Excuse me sir, but you smell wonderful!

Not to long ago I wrote a post about my excitement over my first concert. (to visit it, click here) If you read the post you would know how totally excited I was over getting to go to my first concert and having my first celebrity encounter. If you didn't read that post, let me tell you- I was pumped, like super excited. And that's an understatement!

Who knew it would get even better not even two weeks later.

I went to another concert.

A Chuck Wicks concert to be exact. (He is extremely hott. Just sayin')

At a seemly forgotten fair, where we paid only 5 bucks to watch and could get right up to the stage, if we so had chose.

With only about 40 other people in attendance, it was laid back and well worth the two hour trip.

I didn't think it could get better.
But then it did. Check this out:

An amazingly sexy picture of him? Yes, it is. But look a little closer:

He signed it. Personally.

Then it got even better:

We got to get pictures with him.

I may have been trying not to drool in this picture.

He got close. I touched the man, he had his arm on me, and mine was on him.

I was in heaven. I just got to see Craig Morgan and attend my first concert. Now I was at another one, where I actually got to meet a famous man, get his autograph, and get a picture with him.

I was in heaven. He is such a good looking man.

And let me tell you- not only did he look good but he smelled good to!!

Love,

Hogging up the road with my PPPPP-Plower!

One week ago, I got to go to my first concert. I was so dang excited, I was like a kid in a candy store. All day I waited impatiently to go, then when I got there I couldn't sit still. I was being so silly..pointing to his semi and saying "I wonder if he is in there, right now" and "do you think that is his camper?" I couldn't contain my excitement. Whittney kept on making fun of me for being so excited. I'm nineteen years old and this was my first concert- I couldn't help but be excited even if it was just a county fair concert. I had never been to one or laid eyes on anyone more famous than the local weather people. To say I was pumped was an understatement.

One week ago I got to see Craig Morgan in concert. I was only nine rows away. I wasn't behind any super tall people who blocked my view the whole time (just some of the time). It was loud enough that I could sing and not be heard. He sang the songs I knew and I managed to make it seem like I knew the words to the few songs I really didn't know. He did a few very uhm amazing dance moves that made the concert way more than worth it. I got to experience my first concert with my closest friend. And I got a T-shirt from my first concert. (granted, it was over-priced and not the one I really wanted but hey, it was my first concert,okay. lol.)

And now, for the pictures:

His semi! It looks so cool.
Me and Whittney in our seats waiting (me, not so patiently) for the show to start.

And there he is! He really put on a good show. He was lots of fun. In the middle of one song he started laughing a little. Turns out all he could see was a sign for elephant ears and it reminded him of one of his crew members! lol.

Him again.

The front of my shirt!

The back of my shirt!

Overall, I could say my first concert was way past amazing. It was perfect. I loved it and wouldn't trade it for the world. I had a blast and will remember it for the rest of my life. What a perfect first concert: I am excited to go to more in my lifetime but no matter how awesome the rest of them are none could be as special as this.

Thank you Whittney for buying me the ticket, allowing me to go, and giving me the gift of my first concert: definitely a life moment here. Thank you so much.

Love,

I walked for Dave.

The clock hit 2:30 am and Whittney and I were still working. This was the second or third night in a row of late night working, although we hadn't surpassed 12:30 the other nights. We were both tired, the sounds of our work were the only sounds filling the room, our conversation swallowed up by the tiredness and the determination to get as much done as we could. Around 3 we made it to bed, vowing to make it up early to finish the rest.

Later that morning we made it out of bed and packed all our hard work into the car. We got it to the track and returned back to my house to finish the last details on the banner. Banner complete we walked back to the track- grumpy from lack of sleep and hot and muggy from the nasty hot weather we had. The tent was set up and in mid-decoration when the rain hit. Everything got shoved in the tent to wait it out, except someone left our banner on the grass and most of our hard work got taken with the rain. Once the rain quit it was another hour or so of redecorating and setting things up. It turned out wonderful. Then a couple laps around the track, rain pouring again but helping very little with the heat and humidity.

The storms came back later and all the hard work we had put into this was pretty much wasted since the event was canceled.

But it wasn't wasted at all. We did it all for him. We worked hard for him. We walked for him.

And thats all that mattered.

I was able to participate in the Relay for Life this year. It was so nice to feel that maybe I could help make a difference to people fighting cancer. It was so touching to see all these people out there working towards helping.

The most touching thing were the people with purple shirts. The ones with SURVIVOR written on the back. The people who fought it, or may still be fighting it. The ones we were doing this for.

I walked for Dave. His purple shirt was missing from the crowd of survivors on Saturday because he was in the hospital due to problems related to his cancer. But he is at home now, and doing much better.

I expect to see his purple survivor shirt at the relay next year where I hope the rain doesn't cancel it and where our decorated tent will be even better than this year. And where I will walk for him again.

I want a world with more birthdays. And if participating in the relay is one way I can help, I will. For Dave as well as anyone else who is battling or has battled cancer. I'll do this for you.

Love,

I am thankful

for so many things not just on thanksgiving but everyday. Since its Thanksgiving though, I want to share with you some things I am thankful for:
My family of course. I am so lucky to have such a great family. I know I can count on them for anything because they are always there. I am also lucky to have such a loving family as well. I am also thankful for all my extended family but I don't have permission to put all their pictures up on here so I will have to settle for just saying it.

My dog. I love my dog, shes such a good and faithful dog and things wouldn't be the same without her around!

The girls. They have helped me grow as a person so much. They love me unconditionally as I love them unconditionally right back. They are just a light in my life, always shining and helping me in ways they don't even realize.

My amazing best friends. I couldn't ask for better best friends, they are like sisters to me. They are always there for me when I need them, when its convenient and even when its not. They make me a better person in so many ways. I know I am never alone and can always count on them. These girls are also very important to me and also part of my closest friends group they just were not in the other picture. They also mean the world to me and help me in many ways.

My neighbors. I am so glad that I have such awesome neighbors, we used to have some pretty crazy ones (and still do, but at least we have one set of cool ones to make up for it) its so cool to have such amazing people living next to you. Landon and Gavin are so cute and so fun to be around and by being around them I learn so much. Brian and Randi are awesome role models and they are always so helpful and great to talk to.

I have so much and so many more people to be thankful for but if i kept going this could go on forever, plus I can only share the pictures of people who have given permission for me to do so.

I am so blessed and ever so thankful for all the blessings in my life even if I don't show it all the time. I have it good and to everyone who has helped make it that way, all my gratitude goes out to you.

And to all my readers- thank you for reading and being some awesome blog friends, blogging wouldn't be as fun without you!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Love,

Goodbyes

I hate goodbyes. In any way, shape, or form I am not a fan. Whether for a few minutes, hours, weeks, or years I struggle with and try to avoid them. I hate the uncertainty they bring, the gap of time where anything could happen, the feeling of being left, and the questions that haunt my mind about the way the goodbye went and the terms that person and I were on when they said it (were they secretly annoyed,but pretending to be nice? Did I say something that may have made them mad and they couldn't wait to get rid of me? Did I sound dumb or act like a fool?)

Case in point: Goodbyes are a dreaded, hated thing for me. They are even worse when you have to say goodbye to your best friend.

Three days ago, I had to do just that. I had to say goodbye to Brittany, one of my best friends because she has decided to go to college about 6-7 states away.

I will miss her dearly. Her silly sense of humor even when she was making fun of how short I was. Her eagerness for anything and the way she made even the most mundane tasks fun. Her line of promises and bets about how she will read so many books that she never did find the time to read. Her talk of movies and the list she continuously added to for me to watch. Her encouragement and kind words, and how she always knew the right thing to say. How she always left a glass of water sitting in the same spot in my room. How hard it was to end a conversation to make time for sleeping when one of us slept over.

Most of all I am just going to miss having my best friend around - everything about her will be missed.
All of us at her surprise going away party: Rochelle,Katie,Brittany,Jamie,Me,Lizzy. Poor Britt got caked by Katie!
Lizzy, Me, and Brittany right after her party.
The last time I saw her, when I left her house from spending the night on her last day here.

Brittany I will miss you dearly. I hope that you keep in touch and that our friendship still continues to grow even with 6-7 states between us. I hope that you have an amazing time at college and that you don't forget about your friends here. I hope that you always know I am here for you and that I'll always be your best friend.

Thanks for everything you've done, I wish you the best.

I wish this was my last goodbye for this week, but its unfortunate to me that it's not. Jodi and the girls will be leaving here in a few days, for a few days. They will be four hours away. I have spent almost everyday with them this summer, and its going to be pretty hard to see them go. Even more so because that leaves me with 2 best friends gone, and the other one at work. What will I do? I hate being bored and lonely!

Oh how I hate goodbyes...saying goodbye to two best friends within a week and having all three of them busy? This stinks.

Love,

Dear

Taylor,I just want to let you know that I love...

...How when I asked you for a hug, you gave me one, and wouldn't let go.

...How when I tell you that I love you, you say that you love me more, even if I tell you that you that I love you more.

...How when I sit next to you, you cuddle up to me and rest your head on my shoulder.

...How when I am even a little bit sad, you rub my shoulder, flash me a smile, and tell me that everything will be okay.

...How you reach up and grab my hand so that you can hold it- even though I am in the front seat and you are in the back seat.

...How you try to give me your snack, just to make sure I am not hungry.

...How when you see me coming, you run and yell my name then greet me with the biggest hug known to man.

...How you tell me that I am your best friend.

But most of all, I love it that you love me...

...so please don't ever let go, I will always love you more, my shoulder will always be there to lean on, you always make me feel better, my hand is always here to hold, I will always have snacks to share, your welcome to greet me that way for eternity, and I will always be your best friend...

Because I love you to.

Mikayla,

I want to let you know that I love...

...how you ran off the field during your game just to give me a hug, and how you didn't want me to put you back down.

...how you pull me aside just to tell me silly little secrets that aren't really secrets at all.

...how you threatened to beat up the little boy who hit me with a ball just because he was not nice to me (even if we were playing a game)

...how as soon as I sit down you crawl up on my lap even though there are plenty of chairs available

...how you dressed up just to come to my house

...how you want me to carry you everywhere, even though you can walk

...how you make me laugh with the goofy songs and stories
...how you get mad because Taylor says I am her best friend, because I am yours as well.

But most of all, I love it that you love me...

..so I don't want to ever put you back down, I will always be here to listen to your secrets as well as those not really secrets, I will always fight for you as you had wanted to fight for me, you can always take a seat on my lap no matter how many chairs there are, you will always look cute whether you dress up or not, I will always be here to carry you, your goofy songs and stories can always make me laugh, and don't worry I will be your best friend to...

Because I love you to.

Love,

So much excitement,

in such a small amount of time! And the only part I've gotten to share is about my camera! But I now have the time to fill you in on what all was going on for me last week!
These are the major(ish) things that happened:
-My mom and sister returned, bringing back my cousins who stayed with us the entire week!
-Jodi and the girls returned bringing good ideas and fun things for us all to do
-The weather spiked up and we got to turn the a/c on, and Me and my three (1 sister, 2 cousins) and Jodi and her two got to pack it up and go to the pool for the day.
-My D60 came!
-My family, friends and I got to work on decorating the place my party was at, which included all my pictures, which is a two day job in itself ;)
-My parents, aunt, and uncle got to work on getting all the food together.
-My neighbor took care of the cake arrangements.
-My mom got me balloons, including at big 2009, which was awesome!
-Then my party happened: which was completely amazing and went better than I ever expected!
-Then yesterday my cousins left =[ which was very sad. They live far away and I just miss em so much!
-But then my sad mind was distracted, Jodi and I went shopping and we had a blast! And she hates shopping just so you know. And ya know what else? I got to hear a fire alarm go off in wal-mart! Have any of you ever been around to hear them test the alarm? Ha ha, I feel special ;)

And that is the summary of the big(ish) things that happened during this last week. There was also lots of little things going on, but I will not bore you with those details, because now i am getting to what you really came for- The pictures!
These cute kiddos are my cousins and my sister. I took them to the park. (This is the only picture in this post that was not taken with my new camera.)Meet Brooke, the older of the two. Shes such an amazing kid, so grown up and to smart for her own good. Shes a natural leader and is always there for you no matter what you need.
Meet Jessica, the younger of the two. This kid is quite amazing herself. Shes got quite the silly side and can always put a smile on my face. Shes got a kind heart and always knows how to make you feel better about yourself.

They are amazing, and they are my cousins. I miss them so much I quite frankly can't even stand it.

Party Time!

Me with my wonderful cake!
Me with Marcia, my cousin, and her daughter Claire, my second cousin.

Me and the girls! Taylor then Mikayla!
Me and my four closest friends!
My new favorite picture ever- Me and my three best friends. I have never had a picture of us all together! I love these three so much and I do not know what I would do without them!
Right before my cousins left: had to get one last picture together.

Well there ya go, the reason why I have not posted sooner. I hope it was worth your wait with all the pictures I put up here!

Love,

I'ts official, I'm done.

I am no longer a high school student, but a high school graduate. After 15 years of school I was able to walk across that stage and snag up that half sheet of paper that proves I met the necessary requirements set by the state. Ahhh to finally be done, a rewarding yet scary thing. Its about time though, going to school for SIX years in a row to keep up my perfect attendance I am so glad I do not have to worry about that anymore.

I still can not manage to wrap my head around it. It does not really feel like its over. It does not seem like I will not see my classmates everyday or eat lunch in that cafeteria ever again. It still feels like, come fall, I will return to that same school, shove my stuff in that same locker, hear that same bell, and take notes from those same teachers. It will sink in eventually but for now, summer is what is consuming my mind ;)

Back to graduation: I have pictures! yay! My neighbor, Randi (to visit her, click HERE) volunteered to take pictures at senior night and graduation, bless her heart! She took some awesome shots, per usual, so without further hesitation, here they are!

Senior night! I won two scholarships. Can you say hooray!
Graduation day! Here is the cover to our program.

These would be some of my closest friends. I wanted a normal picture but the two goofs in the back did not allow for that!
I ranked 8 in my class, which is really good. This is me, Melinda, and Brittany (8,7,6) standing up for the top ten recognition. The thing on my neck is my NHS stole, which all three of us were also in, and the rope is for being in the top ten.
After top ten, they announced scholarships (that were not awarded to you by your college) people had gotten. We had to stand and turn towards the audience when they announced us.

After that I was time to receive our diplomas! I was lucky I did not trip, or shake with the wrong hand.
After the ceremony, outside with my family!

A collage of pictures I took with friends after the ceremony! I took more but I can only involve the people who have given me permission to put them on here, lol.
And finally- me with my diploma (yes, I blurred it out for protection purposes.)

And that's the end of my high school career. Thank you so much to my classmates for filling these years with awesome memories and making high school an amazing experience. Thank you to my family and friends for everything you have done for me: you are much appreciated. Thank you.

Congrats Class of 2009! We're Done!

My Class motto: What we do in life echoes in eternity. Gladiator.

My Class song: Dare you to move by Switchfoot.

My Class flower: White Rose

Love,