A Wonderful Wednesday Surprise

It was Wednesday and I was still exhausted from my weekend to DC. It is always such a sweet treat when Lorean and Micah (my sister and niece) FaceTime me randomly during the week, but this Wednesday was the best! Lorean and Micah were in town! I don't get to see them that much because we are in Durham and they are in Charlotte, so we rely on FaceTime a lot; but anytime I can see them in person I try to take advantage of it! Dad, Elgie, and I met Lorean and Bean at Rudinos in Durham for lunch! My sweet little niece walked in with the cutest outfit on!

Micah loves to read anything so she grabbed the menu and started to read and then I guess got really hungry and started to eat it, so Lorean told her not to eat the menu that it was probably really dirty.

She listened so well! It was adorable! And went right back to just reading!

Then it was time to eat!

OHH her eyes and her smile!! They melt me!

Saying good bye is always the worst! I miss them so much and they mean so much to me!! I love how Micah is smiling but her eyes are shut! Oyy she is so amazing!

This entry isn't that long, but this lunch was so special and such a sweet surprise that I couldn't resist!! I can't wait until I get to see them again! I think its about time for a charlotte trip soon! What do you think??
Ohh then last night I was babysitting and I got this adorable video! I know its all over my Facebook and twitter, but I can't help it! She is seriously the cutest thing EVERRRRRRRR!! I've watched this at least 20 times today!

eeeep! okay! well I am just so thrilled that I got a sweet couple hours with the sweetest thing on this earth! I am so blessed to be the aunt of such an amazing little girl!! Can't wait until I see her again! And you Lorean and David!!

DC and Volleyball

This past weekend I went to Washington DC with my 17's volleyball team! We played in a tournament called the Capitol Hill Classic! One of my absolute favorite tournaments! First I got to rent a car, so I was super excited about that because I don't have a car so having a car to drive the whole time while I was gone was so much fun! I hated giving it back! Anyways on to volleyball! My girls are pretty darn good! I coach with a guy that knows so much about volleyball and the girls have learned so much from him!
My favorite of the three days was Sunday! Each big tournament always has a "Dig Pink" day, where all the teams celebrate and remember the loved ones we have or we have lost to cancer! Our team had awesome pink shirts to wear!

We went undefeated all day Saturday and all day Sunday! We made it to the semi finals on Monday and lost. It was a heart break, but it was a fantastic weekend. Our girls played sooo well and I couldn't be any more proud of them!!

So we tied for 3rd! (with our other 17's team from the same club) out of I believe 64 teams!!

By the end of the day we were all so tired of taking pictures and so ready to go home!! I think that this picture shows that so well!

One thing I know me and Mike were especially proud of was that one of our awesome middle hitters, Kaitlyn, got an outstanding award. She was awarded Best Attacker! So we were really excited for her! She definitely earned that one!

We didn't do just volleyball while we were there; some of the girls went down early Friday and went to all the monuments and the White House. Well I really wanted to go to Georgetown Cupcakes. Better known as the TV show DC Cupcakes! So Sunday afternoon, after we played, we took the subway and walked to Georgetown Cupcakes!!

We finally made it!! We were all so excited! Except the line was wrapped around the building!

Someone said it was going to be about an hour wait to get our cupcakes, and we definitely didn't care! We got in the back of the line and waited! Well it only took about 40 minutes! Which sounds so crazy! But I'm telling you, if you tried one of these cupcakes you would wait too!

These are all my girls that waiting in line for about 40 minutes!! Love them!!

It was such a wonderful weekend! With such an awesome outcome! Can't wait for the next big one! I love you girls so much!

Let's talk about Love

ahhhh so my valentines day wasn't just yesterday! Mine started Friday! (well maybe Thursday night) As most of you know Tyler and I have been dating for over 2 years, and recently he has been relocated to Greenville SC for a fantastic new job! So needless to say we don't get to do stuff on the designated day. But we make up for it! Tyler came up to Durham on Thursday night after work and Friday he had set up a sweet couples massage

Tyler, at this point, had never had one so he was super excited! I have had a couple so I excited in a different way! Afterwards he was like "oh my goodness that was amazing, I need to make this a weekly thing!" but massages really aren't that cheap, so making them a weekly thing is wishful thinking! But it was fun and a new bonding experience for the two of us! My gym had a fun couples thing going on and your significant other could work out with you for free. Tyler and I have tried working out together before and if we do anything other than run and abs we get annoyed real quick! So I was hesitant to ask him if he wanted to do the gym thing, but I did. Well we ran and we worked out and it was wonderful. We've both been in this health kick lately (or at least trying to be healthy) But we are trying to lose weight in a healthy way and eat better and just get healthy and for the both of us being so far apart its definitely working, but it was really cool to be together this weekend and share those working out experiences together. I got to see a little bit of the way Tyler puts his mind to it when he works out. And seeing the weight shed off of him is such a joy for me because I know he is happy and with him being happy I am happy. We decided to do our valentines dinner Saturday night. We had a gift card from Christmas to go to Olive Garden. So we headed that way!

We also didn't think it would be the same with out these two crazy ladies so we invited them along

It was so much fun to spend such a special night, not just with Tyler but my mom and Elgie as well. The next morning it was kind of sad because I knew it was Tyler's last day and he would be leaving in just a few hours, so what other way to spend the last couple hours of our valentines weekend then praising the one who brought us together, in church. So we head to Newhope and again, its one of those almost bonding experiences that I have really missed having him in church with me, and sharing the intimate times that I have with the Lord with him.

I seriously think this is one of my favorite pictures of us. It is us in a nutshell! Well my sweet ty ty left and it was even worse this time. It seriously gets harder and harder every time we have to leave each other! Feb. 14th Valentines day is here!! I woke up and had a sweet present from my mom waiting for me down stairs! Chocolate and a stuffed animal! Mom and dad had to work so I got to spend the day with my grandma Elgie! We had such a fun and sweet day!! She loved her presents!!

She sat and hugged her little stuffed monkey all day long and talked to her and it was soooo sweet and made my day! Every time I walked into her room she would show me that sweet little monkey that we finally just named "no no"! I watch creepy murder shows all day long and I am addicted to the ID channel, so I had watched lovers kill each other all morning and all of a sudden my door bell rang. I was totally freaked out, I looked out a window and didn't recognize the car in the front yard, but i had a feeling like I should answer it, so I peeked out through the side window and there stood a man with this bouquet of gorgeous flowers!! Tyler had sent me flowers.

And it really brought me to tears, because I was just at home, no one around, and he still was sweet enough to send me flowers. I know it wasn't for show and wasn't because everyone I worked with or went to school with was gonna see, because they weren't. But he sent them just to me. I seriously realized just now that I am so lucky and I don't know how I got this way. Also, thinking about it people say stuff about how you should show how you love someone everyday and not just valentines day. I am so lucky that yesterday was seriously just like a normal day between us, I mean the flowers were a nice addition but Tyler acts like every day is Valentines day! And just when I thought my day was over, I had volleyball practice at 7 last night and I get there and the guy I coach with had gotten each one of us a single rose.

Last night, I just laid in bed and thought about all the love I had around me. I have love from every angle possible. And even if I don't feel like it I have a love from a Heavenly Father that is unconditional and every day and non stop. The love that He has for me is never failing and is something that no one can take from me. Man, I am so lucky to have the love from everyone. Wow. People love and hate Valentines day for whatever reasons, and I could go on and on about all the negative stuff from yesterday coming from all social networks, but yesterday for me was so sweet and special that I don't want to bog down my blog with it all. Thank you everyone who made me day yesterday so special. You all mean so much to me!

A Whole Lotta Happy

So my New Year has really started of well! January is always a time for new beginnings and hopefully the end of old bad habits! Well, I wanted to be starting school this January, but that didn't happen and I was definitely frustrated because I was beginning to think I was about to be a bum for the rest of my life! But I knew I had to trust the Lord and everything would work out the way he wanted! So here's a little about how my 2012 has been going! Happy #1 I coach a travel volleyball team here in Durham and they are so much fun to travel with and be around! They are actually pretty good too! We have won a couple tournaments and come in the top 3 of another couple! It's definitely fun watching them grow and get better!

Happy #2 My freshman year of college I met a girl I was going to grow to love and be best friends with. Courtney is a hoot and one of my dearest friends. One of the first things I ever learned about her was that she got engaged in high school, and so many people thought she was so crazy for doing this, and I will be the first to admit I thought she was little silly myself! But when you know Courtney and meet her fiance Drew you know it's real! They are perfect for each other and they make me so happy. Well anyways that was 4 year ago, and Court called the other night and the first thing she asked me was "How do you feel about being in a wedding in January??" My chin hit the ground! They had finally set a date and it was happening! And most of all she wanted me to share the whole experience with her (along with 3 other awesome friends of mine!) I am so excited for her and Drew and I wish them the best! They melt my heart and I can't wait for next January to celebrate all this! We are all definitely growing up, I can't believe I'm at the age now where my friends are getting engaged and even better getting married! It happens so fast!! Well I love you Court and Drew and I can't wait to plan and get all these awesome wedding ideas out!! Happy #3 As most of you know, my sister is preggers again, and I can't tell you enough how much joy little Micah has brought to my life. She is amazing and beautiful and I don't know how this next little baby can be any better than Micah is. But I am soo excited to be an aunt again!! I love Facetiming with Micah and Lorean and David and watching her wave at me and blow kisses and just literally grow up before my eyes! It's amazing! But this next one is about to be so much fun! Lorean and David have told us and put up a video about the sex of the baby! It's a boy! The first boy on our side of the family and I don't think we could be any more excited! BBBUUUUTTT my dad doesn't want to know what it is! He wants to be surprised! That's how he wanted it last time with Micah bean, but it got out! So this time we are definitely trying to keep it a secret until June when Lorean is due!!!

I mean seriously?? HOW CUTE IS SHE???? Happy #4 This one is probably one of the most relieving happy's of the year! I went to school 4 years ago thinking I wanted to be a teacher and I had every intention of doing it! I did it for 2 years and I slowly came to the conclusion that it just wasn't for me! But once I realized that I was like well what the heck am I supposed to do now?? I made a hard choice to leave the school I was at and try to figure out this whole thing of life! (still haven't figured that out and i don't plan to any time soon!) I decided I would look into nursing schools and something of that nature. Both of my parents are in the medical field and its totally fascinates me so why not? I can stand the site of blood and I understand a little bit of what my parents talk about when they are talking "work". I looked into nursing school here in Durham and had to take a test to even apply. I took the test and did well on one part but not so well on the other; I had to study my butt off because I had only one more chance to pass. I took the test and was anxious for 2 weeks while I waited for the results. We got them back and a weight was lifted when I passed!! God had answered a prayer and we were thrilled! Next step was apply, essay, references, and transcripts. Took me a while to get the ball rolling, but I finally wrote a heart felt essay tried to get awesome references, applied and then had to anxiously wait again. I got a text from dad that said "theres a letter here for from nursing school, can I open it?" of course I didn't want him to! So I ripped it open once I got home, and it wasn't exactly what I thought. It was a background check. So once again I had to fill this out, and send it back and play the waiting game again. Good thing I don't have anything to be checked on my background, except a few (3 to be exact) traffic/speeding tickets. I waited another anxious 2 weeks and almost called school to find out the process and when I might hear back. We checked the mail this past Friday and there it was, a letter from my choice of school. This was it. Either I got in or I didn't. Well, I open it and this is it:

I got in!!!! I was more than thrilled!! My prayers were answered, and I can feel my life changing little by little. But the best part is is that its changing the way God wants it to be going and I can thank people all day long for pushing me (especially my parents and Tyler) and for people supporting me and writing references and everything, but at the end of the day all my glory goes to God. So God, Thanks! =) Ahhhh its been a thrilling month so far. I know nursing school is going to probably be the hardest 2 years of my life, but I am so extremely ready to start this awesome new chapter of my life!!! I start in May and I am totally okay with being a bum until then! =) Prayers and thoughts are definitely coveted by me right now!! Until next time!