I know you are in suspense about what's been going on in my life...

Well, again its been far too long since I last updated this thing. At this point I've probably lost all of my faithful readers...both of them! :-) I have decided that I am an old lady, and when I come home from work I just want to lay on the couch and watch the latest updates on Michael Jackson, and then go to bed! I have grown very fond of him over the last couple of weeks and wished we could have been friends. I think he needed more friends...sad story, really.

So, in the last month or so I have gone home to visit my family which was wonderful! We spent about 12 hours in the pool in a two day time period. I loved my life. I love the sun! Erin Grace learned to swim without floaties which was too cute, and Emma, well she's just an amazing kid! I loved every second of it!

I also visited 2 new states. IL, and MO. I went to IL to see some friends of mine tie the knot! Crazy! I can't believe we are old enough to get married! The five year old that I nanny for can't believe I'm not married and has told me how to "search the earth" for a husband that she is certain that I NEEDED which was a humbling experience, but back to the real story!

2 of my good friends and I drove to IL, which was about a 5 hour journey. Not too bad, right? Well when we got out of the car at the hotel we were staying in, I had a cramp in my right calf muscle. That's normal, right? Long drive...just needed to stretch. So I did. Didn't help. I ate bananas at breakfast the next morning. Nothing. When I remembered my Dad's condition of blood clots I thought, its a blood clot! No good! So I told myself that if it didn't get better by the time I got BACK to Nashville then I would go to the doctor/er/whatever was easiest. Well, after the wedding on Saturday night we decided to make the 30 minute drive to St. Louis to go to a place called the city museum. It is a 3-story, indoor jungle-gym for adults (well, after hours anyways). At first I was not too happy about it. Fat kids don't like to climb through small holes and caves and tight slides, but I got over that really fast and soon loved my life. Incredible. All the while the cramp in my leg was throbbing away (and not fully understanding that I had a ticking time-bomb growing in my calf muscle!) Ouch! So Sunday we made our trek back to Nashville where I decided that I needed to go to the ER. My precious friends, Megan, Heather and Marah went with me to Vanderbilt's ER. 17 hours later, I leave with the knowledge that I have 2 blood clots in my right leg, the understanding of how to give myself an injection in the stomach (which I was NOT OK with!), all the risks of taking a blood thinning medication and officially being a "bleeder" and a new nurse friend named Clayton. Awesome. I'm 24. Falling apart! OK, maybe not completely falling apart. Only a little bit! We are currently running tests to see what is causing these unwelcome visitors to my body! I guess time will tell!

Well...that about sums it up! Until next time, friends! Peace out!

All is well...

Well, I have a job. I am going to be a full-time nanny for a wonderful family. They have a 5 year old little girl who will be starting school in the fall, and a little boy who is 7 weeks old. Precious. I love this family and am thrilled to be working with them. It looks like I will be living in Nashville for at least a year, and for that I'm excited. It makes me sad to live so far from my family, but I really am enjoying life here.

I was having dinner with a friend who I find inspiring. Someone who is willing to pack up their lives and move to a different country to share the gospel with people who may never hear otherwise. I want to be able to do that. To be able to love to the point of leaving all behind.

I have been reading about Mother Teresa lately, and what a beautiful woman she was. She loved until it hurt, and lived a life that allowed her to love with everything she had because it was all she had. This book is a combination of many of her own writings, and quite honestly it is hard to read. Its heavy. Its dark at times. It is joyful at all costs. I want to live a life that displays love like that. I want to know what that looks like for me. How can I show love in a way that leads people to the very one that allows me to love.

I want to be able to pack up and leave. I believe strongly in the love of Christ and desperately want the world to hear and know and understand that love...how do I live so far away from my family and friends? I'm not worried about the comforts that the United States has to offer...honestly, I think it would be refreshing to experience life somewhere other than this continent...its not the "things" that keep me from just going. Its the people.

It's all a little overwhelming.

I don't really know where to go from here...

For now, I am a nanny, and am thankful for the opportunity to share life with this wonderful family.

And the thunder rolls...

Ok, so I'm not much of a country music connoisseur, but who doesn't know and love Garth? I may not be his biggest fan, but I sure can sing the song, which is exactly what I have been doing the last couple of days! The storms here are crazy. I love a good thunderstorm, don't get my wrong but I don't do tornado's. I don't like the odds of having to hide from a natural disaster. I like having a couple of days to pack up my pictures that can't be replaced, and other sentimental things and leaving. We'll call it a hurricane party. Good times had by all. But alas, I have spent way too many days "seeing" funnel clouds in the sky, and by "seeing" I mean, being way too paranoid and convincing myself that a funnel cloud must look like anything I see in the sky. Dramatic? Me? Noooooo....

On to life as I know it. I am so thankful for all that has been thrown my way these last few months. This time has really allowed me to examine my life and what is a necessity and what is really just a want. I am not taking my family or friends for granted (not sure how not having a steady income has caused that, but whatever...it has!) And I am really just enjoying small victories and noticing God's hand in all things. I don't want to sound cliche or go all "Super Christian" on you, but really...he's got it under control. I heard the quote from a friend that "rejection is God's protection" (cheesy, yes...but that was her intention:-) and thought it was really funny, but there is some truth behind that. Timing, more specifically HIS timing is more valuable than I once imagined. I would say God is pretty detail oriented, and I'm pretty sure He hasn't forgotten anything, so why should I worry? Some days that is easier said than done, but so far so good.

I have met some wonderful people in my time here in Nashville, and deepened some already great friendships. I still can't believe that I live here. There are mornings I wake up and expect to be in Auburn or Bradenton, but no. I'm in Nashville. This is one of the more "adventurous" things I've done in my life (so maybe I need to branch out a little! I'm such a daredevil!) but all is well, and I'm happy and confident to be here.

Hopefully next time I update I'll be able to tell you about the wonderful new job that I have! But until then....

For those who haven't heard...

Life in Nashville thus far has been eventful to say the least. I am so excited to be here, and have met some fun new friends, seem some old friends, slowly learned my way around...all in all, not a bad time. Things have gone differently than I had expected such as the job.

So as you know, I moved up here to take a job with the YMCA. I was going to be the site director of an elementary school's before and after care program. I thought it would be a perfect job for me! My first day was Feb. 18th. I sent an email a day or so before asking when and where I needed to be, knowing that the first couple of days would mostly be training. I showed up on the 18th when I was supposed to, and my boss wasn't there. So these 2 other girls came about an hour later and set me up with some online trainings. It took me about 2 hours and I was done for the day and told to go home and wait for my boss to call me and tell me what to do next. Well, she never called, so I woke up the next morning early, got ready so that when she did call me, because I was SURE she would, I could be ready to just leave. Well, she never called. I called her, both on her work cell and her work office line and she never answered. Her voicemail box was even full. Finally, around 3:30 she answered the phone and told me to come in the next day at 10:00. If I were a salary employee, I wouldn't be too upset about this, but seeing as I get paid by the HOUR, I was not happy. I went in the next day at 10:00, and again she was not there. The same girls that had helped me before got stuck with me again. They were wonderful! To make a long story short, everything that we had agreed upon at the time of my interview had been changed. Honestly, I'm not sure they even HAD a school for me. I signed a lease on an apartment that is MAYBE 5 minutes from the school I was originally supposed to be at, only to be told I had been moved to a school 30 minutes away, and what was funny was that I found out on accident! I MET the new site director there. WHAT?!? Ugh...at this point I still have not met with my boss, no one could give me a straight answer and I was only working like 4 hours a day, at most! I couldn't afford that. The story is a little bit longer, but I think at this point you understand my reasoning in leaving...it was just a bad experience.

At the point I finally quit, I felt such relief. When I stopped and thought about it, I couldn't understand why I wasn't freaking out. I just wasn't. I am confident that this is where I am supposed to be, and something bigger and better will work out. Although this isn't the way in which I would start life here in Nashville, its working, and for that I'm thankful. I was transferred up to the bestbuy here, so I'm working part time in customer service again. I've only worked one day, and so far so good...its a different experience, and it makes me miss my bestbuy friends so much, but its a job, and that's great! I had an interview today with a nanny agency and it went really well! I never thought I would do anything like that, but after talking today I think it could be a really cool opportunity! So we'll see! But so far, so good! It snowed, and I didn't know what to do with myself! I actually did some really dumb things, but that's another story for another time! When are you coming to visit?!?

Life in Nashville...

SO, It is official. I live in Nashville. I moved in a few days ago, have a super cute apartment. Everything is pretty much unpacked. I still have a few small boxes of things to go through, but I just really don't know where to put it all. I think I could get used to living by myself. So far I like it. A lot.

My Mom and Aunt Donna came with me to help me get everything set up, and I'm so glad they did. They were such a huge help! It was really hard to say bye to my family. Harder than I expected, but we got through it. I know they will be up to visit soon enough. I am so fortunate to have a family like I do. I'm glad its hard for us to say goodbye. I miss my bestbuy friends too...so very much. I had such a good time working with them. I'm not sure any other store will be as fun as the bradenton store.

I "started" my job yesterday. I showed up at 9:30 like I was asked, and no one was there. Awesome. So around 10:00 everyone came in. I was put on a computer to go through some on-line trainings and was done by noon. That was it. I was told that I would be called later that afternoon to let me know what else I needed to do. No call. Around 4:30 I decided to call. No answer, so I left a voicemail. I woke up early this morning so that I could call and see when I needed to come in...again, no answer. I called her cell phone and the voicemail box was full. What the heck? I was told that I needed to start no later than the 18th, and I can't get anyone to call me back!!! So I sat at my apartment all day waiting for a phone call. Finally I called and my supervisor answered. So, I think I actually start at my site tomorrow. I'm nervous. No one has told me anything that is expected of me. I'm not so worried about interacting with the kids or even the staff, but all the paperwork and stuff like that...I don't know anything about it. I guess I'll get thrown into it and figure it out as I go!

So thats the update on my new life in Nashville! When are YOU coming to visit me?!

Bittersweet...

So today was my last day at BestBuy...6 months ago, if you had asked me if I would be sad to leave, the answer may or may not have sounded a little bitter. 6 months ago I would have been overjoyed to be out. I hated feeling like I didn't know anything, and HATED being yelled at by customers! I always took customers comments too personally.

I cried today as I walked to my car in the parking lot after saying good-bye to my first job out of college. I cried tonight as I said good-bye to some of the best co-workers one could possibly ask for. I guess I've been crying a lot lately, but if you know me at all, you know that's not too unusual! I have learned SO many things about myself, gained so much confidence in myself, and learned how to stick up for myself. I thank the people I work for allowing me to grow in the ways that I did. What wonderful friends I have made. It was the people I worked with that made this job a pleasure. I truly am sad to leave.

I know that by leaving, I am opening a whole new world. Who knows where I will be a year from now? I could be loving my job and moving up...I could be trying something new! I move to Nashville with so much uncertainty. So much uncertainty that I really don't even know what my job will look like! ha! Although I take this step with so much unknown, there is something I AM sure about. I am sure that I leave with one of the strongest support groups around. I am so thankful for my amazing friends and family who encourage me on a daily basis that I AM making the right decisions. I WILL succeed. I WILL learn and grow. And after I take this new step in life, I WILL have a support group to come home to when and if it ever comes to an end. I don't think there is anything more I could ever ask for. I love my family. I love my friends. I love my future.

25 random facts...sweeps the facebook nation.

So I'm at home...by myself...and bored. I think I'll do a "25 random facts" list here in the 'ol blog! Enjoy Aubrey...my only reader! :-)

1. I am a Christian, a daughter, a sister, a "gigi", and a friend.

2. I am currently working at BestBuy as a Customer Service Rep. II...I wasn't sure if this job was going to be a good fit for me, but I really think it has been. I have met some of the greatest people and some really good friends. It has been challenge, but one that I have enjoyed. I am suprised to say that I am really going to miss it there.

3. I love love LOVE all things Auburn University. Good times and bad, I'll always be an Auburn Tiger!

4. I feel like I am a good mix of being spontanious and a planner. I think I can make decisions spur of the moment, and do fun things...but I am also organized and like to have things figured out and everything lined up...

5. I am moving to Nashville, like...NEXT WEEK! Oh my gosh. I'm excited, but I really am sad. So sad that I cry WAY too much. I had dinner with friends from work and on the way home cried because I am going to miss them so much. Not to mention that I cry all the time thinking about leaving my family. I love them SO much and will miss them dearly.

6. I signed a lease today on an apartment in Nashville that I have never seen. Awesome. I'm lucky to have some great friends that went and looked at it for me. Thanks Martha and Suzanne!

7. I want to have children, but I'm not dead set on actually giving birth. I really want to adopt children, and I even want to adopt older children/teenagers. I know that it would be difficult, but I just think those kids get so overlooked in our system, and they need a family too!

8. I like chocolate...way too much. I think its part of the reason I have the girlish figure that I do...

9. I love hurricanes...I don't want anything like Katrina to happen again, but a nice catagory 1 storm...good times!

10. I would be happy if jeans, tshirts, flip-flops and a baseball hat were appropriate attire for most settings...I am aware that it is not, and am getting better about dressing nicer...I bought 2 pairs of heals in the last 3 weeks...baby steps.

11. I could drink orange juice for breakfast lunch and dinner, and everything in between. I love oranges, orange juice, orange candy, and I prefer the smell of orange cleaning supplies.

12. The smell of burning orange peels from the tropicana plant is one of my favorite smells. It just reminds me of home...some would say it smells gross, I say its a comforting smell.

13. My favorite meal of the year is Christmas morning...I'm not the biggest thanksgiving food fan...I'll eat the mashed potatoes like they are going out of style...and the cranberry sauce. But really, thats all...

14. When my brother and I were young, we were playing Monolopy and I was cheating, and I did that a lot...but he caught me, and we got in a big fight. He picked me up, I hit him, he put me down so that he could examine his wound and I ran. He ran after me, but I had already gotten to my room and locked the door. He came though that door. I'll put money that the door frame on 17th street is still broken. We did a number on it!

15. One of my favorite stories of Emma is when she was MAYBE 2 years old, she asked my Aunt Ginger if she wanted to smell her armpit. One of my favorite Erin stories is just recently she told her Dad that my mom taught her the word "butthole" hahahaha...

16. I love traditions and don't like it when they change. I'm very sentimental.

17. The last year of my life has really allowed me to evaluate who is important in my life and to "clean out" relationships that may not have been healthy. I am as happy with the relationships in my life at this point than I have ever been. I just wish I was able to see all of those friends more often.

18. I love living in Florida...the west coast beaches are SO beautiful. I'm glad that I grew up here.

19. I went to a really small high school. I graduated with 40. I could get in touch with every single person I graduated with if I wanted to.

20. I want to be put into one of those shark cages where the great-white sharks come and attack. I would freak out, but would love my life.

21. I always said that I wanted to go skydiving, but I think I have changed my mind. Although,I am that kid that doesn't want to miss out of anything, so if I was asked by the right people, I would probably go...and wet my pants.

22. I love throwing dinner parties and would have friends and family at my house every night of the week. I just love being surrounded by the people I love. I do enjoy alone time though too...

23. I'm obsessed with having my cell phone on me at all times. I even have spots worn out on my jeans back pocket where my cell phone fits perfectly. I really want a blackberry, but am not sure it will fit as nicely as my current phone.

24. If I won the lottery, I wouldn't do anything with it for a year. Except call my Dad and ask him for his advice. He's pretty good at that kind of stuff.

25. I want to do a triathalon, but don't know how to train...I need a personal trainer...