life

what a perfect way to end the year….with a cold. i didn’t know it was possible to sneeze in your sleep but i found out last night. about 15 sneezes and 20 tissues later i had to get up and come to work. i was just here thinking that today is the last day of the year. usually i’m sad to see another year go by but i am very anxious to see what this new year can bring. 2003 wasn’t the most wonderful of years but all in all i am in good health and i have many people that i love that love me too, so that’s all i need. i’m not going to make any resolutions this year. mainly because no one ever sticks to them anyway. i will make a few hopes and dreams and see what happens along the way.

i hope to be more enthusiastic in 2004, more positive, less selfish, and more active. I dream to find the something i am good at and…to stop complaining about the little things when i have so much to be thankful for. (i know that it seems an impossible task justin but i’ll try hehe)

so what do you plan on doing with your year?

I figured since it’s been awhile and you all are dying to know what’s going on in my life, i would enlighten you…Gardner-Webb ever so nicely paid us early for December (12th) for Christmas, but now we have to go 45 days until the next pay check. I’ve paid all my bills and now pretty much have no money until the 25th of January. Only 26 more days to go 🙁 Oh well, it could be worse.

The weekend before Christmas my family and I surprised my oldest sister Erin by showing up at her house. She did a live nativity scene outside her church with her youth group. Boy are they a wild bunch. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more “live” nativity. All in all it was a good turn out and lots of fun.

This year for Christmas, my family decided not to do Christmas presents. It was actually one of the best Christmas’ I’ve had. The only bad thing was not being able to see my sister Erin and Mike. Their dog got really sick and almost died so they had to stay and take care of it. It was great to be home and spend time with my family. Some of my high school crew were home for the holidays too and we went out to eat and played uno. It was like we hadn’t stepped a day outside of high school or away from each other. It’s amazing how you can make friends that when you finally do see each other again you still feel that sense of “home”. I didn’t realize how much I missed them until I was with them for a short time.

I drove up to Justin’s parents’ house on Christmas afternoon. Justin asked me when I got there if he could use my truck to haul some wood for his PaPaw down the road. His dad was telling him to hurry because we had presents to still unwrap. About 5/10 minutes later he came back and we opened presents. I got to the presents he gave me and opened one. the box said it was a cd player but it was too light so i opened it to find a cd. then another box came and i got a cd visor and another cd. then justin told me to follow him outside and he brought me to my truck and i found the cd player already installed. the lil stinker hehe. Isn’t he awesome! This Christmas was so awesome! It seems I have everything I had wished for.

Before I left to go back home Justin checked my truck because it was smelling like gas and what do you know I had a gas leak. He spent much of the early afternoon fixing it for me (you’re awesome honey!) God really was watching out for me.

Justin and I met his Polk County crew in Hendersonville at Outback for his dad and amy’s bdays. Then I followed justin home in the truck. We had walkie talkies so it made it lots of fun on the way home.

Well I think that pretty much catches things up.

well…this has been an interesting weekend. i ended up working on saturday from 9-330 and then went to the best christmas concert! carl cartee! i wish someday he really would sing at my wedding. oh well…one can dream. then today i went to church and at childrens’ time pastor stan asked the kids if they wanted to share anything and little natalie said “my daddy doesn’t live with me anymore” how embarrassing for her mom. kids really do say the darndest things. after church was the bookstore christmas party ( i know brandon…another party hehe) we all met at wayne’s house and ate lunch…mmmm then we finally got home.

i realized i had missed a call from my sister so i called her back to find she had some bad news. my dad found out today that they are kicking him off unemployment in less than 2 weeks. talk about some notice! merry christmas to them too! he was supposed to have it until april. now i don’t know what we are gonna do 🙁 kelly said my mom cried much of the day and my dad really hasn’t said much of anything but i know he is hurting and stressing. now that i’ve had to start repaying college loans i dont have much money to spare but i will do my best to give what i can and my sisters will too but even with all of that it’s still not enough. i guess i just don’t understand how things work sometimes. i know God always knows what He is doing but it doesn’t mean i do. my family has definitely been through worse times but i sure cant wait to see how this one will work out. i love God and i know He loves me….i just wish that something special could be done for my parents. they are so awesome! and i feel so helpless. please pray something will turn up soon. thanks guys!

this year thanksgiving was awesome (not that it isn’t every year) but i got to be home with my family and also spend time with justin’s. everyone just seemed to really enjoy it and not stress over silly things. my parents had been saving up here and there to be able to buy everything for the meal. bi-lo bonus card deals helped too with a free turkey.

it also looks like my sister finally got heating put in at the daycare. now she might be able to sleep a little past 5 and not have to try to warm the place up. i tell you people take their dear sweet time these days.

my family went to see my gma over the holidays, all of us together. i had never been to see my gma in her new room and wing. i miss her! it was pretty scary in there. i kinda feel helpless. but there really isn’t anything that can be done.

my dad is still looking for work. any ideas? he thought he had gotten a job and then they tried to screw him over from the start. i love my daddy….i honestly don’t know how he deals with everything thrown at him but i am soooo proud of him. kelly keeps getting a few new kids here and there and hopefully soon will be able to pay my mom. i know we will all get through this soon.

also anyone reading this please pray for my friend mandy’s family and nanny. she is not doing too good and i love them all so much!

well…it’s saturday and guess where i am……at work. jillian is supposed to be here any minute so we can finish up sending books to GOAL professors. wish us luck.

This past weekend justin, brandon, meagan, and i went to beech mtn. i had never been there before. it was so nice and sooooo relaxing. I cant remember the last time i took a saturday to just relax and enjoy time with friends. we played board games such as cranium! i love that game! and uno, guesstures, pictionary…and brandon even taught me some poker. on saturday we went out to eat, the food was great! just typing this makes my tummy growl for more hehe. thanks guys for a great weekend away! 🙂

has it really been so long since i’ve written in here? i know you all were so worried 😉 today marks a very special day….yeah i know it’s veterans day but i was thinking something more personal…..the day everything goes back to normal. jennifer and i have had guests in our apartment since last monday. i love them dearly but at the same time i’m excited to be getting back to a regular routine and actually getting some sleep. last night was the first time in what felt like forever that justin and i got to just sit and talk and relax and spend time together. it was so nice! tonight one of my shows comes on “one tree hill” i know it’s almost a direct imitation of dawsons creek but i like it dang it 😉 other than working on a holiday there’s not a whole lot going on. i’d like to ask those of you who know my family or that feel nice enough, to pray for my family. they are going through a really rough time. thanks guys!

Wednesday I had a bookstore party at my house. little did i know 23 people would show up. it was a blast and i had so much fun (not the pre or post cleaning part though) hehe we carved pumpkins www.wantmoore/blog.com and matt thomas made supper and dessert. i hope everyone had a good time. after some of the people began filtering out, we started watching lion king and playing the silly games on the dvd. Then came “the song” that no one can get out of their heads. “are you achin? …for some bacon?” hehe too fun! once everyone left i took the trash to the gwu apartments (shh!) and came back to find justin snoozin on the couch. i went to my bed and fell asleep. later justin came in to say goodnight/goodbye and that’s all i remember hehe.

last night…was another story. dave came by to pick up some things he forgot and hung out awhile 🙂 then justin and i headed to his apartment for the endless task of emptying his place and moving it all to his new house, including the cats. they ended up at my place around 1230am and never let me sleep hehe. so i’m a zombie today. poor apache was looking for justin. i could have told him justin wasn’t gonna be on top of the cabinets hehe. i finally fell asleep somewhere between 6 and 630 and woke at 715 to find apache under the covers at the foot of the bed and pixel on top of the covers between my feet. it was definitely an adventure and i hope they dont destroy our apartment while we are working….we shall see!

wow! i have some amazing friends and family. last night (wednesday) after church justin was going to take me to his apartment to have supper (so i thought) he wanted to show me what he had done at the house all day so we went by there first. about a minute after arriving there, there was pounding at the door. to my COMPLETE surprise it was jennifer, heather, and tabitha yelling “surprise!”. my own surprise party 🙂 a day early hehe. justin’s parents even came. it was a byot (bring your own table) deal for them hehe j/k they brought justin’s kitchen table and chairs with them too. we had pizza and cake and i got awesome presents too! the funniest thing about the night was jennifer’s choice of clothing. she had never been to see justin’s house til last night and she wore a neon green shirt and black pants. needless to say she blended in perfectly in justin’s office. i’m sure he will have a pic online to show you soon. thanks guys for an amazing night! you are the best!