Tag!

Tag, I'm it!!  There is a little game of tag going on in blog world and my friend Lindsay (check out her blog at http://lindsayclairehamilton.blogspot.com/) tagged me.. so here we go...

 Here are my answers...

1.     When you were 5 years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Teacher or a doctor…only two things I ever really wanted to be.

Was a teacher…an NP is as close to a MD as I will ever be

3 of my favorite guys!  Can't wait until they make it big one day!

Prom...it was fun to go again at 25

2.     If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?

This one is so hard as I want to travel many different places all for completely different reasons.  If I had to chose one place today it would probably be Spain.  But on the list is Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, Botswana…although I think I would come home with a child if they would let me as I LOVE the beautiful African children), Malaysia, Brazil, New Zealand, I would also love to do a Biblical historical tour

3.     If you could go back to high school and revive one fashion trend, what would it be?

Oh, where do I start.  I think my first day of high school I wore hunter green jeans.  I would like to take that back, big time.  Thankful I don't have a picture of it on my computer.

4.     What is the weirdest food you have ever tried?

I will try anything but I can’t say that I’ve had anything super weird or crazy.  I love wild game meats like bison, elk, ostrich, alligator, turtle, moose.  I really want to eat bear but haven’t had the chance.  Amazing bison burger from Wyoming this summer...

5. If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you buy?

Mountain house for my parents/family so we can meet in the middle

6. A picture is worth 1,000 words... what's your favorite?

Right now it is the bison.  Partly because I was fascinated by them and partly because I prayed for a "whale".  God delivers.  He was so close to us.

 Oh the bison coming out of the water on my trip this summer.  Breath.taking.  God is GREAT!

7. If you could eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Dark chocolate or bread or ice cream(can’t decide which would be better) probably chocolate.

8. What's the one thing you wish your parents would have let you do when you were a kid?

This is more of the one thing I wish my parents had taken me to do, skiing.  I suck at it.  I feel as though it is one of those things you have to learn before you know what happens when you land the wrong way…I have seen way too many ski accidents to want to attempt it now.

9. NSYNC or Backstreet Boys?

NSYNC…I LOVE JT!  Oh I wish I had the picture on my computer of the NSYNC concert I went to in high school.  I wore pink pleather pants and crimped my hair.  It was so much fun.  And Cisco opened the show with the Thong Song!

10. Favorite thing that happened in 2011?

My mom made it through chemo!  Finishing school, Jessica moved back to the South, trip I took with her cross country, small group

 

11. What are you hoping for in 2012?

Peace, contentment

Enjoying the Sunshine

This weekend turned out to be a beautiful weekend!  God definitely answered my prayers when I asked for some sunshine!  Friday when CJ got off of work he met me at the tennis court for a friendly tennis match...and some much needed tennis practice.  Thankfully my match this week got rained out because I haven't played in forever which was evident every time I served the ball.  We came home and had a romantic, candlelit dinner complete with a glass of wine and Bridemaids.  CJ hadn't seen it and I haven't been able to stop talking about it since I saw it several months ago with my sister, Lauren.  So funny!  At the end, as I was in the middle of belting out at the top of my lungs "Hold On" from Wilson Phillips, CJ turned and asked me (with a very confused look on his face) who those people were and why I knew every word to the song.  I explained to him that my mom asked for the tape (yes, because I don't think CDs had been created at this point in time) for her birthday one year.  I was 8 when the album came out and I remember going to the store to pick it out for her.  We proceeded to listen to it at all times when we were in the car.  Oh, my poor dad!!

Saturday morning was spent sleeping in, working, and running errands.  I was able to meet up in the afternoon with a good friend I haven't seen in what feels like forever.  I love those special friends who you don't have to pretend with.  You feel when they ask the question "How are things?" that you can be completely honest and really talk through stuff.  That's the kind of friend Beth is :-)  Not to mention she encouraged me to let loose and go on the most incredible trip with her to Hungary and Croatia.  That would make for a good post sometime soon!  It was great to spend some time catching up and hopefully I will have her as a neighbor in the nearer future!

Saturday night we had a gourmet dinner (be on the lookout for an incredible chocolate cake recipe in the near future...amazing!!!) at home and accidentally watched a great documentary called Catfish on HBO.  I would highly recommend it.  Click here to see a trailer...http://www.iamrogue.com/catfish.  We had already rented Planet of the Apes to watch so we snuggled into bed and watched it.  I have to say, I saw the original and did not like it.  I was excited to watch this one in bed so I could go to sleep but ended up staying awake for the whole movie.  Not that bad.  Okay, to be honest it was actually good.  Makes me want a baby chimp for a pet.  Apparently, the weekend turned into a movie weekend.

Sunday morning we woke up to get ready for church.  CJ, who knows better than to suggest we skip church, suggested we go for a morning hike instead since I had to work at a resource fair on Sunday afternnon.  Considering how sunny it was outside, I couldn't turn down his offer.  We layered up and headed to Arabia Mountain.  Not quite as impressive as Stone Mountain but so much more enjoyable because there wasn't anyone out there.  Solitude in nature.  That is my kind of time with God.  It was nice to get away from everything and just spend time talking to God.  He has been so gracious to me lately and I have been so caught up in ME that I haven't taken much time to give thanks.  After a couple hours of hiking and running around I had to head back to get ready for an afternoon of work.

I had the opportunity, along with a pediatrician on our team, to represent the Developmental and Behavioral clinic where I work at the Kids Enabled resource fair.  What a great resource for families who have children with a developmental disability or learning difference.  Not only was I able to tell a lot of families about our services but I was able to speak with some incredible people who provide much needed services to children in the area.  I also had the opportunity to meet the First Lady of Georgia, Sandra Deal, and tell her about Good Samaritan and our clinic.  What an exciting afternoon!  To check out more information on Kids Enabled visit their website at http://www.kidsenabled.org/

On a sad note, I had a feeling my Mac is going to die on me :-(  I keep backing it up but it is making weird noises and running super slow and I have used up almost all of the memory.  I love this laptop.  It is my first Mac and I have had it for 3 1/2 years now.   Minus the expense of a new laptop, I am a little (as in really) excited to get a new one.

Not really into it so far...

To be perfectly honest, I'm not really liking 2012 so far.  Thankfully, there are 12 months in a year so I still have 11 months and a few days to change my opinion on the year.  What has happened that has made 2012 not great- nothing.  I just don't like it.  It is the winter.  I don't like the winter.  It is cold and I don't like being cold.  To make matters worse, I feel like all 2012 has brought is rain.  Not even a snowflake or two but just rain.  Rainy days are gross.  My hair and rain aren't friends.  I like to play outside and it is hard to do that when it is raining.  Which also means I am not getting my needed daily dose of Vit. D.  Oh sunshine (and the warm beach), I miss you!  I really, really miss you!

I am "training" for a half marathon.  I say that with quotations because in the last 7 days I have run once.  And to top that off, it was a 3 mile run...with 1.5 miles being in the pouring down rain.  In all honesty, it was invigorating!  I was supposed to run 8 miles this past Saturday but I didn't feel like it...and I stayed in my pajamas the entire day Saturday because of the dang rain.  The fact I am blogging right now is one more way for my to procrastinate my run today.  One step closer to my pants not fitting, great.  I need to learn to appreciate the treadmill or how to be one of those crazy people who run outside rain, sleet, snow, or sun.  I'm not there yet.  I am praying that I can find the motivation to get active...plus the more I run the better my mood is :-)

2012 has brought change.  I like change.  Some people don't but I have always loved change.  I started my new job the first week of January.  I say new but in reality I am now getting paid for something that I was doing for free the last few months.  For some reason, I am struggling with this change.  Maybe because it hasn't met my expectations or maybe the fact that my expectations were unrealistic of how fast things would be up and running.  I didn't realize how much waking up an hour earlier would impact me.  I have always been a morning person and my body naturally wakes up at 6:15.  5:15 on the alarm has been a difficult adjustment.  I am exhausted by the time I get home.  What is wrong with me!?!  The black circles under my eyes are not attractive.  I have come to realize that one of the most difficult changes for me, admitting that change can be hard and that I am struggling with it.  So there we have it, I am resisting this change.  I know God is helping me or trying to teach me something through this but I haven't figured it out yet.

Okay, I feel better now that I have put my 2012 disappointments out there and now maybe I can get out of my rut!  Or the sun can come out.  That would be nice.

It has been awhile...

I know, I know...I dropped the ball over the holidays.  For some reason I found myself made myself really busy over the last couple of weeks.  Not to mention I think I got to a point where I was just over being on the computer.  Christmas and holiday season were incredible this year.  CJ and I traveled to Nashville to spend Christmas with my family then made it home to have Christmas with our own little family.  It was a nice and relaxing time for us.

We were also able to spend some quality time with one of my close friends who I don't get to see very often, Jessica.  It was great catching up with her and letting Elena and Lily get to spend some quality 4 year old time together.

2012 will be a big year, I can feel it!  I start my new job tomorrow which I know will be challenging as I am going to be doing something very different from what they teach you in school...I will be spending half of my time doing clinical work and the other half doing administrative/expansion/management type work.  It will be fun to learn the business side of things but I have to admit that I am not sure how to do that.  Good thing I am a fast learner.  I have the opportunity to work with some experts in Autism and developmental disabilities.  I am beyond thrilled to start this journey and so thankful for the people who fought to create this position for me.

Here are a few snapshots from the holidays...more to come later!  And this year, no resolutions!

Fun holiday get together with my small group girls to hear Misty sing and do a little dancing!

 Jingle Jog with Jessica, my running buddy!

 Elfie Belfie saw us painting the night before and decided to paint so pictures while we were sleeping!  He even painted Lily an ornament to put on the tree.

 Jessie came to visit!

 Christmas at the Brantley house...

Lily was SSSOOO excited to give me this dress.  She didn't want to open any of her gifts until I got to open my present.  When she wrapped it a week or so before Christmas she wanted to give it to me and CJ said not until Christmas morning.  A few minutes later she handed it to me and told me it wasn't a Christmas present but a present for my birthday or any day and I needed to open it right then.  Minor meltdown when I put it under the tree and told her we had to wait just a few more days.  She has a very similar dress and wanted us to be twins.

 I love CJ's face in this one.  His grandmother gave me a bunch of his childhood pictures when we were there over Thanksgiving so, for one of his presents, I made him a scrapbook of his childhood.  He was excited.

Making Jesus a birthday cake (thanks Waumba Land for making this a holiday tradition that Lily wants to do every year)!

 Mmmmmm, yummy birthday cake.  She made us put a candle on it and sing to Jesus as well.  Of course Lily helped him out and blew the candle out!

 Jessica and 2 of her beautiful kids!  What a fun day to play in Piedmont Park :-)

 And this is where the fun really began...

 And this is what happened when we got home...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I started this post a few weeks ago and it never made it (maybe because while writing it I said to heck with it and got out the Christmas decoration boxes)….

Oh, its that time of year again.  My favorite time.  You know it will soon be Christmas when you start seeing my favorite holiday commercials.  Target.  Oh how I love you!

Growing up we had a tradition.  We would not decorate the house for Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving.  No Christmas music until AFTER Thanksgiving.  On the ride home after spending Thanksgiving at the Brantley family farm my mom would give us all the catalogs she received in the mail and we would make our Christmas list while blaring Tender Tennessee Christmas throughout the car.  I made my list almost two weeks before Thanksgiving this year.  Does this put me on the naughty list?  I feel guilty getting in the spirit really early this year.

So the question is, when is too early to decorate?  I had been trying so hard not to get a head start but I wanted to put the tree up!  It doesn’t help that all the stores I went in have their Christmas decorations all bright and shiny, calling my name “You know you want to.  Come on.  Join the rest of us.  Just do it.  DECORATE already!” Hobby Lobby had their Christmas items displayed in SEPTEMBER!  Seriously!

The reason I haven’t decorated and my family always waited was to not overlook Thanksgiving.  I have fall decorations in my house but it isn’t like I cover the house in Thanksgiving décor.  And for me, the Christmas season is all about giving thanks.  Thanking God for sending His son, our Redeemer.  And Christmas music!  I am not a fan of secular Christmas music.  It doesn’t move me.  Seriously, I on only think of two secular songs I would turn on voluntarily.  I do, however, love Christmas music that truly encompasses the meaning of Christmas, Baby Jesus.  So, to give me the chance to sample some of my collection before Thanksgiving, here are some of my favorite Christmas songs/albums…

1.    Oak Ridge Boys 1982 Christmas Album (I have been listening to it since I was born.  Even though I have the CD, I still have my parent’s vinyl record.  We have not been allowed, and this still rings true today at 29 years old, to come downstairs to see what Santa brought us until track #1 Jesus Was Born Today is blasting on the stereo).

If you watch the video, the guy at 1:27 and 2:45 is my all time favorite!!!  My family can always count on me to sing that part (loudly).  The Oak Ridge boys did a Christmas concert in Athens my senior year the night before the UGA/GA Tech game.  Somehow i convinced my family to go with me.  My parents, my sisters, and I were the youngest people in the crowd by a long shot.  Lauren, Jessica, and I stood up and sang at the top of our lungs almost the entire show.  People were looking at us.  They were confused.  One of my favorite concerts.  Ever.

2.    Little Drummer Boy (Josh Groban…AMAZING!)

3.    Love Has Come (Amy Grant)

4.    Tennessee Christmas (Amy Grant)

5.    Go Tell It On the Mountain (Tenth Avenue North)

6.    Winter Snow (Audrey Assad)

7.    Sweet Little Jesus Boy  (Trisha Yearwood)

8.    It Wasn’t His Child (Trisha Yearwood)

9.    Everything Changed (Eddie Kirkland)

10. Santa Baby

11. Baby It’s Cold Outside (although someone brought to my attention how creepy the song is if you really pay attention to the lyrics…now the song isn’t the same anymore)

12. I haven’t bought it yet but so excited for Michael Buble’s album

Okay, enough for now.  I am sure as I exhaust my Christmas collection (I think CJ is already tired of my Christmas craziness) I will have more Christmas songs to entertain you with!

Merry Christmas :-)

 Lily helping decorate the tree.  And not a single ornament was broken!  She did a great job!

Check out the recipes tab for a great spinach soup which literally took me 10 minutes to make and was super tasty!

Giving Thanks

This Thanksgiving was different from the others.  We still celebrated our family in Kite, GA.  Must be close to the country's smallest town.  It is 0.8 square miles large.  The 2000 census says it has 241 people.  They must have counted the dogs, cats, and goats.  I think the population is closer to 50.  One flashing stop light and a penny saver gas station.  That's all.

 
Mom couldn't make it since she was still feeling the effects from her last chemo treatment.  Lauren had to work the day before and the day after Thanksgiving so she did not make the long drive down.  Jessica and dad made the trip from Nashville and we had an incredible time!  Lily made her first Brantley family Thanksgiving debut.  She was the hit of the party!!!!  Our first day there started off with Lily leading us in a dancing game.  We all started to participate and then she looked at my grandmama (who Lily nicknamed "Cowgirl") and said "It's okay.  Old people don't have to play."  I thought "Cowgirl" was going to fall out of her seat laughing so hard.

After our game, we went outside to enjoy the beautiful day and to play on Lily's plasma car.  We all tried it :-)

Oh Jessie and Lily, making silly faces...

Thanksgiving day fun.   A little dance party.  A trip to the playground at the "Kite Community Center".  A walk through downtown Kite.  Pretending to be turkeys.  Some delicious food.  And girl time painting nails.

After we recovered from the turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, dumplins, and sweet potatoes to name a few treats, we headed to the family farm to check out the horses and moooo cows!  And Lily kept the family tradition going by learning to drive at a young age.  I wish I had a copy of my picture learning to drive in my granddaddy's pick up truck at the same age!

 Lily thought her dancing and posing would get the horses' attention and make them come closer to the fence so she could pet them...it didn't work.

Don't worry.  The driving was on the back of the farm on flat grass.  She drove from one end of the barn to the other, successfully (maybe with a touch of help) turned the car around and drove back to the end of the barn.  Then CJ took over.  Uncle Jerry is a trooper for joining in on our little ride :-)

After the farm we embarked on our annual pecan pick up adventure.  Dad knocked them out of the tree with a combination of a long stick and throwing a softball in the tree while the rest of us broke our backs picking them up.

 Uncle Jerry didn't think my dad was doing a good enough job so he thought throwing a brick in the tree would be a good idea...until it caught the power line in the tree.  Uncle Jerry's words of wisdom:  Don't throw bricks in the tree.

A Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without a little french braiding while the men watch football.

 Jeremy telling Justin how to braid:  "It's like the three man weave in basketball"

Jessie and I dreamed of the house we want to build on the farm for all the cousins to stay in.  Now I will spend too much time on Pintrest creating my farm house :-)