The best visits are with the ones you love...

his weekend I was able to head home and smooch on the newest member of our family. My brother and sister-in-law came up from Wilmington and brought the prince himself, Finn. It was so great to all be hanging out as a family. 

We even brought my grandmother over so that she could see her great-grandchild for the first time. To have 4 generations in a room was awesome. She was absolutely smitten and he fell asleep right in her arms.

I did my best to try to become the favorite aunt. Not really sure how much it worked :-) I tried my hardest though. I got him smiling, so I must have done something right.

Scott and Megan are such great parents. It is so weird and yet very cool and neat to see my brother doing such an amazing job as a dad. They both make me so proud to be their sister.

Dad having some play time with Finn before going to church.

It's official. I have the quietest, most content and  best nephew in the world! 

...and so it begins...

ow that I finally have had a chance to settle down and relax, I can give an update on my life.

After 19 years of public education, I finally have graduated with a Masters in Elementary Education!

I am so glad to be done with mindless papers and projects, but am not so much ready for the "real world". As of today, I have applied to almost every school system in North Carolina (minus Charlotte-Mecklenberg and Raleigh). I have gone to almost every school in Asheville and they now have my resume. So now, I'm just playing the waiting game...

I could not have graduated without the support from these guys... 

Thank you Mom & Dad for letting me go for my dream and helping to make it happen.

The best part of my graduation weekend would have to be that my brother drove from Wilmington to Boone and back in just about 48 hours. It meant so much to have him there and words will never be able to express how much that really meant to me. 

Last week, I packed up my apartment and moved out of Boone. It was by far one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I never realized how much I love Boone and how hard it would be to leave. I cried all the way down the mountain. My best memories were made in Boone. I can only hope and pray that my next location is even better... 

Don't get me wrong - I am SO excited for what is in store for my future and cannot wait for the next chapter to begin...

So... I did it... I'm done... now it's time for a school to hire me because I am a master...

there's nothing cuter than you kid...

After 22 hours of labor, he is finally here! and i am completely smitten. i am finally a first time aunt and could not be more proud of my brother and sister-in-law. such perfect parents to a perfect baby boy.

i was completely torn and heartbroken that i could not be there the day of the birth due to having to present my final project in order to graduate (which i thankfully passed) and was so bummed to not be a part of one of the most important days in my brother's life. but after a long week of school work, a long drive from boone to wilmington, i was able to finally go see my nephew.

he is more perfect then i could ever imagine. he never cries. he whimpers for food and then just chills out like all is well with the world. he sleeps, smiles and makes the best faces. i could not have been more excited to change a diaper or hold this baby (even after his full diaper leaked all over me - could have cared less!)

here's to you bro and megs - so proud of you! and here's to you finn - you were well worth the wait!

A new year doesn't scare me...

inally I am updating! Wow - i can't believe it has been a month since i last "blogged". so much has happened and so many times i have told myself "i should write about that" and then i get distracted and before i know it, it's was a month later...

2010 was nothing short of great and i don't think i really have any complaints. i can only hope and pray that 2011 will be even greater.

this past month has been quite eventful...
- i finished my semester with my first ever 4.0 in college.
- i went back to work at old navy for the holiday season - a place i love and am so thankful to have a job to fall back on with people that i get along with so well.
- i cut off 13 inches of hair and donated it. though it was super short and a lot shorter than i imagined, it has grown on me and i'm learning to deal with it's shortness
- we had our driveway redone and it ended up being super slick and mom fell and landed on her head. what an eventful morning to the ER that was. after a concussion and 8 staples she is all better (minus a little confusion here and there that she now tries to blame on her fall) and our driveway has been repaved again.
- while our driveway was being redone again, all of our cars were parked on the street and a super nice person decided to take a BB gun to all of our cars - which resulted in a shattered window on my car. i now know what it feels like to have a plastic window flapping in the wind down the highway.
-christmas was great - new traditions were created and great fun had all around. it was great to experience a true "white christmas"!
- my brother and his wife finally came for our family christmas and i realized how much i miss having him around often

and lastly, i ended my year with another trip to see the Avett Brothers and ring in the new year with them! such a great show!!! they had these girls that signed all of their songs throughout the entire show. they had their sister sing with them as well as their precious dad who came out and made an appearance. that is one band and show i never get tired of seeing!!!

I can certainly feel God doing great things in 2011. He has already done so much for this upcoming Chrysalis weekend and I can not wait for that to get here. One of my old roommates is getting married TOMORROW! I also will be graduating. Going to Colombia. Finding a new place to live. Finding a job. and possibly starting my "adult" life. Though it all seems like scary thoughts, I know God knows what He's doing and I trust everything will work out whether I stress about it or not.

Bring. It. On. 2011.

I really am thankful!!!

I had this post sitting on my desktop for days and just realized that I never posted it. Whoops! Pretend it is almost Thanksgiving day as you read!

As a wonderful, food-filled day is approaching, I suppose I should express my love and gratitude for everything I am thankful for. I’ve seen people constantly updating their facebooks daily with items they are thankful for. I am truly blessed and have a hard time just narrowing it down to only 25 (I say 25 because there are only 25 days in November before Thanksgiving.)

So here is my list:

-Family – they have to be first. They are who made me who I am today. Their constant love and support constantly blows my mind. I don’t say it enough for how thankful I am. I can not even begin to imagine my life without any of them and I am truly blessed to have them in my life.

-Friends – life would be miserable without them. My friends constantly brighten my day and make me laugh. They have the best shoulders to cry on and ears for listening.
-Puffs Plus tissues with lotion – these are a lifesaver! After finally getting over a gruesome cold, these tissues truly put my nose at ease. You would think after going through about 4 boxes of tissues my nose would be raw but these wonderful pieces of heaven speak true to their commercial – a nose in need deserves puff indeed!
-Cold medicine – considering the previous item on the list, this goes hand-in-hand – Equate brand nighttime/daytime cold medicine definitely a cold miracle
-Hot showers – something so simple that I take granted for daily.
-One bedroom apartments – Don’t get me wrong- I have had some great roommates who are some of my closest friends – but MAN do I love living alone. I don’t have to be considerate! (Haha) I can clean whenever and I can’t get mad about it because it is my mess. I love leaving the bedroom and bathroom door open. I don’t worry about where my roommates are when it’s late at night and they aren’t home yet. I don’t know what I’ll do if I ever have to go back to having roommates.
-Chrysalis – words cannot express my gratitude for the experiences I have had with Chrysalis. I am just in love!
-Best friends – I feel like this is pretty self-explanatory. The greatest gift I have ever been given.
-Sleeping – I just love sleeping. Nothing is better than curling up with cushiony covers and being so comfortable you don’t want to move. A comfortable bed is something I definitely take for granted.
-Beautiful weather – I love walking outside in just jeans, chacos and a sweatshirt and it feel absolutely perfect.
-Courage – so thankful that I have overcome so many obstacles in my life with even just the smallest amount of courage
-Charlie Brown – what a pal, that guy! One of my favorite parts of Fall – watching Charlie Brown specials on TV. My sweet baboo!
-Becoming an Aunt – I have never been so happy before! I cannot wait to spoil this baby boy and just love him unconditionally! The end of April cannot get here soon enough!
-Music – I love that I have music for ANY mood I am in. It definitely makes my life happy.
-Love of Books – I think I am fortunate enough that school did not cause me to hate reading. Of course, I don’t like reading forced material but I still love to read a good book. I hope that as a teacher I can pass on to my students a future in a love for reading.
-Photography – Over the past few years I have discovered this love for photography and taking pictures. I am so blessed to be given the opportunities to expand my love by being a camp photographer and learning new things in a free photography class at school.
-Children – I am incredibly thankful that I have a strong love for children and teaching them. I can’t wait to have my own classroom and I hope my love for children will get me through the hardships that come with education
-Hot Chocolate – Hot chocolate just warms the soul – I have found that Swiss Miss trumps Nestle but who knew Land o’ Lakes could make some bangin’ mint hot chocolate?
-Morningstar foods – as a fairly new vegetarian I am so thankful for Morningstar foods – who knew veggie meat could taste so real!
-Parents who pay for things – I am SO incredibly thankful for having parents that could pay my way through undergraduate school, my apartment, my cell phone and my car. I forget these things often but they sure mean a lot to me.
-Good food that reminds me of other things – I don’t really know how to describe this except for there are times when I eat something, smell something or hear something and it reminds me of really great memories. I am thankful for memories.
-Snow – truly a beautiful gift from God and I am thankful that I get to sit here and watch it fall peacefully as I write this
-Fuzzy socks – they keep your feet warm and are fuzzy – enough said
-Laughing – I love to laugh and I am so thankful to have so many things in my life that allow me to laugh and have a good time
-My life – I am just incredibly blessed and thankful for the life I have. I am happy. I rarely have complaints. I have a great and supportive family. I have amazing friends. I don’t think I could do any better.