning and went to help a scout with his Eagle Scout project. The boys and I got up and cleared the spot in front of our living room for the tree and pulled all the Christmas decorations down from the attic. Last year the tree had to get was a little too tall because they didn’t have any decent ones that were shorter. This year they opened up a new lot with a little bit shorter ones. With the drought I was happy that they had trees, but especially Virginia Pines. Are we sure this…

  • Life

    Memories of the Month {11.2016}

    November 30, 2016 - By 

    This month I was happy about: getting to see Drew sing in his first AU Cappella concert. This year I’m going to rate the books & movies. Here’s my rating system: ♥ ♥ = Love it! A must read/see! ♥ = Really good! Highly recommend. ✓ ✓ = Good, not great ✓ = Not much to talk about X = Awful. Total waste of time Movies I watched were: Storks (at the theater as a reward to Alex for making All A’s for the 1st 9 weeks) ♥ ♥ Zookeeper ♥ ♥ TV Shows I watched were: Prison Break (Netflix…

  • Life

    Thanksgiving 2016

    November 29, 2016 - By 

    Yesterday we had a lovely Thanksgiving with family up in Moreland with my sis-in-law and family and brother-in-law. Rob’s Mom and Step Dad were in Texas so they weren’t there. We got there around 10 and got to catch some of the parade. Alex enjoyed cuddling with Maria’s dog, Sweetie. Sundae, Rob’s Mom’s dog, got some lovin’ too. I played with the youngest lil’ one. It was a balmy day, which made it great for cooking our turkey in the infrared oil-less turkey fryer and visiting out on the back deck. After watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade and hanging inside…

  • AU Cappella Concert
    Life

    AU Cappella Concert 11.2016

    November 22, 2016 - By 

    As I mentioned before Drew is in AU Cappella which is Auburn University’s all male acapella singing group. They do a concert every semester for the community as as well as singing for special events like the Brave’s games and other cool events. So last week was their Fall concert and Drew sang a solo to Michael Buble’s Just Haven’t Met You Yet. He did a lovely job and I was just so frickin’ proud of him and how confident he was during the entire concert. Here’s the AU Cappella Video of Drew singing his solo: Rob videoed the entire…

  • Life

    My Cancer Scare…

    November 4, 2016 - By 

    So it doesn’t matter how many times doctors and nurses tell you something. Anytime the C word [Cancer] is involved it scares the absolute life out of you. I went for my annual gynecologist appointment back in September. The doc and I discussed my upcoming mammogram which was scheduled for mid October. Since it was going to be my first one, he warned me that often times they will call you back in for more tests for varying reasons. One reason is pre-menopausal women have dense breast tissue which makes it hard to see clearly. Another reason is that they…

  • Life

    Memories of the Month {10.2016}

    November 2, 2016 - By 

    This month I: had my first mammogram. Read more about the scariness of that here. This year I’m going to rate the books & movies. Here’s my rating system: ♥ ♥ = Love it! A must read/see! ♥ = Really good! Highly recommend. ✓ ✓ = Good, not great ✓ = Not much to talk about X = Awful. Total waste of time Movies I watched were: none TV Shows I watched were: Prison Break (Netflix Season 1 & 2) How to Get Away with Murder One Tree Hill (Netflix Season 8) Young & Hungry (Netflix Season 4) NCIS NCIS…

  • Middle School Pep Rally
    Life

    Middle School Pep Rally

    October 26, 2016 - By 

    Last week, Alex’s school cheered on the football team as well as all the teams that are active this fall. I took the afternoon off to attend and at first was glad that it was being held outside, but then the temps rose to over 80°. This did not make me to happy standing out there for over an hour with sun blaring in my face. However, I did manage to make it through the whole thing and got lots of pics and video to share with you. I was glad I got there early, so I could stand in…

  • List of Encouraging Words - Free Printable Included
    Life

    List of Encouraging Words

    October 25, 2016 - By 

    This post includes a list of encouraging words. It dawned on me the other day how many times I’m googling lists of words to help me come up with word alternatives. I decided instead of continuing to have to google or go to a thesaurus that I would start writing some posts with lists of words. I love lists, so this is totally up my ally. I’m actually surprised I didn’t think of this sooner! Aren’t we all searching for words to use beside good, nice, and great? I know even these days I hear the words awesome, amazing, super,…

  • Life

    Memories of the Month {9.2016}

    October 3, 2016 - By 

    This month I was happy about: getting to see Drew and Caitlyn march in the Auburn University Marching Band. I’ll probably wait till the end of the season to write a post and share pictures. In the meantime, you can follow pics on my Instagram. This year I’m going to rate the books & movies. Here’s my rating system: ♥ ♥ = Love it! A must read/see! ♥ = Really good! Highly recommend. ✓ ✓ = Good, not great ✓ = Not much to talk about X = Awful. Total waste of time Movies I watched were: Alice in Wonderland…

  • Celebrating 70 years of Marriage!
    Life

    Celebrating 70 years of Marriage!

    September 15, 2016 - By 

    Rob’s grandparents have been married 70 years! How amazing is that! Much of their family gathered at their house on Labor Day weekend to celebrate. We had a nice party that Sunday. Gramma and Granpa opened presents and cards. Rob and his 2 guy cousins on the McMahon side. Granpa facetiming with one of his other brother We ate a lovely meal that was catered in, which you see behind this cute couple We listened to tributes and toasts. Lots of sweet moments captured. We took lots of pictures with the special couple. So many sweet great grandchildren. They still…

  • Summer Summary 2016
    Life

    Summer Summary 2016

    September 12, 2016 - By 

    The past few months have been jam packed with so much! The times of lazy summer days are few and far between around here. Here’s what kept us busy… End of the season handbell choir performance at church All the high school graduation festivities [Senior Sunday] [Graduation Day] [Grad Party at the Lake] Rob and Drew spent a week out in Southern California Memorial Day weekend tradition at Lake Martin Alex went to Boy Scout Summer Camp. Oh and we drove all the way to Tennessee to take boys up there and then went back at the end of the…

  • Life

    Memories of the Month {8.2016}

    August 31, 2016 - By 

    This month I was happy about: new beginnings. This year I’m going to rate the books & movies. Here’s my rating system: ♥ ♥ = Love it! A must read/see! ♥ = Really good! Highly recommend. ✓ ✓ = Good, not great ✓ = Not much to talk about X = Awful. Total waste of time Movies I watched were: Finding Dory The Secret Life of Pets TV Shows I watched were: Blue Bloods (Netflix) ✓ ✓ One Tree Hill (Netflix) ♥ ♥ The Bachelorette ✓ ✓ Bachelor in Paradise (Bleh!) X America’s Got Talent ✓ ✓ Things I read:…

  • Life

    Back to School {2016}

    August 10, 2016 - By 

    First day of 7th Grade for Alex. It’s his last year in middle school! This is his first year in band so we got a couple pics with his trombone. Drew was gracious enough to jump in a couple pics as he headed to his fifth day of Auburn University Marching Band camp. He doesn’t start his Freshman classes until next week. Best first day of school ever! They were both in good moods and Alex even posed for me. 🙂 Here’s a comparison shot of Alex from the last open house to this year’s open house. Love seeing the…

  • Life

    Memories of the Month {7.2016}

    July 31, 2016 - By 

    This month I was happy about: just enjoying the less stress before school starts again. This year I’m going to rate the books & movies. Here’s my rating system: ♥ ♥ = Love it! A must read/see! ♥ = Really good! Highly recommend. ✓ ✓ = Good, not great ✓ = Not much to talk about X = Awful. Total waste of time Movies I watched were: 127 Hours ♥ TV Shows I watched were: The Bachelorette America’s Got Talent SYTYCD Kids (yay for a change) One Tree Hill (Netflix) Things I read: Foods with Friends My favorite song this…

  • Life

    Memories of the Month {6.2016}

    June 30, 2016 - By 

    This month I was happy about: going on vacation at the end of the month, which I am on now! This year I’m going to rate the books & movies. Here’s my rating system: ♥ ♥ = Love it! A must read/see! ♥ = Really good! Highly recommend. ✓ ✓ = Good, not great ✓ = Not much to talk about X = Awful. Total waste of time Movies I watched were: Zootopia ♥ TV Shows I watched were: The Bachelorette America’s Got Talent SYTYCD Kids (yay for a change) One Tree Hill (Netflix) Young & Hungry (Netflix) How to…