The Zoo!

In the summer I usually babysit for a family that has kept me as their sitter for 3 years! I love it so much and wish I could do it as a full time job, but I work else where for most of the week! On Tuesday I kinda mentioned to Beth that I would like to take the kids to the zoo sometime this summer and she was like sure no problem. They had a membership from last year and it was going to be up on that Saturday so she went ahead a renewed it and put me as a caregiver which means I get in free along with the kids!! :) We went this past Thursday and had so much fun!! We walked around and got to see most of all the animals, we rode on the carousal, played in the water, and also played on the playground! It was supposed to rain, but thankfully it held out for us and we had a beautiful day! Next time we go I hope to see the alligators and tigers, pack our lunches and eat out in the big field that they have! We had so much fun and I was ready to go back the next day, but I had to work! Its so fun keeping kids and do all the fun stuff with them... its the life! :)

** Oh yeah... my sister and cousin Hannah came along with me and they had a lot of fun as well! They have already reserved there spots with me for the next time that we go! 

** I didnt upload any pictures of the animals because my camera doesnt take very good pictures from far away... it stinks I know! : P

Strawberry Picking/Memorial Day!

On Memorial Day my mom wanted to take us girls Strawberry Picking while the guys enjoyed a day of fishing. We thought it would be fun to invite all my cousins as well, so they got to come too!! We left early that morning and met up with my Aunt and Uncle then headed to Portland! When we got there my other Uncle wasn't there yet so we stalled and looked in the greenhouses and around the farm... it was so neat how they grew their tomatoes! It was taking them a little longer then expected so we went ahead and started with out them and filled up like 6 baskets of strawberry's before they got there. When they arrived we got more baskets and started filling them up.. I think we left with like 15 baskets!! After Strawberry Picking we went to eat lunch and then went home to get ready for our cook out at Kyles house! At Kyles w

e ate dinner, looked at Gigis garden, played Corn Hole, and ate dessert... we were also blessed to see a beautiful Rainbow! We had such a great day with the family... I love days like those!! :) 

Graduation!!!

Well as most of you know my brother, Nick graduated from Station Camp High School on Friday night! They had the graduation at Long Hollow Church which is huge and there still was not enough seats!! Most of my family had to stand on the balcony without chairs!! :( This is the first graduation I have ever been to that was so professional... lol College Heights graduations were MUCH different! It was great and I was so proud of Nicholas, he has received a scholarship from Austin Peay for cross country and I am sure he will get the lottery scholarship as well because of his good grades! :) Friday night we went to Josh's house and then my family left and went to some other graduation parties. 

Saturday was our BIG party for Nick...  the set up was Amazing, my mom really out did herself!! That morning when I got home my mom and dad were up peeling potatoes and I jumped right in the action! My grandmother came over also to help and we got everything finished just in time! We had a potato bar, which is Nick's favorite. The way this worked is you would get a Margarita glass and fill it up with mashed potatoes and then put whatever kind of topping you wanted... we had cheese, bacon bits, broccoli and melted cheese, sour cream and a few other things. Then the next table had ribs, smoked chicken, real green beans with almond slices, bread with melted cheese inside. The appetizers were cheese and crackers, a beautiful fruit display, shrimp with cream cheese and crackers, and then a crab dip. The cake was made by Dawson's and I made Nick a cake... his request!:) 

The food was wonderful and I was so happy to see everyone all together!! We had a great time celebrating Nicks accomplishment! He got many cards and a laptop as his gifts.. he was very thankful for everyones support! After everyone left my parents crashed and Kyle, Nick, Amanda, and I stayed up to watch a movie! This weekend was a wonderful time of celebration! :) 

Girls Night! :)

Friday night after my brothers Graduation my family went to Josh and Amanda's house, they are long time friends, and we celebrated Josh graduating high school. Later that night a few of my friends from high school met up at Amanda's house so we could all ride together. Usually I do not go out, but I gave in this time and went to The Big Bang ,which is in down town Nashville, with friends from high school and college. The Big Bang is a piano bar and they have a live band that plays old and new music. I ended up having a lot of fun, but this will not become a every weekend kind of thing... lol! It was nice catching up and seeing how everyone was doing now that the school is over for the summer.  

"My Garden"

This summer I really wanted to start learning how to grow my own food. I still live with my parents and making a nice size garden in their yard was quickly shot down, although they said the thought was nice. Our yard has lots of trees so we would have to put it in the middle of our back yard which wouldn't look good. Until I have my own home with a BIG back yard that has plenty of room for gardening and planting lots of flowers I will have to stick to a deck garden. On my day off this past Tuesday I worked on getting my little garden started.I planted some grape tomato plants, cilantro, and basil. I am so excited to see what comes from it!! :) I also got to take a nice jog around the neighborhood and I worked on some projects. It was nice having a day off and I look forward to my next one! :)

**My moms mothers day present!!

Lately

Thankfully I made it through this semester of school and as of now I'm out for the summer! I must say that I am very excited and I can focus more on working and getting all my personal wants and goals taken care of. School takes a big chunk of my week out, so I never had time to do anything unless it was at night or on the weekends. I am so glad that the weather is starting to be nice... I cant wait for picnics at the park, swimming, and many outdoor activities! 

This past Sunday was Mothers Day and it was wonderful!! I woke up that morning and made my mom and the rest of the family breakfast, sausage, biscuits, eggs, and of course coffee! While we were eating we gave her gifts and then I suggested that we all say something nice about our lovely mom. To my surprise my brother had some really sweet things to say and I'm sure it made her day! :) At church we had a bigger surprise then anyone would imagine... my uncle, aunt and cousin showed up (they attend another church)!! We were all so happy to see them, it made all of our days much more special knowing that all our family was there to celebrate this special day together! After church we went to my Aunts Stacey's house to grill out.. the food was amazing!! We all just hung out and talked about the next big event that is coming up... Nicks Graduation! 

After we left, Kyle and I went to his Mom G's house to celebrate and we had a feast there! We ate and hung out. Kyle and I brought my sisters little bunny Ella ,so we also played with her for a bit.

Mothers Day was great this year... I think that it is so important to be able to recognize all our mothers! The ones in my life mean so much to me and they are all such wonderful examples that I can follow when I one day become a mother! :)  

Babysitting Cole

Adrian and Michael asked us last week to babysit Cole and of course we accepted! First we ate some yummy pizza from Take in Bake and then we headed outside to play. Kyle got the hose out so we could play with one of his water toys and then we let him swing! After that we took him for a walk around the neighborhood in his wagon. We took Tank with us and when Tank stopped to take a leak he started kicking the grass and poor Cole got so dirty! We turned around to see what all the commotion was and Cole was just sitting there like please help!! After we got him all cleaned up we continued our walk and Cole pick some flowers for his Mommy. We got back to their house and played with Cole, we danced to his Cd's, colored and played with putty. After that we gave him a bath, had some snacks and then put him down for bed. We had so much fun with him and we cant wait to do it again! :)  

Nicks Track Meet and Friends

My brother never ceases to amaze me, he is so talented in many ways. He runs cross country, which is his strong point and he also runs track. As of this week his time for 1 mile is 4:32 and it gets better and better! Amanda, Kyle and I headed out to his meet so we could get some photos and video coverage and while we were there he broke his record which is always good! :) He got a scholarship to Austin Peay for cross country and we are all so excited for him, but I have to admit I'm a little sad to! I am close with my brother and we are used to being together. I know he will have so much fun in college and will have a very different experience then I did. Some other talents that he has is playing the piano, guitar, drums, and bass... he taught himself how to play all of these which I think is so cool, I would love to play the piano! I have to say that I am a VERY PROUD big sister and I wish him all the luck in the world to be whatever he wants to be.  As he says "pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever!" 

Now that I'm finished with my bragging, lol i can move on. 

Kyle and I went to a cookout with some of our friends and we had so much fun! We laughed our heads off at some of the guys there, its always fun to hang around people that like to laugh.. its so refreshing! We brought our own meat and grilled our burgers on a charcoal grill and man were our burgers good!! Rachel and her husband provided everything else and she made the best baked beans I have ever eaten, she also had a variety of dips that were made with fresh produce, a cheese ball, some fruit, and homemade macaroni! After we all ate we played a game called partini and it was a lot like cranium which was a blast! After that we had fun playing guitar hero and then we headed on out so we could finish up our lesson for Sunday! :)

Easter Festivities!

**This Easter was wonderful!! We had such a blast with family and friends, its such a blessing being able to spend time with family! On Saturday Kyles family celebrated Easter with lots of activities for the day. We had a egg hunt with everyone and a scavenger hunt for the older "kids", we played corn hole, ate a fabulous lunch and just enjoyed each others company! Later that evening we played pegs and jokers and ate a small dinner, I think we were all pretty full from lunch. I had a great time and look forward to next year! 

**On Sunday my family went to church and had an amazing service! It was a little different this year not having our whole family there, but it made Easter a lot more meaningful to me just knowing that Jesus conquered the grave and that we get to live eternally! :) After service we headed to my uncle and aunts house for lunch and we had some fun Easter activities planned. The kids and adults had so much fun being outside all day... we definitely got our workout in for the day! I'm so blessed to have such an amazing family!!