My New Hobby

This is what I got for Christmas. Now I've got to go read the book so I can figure out how to use it!

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to wish everybody a very merry Christmas! I'm up here in New Albany visiting the family for the weekend, and I'll be traveling back home tomorrow because I have to work on Christmas Day. :( Not a whole lot to blog about right now, but I'll leave you with some pictures of Christmas.

This is my parents' Christmas tree.. with all the presents underneath!
This was a present to my Dad from my cousin.. an exact replica of the lamp in the movie A Christmas Story.
Here's MY Christmas tree... with presents underneath!
And the Christmas cookies that I made... I only made 4 dozen!
Here's dancing, singing Santa at my aunt's house. He's kinda scary!

All I want for Christmas

...is an itty bitty box that looks like this:


Please, Santa? I've been an awfully good girl this year.

Party!

At last, after much request.. here are a few pictures from the Christmas party last Saturday night. I only wish I had taken more.

Heather and Josh (and baby)

Renee and Gabe (and baby)

Cameron and Shanon

Daniel and Anna Leigh

me and Jody

me and Jody again

Guitar Hero!

Pet Peeve

Just because somebody wears scrubs, draws your blood, and/or works in a hospital or other healthcare setting does not mean they are a nurse! No offense to nurses, but I CAN'T STAND IT when I go somewhere in my scrubs, and somebody asks me if I am a nurse. Hellllooooo, people! Many, many other types of healthcare professionals play a role in patient care. Not to mention the fact that any moron can walk into a uniform store and buy a set of scrubs to wear around.

Branching out

I'm trying to be a better girlfriend (and prove myself to be a good future wife and mother) and cook dinner for my boyfriend who works a 12-hour day. The goal tonight is to cook something other than spaghetti, chili, hamburgers, or Zatarain's red beans and rice or jambalaya. So tonight's menu is.. drumroll, please.. chicken and rice! I hope it turns out good!

Go to Hell Ole Miss!

Oh, the Egg Bowl... the fight for that coveted Golden Egg trophy. And we went to it... in Oxford. Granted, I really like Oxford, and I even really like the Ole Miss campus, and I think The Grove is a lot of fun... if only I didn't hate the Rebels so much, I might could be an Ole Miss fan. Something about "Hotty Toddy" just really grates on my nerves. I have come to the conclusion that I really and truly am just a pure, born-and-bred, Mississippi State fan.
This was our view of the game... Even though we were in the sun for the whole game, it was great except for the fact that there was a super-abnoxious loud girl in front of us setting a terrible example to her two young daughters. I think even her boyfriend was embarassed. Plus I was scared she was going to try to pick a fight with me for ringing my cowbell.
Here's a better view ;)
And who is this dude? He was just walking around everywhere he wanted to go. Is this the new mascot? Colonel Reb in disguise? Or Santa Claus wearing his Ole Miss garb?
This is where the majority of the State fans were sitting. Poor us... we were stuck in the middle of a bunch of Ole Miss folks.
Okay, we let you win this one, since it was on your home turf, after all. At least we ran over you pretty good last year in Starkville, and we'll get you again next year...

Picture Post

I've been trying to think of something to blog about, but there's been a lack of ideas lately. The new job keeps me kinda busy during the day, and I guess other than that, there's not really much else interesting going on right now. But I've got some pictures from last Saturday night, so I figured I might as well stick them up on here. Unlike other people, I don't have cute babies to take pictures of, so I have to make due with what I've got!



(What's up with the giraffe neck, Jody?)
We love Pop's!

What Men Are Really Looking At

How typical...

Welcome to the Brooks & Dunn Awards Show

...Hosted by and featuring Brooks & Dunn, along with a few other folks.

Anybody watch the CMA Awards? As much as I like them, I wish Brooks & Dunn could've shared the wealth with some other very talented artists. I think there may have been one or two awards that they were nominated for and didn't receive. I was proud of Carrie Underwood, though, with her score of the Horizon Award and Female Vocalist of the Year (wow.. total shock to everyone and Faith Hill)... in her $850,000 dress. As gorgeous as it was, does anybody really need to wear 800 diamonds on her dress? I guess if you win Female Vocalist of the Year, then it's worth it. And then there was the performance by The Wreckers... with their terrible makeup. Horrible makeup jobs. Their makeup artists should be fired... or maybe they did their own.

But I loved the performances by George Strait (can I have one of him, please?), Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, Sara Evans, Brad Paisley (one of him, too?), Sugarland, Miranda Lambert (awesome crazy ex-girlfriend song!), and Josh Turner (gorgeous eyes and lashes). :)

Where's Waldo?

Or better yet... Where's the wild animals? I took these pics in Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. (Sorry about the quality of the last three... it was getting too dark, and using the flash was not an option). See if you can spot the animals in the pictures! And trust me, there ARE animals in all of these pictures!










I thought everyone could use a fun little activity to help the work day pass by... ;)

Wild Saturday Nite

Here's couple of pictures from my girls' night out Saturday night with Teresa and Anna Leigh (no boys were allowed!)... I'd divulge more details of the night, but you never know who reads this stuff! But we had a BLAST, and I can't wait till the next time! ...Sorry I didn't take more pictures. :(

A new day, a new week...

A new start at a new job! Yay! :)

Home again...

Home again, jiggity-jig. The mountains were SO awesome, and the weather was SO great! But now I'm back home today where the high today reached 89 (yes, degrees Fahrenheit). I think I left Fall to come back home to Summer. Oh well.. :( At least I only have 2 more days of work at my old job! Yay!

Anyways... on to some pictures from the trip!



Here's the whole fam (...do you think Ben looks a little like Jesus?)

Me and Jody... the colors this year were absolutely gorgeous!

Me and Jody with a view (as if we weren't enough of a view already) ;)

A nice view along the Foothills Parkway in TN

same place...

standing by the grist mill in Cades Cove, TN

5 days...

Of work left at my old job.

But only THREE days till I go on vacation!!! I'm headed to the mountains just in time for the MOST perfect time of year! Plus, this will be Jody's first time to go up there. I am SO excited! (Can ya tell??)

It's Finally Official!

And now that it is finally official, I can talk about it! I am going to be changing jobs. No promotion or anything, but just transferring to a different department at UMC. I'll no longer be working in the IVF lab.... I'll be working in Microbiology in the main lab at the hospital. From babies (embryos), to bugs (microorganisms, that is)! I am SO excited! This is a very much needed change for me, personally, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. My first day will be two weeks from this coming Monday. But in the mean time, I'm going on vacation, so I actually only have 7 days (counting the rest of this week) of work left at this job. Hallelujah!

Do you ever feel like this?

This is how I've been feeling at work lately!!

Much-needed relief

I still can't talk about it yet, but God really does answer prayers! And a bit of irony... in the car on the way home from work, Sirius Channel 9 (The Pulse) played Sheryl Crow's song, "A Change Will Do You Good".

L.Y.L.A.S.!

It was so great to see my best friends from high school this weekend... I just wish I could've seen more of them. Friday night, we all (Sarah, Anna Leigh, Lindsey, Teresa, Heather, Jody, and I) went to eat at Julep, and then afterwards, we (minus Lindsey and Heather) went to hang out and enjoy some karaoke at the Stone Pony. I had so much fun, and I can't wait till the next time we can all get together again!

Me, Sarah, Anna Leigh, Teresa, and Lindsey

Me, Sarah, and Anna Leigh

Open your eyes!.. Anna Leigh, Sarah, and me again at the Stone Pony

More Max

I got to meet my new lil brother this weekend, and he is just TOO sweet! I had such a good time getting to know him. He's gonna be a great little dog! My parents love him, too. They said several times, they just didn't know what they would've done this past week if they hadn't gotten him... They would've just been so sad. But running around after him has helped them to not be so sad about Emma, and I'm so glad he's come into their lives!

I also decided I need to take some pictures of my ol' cat, Sam. He's all of 14 1/2 years old, and he's such a sweet cat! He has lived quite a full and interesting life, including getting hit by a car and also living out in the wild on his own for about 6 weeks on two separate occasions... but those are long stories that I'll tell another time if you ever want to know. He's definitely using all 9 of his lives!

PS ~ I know that Heather has her BIG ultrasound tomorrow to find out if they're going to be having a boy or a girl. So I need to put my official prediction down for the record... Granted, I have a 50% chance of being wrong, my bets are on that she is having a girl!

Unbelievable

I saw something unbelievably amazing this weekend...

And the even more amazing thing was... it was not at just at one station!

WOW. Is it sent from heaven? I think I'm speechless. Although I do have to say that I most certainly filled up! And I even printed my receipt so I could keep it as proof (and as a souvenir)!

North Mississippi

I'm in the great town of New Albany visiting the folks. The Tallahatchie Riverfest is going on this weekend, and it seems to be a pretty big to-do.... Little Big Town is headlining tomorrow night. We went tonight for a little while, and it was nice. I think I really like North Mississippi. Every time I visit up here I think I might not mind living up here. Maybe I just miss Starkville or something, but North Mississippi really does have some pretty countryside and some nice small towns. I even like Oxford, even though it's the home of Ole Miss. I really don't have much to say, so I guess that's why I'm rambling, and I apologize for the boring post!

32-29

That was the final score of the Mississippi State-Tulane football game last night, and no, 32 was not State's score. But even though my Dawgs didn't win the game, the important thing is that, for the first time this season, they figured out how to get to the end zone... and they not only scored, but came back in the fourth quarter and actually came within three points of Tulane! Where has this team been for the other two games? Of course, Tulane is not exactly South Carolina or Auburn (the number 3 team in the country) either. But we did beat Tulane the past two years. So while it is certainly disappointing to lose... again... to Tulane... I'm just proud that we actually had some sort of offense show up to play in this game. Maybe they'll stick around and remember the way to the end zone better next weekend at UAB.

By the way, Ole Miss also lost... to Kentucky 31-14. Kentucky is the ONLY SEC team that Ole Miss beat last year (one of their three wins in a 3-8 season). Haha... way to go, Ole Miss. At least State put up a little more of a fight against Tulane.

Max

This is my newest sibling... Max. Isn't he cute?! He is 8 weeks old, and it's pretty early for the ears to be standing up already... eventually his other ear will stand up, too!