The Dillards

18 Weeks

2011-07-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

Size of baby: a rubber ducky or large pear

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 6 pounds gained

Maternity Clothes: Not in them yet.

Gender: Find out this week!

Movement: Any day now. My pregnant best friend and I figure we have probably experienced it and just don't realize it.

What I miss: Water parks, amusement parks, bowling

Sleep: In true Meredith style, I can't fall asleep at night. I don't think this is pregnancy related. Once I get asleep ( 30 + minutes later) I am there.

Symptoms: My back ( the base of my back that I affectionately call my hinge) hurts more and more often. I don't think it is the "amazing" 6 pound weight gain so I dread what it may feel like later on when we are actually carrying a load of baby.

Cravings: I don't really think I have any but I love salsa. However, I would any summer.

Best Moment this week: Getting to find out what this sweet baby is

What we are looking forward to: Gender Reveal!

Belly Shots

2011-07-20T16:04:00.000-07:00

As my belly is becoming more and more evident around here, I thought I would share a progression of how it has gone since Week 8, when I started taking belly shots. Some weeks we get really busy ( hence the month of slowed blogging) and don't think to take a pic, but we are getting better.
Week 8 Week 9

Week 10

Week 11 Week 11/12Week 14

I am in Week 17 now. I have Week 15 and 16 pictures. I will post them soon. As far as weight gain is concerned, I was 104 pounds when the pregnancy started. At my May and June appointments, I weighed 107. I have my next appointment this Friday and expect I may have gained two to three pounds. I have been wearing all non maternity clothes to this point. I fear that may end soon in the pants department. We will see. Then a week from Thursday, we find out if this little Dillard is a boy or a girl. Exciting times!

Telling Brad He Was Going to Become a Dad

2011-06-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

As I said previously, I was alone when I took the pregnancy test. I had to figure out a great way to tell Brad that he was going to be a dad. After the road we had been down, it was certainly an unexpected development :0)

The day I took the test was the day after Easter. Brad had gotten me some candy for Easter, and I had not bought anything for him. On this Monday, he was down at the hospital visiting with Jack. I called him and told him that while he was gone the Easter Bunny had stopped by and dropped him off a belated Easter offering. He acted confused. I told him that he would figure out when he got home.

I traveled up to the Avenue and into the local Carter's store. I picked some gender neutral baby gear to package for a "You're Going to Be a Daddy " gift and returned home. I packaged it in the bag - from bottom to top - pregnancy test, gender neutral daddy favored bibs, stuffed monkey. I then waited EAGERLY for a certain husband to get home.

When he opened the gift, it went a little something like this:

His face says to me ,"We do not need another stuffed animal in this house....." (obviously not getting it at this point)

"Wait, a second..."

"Are we?!?"

Great hugging and embracing commenced after this. I know he looks completely shocked but legitimately so. We had just been told all these things we needed to do to get pregnant two weeks earlier and then there we were - pregnant without doing any of them. Brad is going to be an awesome dad and he is very excited.

God Intervenes!

2011-06-17T05:56:00.000-07:00

As was mentioned on Facebook and alluded to on here, Brad and I are pregnant. This pregnancy is a major miracle! It has been a long road to pregnancy for us. Part of the reason I stopped blogging is because I felt like I was in a dark spot - I was unhappy about things at work, couldn't get pregnant, frustrated with things in our family. I trudged on though and as He usually does, God intervened.

We started trying to get pregnant last April. I went off birth control. We consciously made efforts with ovulating tests and tracking how long my cycle was ( pretty irregular). Then sometimes we would just "go for it". We had a few long gaps between periods but no pregnancies. It was frustrating. So this April rolled around. I went to my yearly apointment on April 11th, the same day I interviewed for a counseling position. I felt like the interview went alright and then at the appointment, we started the conversation - it's been a year and we are not pregnant...now what? My nurse practitioner Dorian told me that the next time I ovulated I would need to come in for bloodwork to see what was going on and then possibly have an ultrasound when they would shoot dye up my tubes and see what was (or wasn't going on). Brad would need to go see a urologist and get a sample taken. We were braced for the future that was ahead of us.

And then, God intervened. Two weeks later, April 25th, after being a little late on my period, I took a pregnancy test on a whim and it was POSITIVE!!!! Brad wasn't home so I went to work on my efforts to tell him ( content for the next post) and was alone in the most wonderful happiness I have ever experienced....happiness so big and wonderful it was painfully hard to be the ONLY one who knew this greatness.

I have such peace over all of the things surrounding our pregnancy. God has intervened in so many ways -

1.)I ended up not getting the counseling job and that is FINE because God knew that taking on a new job while taking on the job of Mommy would be completely overwhelming.

2.) We ovulated during that cycle on March 31st and April 1st. April 1st is the day Brad's brother had a horrific car accident and survived. I feel like possibly God delivered two awesome miracles to the Dillard family that day - by having His hand on our baby and on Jack.

3.) Our baby is due on Christmas Day - Jesus's birthday. What an awesome day to have our miracle come. Plus it is my favorite time of year because I am a December 30th baby.

So there you have it, God intervened and we are pregnant. And so completely blessed!

Big Changes to Come!

2011-06-16T08:13:00.000-07:00

To the blog, to our lives...... stay tuned! :0)

"Nieces"

2010-07-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

As you know, I have a few blogs to catch up on , so here we go.

I am the proud aunt of one awesome nephew but this summer I have been lucky enough to meet my two "nieces". One introduction was made in May and then one more recently in July.

My first "niece" is Miss Ellie Sexton. Her daddy, Brandon, was my boyfriend in third and fourth grade. Now that meant, we played together on the playground, were around each other constantly and gave each other presents. On Valentines Day in fourth grade, he presented me with a heart shape box of candy. Everyone in the school knew we were " serious". I think it mostly entertained all parties. We continued to be good friends throughout all of our schooling years, topping off our high school experience by going to senior prom as friends. Since then, we have always been there for each other. We visited each other in college and have attended each other's weddings. It was such a proud moment for me to see him and his wife venture into the journey of parenthood. Ellie was born April 30th. We met three weeks later and have also celebrated her two month birthday with dinner out. She is a doll and I love her. This is Miss Ellie and a pic of me and her daddy the last time we visited weeks before her arrival.

My second "niece" is my cousin Nancy's daughter Anna. She is two days short of ten months old. She has such a sweet disposition. We have been shopping with her several times these last few weeks and she is so patient, just hangs out as one of the girls. She is very talkative and has taken to all of us Griswolds. It was amazing to meet her for the first time and great to fix the insane statistic that Nancy and I had not seen each other in a year. Since she lives in Arizona and had Anna last September, there hadn't been a lot of opportunity. I have never gone a year between seeing Nancy! This time together has been so great and loving on Anna has been too.

I'm Still Here

2010-07-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry the blog has gone a little stagnant. I just have been really busy. I have plenty to share. Here is what you can look forward to soon ( and what has been keeping me busy):

- Myrtle Beach trip with Brad
- Seeing my cousin for the first time in a year and meeting her 10 month old daughter for the first time
- Spending time with my best friend since third grade Brandon and his wife Lindsay and three month old daughter Ellie
- Attending a Cocktails and Canvas evening with Nicole
- Going to Savannah tomorrow with my mom and aunt

Have a good end of summer and I will be back soon

Why I Teach

2010-06-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night, Brad and I went to the home of two of my students. It was the home of the fabulous "B" boys. I work with their mom and adore her. The boys are precious, so well spoken and so loving. I have taught both boys for two years now and am looking forward to a third. "Jo" will be in third this year and "Ju" will be in fifth. To give you an idea of how much I cherish these kids, Ju called me his "school Mom" last year. We have a close relationship still although I think the coolness of fourth grade caused that title to fade a little. He still comes to me , asking me to squeeze his head when he has a headache. They are a fabulous family.

So fabulous that to show me how much they appreciated what I have done for them this past school year, the family invited me to dinner and games at their house. It was such a special night. We ate pizza, played Cranium, Apples to Apples, team bowled in Wii. It was so great and I had such a great time. The appreciation they gave me left me inspired to fight for what I believe is right as a teacher. And what did I give them?

Well, I offered to bring something to dinner. When asked what Mrs. Dillard should bring, "Ju" said dessert. I rose to the challenge. I made a dessert out of ice cream sandwiches and brought sprinkles so they could decorate it before eating. It didn't take them along due to their outstanding creativity and help from little sister.

So these are the reasons I teach - not for the pay, the summers off , or the easy way out - to make a noticeable difference in the life of a child.

Summer So Far

2010-06-09T09:39:00.000-07:00

Summer so far has been going great. I have the freedom to operate on my own schedule and do my own thing. I sleep in some ( the alarm goes off at 8:30 and some days I actually get up then) and I get up some. I get to clean up - my closet has made the annual switch from winter to summer and goodwill be taking in some new items because of it, our laundry piles are noticeably shorter and the kitchen stays cleaner longer. My physical fitness is getting attention with a daily effort to do something for at least thirty minutes - usually the exercise bike, sometimes a walk or some Wii Fit. Our dinner time meals are definitely less prepackaged items since the end of year craziness has subsided. And I have seen family members - the last two weekends my mom, myself and Aunt Brenda have had spend the night parties, bowled and shopped. It has been fun. I also have had some quality time with my Grandma. I had lunch with her last Friday and took her to dr visits this Monday. I even have moments when I don't know what to do with myself - which doesnt happen during the school year too much. But to make things even better, I have so much to look forward to in the next two months:

Remainder of June

- This weekend I am going to spend the night with my Dad for a couple of nights. We should have some really good father/daughter bonding time just in time for Father's Day.
- My nephew Carter is turning two this Friday and his birthday party is Saturday. His personality is evolving so quickly. Each time you see him, he is a little more grown up.
- We are going out to eat with one of my best friends (also my college roomie) and her husband this Friday near Perimeter Mall.
- I am going outlet shopping with another best friend next week.
- We have tickets to a Gwinnett Braves game.
- Eclipse is coming out!
- Brad is working weeks of four ten hour days rather than a five day work week so we should have some fun Fridays coming our way this month and in .....

July

- We are going to Myrtle Beach for a week in July.

- My cousin Nancy is coming home from Arizona til the beginning of August. We will finally get to meet her baby girl Anna ( who will be one at the end of September).

- More fun Fridays with the husband!

So bring on the summer and bring on the fun!

Finally- the Last Full Day in NYC

2010-05-31T12:02:00.000-07:00

Our last full day in NYC was Saturday. We got up and found weather the 60's more chilly weather that Friday had brought. Our tickets (that we had purchased the previous day at the South Street Seaport) were for a matinee show of Million Dollar Quartet. So if we were going to do anything else, we had to get up and go. That journey ended up being to the near top of the Empire State Building. It was an incredible view but also an incredible wind so Brad was the only one of us that was brave enough to go out on the exterior observation deck. Here is an example of the view we saw.

After leaving the Empire State Building, we headed back toward the hotel. We stopped at Dean and DeLuca for a small bite to eat and then got ready to head to our show. We had the concierge take a pic of us all dressed up.

From there we headed for the Nederlander Theatre to see Million Dollar Quartet. Our seats were second row and the show was great. It followed a night in studio where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis played together. Here is a picture of the exterior of the theater when we found it the night before.

When the show concluded, we went back to the hotel to change. I had one more attraction I wanted to see. In the NY Public Library, they had the original Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals on exhibit. These are the ones that A.A. Milne's son Christopher Robin actually played with and that were featured in the opening credits of the show. I was very happy to take this in. Tigger had always been my favorite.

We wrapped up the night with dinner on Restaurant Row. We went to Bourbon Street. It was some very tasty Cajun food. Then we went back to the hotel and prepared to leave the next day via the shuttle.

Third Day in New York

2010-05-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

So the third day temps dropped unexpectedly into dreary, windy 60's and both of us had only packed one long sleeved item - matching gray fleeces. This was the day that we headed far south and rode the subway. We navigated it well and made it down to the South Seaport where we could buy our discounted Broadway show tickets. We scored second row tickets to the musical Million Dollar Quartet. Then we walked through the South Seaport stores. There, we completed a Dillard must on a trip to anywhere - finding a Christmas ornament to commemorate the trip.

We also found a view of the Brooklyn Bridge. On a warmer day, Meredith might have been up for walking over to it for real. However, on this day, we settled for a nice picturesque view. From there we walked down the waterfront and made our way to Battery Park and the Staten Island Ferry area. When we got there, we found out that the crown of the Statue of Liberty was closed due to windy conditions. Therefore, we again opted for just a view of this tourist attraction. I had done the ferry on my previous trip.

So then we or I pondered what to do and where to go from Battery Park. This is a pic my charming husband caught of me thinking over what we should do.

We ended up walking through the downtown area on the Southside. We walked past Ground Zero and then headed to the Subway to jump on a train towards Little Italy for lunch. We ate lunch there at a coal over pizza place named Lombardi's. It was really good.

Afterwards, we rode a subway back into town. Our travels took us by some of the staples of New York tourism - Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station, back to Toys R Us and H and M. While at Rockefeller Center, we went to the NBC store. We were hoping to schedule an NBC tour. This is the one thing we did wrong on this trip. When we got there, their tours were all booked up through Sunday AM, the day we were leaving. We probably could have done it but we wanted to make sure we got to the airport in plenty of time. There is always next time.

We wrapped up the day with beverages at Dunkin Donuts. The next day would be an early one.

Day Two in NYC

2010-05-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

We got up and had breakfast at our hotel before heading out for another full day of NYC. Before going out, we snapped a pic of us fresh and ready for the day.

Our plan was to do the Central Park area. We had of course been up near there for Serendipidity the day before. However, on this day, we traveled via Times Square. Still, it would be a day with a lot of blocks traveled . Here are some pictures of our travels through Times Square.

Once we got to Central Park, we headed to two specific and important locations: Shake Shack and the Museum of Natural History. Shake Shack was wonderful. It is a green operated restaurant which specializes in frozen custard. They use their custard to make blizzard like dessert with candies or fruits blended into a flavor of custard. Mine was fabulous with strawberries, bananas and shortbread cookies. It was my favorite food consumed in NYC. They are bringing a restaurant like this to Centennial Park. The museum was interesting but I am not a history buff persay so it was a more Brad experience. Still, it was definitely something someone should see once.

Following our adventures in the museum, we went deeper into Central Park. I was on a mission to find the Central Park Carousel and also wanted to revisit the Belvedere Castle from Nicole and I's trip to NYC. Our legs were tired as we came back home to the hotel after long travels in the park. We came back via Times Square. We stopped by the Hershey and Mand M stores as well as Toys R Us on our way.

After a nap, we headed to a small, quaint Italian restaurant around the corner from our hotel for dinner and then went into our local Starbucks for a warm beverage. And that was Day Two.

Better Late Than Never... Day One in New York City

2010-05-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

So we got up for our trip to Hartsfield Airport at 4:30am! Sooooooo early but we wanted to have plenty of time to park and ride to the airport and get through security. Well that happened and we had a LOT of time to kill in the airport as our flight was at 8:30. Better to be safe than sorry, but oh the missed sleep! So we looked for breakfast at the airport. In our concourse , there weren't great selections. I had a bagel and OJ. We waited patiently for our flight. The flight itself was uneventful. We landed in Newark and enjoyed a slightly long taxi ride via the Lincoln Tunnel. Upon arriving at the Hampton Inn Times Square South and depositing our luggage, we were free to travel the city. I decided we could walk this whole day. It was as warm in NYC as it was in GA. High 80's.

Let's talk about walking!!! Our hotel was at 39th street between 9th and 8th avenue...... our first destination - Serendipidity 3 was in the 60s of streets and around 2nd Avenue. Yes lots of walking. But there was frozen hot chocolate was on the other side and it was a great way to show Brad a brief run through of major,anticipated sites of New York on Day One. We walked and walked, growing hungrier. I remembered that when I was in NYC with Nicole four years prior we actually couldn't find Serendipidity on our first attempt but I knew Brad and I were close. We stepped into an Urban Outfitters where I charmed the "yankee" salesman with Southern charm and he informed me Serendipidity was right around the opposite corner. There Brad and I shared a lunch of nachos and of course, a frozen hot chocolate as featured in the movie Serendipidity with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsdale.

On our way back down from Serendipidity, we traveled back towards our hotel down 5th Avenue. The strip of major shops. We saw all sorts of sights like Trump Tower and the Apple Store. One of our most fun stops was FAO Schwartz. I at once found a wayward monkey and made it my mission to find his "home". I really would have preferred to bring him home with me. We saw the traditional big keyboard, walked through Clifford the Big Red Dog's house and had a great time. Though we did walk away with no animals purchased.

As we went down 5th Avenue, we stopped at two H and M's . I love H &M but surprisingly didn't find anything. The major Dillard shopper that day was Brad. He got two shirts, maybe more. At this point our feet were killing us.... it was like 50+ blocks already. So we slowly trudged back to the Hampton Inn and took a nap in our room.

For dinner, we headed to Greenwich Village on foot. Again a far distance from our hotel but in the opposite direction. Greenwich Village is such a cute collegy area and warm...especially for NYC. We went to a restaurant called the Blue Ribbon Bakery and both ordered the whopping plate of Fried Chicken , mashed potatoes and green beans. A great southern meal in the North? It happened folks. They even served the fried chicken with honey for dipping. That was good. A yummy trick. We trudged back to the hotel , two tired travelers ready for the next day of fun.

Spring Break - Monday and Tuesday

2010-04-14T14:24:00.000-07:00

Monday and Tuesday of Spring Break came. Brad had to work both of them and my aunt came into town so I went shopping with my mom and Brenda while Brad was at work. I had a good time.

Monday Mom, Brenda and I met up at my house. We went shopping locally so I could get home in time to get dressed for Brad and I's anniversary celebration.

It was our two year wedding anniversary. The NYC trip was in honor of this occasion but we still desired making an extra special evening out of our actual anniversary. Brad and I had a reservation for Veni, Vedi, Vici in Atlanta for dinner. I had a Caprese salad and Veal Scallopine. Brad had a prefixe dinner with three courses including fried clams, a small serving of ravioli and entree of swordfsh. Then we both got dessert. He got cheesecake and I had an apple tart. They presented us with a very impressive dessert display. It definitely made the night more "sweet."

Before we had left for dinner, we swapped gifts. Brad and I wrote similar words in our cards about how much we have grown recently in our relationship and how committed we are to each other now. He gave me the DVD Up and Reba McEntire's 50 song Boxed set uploaded on my Ipod. I got him a dress watch and new brown flip flops. So much for the $20 spending limit.

Tuesday I met (well beat) my mom and Brenda to the Mall of Georgia. We had PF Chang's for lunch. YUM! I love their lettuce wraps and even though it is an appetizer, had it as my lunch. I also ended up leaving the mall with another pair of Yellowbox flip flops. I highly recommend them you guys and they are on sale this week for $19.99 during Belk Days. I then headed home to pack and got in the bed by 10:30. I had to because we would be getting up SUPER early the next day for NYC!!!

Spring Break - Saturday and Sunday

2010-04-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday didn't start off low key but it was a low key day. Why did it not start out low key? It seems that two birds outside of our house did not get the memo that Spring Break is very exciting because people get to sleep in late. They began their week long journey of waking us up at 5:45 in the morning with their songs. Songs that would be pretty and happy at any other hour. Brad couldn't get back to sleep but I did my best to.

When we finally did get up, we watched a movie. We had tried to watch it Friday night but with little success. That is pretty typical around these parts. The movie we watched was The Family That Preys. It was very good. To be truthful, I really like Tyler Perry's movies. Very authentic about the family dynamic and experience.

We got ready to go afterward and went up to the Mall of Georgia. We got our wedding rings cleaned in celebration of our approaching anniversary on Monday and then went into the Mall. I had Chickfila for lunch (YUM!) and Brad got Chinese. We only ended up buying Anoraks at Old Navy for our trip to NYC. Sadly, they did not get packed so they will be going back to Old Navy. And to be truthful, I am sure we did more Saturday but I just can't remember. Oh the pains of being 29!

Easter Sunday came with take two of the birds and their morning song. Grr! Really any other time, I would think they are cute and want to support them in their mission of establishing a home but sigh, spring break. So since we were already up, we went to Early Service at Church rather than our usual 10:45 and attended Sunday School.

Once we got home, we prepared things to take to my Dad's. Then, we were on our way off to the Jefferson/Hoschton area to have a double dose of Easter - lunch with my dad and dinner with my mom. We had a light fare for lunch of quiche, salad, fresh fruit (that I brought) and breadsticks. There was also chocolate cream pie, cupcakes, and haystacks(thought crafted into birds' nests with jellybean eggs). While Jan made the cupcakes, I got to situate them each on their own private lawn of green coconut. After eating, we moved on to the lawn to play bocce ball. I brought our set up there and we had a good time playing. Grandma and her friend Henry would not play but seemed to have a good time spectating.

We (Brad, my sister Suzanne and her friend)left for Mom's after five. At Mom's, we had traditional fare. Ham, potato salad, green beans, baked beans. A special touch to the evening was that Mom found Nannie's strawberry cake recipe and made one for the event. Nannie passed away 13 years ago this June. She was my youngest grandparent and her mom outlived her. I miss touches of her like that strawberry cake, chocolate cake frosting, Christmas, the glue that she was for our family on that side. So it meant a lot that my mom attempted it and it was very good. After dinner, we just hung out. No games much to my dismay but we just chilled in front of the tv talking until we needed to head out because Brad had to be at work the next day. The Easter Bunny did visit us at Mom's though. He brought me Starburst jelly beans and Brach's Malted Milk Ball Eggs and Brad Reese's peanut butter eggs.

So while it was a busy Easter, it was a good Easter.

Back to Work - A lot of Posting to Come

2010-04-12T05:11:00.000-07:00

Hello!
We are back from NYC and sadly back to work. It was very hard to get up this morning and I am sure it will be hard to get through the day. But then you will start seeing some posts on the rest of Spring Break leading up to NYC and all the best about NYC. Brad and I had a great trip and really enjoyed the best of the city. Stay tuned!

Spring Break - Day One Friday April 2nd

2010-04-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

I had a good first day of Spring Break. After a little bit of sleeping in, I got up and got ready to head to Grandma's. It was a furlough day for the senior center and with my Aunt and Uncle gone on their westward journey, I figured she could use the company. When I got there, my dad was there too. We enjoyed a lunch of Grandma's homemade fried chicken and then got put to work.

My grandfather used to have a major garden when I was growing up. Grandma would prepare all the veggies that Pa could produce for freezing and we would have great meals until the next garden could come around. Some summers while us grandkids were there, we would be put to work snapping, shelling and shucking. It was a neat experience and a memory that I treasure. The year after Pa died we all came together in South Georgia and made Grandma a garden. It was really hard work, tilling and plowing and planting but it meant a lot to do it in Pa's honor. The vegetables tasted that much sweeter that year because of all the labor we put into it. This Friday however, the garden is much smaller, and I really didn't dress for the work but my dad tilled while he made Grandma rake all the dead plants in to the soil. This is what it looked like.

After a good afternoon chat with Grandma, I headed back home. With a detour along the way. There is a Target and Belk in Bethlehem so I stopped there to pick something up for Brad's anniversary present. I called Mom on the way and she met me up there. While I was shopping for Brad, I did buy something for me. Remember how Reason #5 to be excited about Spring Break was flip flops .....well doesn't that mean that I should buy some new ones on Spring Break.

They are YellowBox brand and so cute and comfy . I highly recommend them. They are available at Belk and well at the Shoe Dept at Mall of Georgia.

After my shopping journey was over, I came home and spent time with my husband. We were going to have a California Pizza Kitchen White Pizza Frozen Pizza for dinner, but when I opened it, the toppings all slid off so I saved as much of that as I could . I added some spaghetti sauce, cheese, the remnant toppings and some bell peppers and some turkey pepperoni to the pizza. After that we relaxed. And that is what Spring Break is all about.

6 More WakeUps til Spring Break!

2010-03-24T15:00:00.000-07:00

I can't emphasize or express enough how excited I am that Spring Break starts next Friday bringing me ten days off from work. As many of my friends in the blog community can relate to, this is the time of year where kids go bonkers. It is nearing the end of the year, almost CRCT time, the weather is warmer( well that one is still up for debate) and the days are longer. It is hard to keep them focused. But right now, I feel like I am right there with them. Why? This has been a hard year in a lot of ways but lets just say calendarwise I feel like I am due. I have Perfect Attendance for this year and with all the flood and snow days taking out snow make up days along the way, that means I have not had a day off since MLK day. As a teacher, that is a long time. But instead of being really negative about it, I want to focus on the positive. Spring Break is coming !!! Here is the top five reasons I am excited Spring Break is just around the corner:

#5 - Flip flops are going to be coming back out soon. I love feet freeing shoes! I have lavender sparkly flip flops, brown, black, etc. I just love them and the warm weather means they can find their way back to the front of the closet. Yay!

#4 - Easter is coming. I like Easter. Carter will be an active participant in the Dobson Easter Egg hunt this Sunday . It will certainly be fun to watch him go after the eggs.

#3 - Certain candies come available for said easter egg hunts. I love some Starburst jellybeans and the Brach's Malted Milk Ball Robin Eggs. And the latter are hard to find.

#2 - Brad and I will celebrate our second wedding anniversary on the Monday of Spring Break. It is amazing to me that it has been two years. We are in a really good place in our relationship and things get more and more fun. Two weekends ago and we went to the lake and just had couple time. Last Wednesday night we went and saw John Mayer second row. Things are just always hopping.

#1 To celebrate our two year anniversary, we are going to NYC. Four Spring Breaks ago, I went to NYC with my one of best friends and former roommate Nicole while Brad went to Colorado to ski. I am excited to share the city with Brad. We have a plan of events and sites that we want to enjoy when we go. We will be there from Wednesday to Sunday so our actual anniversary will be in Loganville but two days later we are NYC bound.

So there it is my top five of why Spring Break can't get here fast enough. Of course, it should go without saying if you know me at all that I can't wait to sleep in. :0) What are you all excited to see come in with Spring Break? Do you have any suggestions for restaurants in NYC?

Funny Friday

2010-03-06T07:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took my first and second grade class to the computer lab. They are learning about the forest ecosystem. Therefore, we were making fact forests. They draw a tree but then it has to either be outlined or filled up with facts about trees. So I had selected two kid friendly sites to research from.

Well, we were the first class to use the lab because the computers were not on when we arrived. So we had to sit and wait through them warming up. I told the kids that the computers were just like them ( and me) and didn't want to get up out of their beds to come to school and get to work on a Friday morning. Most of the children just thought that was funny but one of my second grade students, Anis who is of Bosnian descent said:

"They don't want to get out of their Micro - soft beds!"

Oh the things kids say, but I thought that one was pretty clever!

Mom's Birthday

2010-03-02T14:01:00.001-08:00

My mom celebrated her 56th birthday this Sunday. I started that day very early, at 4:45am when my husband woke up to leave on the field trip he is chaperoning for his school. Despite how quiet he tried to be on his way out, I am a light sleeper and I woke up to say "Good morning" upon waking up to the alarm and " Good bye, I love you" when he was walking out. I went back to sleep and slept through church after Brad left.

I then ran a few errands to finish getting ready for my Mom's birthday. I had already gotten her card a week before when Sarah and I shopped at the Mall of Georgia. I had bought her frame during the week. I had ordered the picture for the frame but I had to go pick it up, return a movie that Brad and I had watched Saturday night and fuel up the Honda. Then our fun evening was ready to begin.

To celebrate Mom's birthday, Suzanne, Mom and I got together to go out to eat Chinese. We split sizzling rice soup, general chicken and house fried rice. Then we came home. Mom had bought the ingredients for making haystacks. Haystacks are a candy/dessert that Mom used to make for us around the holidays when we were growing up. I had never made them before and I am in a habit of trying to get family recipes recorded or figured out right now. I have made Grandma do it recently with dumplings and in the past with biscuits. Too many family recipes have gone on with my loved ones and this is something special I like to do. It ended up being a special night of fun too.

Starting the Haystacks ( I am on the phone because Brad called to tell me he got there)

My sister scooping out her first stacks

Having Better Luck with the Stacking than I did with the Cookie Press at Christmas

The Spread

The Birthday Stack

After all the haystack makings were complete, Suzanne went home. Mom spent the night to be closer to work and keep me company. We watched Enchanted and went to bed. It was a good night. Happy Birthday!

Reader's Rally

2010-02-28T08:37:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, I coached my second Reader's Rally team in the county competition. Reader's Rally is a great program where throughout the course of the year team members are required to read 20 books off a chosen list. Five of them are picture books and the rest are chapter books. Team members may be fourth or fifth graders. Teams can have up to ten members and five are allowed to represent the Reader's Rally team in competition. Teams rotate throughout their division answering 8 - 15 questions a round and earning 10 points for each correct answer.

It was an exciting day. The competition grows every year and there were over 50 of Gwinnett's elementary schools present. 80 schools overall including middle and high school competitive teams. Do the Math and this is a lot of people, with just team members (10 x 80= 800) and then two adults required for every team ( a coach and a volunteer) and then parents are allowed to come out and serve as spectators in each room. There is a wild crowd.

My team was very nervous , since most of them were fourth graders and had never experienced this before. However, we loosened up and performed better in later rounds. While we didn't win our division, my kids were very impressive in the way they chose to look at the day " At least we got to read all of these really great books". I was also impressed with one of my noncompeting teammates. You see I had had fifteen kids practicing for a chance to be on the team. I had to narrow it down to the allowed maximum of ten. This was done by averaging their attendance, number of books read and knowledge of the books to reach a number score for each team member and taking the top ten. Well I had encouraged those who didn't make the team to come out on the day of competition and support us. And one boy "j" did and it made my heart soar.

As a coach, I have learned more in my second experience with this competition. I have a new perspective for strategy next year. Also, I have grown. This team outscored my team from last year by twenty points. We also had a team shirt and weekly practices which I had not done last year. So I am growing too. Additionally, it made me feel good that we beat the elementary school that our current school principal was an AP at before coming to our school this year as a principal. Hopefully next year we will do even better.

We Played in the Snow Last Night

2010-02-13T05:48:00.000-08:00

We went out and played in the snow last night and it doesnt look like much has melted or gone anywhere. It is very pretty. Our neighbors were out too. Their dog, Dallas, was having a ball. We are supposed to go to the UGA game tonight but I dont know that a) it is still on or b) we could make it up there safely. Brad had a very tough and scary time getting home where the back of the truck was swerving back and forth. But he made it home safely and was happy to play in the snow. In most of our pics, you can see visible snow flakes (dots) because that is how fast and hard it was snowing last night. We had chili for dinner and watched a movie before I konked out around ten. Here are some more pictures:

Our Snowman who had chocolate chips for facial features

The Measuring of the Snowfall

The Bush to Show You the Accumulation

The Difference Between the Sidewalk and Yard is Amazing

More About the Snow....Make sure to read the post below it!

2010-02-12T14:37:00.001-08:00

There were pics in the last post but here are more. I hope Brad gets home soon. And I don't know if this will all melt away soon, in time for the game or not! I am amazed at how thick it is ! The pictures are below! You can no longer see where I came in on the driveway or the tracks in the road in our neighborhood from any car.

The entryway at my house

Snow!

2010-02-12T13:21:00.000-08:00

On what was supposed to be a holiday and then was taken from us as a snow makeup day, there was snow falling starting at about 1:00pm. I then stood in it for 45 minutes during car riders . It was pretty and I wasn't cold. Very festive. I came back to an email from my husband not to tell me to not play in it til he gets home.

Then I took Linda, my mother in law, home to her house where we built two miniature snowmen to welcome Mr Jack home and also had a snowball fight while cleaning the snow off the back windshield of my car. Once the snowballs stopped flying ( and we discussed that we should go to Colorado sometime soon for more of this fun), I left to go home.

And now here I am in Loganville and our house is in the middle of a winter wonderland. All the bushes and lawn is covered.

I love it and hope we get to play in it . However, I also hope that it clears up for us to go to Athens tomorrow to take in a basketball game that was part of Brad's Christmas present from me and we will go out to eat in town for Valentine's Day.

The back yard

My measuring.... at least an inch

Okay Savvy Shoppers, Let me Hear From You

2010-02-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

I just went to Kroger. I went in for grape jelly and milk. But then they were running one of their buy 10 items on this list, then you save $5 off your order. I came out with only three Kroger brand products ( milk, jelly and hot dog buns) and every item was on sale ( with the exception of Valentine cards). I saved a total of $17.79 on my order and spent $39.75.

Here is my question and this has always been something I considered. Is it better to save money on name brands with coupons or buy the store brand when it is cheaper than the name brand product is with the coupon? When I lived in the apartment by myself, I only bought Kroger brand and I usually wouldn't buy that it if it wasn't on Kroger Plus sale. I think I did really well moneywise then but I also see where it is very exciting to get the name brand things for cheap.

What do you think?

Weekends are the Best

2010-02-01T16:57:00.000-08:00

Work is very stressful right now so the weekends are the best. Plus last week and this week bring days where most are spent as a dinner of one. So when Brad and I get to see each other constantly over the weekends I relish in it. Friday night we made homemade pizza for dinner and watched Sunshine Cleaning on DVR. I also was given a just because present of the new Lady Antebellum CD. That was a really nice evening. .
This weekend brought another birthday rooted adventure. It took us to the Fox Theater. For Brad's birthday I purchased tickets to see the musical version of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein. I had never seen the movie and usually turn it down when Brad offers. All I knew was my husband can do quite a few impressions that are apparently inspired by the movie.

So we headed to Atlanta around 11:30. We arrived at Mary Mac's around 12pm for a yummy Southern lunch where one waitress described the sweet tea as dessert. Brad and I usually get water to drink but we indulged. It was fabulous. We have been to Mary Macs before but it is such a treat every time. This time I got a veggie plate ( I always do) with cream corn, mac and cheese , fried okra and brunswick stew. Brad got fried chicken livers ( I don't understand it but he loves them) cream corn and mac and cheese. We each got our own dessert . Brad got peach cobbler and I got banana pudding. I had debated between that and peanut butter pie. I wish I had gone peanut butter pie route because the pudding was very sweet but not a lot of banana. Still, we had a great meal.

We left Mary Mac's under a cold sprinkle. We snagged $7 dollar parking and were at the Fox right when they opened the doors. We got to our seats which were in the center of the floor and on the aisle. Even better luck, while the theater was packed the two seats immediately in front of us were empty. That is joyous for a shorter person like myself. Brad really liked the musical and I found it humorous though it was painfully obvious I was in a crowd of fans of the movie. Brad seems to have enjoyed it because he has done some impressions since that afternoon.

From the Fox, we went on to struggle to find 85 N out of atlanta ( took 75 s at Howell Mill) and headed to Grandma's for bbq. My cousin Mark was in town from Texas for the weekend so we had a late Griswold Christmas. We both didnt have the stomach for much bbq but the company was great.

And so now I wait for next weekend - though it will be a day short on fun as a couple because Brad has a band gig on Friday. But Saturday we have time to keep Carter together and then eat dinner with my mom, and my sister.

Birthday Redo

2010-01-24T12:58:00.001-08:00

As has been documented on the blog, I was sick for my birthday. So yesterday, Brad and I took the opportunity to do what we would have done if I had been well.

We woke up early like the adult I have turned into should do on a Saturday and took the Honda in for an oil change. This wasn't necessarily part of the festivities. However, it did lead to the first part which was a Chick-fil-a breakfast. Brad and I were at breakfast before eight o'clock. It was good. I love Chick-fil-a biscuits but are up and available so rarely to get a chance to enjoy it.

From Chick - fil - a we stopped by Brad's parents' house to have his dad listen to a noise the truck was making. While there, I got my birthday present from his parents. I got some Warm Vanilla Sugar Bath and Body Works stuff and money. So birthday redo was in full gear with both a birthday breakfast and presents.

Then we went to another car place to have them listen to the truck. They decided it was the muffler. So we got the Honda from the Honda dealership and headed to the Chevy dealership. Once all the car stuff was taken care of, the birthday festivities resumed.

Brad and I got dressed and ready for an evening on the town in Athens. I wore a new Loft sweater and jeans that Mom got me for Christmas. He wore a new Banana Republic shirt Mom got him for Christmas.

We went to the Beechwood theater where we were pleasantly surprised to find the matinee tickets to be $6.50. The movie we saw was The Blind Side which was wonderful. We then ventured into downtown and ate at Five Star Day Cafe. I got the Garden of Eatin'. That is their veggie plate and as unbalanced as it was my selections were baked beans, mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. The plate came out with blackeyed peas instead of baked beans so they let me keep the fourth veggie for free. I now have enough leftovers for two days of lunch at work. Brad got the special which was a pasta with meat sauce and blackeyed peas. After dinner, we walked into Starbucks and walked through downtown with our hot beverages and back to the parking deck.

While we were back in Loganville before nine thirty, we certainly had a good time and it definitely put a more positive spin on the 29th birthday.

29 years and 2 weeks

2010-01-13T16:58:00.001-08:00

Yes, two weeks ago I celebrated my birthday by going to the doctor. But more importantly, my husband celebrated my birthday despite my sickness, despite my pitiful-ness and did such a great job. I woke up saying that I didnt even want to do presents. THAT IS VERY UN-Meredith! So I came downstairs after getting dressed to go to the doctor and saw this... Now mind you, this picture was taken LATER. But at this point, you might be asking yourself - why is a 29 year old's present under a stuffed dog? Well that is not just any dog, it is a Pound Puppy. And while as a child I collected teddy bears for a hobby, my favorite toy was a Pound Puppy given to me as a birthday present for my third or fourth birthday by my mom's parents, my Nannie and Granddaddy. I can vividly remember the wrapping paper, the ripping off of a corner of it and seeing the word Tonka, the way my Grandfather told me that they got me a tonka truck for my birthday and my extreme happiness to see it was a dog and falling asleep on the couch watching Fraggle Rock, snuggling the dog - therefore naming him Snuggly. He was always my favorite after that, even went to college and has always gone where I have gone in terms of home.

At the beginning of Christmas break, we helped Dad move and he wanted me to move some things out of my room. I packed up recital videos, all items Tigger for possible future use in a nursery, my keyboard and all the pound puppies I had in addition to Snuggly. That included the poodle ( Fifi, real original huh?) And the four Pound Puppies newborns - Huggie, Chocolate, Sparky and Dandy. I did it so they wouldn't get lost or messed up as things are moved out. Who knew they would become accomplices in my birthday fun?

My favorite birthday that Brad and I had shared previously involved clues all around the house leading from one present to the other. This one, which we enjoyed once we got home from the dr visit and three hours of hunting for eye drops at five pharmacies, was very reminiscent of that. I was directed to start in the back guest room:

Huggie was positioned on top of my first present : The Glee Soundtrack Part Two In this picture, he is "telling" me where to go next. Yes, stuffed animals are talking. After five days of being sick, missing a family Christmas and spending the last birthday of your 20's at the dr, you do ANYTHING to have fun on your birthday and my husband would do anything to make me smile!

Huggie "directed" me to go to the front guest room where his brother Dandy was guarding the second present - a DVD of Wallace and Gromit. We then went down the hall to the bonus room where Sparky met us with the third present - a beautiful yellow sweater from American Eagle

Then Fifi and I met again on the couch in the living room. What I found under her watch was a beautiful houndstooth overcoat.....haha houndstooth....dog. Again, anything humorwise was appreciative at this point.

And finally, in the dining room was Chocolate guarding my card. It had two tickets to go see Mary Poppins the musical at the Fox in May. This is special because when my sister and I were little we used to listen to the record of the Mary Poppins music at Nannie and Granddaddy's. Particularly memorable is how we would dance around the room to "I Love to Laugh" acting like we were floating like the characters in the movie.

So 29, despite the sickness, was pretty awesome and it was all thanks to my fabulous husband and the help from a few stuffed dogs.

Parents of a Teenager

2010-01-08T08:04:00.000-08:00

On the first Sunday of the New Year, we came home from church as parents. Parents of a teenager. Our associate pastor and his wife have guardianship of their fourteen year old granddaughter and she attends the high school less than a mile from our house. Since they were going on a trip for their anniversary, we stepped up to take care of her this week. It has been extremely fun and a nice window into what we might be like as parents. I am happy to report on today, our last day of parenting we have stuck together and been united in all of our decisions about Madison and what to do. I have enjoyed having a "daughter' which is nice because I have always thought I would probably prefer at least one son. Here is a summary of what we have done with our daughter and some pictures of our adventures last night during Madison's first time making cookies:

Sunday - We went from church to eat lunch with a lot of the youth and Brian and Michelle. Then we came home and played Wii. After, Brad and Madison went to a youth gettogether while I went grocery shopping.

Monday - Brad and I had to work so Madison went to hangout with her boyfriend and his family. They came home around 5pm and we had spaghetti for dinner. We played Scrabble and Loaded Questions as a "family". She always sends herself to bed at 10pm.

Tuesday - Madison didn't wake up to her alarm but still managed to get ready on time to not make Brad late to work. Brad had practice that night so I picked Madison up at her house and we went to eat a Mexican dinner, picked up a pint of Ben and Jerry's. We watched a Sandra Bullock double feature since that is her favorite actress. In between movies, we had our ice cream.

Wednesday - We went to school and work. We went to church . We came home and she shared her essay with us she wrote for school. We made plans to do something special for Thursday since it was her last night with us.

Thursday - We went to school and work. I picked her up as it was snowing and we were so excited, maybe me more than her. We picked up the basic needs of cheese, chocolate chips and baking soda in case we were snowed in ( j/k). We were making chocolate chip cookies from scratch and having one of her favorite dinners - cheeseburgers. Madison had told us that she only cooks cereal and ramen noodles. This was a fun experience as a family where I just read the directions and let her do everything. Brad took pictures and played 80's music and we all danced in the kitchen. We watched the Proposal, another Sandra Bullock picture. And we went to bed hoping the snow that had fallen would keep us here.

Friday - It is 11:27am and our "daughter" is still in the bed. We visited her room at 5:40 am to tell her we had no school. Whenever she gets up, we might venture out in the snow some. Then she is headed to her friend Brittany's house to spend the next two nights before Deb and Denny come home Sunday. Update - We did play in the snow ( for less than five minutes....this was totally a dusting....we should be at school) and now we are computering and watching her favorite show CSI

This has been fun. I would like to make cookies with my daughter one day if we should be so blessed as to have a girl. We have inside jokes me and her. She and Brad have had some laughs together. We have done things together as a "family." She has been respectful and responsible, which is not surprising because we know her but it has been fun to watch and be proud of.

Some of our inside jokes: "oh...ok" "give me three choices and I will decide" "termites"

Some pics of the cookie making experience:

Shortened Summary of the Rest of the Sickness

2010-01-08T07:37:00.000-08:00

Since it is a new year, I should just get on with mylife and not look back and dwell on the fact that I was sick on my birthday but here is a brief synopsis of the rest of what happened:

Dec 29th - My mom came over and we celebrated Christmas by having time for me to open my presents. I was wearing my glasses because the "sty" was still bothering me but I took them off for what turned out to be a nice photo opp. We went out to Chinese food for lunch with my sister where I only got soup and hot tea for lunch. We then went to Kohl's and Belk where I showed little interest in shopping ( I should have known something was wrong) and returned back to the house to play Wii and open birthday presents ( had to separate Christmas and birthday somehow). Overall, for both occasions I got a lot of beautiful clothes , mostly from my favorite store the Loft and a UGA Early Childhood Education Graduation dog statue. When my company left, I was "barking" pretty badly.

Dec 30th - The 29th birthday. I woke up late. I felt bad still and finally caved and went to the doc in the box. While they pulled me into a room quickly and did the normal weighing ( 104 lbs!) andblood pressure check, it took forever for a doctor to come in. I have been here before for a complaint of a sore throat and left being harassed for possibly having an eating disorder so I was hoping one particular Dr.would not walk in. He didn't and the man who did was very nice but he told me " You just have to look at you to tell you don't feel good. " He diagnosed me with a sinus infection and told me that the bacteria that had caused that had led to my conjunctivitis in BOTH eyes. Wow! So we left and headed to the pharmacy and another and another. It took forever for us ( Brad was alone on the last leg of the journey) to find the eyedrops that were prescribed and some pharmacies did a really poor job of working with us, not understanding why I didn't want to wait two days to get them. Once we got home, I opened my presents from Brad. He had had them set up all day and did such a great job. I will write an entry about that later because it deserves it. Dad and Jan came over and we had take out Sonny's BBQ and played Wii Sports Resort before calling it an early night. I got a dustbuster for my birthday and a lot of bath and body works stuff the house and the car.

Dec 31st - Brad went and helped his parents put away Christmas decor and I slept a lot on the couch. Still , some of the meds I was on were strong and ended up making me run for the bathroom to heave and throw up a couple of times. Our New Years was small. Brad had left overs from Sonny's and I had some chicken brunswick stew he brought from his parents' house. It was good but I was a little timid on the eating due to the earlier problems. We took all the ornaments off the tree. We watched The Ugly Truth and then we tuned in to Rockin New Years Eve and cheered in the New Year with sparkling apple cider. We then went to bed.

The Rest of the Break - We enjoyed each other's company so much. We took it easy, watching Four Christmases and gradually putting away Christmas stuff. Work started back up the first Monday of the year.

Independence Bowl

2009-12-31T11:46:00.000-08:00

Though I had been running a temperature on the 27th, I felt much better and was fever free on Dec 28th. So it seemed like a good idea to attend an Independence Bowl Viewing Party with our third family - the Sosebees. The Sosebees are our good friends Nan and Daniel. And their parents, Dan and Jan. Plus the younger brother Dustin. And what Sosebee party is complete without the Johnsons and the Machens. This is the same crowd we traveled to Destin with in July and we always have a good time together whether it is to watch 24, play trivia at Old Towne Tavern or to cheer on the Dawgs.

Brad and I arrived right in time for the beginning of the first play. I was a little hesitant about attending in my glasses as I was still tending to what was thought to be a sty (more on that later) and wearing my contacts was not an option. Still, my family welcomed me with open arms. We had a good time and the Dawgs played equally with the Aggies. We had a secret weapon in our corner, Dumplin. Dumplin is Nan and Daniel's Maltie Poo and she was dressed accordingly for the game.

After the first half of play ( and nothing too spectacular from either team), it was time for a chili dinner. We all ate and conversed. The food was great and the desserts were plentiful. In fact there was even Meredith birthday dessert. My wonderful friend Nan made one of my favorites - red velvet cake - into cupcakes to celebrate my birthday. Dustin even serenaded me with his guitar as Happy Birthday was sung. How special!

We stayed throughout the whole game and were happy with the victory. We then played the new game of Things. Finally, probably too late, we headed for home. Thanks Sosebees for a lovely time and thanks dawgs for a good finish to a not so good year!

Blogging Boom

2009-12-28T11:07:00.001-08:00

Since I have been sick ( see below), my blog has received more updates in one day than it usually sees in a month, please scroll down and enjoy and leave your comments!

Boom, Downhill from there

2009-12-28T10:54:00.000-08:00

We went to Brad's grandparents house and had a good time but as I was there I grew hoarse. Then it started to hurt to swallow. I figured it was the onset of a cold.

The 26th we laid low and it still hurt to swallow but I was okay with that. I took it easy only eating cereal, tomato soup for lunch and homemade turkey veggie soup while taking in some episodes of Muppet Show on DVDs. I still had great hope for celebrating Christmas with my mom's side of the family on the 27th and with my mom on the evening of the 27th. i went to bed after reluctantly taking Nyquil and waking up an hour later to go to the bathroom....so much for being knocked out.

The 27th came and I got ready to go to my mom's. I made a broccoli casserole while I sent Brad on to church. I took my shower and dried and curled my hair. That was when I decided I needed to lay down. My hips hurt, my head was spinning a little and my throat still hurt. Brad forced a thermometer in my mouth....100.8. Boo! I was sick and didn't want to risk getting Granddaddy sick so I didn't get to go to Christmas. I laid in the bed all day and then upon one round of sleep... my eye started oozing a discharge. Ugh! I thought I had pink eye but it turned out a sty I had been too unconcerned about had opened and was releasing a discharge. Still I was alone all day while my hubby attended the family gathering. He must have had a good time because he didn't get home til almost 10pm. I waited all day for my helping of apple cake made by my mom. I encouraged Brad to sleep in the guest room since I had been germing up his side of the bed all day in order to have access to the nightstand. I hoped to be better.

Today is the 28th. The eyelid is still sensitive but the eye is no longer discharging. My throat still hurts a little to the swallow but is very manageable. And my temp is 97.4. I am on the mend.

Tomorrow, my mom and I are going to celebrate my Christmas with her and my birthday. I hate to have it all lumped together. However, this year it is necessity.

Christmas with the Griswolds

2009-12-28T10:16:00.001-08:00

No , Chevy Chase was not present. Just Jackie, Jan, Florene, Suzanne and Brad and Meredith. We enjoyed a lunch of ham, green bean casserole, butter peas, yeast rolls , mashed potatoes, the mac and cheese, and salad I brought and cake mix cookies, german chocolate cake and chocolate cake. It was a great way to spend an afternoon in my dad's new house.

The Christmas Scene in Hoschton

We were happy to have Grandma join us in our festivities this year!

Dad and Jan enjoyed opening their gifts

Brad got a new hat

I spent time with my sister

And of course there was a banjo involved ( my sister is trying to learn how to play and my dad was interested, refusing to put it down for a family shot)

I really enjoyed the time we spent together. I got some very nice gifts from my dad and Jan including a lazy susan for my overflow of spices in my pantry, the Glee soundtrack, Reba McEntire's new CD, James Morrison CD, One Tree Hill Season Six on DVD and Wii Sports Resort. I didn't want to leave and we stayed for quite a while but we were due to the Dillard grandparent house. So on up the road we went.

Christmas Morning

2009-12-28T08:55:00.000-08:00

On Christmas morning, we got up early. 7:30 to be exact. I wanted to make sure that we had plenty of time to enjoy our presents, to get ready for Dad's, to cook for Dad's and to get to Dad's. My dad and his wife have moved to their house in Hoschton so it takes a little less than an hour to get there. I was baking homemade Macaroni and Cheese and making a salad with mandarin oranges and raspberries in it. So getting up was a necessity. It turned out to be well worth it though because apparently I was a very good girl! We alternate opening gifts first and then doing our stockings. By the time I was done opening my gifts , I had a printer, a purple Ipod nano with my name engraved on it, the Muppet Show Season One DVD, A Bug's Life on DVD and a pink fleece jacket.

Brad did well on the gifts too. He had opened up two tickets to the UGA vs South Carolina basketball game, a new UGA hat, The Office Clue game, Season 7 of 24 on DVD and Lego Indiana Jones for the Wii by the time he was done.

The stockings didn't disappoint either. I was lucky enough to get a matching necklace and bracelet set, a Swedish Chef Hallmark Christmas tree ornament and Carrie Underwood's new CD. Brad found the book The Shack, a tie to go with dark brown slacks, a bass scales book and GIJoe the movie on DVD in his stocking.

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Christmas Eve at Home

2009-12-28T08:15:00.000-08:00

So Christmas Eve at the Dillard House occurred between Christmas Eve at Home before and after. As mentioned in the previous post, we have traditionally gone to our church service for Christmas Eve. Also, the past four years we have taken a picture in front of our church's Christmas tree. I have always enjoyed that tradition. This year would have been our fifth year taking a picture. Brad let me know recently that the pictures we take in front of our Christmas trees at home have always been more special to him so Christmas Eve came with another Christmas tree picture before going out to his parents.

Then when we got home from his parents' house, we got into our Christmas pajamas ( last year I bought us coordinating navy pj pants - his have polar bears and mine Christmas trees...I decided with no kiddos around it wasn't worth the investment to get new ones. I hadn't worn mine since last year so they are still in great condition) and watched Mickey's Christmas Carol and Winnie the Pooh and Christmas too while sipping on hot cocoa. This is another activity that I hope will become a Christmas tradition between us and additional little Dillards as they appear.

Christmas Eve

2009-12-28T07:27:00.000-08:00

After a night of fun cookie making on December 23rd, Christmas Eve came in. We traditionally spend Christmas Eve with Brad's parents. We usually attend the Christmas Eve service at our church as well but this year it was not possible. That was okay as it allowed us more time with family. We had Christmas dinner breakfast at the "Dillard House". There were three chefs this year, all adourned in professional attire and armed with two waffle irons to meet the needs of this crowd.

Brad and Linda

Brad and his Brother Jack

After eating a breakfast of waffles and omelettes, it was time to open the presents. That was a lot of fun this year as Carter was old enough to really get into it. We got him an outfit , a Pooh Christmas book and a Dusty the Talking Vacuum. As any boy would do, he quickly threw the clothes to the side, had some interest in the book and was mesmerized by the talking vacuum. That was good as the talking vacuum was an Ebay item because after passing him up on the Kohls website to go get him in Kohls, he was nowhere to be found - including the Kohls website. In an interesting turn of events, post Christmas Jack and Christina saw one in Kohls. But still Aunt Meredith was happy to be on the hunt for something meaningful to her favorite nephew.

Opening the Clothes

" Yes Uncle Brad, this book is mildly entertaining"

Let the Good Times Roll

It was also very special to watch Linda and Mr. Jack open one of our gifts to them - a snapfish picture book of our cruise together over the summer. I think it was a big hit.

So we had a great time at the "Dillard House". I got some quality Carter time, a Vera Bradley lanyard for my keys to go on at work, a pair of purple and black Argyle socks, an apron with my name monogrammed on it, an umbrella with polka dots on it for my car and $25. It was a great time.

Christmas Eve Eve

2009-12-26T11:47:00.001-08:00

The Eve before Christmas Eve is a special time in the Dillard house. It is a week before my birthday and getting oh so close to a certain favorite holiday. This year, we got a chance to spend some special time together. We made Christmas cookies using a Pampered Chef cookie press that we had received as a wedding present. I hope this will be a tradition for years to come, maybe to help lay cookies out for Santa in the future.

Brad manned the KitchenAid mixer

We were armed with the proper equipment i.e. dough and press

With the help of an encouraging husband, a perfectionist decided to work through her frustrations

And it all paid off. Cookie making was a success!

We are Definitely Ready for Christmas.

2009-12-24T07:42:00.001-08:00

A few short weeks ago, December 5th to be exact, this is what it looked like in here:

But now, we are definitely ready for Christmas, it almost looks as though Santa has already been here!

Merry Christmas!

Oh, How I Miss Thanksgiving Break

2009-12-05T13:46:00.000-08:00

As I sit here and work on another Masters portfolio assignment and look forward to being done with it in time to enjoy my Christmas break fully, I look back to our Thanksgiving Break. We had a great time. Wednesday we traveled to the lake and spent time with Brad's parents and Carter. Jack and Christina joined us that night. Thursday we woke up and traveled to Warner Robins after a family shot on the deck of the lakehouse.

In Warner Robins, we ate lunch with about 80 of Linda's extended family and relatives at a church where the Dobson clan convene each year. The meal was satisfying to say the least because on the way home this is what the van looked like ( Brad woke up just before the pic was taken).

We played a little more at the lakehouse. To my surprise, Carter tried to say my name a few times. It was something that sounded like Meme once and then something that sounded an awful lot like a muh and duh lead two syllable word. Yay! Then a desire to shop on Black Friday and to be able to get ready for Friday's Griswold Thanksgiving festivities put us heading out from the lakehouse on Thursday night. Frigid temperatures met us in Loganville as we scrambled to find a paper with ads ( to no avail). We opted for Internet Black Friday shopping, went to my aunt Joyce's for Thanksgiving with Dad's side of the family and game playing. Saturday brought IMAX theater time with our adoptive family The Sosebees. And then the weekend wrapped up with church. Here's to more fun like that in two weeks.

A Sad Day

2009-11-20T04:34:00.000-08:00

Such a hard thing to hear from my husband last night that this cute soul had passed on. What a cute face and sweet friend to all of us UGA fans. As they have said, "He was 10-3 last year which is not bad for a freshman.....Uga VII was not as active or mischievous as his father but more distinguished. He realized his role when he put his shirt on. He was well-behaved and always appreciated the significance of his role."

YAY!

2009-11-16T11:36:00.000-08:00

I got an email today telling me that I passed the GACE for School Counseling. It is two tests and I passed both of them. YAY!!!!!!

One step closer to a Masters Degree and Masters Level Pay.

Left to do:
Complete Portfolio
28 hours left on a 300 hour internship

This Time Last Weekend....

2009-11-14T19:06:00.000-08:00

I had been in Pine Mountain , Georgia for approximately 24 hours in my beautiful cozy cabin home pictured here:

I served as a chaperone for our youth girls' retreat last weekend we departed Friday at 5pm and came home Sunday around 3pm. The trip was great . Our speaker did a fabulous job of building unity in our group and even made me think seriously about my God time andmy life right now. We took one of our former youth with us as our personal chef ( he is studying at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School) and we also went to the Spa at Callaway Gardens where all of the girls got a manicure, I got a pedicure and my fellow chaperone got a massage. While all of that was nice, my favorite moments were bonding with the girls ( staying up til 12:30 watching the dumbest "scary" movie, playing Uno, going through the lessons) and a little alone time on Saturday while half the girls were at the spa and my girls were taking showers. I got to go out on a walk/jog through our mountain community. Now I love cozy cabin time at anytime of the year but in the fall it was just breathtaking. The leaves were perfect colors and there was a little creek that gave the perfect soundtrack for my run. I loved how I was just doing something for me and just getting out there in God's beauty. I thought how nice it would be if I could do it more often. It was fabulous. Here are some more pics from the weekend:

God's Beauty

Me and the Girls

Bargains Galore!

2009-10-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

I have done some major bargain shopping today. Here's the details:

Ann Taylor Loft - All of their clearance is an extra 40% off right now. I got a pair of dress pants, a wool skirt and a nice embellished tshirt to wear with jeans. Just at the markdown price, these three items would have rung up at around $119. Let's not even talk about what regular price totals would be. With the extra 40% off the total went down to $69. That is as much as you could pay for one of these items at regular price. I was happy! And I found another pair of pants that I put on hold for Mom to buy me for Christmas. That is a great victory. Pants are hard to find for the short people.

Old Navy - Brad needed a new black coat . We went to Old Navy armed with a $5 off a $25 purchase. The black wool coat was originally $69.50. It was on sale for $50. With the coupon and tax, we got it for $47.

VistaPrint - As advertised on Money Saving Mom (thanks Jen and Christina), many products were on sale for up to 90% off today. Brad has wanted some return address labels so I ordered some. 140 labels usually run for $7.99 plus shipping. Today they were 79 cents! So with shipping I only paid $3.74! Yay!

A Relaxing, Yet Mentally Challenging Saturday :0)

2009-10-26T04:33:00.000-07:00

After sleeping in late and cleaning the kitchen in our house during the morning hours, Saturday left Brad and I with no scheduled plans. That is a rarity and certainly more pleasurable than the GACE I endured for four hours last weekend. So we decided to venture out to Walnut Grove and take on yet another mentally challenging weekend task - navigating our way through a corn maze. This is our third corn maze in probably as many years. We did one in Cleveland GA at least two years ago at night when it was FREEZING!!! And last year we did one in Watkinsville with the youth at our church. This time it was just the two of us and it was cloudy, increasingly cloudy as we went through but we dodged any chance for rain and made it out of the maze together. We found all but two of the riddle answers in the maze and all of the picture rubbings. After getting out of the maze, we quickly went home to warm up and watch a classic film, Dead Poets Society. A really good Saturday for sure.

One of the Cutest Corn Cobs Around

Mrs. Corn Cob

Making Our Way Through the Maze of Maize

Update

2009-10-20T04:38:00.000-07:00

I am still here but just really busy. This past weekend I took the GACE for School Counseling. I felt really good about the essays but the multiple choice I waffled on some. The test actually included two exams, each with two essays and 60 multiple choice questions. I have already taken the PRAXIS and passed it and simply don't understand Georgia's need to do their own thing except for the GREEN money involved.

I had a fall break October 9th through the 12th. Brad went off and did a boy's retreat with the youth at church so my mom and aunt came to stay. We lived it up big and went shopping as well as eating at Urban Flats, and Chow Baby throughout the course of the weekend. I learned that neither my aunt or my mom can play Mario Kart. It was hilarious. And we divided up on the GA TN game because my aunt now resides in TN. She left happier than me.

Now we are looking ahead to Brad's birthday. He turns 32 a week from tomorrow. And then before you know it we will be making our way to Christmas and my birthday. Oh which brings me to my next exciting announcement.....Brad bought a new bass and as part of that exchange I was guaranteed a REAL Christmas tree for Christmas this year. Yay!! I had a real Christmas tree all my life before I met Brad. It just says Christmas to me through its wonderful smell. Additionally, our fake is really fake looking so I scored a real , genuine Christmas tree this year. YAY!

Yay!

2009-09-29T05:05:00.001-07:00

The news from Arizona this morning:

Anna born 12:46 AM (that's Az time) 9/29/09. Nancy and Anna are fine. Weighs 8 lbs. 14 ozs. and is 21 inches long. More later.

So exciting! I am so proud of my cousin and wish I was close enough to hold that baby! Can't wait to see pictures.

Some Exciting News

2009-09-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

My cousin Nancy, who we threw the shower for earlier this year, is experiencing early labor symptoms. She was having one contraction every so often last night and ended up being all night with contractions. This is exciting because her original due date was October 8th but this baby has been growing and making it seem like she would be here much earlier.

My aunt is in flight to be with her because they are out in Arizona. My other cousin, Mark, is there with his sister. Things are getting excited for the arrival of the newest Griswold family member. Nancy has kept her name a secret so all will be revealed when the little Hartgrove girl makes her arrival. Yay!

Unexpected Vacation

2009-09-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

So I was all ready for work Monday morning when we found out that school was delayed an hour and a half due to the flooding. There was no flooding here at our house but it had thunder stormed all night which meant Meredith didn't sleep well so I cooled my jets and took my time getting ready. Since school would now be letting the kids in at 9:15, I figured I would leave for work about 8am. Brad did the same.

On my way to work, Mom called me and said "Go back to bed. School is cancelled." I couldn't take her word for it so I called Brad and asked if he had heard it. He hadn't so I switched to WSB and started listening. They did say it. I called him back, and he said he was still going into work. I decided to call the school directly. I got my friend Pam on the phone and told her that I just had heard school was cancelled and asked if it was true. She said she had not heard that but given she was at work and hadn't even heard about the delay...she would check. I pulled over in to a neighborhood at this point. It took so long for her to answer me ( and I bet the million of other calls that came in) that I got disconnected. I called the school back and got a different secretary. She confirmed that yes, we were out. I happily and carefully turned around and went home. Brad worked half the day and came home.

I now understand why it was all so necessary to cancel school. At the high school I attended (also in Gwinnett), the flooding was so bad that 12 school buses were turned over and damaged and the road in front of the school washed away. Supposedly, at my high school's rival there is water in the building. Many bridges in Gwinnett were washed out. So here we are at the end of two days of flood days. I am sure we will use snow make ups to fix the miss. But it was nice to have a break and I thank God that things were not worse in our lives and send out warm thoughts for those who have lost loved ones or belongings. We just need to trust that God will provide the rain when we need it and will provide the provisions we need to get through the abundance of rain.

A Loving Husband

2009-09-09T11:20:00.001-07:00

After a bumpy and hectic week last week in terms of work and home, my weekend and current week are going really well. Why one might ask? Because of my loving husband, that is why :0) This weekend we escaped to the lake together where all we did was relax . We took walks, cooked out, canoed, played games , watched movies and just got to enjoy each other. It was very nice and a refreshing change of pace for a couple that stays busy. Thanks to my awesome inlaws for allowing us to go to their most awesome lake house.

And since I have been at work, my husband has still been as wonderful. It isn't that this is surprising or infrequent behavior but I just really appreciate it at this time because I am actively working on wrapping up the internship portion of my Masters Degree and along with it my portfolio. With all the stress of that major step and work going on, the extra attention and assistance at home sure is nice and goes completely noticed. We have walked together this week and he cooked dinner last night. Not only did he cook dinner, he set up a picnic in the backyard for us to share in as a break from article reviews for me. It was very pleasant and something I didn't expect on a Tuesday. Thank you to my husband for showering me with love and attention at this busy crossroads in my life. I love you!

Out of the Mouths of Young Geniuses

2009-09-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

We have been working on similes in 2nd grade FOCUS and here is what some of my students feel about boys:

A boy is as tall as a skyscraper

A Boy is as smart as Einstein

A Boy is as quiet as a mouse.

A boy is as nice as a neighbor.
( I also have to share that another example for this was A boy is as nice as a senior citizen)

A boy is crazy as a monkey.

A boy is as awesome as a rockstar.

A boy is as mean as a badger.

Tomorrow we tackle girls so we will see how it goes.

Week One of School : Over!

2009-08-15T08:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in awhile. I have been busy and the majority of my time has been spent in this place:

Yes, the first week of school. It is such an overwhelming force, even in this my seventh year of teaching. And even more silly sounding, is that I haven't taught at all this week. However, I have kept busy performing other duties. Most of Monday and Tuesday were spent escorting late registering students to their classrooms. Even with that extra push of students, our numbers are low. Much of the rest of the week was spent finding records at other schools for my TEN!! new FOCUS friends who have moved into Norton. I am really excited about this increase in students but dealing with other schools ( particularly DeKalb County) is not an easy experience. However, I am down to just one child lacking their records from their previous school ( Calling Houston County out here). I also spent the last part of this week lesson planning and getting ahead on my copy requests as well as preparing my materials for curriculum night. So I feel very prepared for the start of my classes Monday and I am so excited to see my students as the majority of them were mine last year. It is so wonderful to know they are excited too as I heard many times walking down the hall this week " Mrs Dillard when are we coming to FOCUS!??!?"

Another accomplishment I am proud of this week is that I hit the one month mark of my walking effort. In one month, I have walked every night with the exception of six. Three of those were due to weather.That is very exciting to me as schedules and lack of motivation often get in the way. Now here's hoping that this month ( Aug 13th - Sept 13th ) will see better or similar results.

Coming Monday : Pictures of my Brand New , Full Sized Classroom (Before my Nearly 60 students touch it)

"Family" Vacation to Destin

2009-07-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

We got back last night from a "family" vacation to Destin. Why was it a "family" vacation ? Well, this was a trip that started out as a couples trip with our good friends Nan and Daniel. When we were planning, Daniel's family caught wind of it so they came too, with their younger son Dustin and his girlfriend Kristen. Then their friends that they always vacation with, the Johnsons, came as well. Nan's parents also ended up being in Destin and they had a couple that they were vacationing with. So we had a big family, just none of our own. Still, we had a great time.

I had not been to Destin in ten years. It was still sugary white sand and crystal clear waters. Small enough wave presence that we played frisbee in the ocean and just had a great time. We did some great eating, great playing ( mini golf where I got two hole in ones and go carts) and some great relaxing! I got most of the way through New Moon from the Twilight series while we were there and just enjoyed the last of my time off. This was the second vacation that we had taken with Nan and Daniel and will definitely not be the last.

Here are some pictures from the four day excursion:

The Girls - Kristen, Nan and Me

The Dillards

The Couples and David- Dustin and Kristen, Daniel and Nan, Brad and Me

The Dillards

By the end of the second full day at the beach, my beachmates were tired!

We went out to eat Saturday night just as couples and took some pics on the beach:

You've Heard of Krogering....This is Kohl'sing :0)

2009-07-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I met my Mom at Kohl's during her lunch break. I was armed with a 15% off coupon and thought I would look for some work appropriate clothes before the crazy crowds are out doing the same thing during the next couple of weeks. I wasn't the only one with the idea as I did run into one of my colleagues, but the store was pretty free of crazy crowds. I had much better luck than I usually do. I even bought a matching outfit....that never happens.

Here is my spread:

Total Spent : $ 92.05 Total Saved: $150.15

This is what we call Kohl'sing friends. Let's break down each of the deals.

A Black V-Neck Shirt

Original Price- $20.00 On Clearance for $6.00 Plus 20% off Coupon = $4.80

A Black Sweatjacket

Original Price- $30.00 On Clearance for $6.00 Plus 20% off Coupon = $4.80

A Top and Skirt to Match

Each Original Price- $36.00 On Sale for $18.00 Plus 20% off Coupon = $14.40

A Shirt and Pair of Capris

Shirt Original Price- $24.00 On Sale for $14.99 Plus 20% off Coupon = $11.99

Capri Original Price- $36.00 On Sale for $21.60 Plus 20% off Coupon = $17.28

Sandals ...Sadly a Size 6 but I am so tired of looking for the nonexistant cute size 5.5

Original Price- $54.99 On Sale for $23.97 Plus 20% off Coupon = $19.18

So overall I did great and you will notice that my coupon value changed. Since I couldn't do any worse than the 15% coupon I got in the mail I decided to test my luck at the scratch offs they have in the store. I got a 20% one. Yay. Now let's just hope I do so well in Destin at the outlets on my shopping outing with Nan.

Reasons to Celebrate Summer

2009-07-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

As summer comes to a close, let's celebrate the reasons it is so enjoyable and will be so sorely missed as we head back to work....me heading back two weeks from tomorrow.

While I walk periodically year round, tonight I will celebrate a six night stint of walking 2 plus miles a night. During the school year, something always comes up where I can't walk this many nights in a row or I just don't feel like it even if I have the time. So here's to the chance to feel physically fit and accomplished in the exercise realm during the summer.

I love to read. As a child, I was most happy when my dad would drive us down Memorial Drive early on Saturdays and let us pick out one new book to read at Waldenbooks. We spent many a days in the library. However, with the Masters coursework of the past few years, I had not been able to take time to read leisurely. Whenever I tried, I would literally fall asleep behind the book. Here's to summer for giving me time to finish one whole book and start into a second one. Thanks to Sarah and Jennifer for getting me to start in on the Twilight books.

Who doesn't like to relax at any time of year but especially running to the beach at summer's peak? I have been blessed to go to the beach two times and will be leaving for the third this week. Here's to summer for allowing me to start the summer with a cruise one day after work stopped, make the segway from vacation to summer school by being at Myrtle Beach leading right into day one of summer school and a finale to Destin for four nights with great friends.

So here's to summer. It has certainly brought more reasons to be happy or relaxed than those but right now I would say that was the top three. What will you miss most about summer?

To My Teacher Friends: Go to Target!

2009-07-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend after our journey to the Center for Puppetry Arts, Brad and I needed to kill some time before showing up at my Dad and Jan's house for dinner. So we stopped at the Target at Hwy 81 and 316 in Bethlehem. It is a NICE Target but even nicer were the teacher friendly deals I got inside:

Two 10 pack broad tip Crayola Washable Markers for a $1 each

Two 12 pack Crayola Colored Pencils for a $1 each

There were also sales on small rubber maid containers with lid for $4 for 5 containers!

These deals may seem small but without "Sonny Money" this fall, every little sale helps!

Blessings Abound

2009-07-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

I am blessed with a really close relationship with my family and with three very dear best friends, Nicole, Sarah and Jennifer. The sad thing is that most of these people live very far away. Nicole lives in Atlanta, Sarah lives in Commerce and Jennifer lives in Forsyth. Therefore, when we do get together it is so powerful and reenergizes me completely. It makes me love the times we have together and makes them all that more significant. However, I have prayed for a long time that I would have a friend who lives locally to do things with at the drop of a hat. And God has answered that prayer.

Our church got a new youth pastor in February and his wife, Michelle is wonderful. From Day One when we took the youth to indoor putt-putt ( and beat our husbands), I knew we would be good , fast friends. We are both kinda perfectionists, have a soft spot for ice cream and have the guilty pleasure of liking Days of Our Lives among many other things. We are also both teachers. So we had plenty in common but we had to be patient because she stayed in Alabama to finish off the school year while Brian lived over here, beginning the mission of youth pastoring at Chestnut Grove. In that time, our husbands have formed a "bro"mance of sorts, playing in the praise band together and enjoying similar senses of humor. Now that Michelle is here, we went on our first double date last night - Bowling and On the Border. The girls were "blessed" with good bowling games ....I did a unMeredith bowl of 104 in the first game and a 124 in the second. Wow. It was so fun. Here are some pics :

It just felt good to have a friend that is around my age and is local.

But the blessings just keep coming because today we found out that she is going to be teaching fourth grade at my school, Norton! So happy. We have been working so hard to find her employment and now we will be working together. God is very good and I am looking forward to our time together. Now I have three fabulous best friends who I love with all of my heart and a new friend to get to know and do those special five minute later activities with.

Pictures from the Wedding

2009-07-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures from yesterday's festivities:

Mixed Emotions

2009-07-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

My dad is getting remarried tomorrow after having been divorced from my mother for 12 years. While certainly I am happy for my dad, this is a hard event to work through emotionally. When my dad and mom divorced, I was legally supposed to live with my mom. I was a sophomore in high school at the time and decided to live with my dad. I felt like he needed me. It was the year my sister went off to college so it was just me and my dad. We grew extremely close and had a bond that I don't think most dads and daughters had. There were ice creams at home each night, dates to the dollar movie and all sorts of great memories. As I went through college, I came home every weekend to see my dad during my freshman year that I was miserable at Shorter. Not many dads would be willing to drive two hours to Rome and two hours back to Lilburn, only to do it again on Sunday. I was so blessed to have his company and his support during that hard time. We talked every night all my years in college. Being at UGA allowed us to see each other frequently without the long drives and we remained close.

Then after Scott and I got divorced I lived with my dad again for six months. It was the two of us alone again. My dad helped me stay strong at a time when I could have crumbled into pieces. We faced the pains and evils of divorce again and it strengthened our bond even more than I imagined possible.

Now that he is getting married tomorrow, I am full of emotions. I am happy my dad wont be alone anymore. I am saddened because he has bought a new house and that means I will soon watch my childhood home, where we have lived since I was five, go up for sale and go out of my life. I am scared at whether our relationship will stay in tact now that he is moving on in a way and gaining new family. I want more than anything to stay important to my father. I want to stay just as wonderfully close as we have always been. But with the happiness of him finding someone, there are a lot of unknowns that leave me a thought away from bawling. It is a hard time but I try to comfort myself with all the happy times that we have shared and the memories that reside in my mind. I know that with time this will become more normal and it will feel easier to be happy and at peace with this change.

Brad and Meredith

2009-06-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

I am borrowing this survey from a friend's sister in law's blog.

When is your "engagement" anniversary: October 5, 2007
When is your "marriage" anniversary: April 5, 2008
How long have you known your spouse: It will be four years in July
How long did you date before you were engaged:A little over two years
Where did you meet your spouse for the first time? When I was walked to the Singles Sunday School Class at Chestnut Grove
What is your spouse's full name? Bradley Dwayne Dillard
Do you have any children? No
How many? We want 2
Do you have any house pets? No, but some of us want one
Do you own a house or rent? Own
Do you live in a country or town/city? Well I live in a country ( the USA) and within that country I live in a suburb
What is one of your favorite activities together: Watching movies, going to trivia, bowling
Do you have a favorite vacation spot? Out of the places we have been together I loved Disney the most....it was our honeymoon.
How many siblings (including in-laws) do you have? 1 sister, 2 Brother-in-laws, 1 sister-in-laws
What church do you attend? Chestnut Grove
Is this the church you were married in? Yes, where we met and where we got married
What town is your current address at? Loganville
Do you work or stay at home? Work
Where did you go on your honeymoon? Disney World, stayed in the Port Orleans Riverside and went to all the parks
Who drives when you go out together? Brad for the most part
How long have you been together? almost 4 years
How long did you know each other before you started dating? About 2 weeks
Who asked who out? He asked me out
How old are each of you? He's 31 and I'm 28
Whose siblings do you see the most? His though I am seeing more of my sister lately
Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?not getting too busy to spend quality time together
Did you go to the same school? No
Are you from the same home town? Same home county
Who is smarter? me! just kidding
Who is more sensitive? Me , really
Where do you eat out most as a couple? Zaxby's? Macaroni Grille?
Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Caribbean
Who has the craziest exes? I definitely do
Who has the worse temper? We both do at times but they don't show often
Who does the cooking? I do.
Who is more social? Me
Who is the neat-freak? If only one of us were enough to keep the house clean 100% of the time
Who is more stubborn? depends
Who hogs the bed? I have been told I do
Who wakes up earlier? on weekdays we wake up at the same time but Brad gets up much earlier on the weekends
Where was your first date? Sing along with our church and two other churches in the community and dinner at Ruby Tuesdays
Who has the bigger family? Brad's parents had more siblings....they also do more with extended family
Do you get flowers often? Maybe three times in four years.
How do you spend the holidays? With famly

Baby Shower

2009-06-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I helped throw a baby shower for my favorite cousin Nancy. We are only a year apart and are both teachers. She is definitely one of my best friends and she is the first Griswold grandchild to have a baby. Currently, Nancy and her husband live in Phoenix, AZ but have traveled back East to spend time with both my uncle and aunt as well as Josh's parents. Everyone is so excited about the newest baby girl who will be making her arrival in late September. One thing's for sure - after this shower, Baby Hartgrove will be well-dressed.

The 145 Diaper Diaper Cake.....Made by My Aunt Joyce

Nancy and Me

High School "Reunion"

2009-06-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

Having graduated from high school in 1999, it was time for a high school reunion. The Class of 1999 Parkview Panthers reunited this past Saturday. However, the most relevant and important parts of that graduating class to me were not going to be present so we, my two best friends from high school Jennifer and Becky and myself, scheduled our own reunion for tonight. We met at a Cuban American bistro called Mojito's in downtown Norcross, just a block or less from where Jennifer and I took our dates for Senior Homecoming. It was the first time that we all three had been together in three years. Becky and I both headed for Rome, Georgia when we left Parkview - me for Shorter and she for Berry. Therefore, freshman year we were very close but Jennifer left us for North Carolina. Then I transferred to UGA and Becky and I didnt see each other as much but Jennifer transferred to UGA. We saw each other once or twice. But it was time to come back together again. It felt good to see each other and share how we were doing. We found ourselves to all look the same as we did in high school and working successful jobs. Jennifer just got married and lives in Norcross. Becky lives in Decatur.

It was fun to reminisce on our times together. We were in Chorus all four years of high school. Two years in a row we won the best friendship award at the end of year banquet for Chorus. We passed a notebook between ourselves in the halls of Parkview to write notes in to keep ourselves in the classes we didn't have together. We had a set Friday ritual that involved going to Mellow Mushroom and ordering the very same pizza, picking a movie out at Blockbuster, going to someone's house with the movie and Reese's Pieces and falling asleep to South Park. We had good times on Chorus trips to Asheville, Monday afternoons at Chick-fil-a, singing at Baccalaureate and so much more.

We plan to make getting together a monthly thing. Next month we will head to Decatur ( I love Decatur) and then they will venture deep into the suburbs to see me in Loganville.

Summer School ....Yay and Nay

2009-06-24T04:45:00.000-07:00

So this time last week I was at Myrtle Beach, with my toes in the water and playing paddle ball with my aunt. Today I am at my fourth day of working at summer school to earn hours for my counseling internship. While I do enjoy the counseling and think it is some very good experience, I really do miss the summer joys of sleeping in, watching silly AM television, seeing friends and just relaxing. I have to keep reminding myself that this internship will get me within 80 hours of being done with the requirement and graduating. I will finally have my Masters. YAY!!!! I hope to get those 80 hours by December even though I have up until March to fulfill the internship requirement. That would be awesome....to feel like I have accomplished something and to get the increased pay.

First Port of the Cruise : Labadee, Haiti

2009-06-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

The first port our cruise took us to was Labadee, Haiti. Royal Caribbean is the only cruise line that goes there and it is a private portion of the island as there is a lot of political unrest in Haiti as a whole. I would say that Haiti was my favorite port. I liked how it was the least commercialized. We also had chosen to go on a cruise that went to Haiti so we could do an excursion that was offered there. We rode the longest zipline in the world. Over the ocean and it was awesome. I would recommend Haiti to anyone.

Dragon's Breath Rock - It is shaped like the silhouette of a dragon and you can hear it "breathing" while you are on top of it

On the Open Air Vehicle Getting Ready to Go Up to the Zipline

Me Towards the End of the Zipline

In Haiti With The Boat in the Background

Dressed for Dinner

Fido and our New Towel Animal for the Evening , Peanut

What a Great Day

2009-06-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

I just sent home my two best friends from a visit at my house. It was the first time both Jennifer and Sarah had seen my house. They were very complimentary. It was nice to have them in my area and let them enjoy the places I go.....most importantly it was nice to catch up and chat it up. Talking about the cruise, families, issues and summer was great fun. We had a nutritious lunch at Doc Green's and then shopped for little Emma Grace before chasing our healthy lunch with a healthy portion of ice cream from Cold Stone. Before having them hit the road for parts both north and south of here, I made them subjects for pictures. I am posting both of them because Sarah liked one and Jen liked the other. I can't wait to see them again this summer. My life seems more complete when we get together.

First Day at Sea

2009-06-06T14:15:00.000-07:00

The first day at sea involved a lot of resting and checking out the boat. It was also our first formal dinner. See pictures below from the first formal night and of our first towel animal.

Our Towel Dog Fido

Back from the Cruise, Back to Vacation

2009-06-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

We got back from our cruise last night and I have a lot to post but I will just do it a little at a time. It is weird to come back and not have to go back to work but it is a weird I can get used to. I have been very lazy this morning. I am starting to get it together though and have washed two loads of laundry, done step aerobics and unloaded the dishwasher. I am about to make a grocery list and head to the grocery store. This week we are going to do mostly salads for dinner. It is in reaction to our eating on the cruise but also great timing because my Kraft Food and Family Magazine came before the cruise. The magazine featured a lot of different salads. So here we go with that this week.

Here's a few pictures of the beginning of the cruise. When we got to our stateroom, I was very touched that my husband had ordered a cake to celebrate my Masters coursework being done and me being a third of the way through my internship. It was very sweet and made me have that warm fuzzy feeling for him very intensely.We also participated in a safety drill and went to dinner among other fun things.

The Happy Cruisers with the Celebratory Cake

The Safety Drill

Our First Dinner

Today is......

2009-05-20T04:55:00.000-07:00

- The last day of school with kids
While I am happy to see summer come around the corner, this is an emotional day because my group that I looped with and taught some of in FOCUS this year is leaving me behind. We are having fifth grade awards today and I imagine I will be crying.

- The beginning of another moving process
Yes, I am moving again. From my little fraction of a classroom to a full size room so it is good and it is of my own doing but I have yet to go a year of my teaching career without the joys of moving in or out.

- Three days til we leave for FL, four days til we leave for the cruise
So happy about this and even more excited that H1N1 is no longer keeping us from stopping at Cozumel. Tried packing last night and didn't get very far. If I were to leave right now, then I would be really well dressed for dinner. That is it.

- The American Idol finale
I sure do hope that Kris Allen wins. Adam Lambert can go scream his face off somewhere else.

What is today for you?

Grey's Anatomy Finale

2009-05-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

WOW! That was incredible. I felt like the finale had me feeling the feelings that Meredith Grey was feeling especially when she discovered who the man hit by the bus was. Incredible!

May I just say that all of my shows ( Grey's, Private Practice and One Tree Hill) are leaving me with these emotional, medical finales and I am going to have a hard time til they all return in the fall.

Post a comment if you were sitting on the edge of your couch last night over Grey's or tell me what season finale has you trying to hit fast forward for next fall. :0)

The Birth of Comet

2009-05-12T05:09:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, I tested the limits of sanity and took 14 fifth grade students to the Mall by myself. I did so in order to complete a project that I had approached my fifth grade FOCUS students about completing. A few weeks ago I had asked them how they would like to leave their mark on the school. While many ideas were tossed around ( time capsule, Hollywood Walk of Fame handprint display, building of a bench,,etc), we finally decided to build a bear to be placed in the library in their honor. Up until this year, our school mascot was the bear so it seemed fitting. We also decided to make a diploma to display next to him where all 18 fifth grade FOCUS students could sign their name and be immortalized. So I met 14 fifth graders at the mall on Saturday at 5pm and the birth of Comet, the bear(named for our new mascot) took place after that.

Trying to Pick Out Which Bear to Build

A Group Shot with the Very Flat Comet

All 14 children got to place a heart inside of Comet!

J and C helped the store employee shoot fluff into Comet

Then everyone including C got a chance to fluff and brush Comet

Then Comet got wardrobe help from C, T and J. What a dapper graduate!

The Final Product!

Catch Me in June

2009-05-07T05:07:00.000-07:00

If you are wondering what that title means, it pretty much symbolizes that if you want to see me anytime this summer you better book fast. My weekends are filling up fast through June and somewhat in July so if you want to see me, go ahead and book me now! Because I can't make any promises if you wait too long :0) Let's take a look at what we already know is keeping Meredith busy this summer.
Starting with this Friday.....
May 8th - Take Jason and Rachel a dinner to enjoy since they just came home with baby Jonathan and their three year old Ella just had an allergic reaction to cashews.
Celebrate Mother's Day with my Mom after meal delivery
May 9th - Go to Build a Bear Workshop with my fifth grade FOCUS students and build a graduation bear and have dinner
May 10th - Church and Mother's Day with the Dillard Family
May 16th - Brad's Mother's Cousin's Daughter's Wedding
May 23rd - Head to Port Canaveral for the Cruise and Spend the Night in a Hotel
May 24th - 31st Cruise!!!!!
June 6th - Jessa, a girl that I have led Disciple Group's with, is having her graduation party
June 11th - Carter, my nephew, turns one
June 13th - My dad is possibly getting married this day
June 22nd - My Sister's birthday
June 22nd - July 14th - Summer School when I will be interning
June 27th - Eric, my best friend since middle school, is getting married in South Georgia
July 23rd - 26th Destin with Daniel and Nan

So as you can see, things are filling up my schedule fast. Hopefully I will survive it all. :0)

Those Things that Make Teaching ( and Counseling ) Worthwhile

2009-04-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

Especially at this time of the year, it becomes hard at times to remember why we got into the teaching profession. CRCT is a four letter word and textbooks are inventoried and collected so early that we might as well feel like we are Norton Daycare at certain times rather than Norton Elementary. However, I always try to work hard and especially this year as FOCUS teacher I am keeping it challenging right up until the end of the year. Still, I sometimes feel like my hard work is overlooked or not appreciated. Yesterday and today have brought experiences that make me feel differently and in a good way.

- Yesterday one of my fifth graders asked if he could stay after class and talk to me about something. I could tell that he was out of sorts and not being himself. When class was over, he shared that he felt things were going poorly at home. I asked him to give me specific examples. Then I asked him to think if he had done anything that could have upset his Mom. We talked through it and came up with the idea of him writing a letter to his Mom about his feelings and giving it to her at a calm moment. We also talked about how even if he didn't give the letter to his Mom that it would be an emotional release for him. At the end of all of this, he thanked me. He told me that I am the only person at the school that he knows he can talk to. Wow. It made my heart melt. It also made me feel like counseling may very well be my calling.

- Today the woman that teaches next door to me walked into my room and said " Your room is like grand central station" I looked at her puzzled and asked her what she meant. She said, " So many students have passed me while I had hall duty and they make a beeline for your room. When they come out, they are all so happy....even students who usually don't smile. The students really like you and it shows what great work you do with them"

- I just talked to one of my colleagues from fourth grade last year. We actually looped together. She told me that teaching gifted is my gift. That she truly appreciated that I went out on a limb and asked fourth and second grade teachers if they had students who should be considered for the program. When I told her that I was really excited that the program has gone from 44 students to 71 students this year, she said that it was because of me and wished that our principal would recognize it.

So some days it is a really hard job and we are expected to work miracles, but sometimes the " miracles" get noticed.

Wrapping Up Spring Break in Pictures

2009-04-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

Us on Sunday Night in Greenville After Our Anniversary Dinner

So imagine our surprise when we left our cozy 70-80 degree temperatures in Greenville and found this as we wound around the Mountains from S Carolina to N Carolina to Tennessee.

Yes that is snow....and it continued while we slept Monday night...

So we woke up to this....

And stayed in all day Tuesday because the Accord was NOT going on slippery Mountain roads. But it was okay because our cabin was so cozy! These are pictures of our den and bedroom. We had a gas fireplace, screened porch with hot tub, jacuzzi tub and it was only $100 a night!

Once we got into town on Wednesday, we hit the Pancake Pantry for breakfast. This was a place I had remembered going to as a child with my family on October Mountain trips. Still so good. You can see Brad enjoyed his pancakes and sausage and I loved my pigs in a blanket. We highly recommend this to anyone going to Gatlinburg.

The rest of the day in Gatlinburg we walked up and down the strip. It sure had changed in the fifteen years since I last went with my family in eighth grade. Almost too jampacked with stores for my liking. We ate at Bubba Gump's for a light lunch/dinner. Following that meal, we drove down the Parkway in Pigeon Forge and hit the outlet mall in Sevierville. Very nice and good sales but I only managed to get two graphic tees at Aeropostale....bogo and a pair of exercise capris and a blouse at Gap outlet. My husband got sooooooo much. We spent one last firelit night in the cabin, enjoying the hot tub. Then we hit the road and as we wove around the mountains on our way home, three days since driving in this is what we saw...

As Sarah Was Saying in Her Blog....

2009-04-14T04:57:00.000-07:00

Spring Break is Over :0(

And with that being the case, CRCT starts today. I am proctoring for two students who have accommodations that allow for the test to be read to them except for the reading passages and more time. While I am not sure that I am going to appreciate the monotony of this testing process, I know my internship will. I have to clock 300 hours to be done. I only have been at it for a month and I already have 54 hours and 35 minutes. This is because I do a lot of psychological and educational testing to get children into the FOCUS program. It carries over nicely to one area of the internship. And with the CRCT taking a normal class testing setting 2 hours, I am thinking I may get three hours a day out of this for five days......wow. I will be very happy.

Happy is also how I feel when I think about how school gets out for the kids in a little over a month. The last day for students is May 20th. The last day for adults is May 22nd and two days after that I will be on a big Royal Carribbean boat sailing away. While I will be up here during summer school to serve as summer school counselor, it will still be nice to get away for a while.

Keep watching the blog for when I complete the posting of pics from Gatlinburg.

Happy Anniversary

2009-04-05T12:33:00.000-07:00

One year ago....

We became husband and wife. And today we have had such a fun time celebrating our one year anniversary and it is not even over yet. I woke up to my anniverary card being on the nightstand next to my side of the bed. Brad and I then exchanged presents. I received the Fray CD and the Gavin Degraw CD. I gave Brad a puzzle of Mickey Mouse. Brad really likes to solve puzzles and we don't have any. I chose a Disney one since we spent our Honeymoon at Disney World. On the puzzle box I wrote, " I am not puzzled about why I love you ". I also gave him a pair of black flip flops. On the sole of those I wrote " I do not flip flop over my feelings for you." And the last thing I got him was the DVD of the Quantum of Solace. On that I wrote about how much solace I have received from being with him this past year.

After presents, breakfast and prep, we went back in to the downtown area. In Greenville there are nine mice statues hidden along Main Street so we spent the morning looking for those. We also went to the Children's Garden. We did a lot of walking and people watching. The afternoon in town was completed with another stop at Spill the Beans. Today I got vanilla with cookie dough and brownie while Brad got chocolate with peanut butter and coffee. Tonight we have reservations at Smoke on the Water, an upscale BBQ experience. We also found a Greenville Christmas ornament while we were making our reservations at Smoke on the Water. It has been a very good day.

The Mice on Main ( or two of them)

The Children's Garden

Here's to a great second year of marriage starting tomorrow and a great second half of the trip as we drive off to Gatlinburg and our private cabin.

Day One in Greenville

2009-04-04T12:37:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon from Greenville.
It is a beautiful day here. My day started with a much needed sleeping in, followed by a complimentary Hilton breakfast of a sausage biscuit with grape jelly and a banana. Following breakfast, I took a shower and got ready for a day in the Downtown area. We headed to the zoo first. It was great and very reasonably priced at $6 an adult. We saw some cute elephants and a tiny baby monkey as well as an orangutuan. The zoos in every city we vacation to are so much nicer than Atlanta's.
After the zoo, we traveled further into Downtown and walked through Falls Park on the Reedy River. I took some great pictures of a cable bridge and arch bridge that will do really well for my fourth graders who are completing their bridge unit. The downtown area is very cute and really growing. The landscaping is awesome. Furman University backs up to the downtown area. We had "lunch" at a place named Spill the Beans. They take the Marble Slab concept a step further - you pick vanilla or chocolate frozen yogurt or ice cream as your base and then toppings of your choice. They blend it together in what looks like a blender but doesnt cause the ice cream to lose its solid form. Sooooo good. I had vanilla with peanut butter and oreo. Brad had chocolate with cookie dough and oreo. We walked further into town and went into a chocolate kitchen where we talked with the owners who have been married for forty four years. We ended up giving them some business through the purchase of a white chocolate covered pretzel for each of us and a peanut butter cup for Brad. Finally, we made it back to the parking deck.
On our way back into the hotel, we stopped at the Shopping Mall across the street. Our legs have done some major walking. We are resting in the hotel room now and have reservations at the Overlook Grill at 7pm. My friend Lindsay recommended it as she had her rehearsal dinner there. It overlooks the Reedy River. Very pretty.
Tomorrow will most likely bring finding the Mice on Main and a continued search for a Greenville SC Christmas ornament. Everywhere that Brad and I have traveled together we have bought a Christmas tree ornament for. No sign of one today. And of course tomorrow we will celebrate one year of marriage!!!!

Getting Away When the Days Seem to Be Doing the Same

2009-04-03T18:13:00.000-07:00

We have made it to Greenville and it is so nice to be on Break. At school today, it truly did not feel like this was the day leading into Spring Break ( no matter how much I have longed for the day to get here) and in looking at the PTA calendar at work....the rest of the year will fly by. With all the dates consumed by the CRCT, it will take us to about the end of April and then with the Annual Drum Show and Fifth Grade Play....there are not many days left.

But enough about work..... :0)

We made it here about 7:00pm. It is a little cooler up here. Our hotel is in walking distance to Don Pablo's and a restaurant named Copper River. We opted for the latter because Don Pablo's seemed a lot like what we could get at home at On the Border. The wait when we got to the Copper River was stated to be 50 minutes but I think we made it to a table in 30. I ordered my first ever steak at a restaurant and it was pretty good. Their house salad was very good , topped with almonds, bacon, tomato and egg. Now we are back in the room and stuffed.

Our plans for tomorrow include the zoo, Falls Park on the Reedy and eating dinner at The Overlook Grill . Then Sunday, the one year of marriage mark. Yay!

Bargains!

2009-04-02T04:50:00.000-07:00

As a preparation for our trip this Friday, in an attempt to finish Brad's anniversary gift and because I finally got the 30% off coupon in my Kohl's mailer, I went on a shopping outing to Kohl's yesterday after work. Of course on any day, I try to stretch my money to make it go as far as I can but yesterday I impressed myself. I bought the following items:

Two nice shirts to wear with either jeans or dress up with slacks

A White Hoodie Jacket to Wear on Our Trip

Two Bath Towels and Two Hand Towels as Wedding Present for Someone at Church

Three items that will go unnamed right now but contribute to Brad's present

So a total of ten items....And the grand total spent $ 80 and some change. That averages out to like $8 an item. Incredible! The two nice shirts were originally $36, were on sale 50% off and then I had the 30% coupon to bring them down to $12. The towels were on sale for $5.99 and $4.99 a piece and again , take an extra 30%.

How exciting! I just hope I find some great bargains like that at the outlet mall in Pigeon Forge! (where we may see snow showers according to the ten day forecast)

Living for the weekends

2009-03-27T12:33:00.001-07:00

I am about to leave work in my half drenched pants ( have to love carrider duty in the rain) and ride to Forsyth to see my girls! Jennifer, Sarah and Emma Grace(the littlest of our girls) are going to have a slumber party tonight. I am so excited as we have not seen each other since December. It is just too long! This weekend starts a sequence of fun weekends to look forward to:
Today through tomorrow : Girl time! Girly music, not so healthy food, and lots of talking up while we ooh and ahh over how much our little Emma Grace has grown ( She is almost a year old!)

Next Weekend: Starting Friday Brad and I will be in Greenville, SC for Spring Break and our one year wedding anniversary

The third weekend: Easter! Who doesn't love Easter?

While I forgot to pack my camera, I am sure Monday will bring a recap of a great time with my best friends!

Pray for safe travels for me and Sarah!

Changes

2009-03-13T05:06:00.000-07:00

So due to the increase of third grade FOCUS students from ten at the beginning of the year to 24 or 25 right now, I have split third grade into two separate groups and combined 1st and 2nd grade into one class. As a result of this change, I spent the whole week doing lessons that focus on teamwork, leadership and cooperation. Not only did I think that taking the time to do this was important for the children, I could use the hours invested in these lessons as time toward my internship. Now at the end of the week, I am glad I took the time to do it.

Third Grade B is doing outstanding. They really listen to each other and value one another's opinions. In honesty, I thought of the two third grade groups they would struggle more. This was because there were more students in that group that were not in FOCUS at the beginning of the year and there were no natural leaders. It turns out that has been a blessing and really strengthened their morale as a group. We have done so well this week I bought them a treat and movie to celebrate today. And to just show how wonderful they are, two of my little girls just bought enough Capri Suns and fruit rollups at the Relay for Life stand in school so that all twelve of their classmates can have juice and an extra treat. How generous! They continue to amaze me everyday.

Third Grade A is struggling. I love a lot of the children in the group enough that I would take them home with me and raise them as my own. However, there are some STRONG personalities in the group and that has really come out this week. Some people have short tempers and some just like to hear themselves talk. They have a long way to go before they can be considered cooperative. We are phasing in group work with groups of three working on skits right now and going to groups of four next week. I have also talked to the children who are not part of the conflict alone and told them how I am relying on them to assist the others on being cooperative. We are not having a celebration in there. I am hopeful we will get to a point where we can next week.

First and Second grade is also doing very well. Each Second grader has a first grade buddy that they are responsible for picking up on their way to FOCUS. THey take such pride in no longer being the FOCUS babies and for being in charge of something. The first graders feel so proud that they are being placed in a class with second graders. It ends up being a win - win.

And speaking of changes.....we found out who our new principal is this morning. Her name is Daundria Phillips. She is currently an Assistant Principal at another Gwinnett County elementary school. She seems really sweet and very team work oriented. She scores a point with me for not being a coffee drinker. It will be hard to change after working for the same person for five years. However, I agree that with change comes positive.

One More Photo From the Snow

2009-03-03T16:31:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun in the snow together.

Who Would Have Thought

2009-03-02T06:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday started out like a normal Sunday. We got to church in time for Sunday School. Started our lesson in there and then the sound of Jason's voice started being accompanied by louder and louder plings on the metal roof of the Family Life Building. Still, Sunday School was finished and so was any resemblance of a normal day....but mostly for the better.

When we got to the sanctuary, we had opening prayer, sang some hymns and after the offertory was played and collected, Brother Tommy announced that we would be calling off the rest of the morning service because the parking lot was icing up and we needed to get home. However, Brad and I and Dan and Jan ( the music minister and his wife) ventured to Subway for a sandwich. It was snowing pretty well by the time we got out but not to allow snow to put a kink in the day, I still had a baby shower to help throw for Brad's cousin. So Brad and I traveled off to Jack and Christina's to pick her and Carter up for the shower. This is what our house looked like at that point.

Our House on the Way Out To the Shower ( about 12:40pm)

The shower prep started at 1:00 and the shower was to go til 4:00. It ended up finishing up by 3:30. By the time Christina, Carter and I got out to the car there was a good inch to inch and a half of snow on it. When we got back to Jack and Christina's after the shower, Brad and I left in a hurry to make sure we could get home. These are the sights that we saw on our way home:

The Road from Jack and Christina's to Our House

Farms on the Side of the Roads Blanketed with Snow

3210 Battlement Circle Blanketed with Snow at about 4:00pm

Once we got in the house, we were like a bunch of little kids. We ran inside and put on our ski bibs and hats and gloves. We got back out in the yard and made snow angels ( something my husband had never done before), made a snowman ( using M&M's for eyes, nose and mouth) and threw snowballs at each other. It was so much fun. Then we had a hot kettle of water waiting on us when we came inside, watched Finding Neverland on DVR because our satellite wasn't working and had chili for dinner. It was a great day. The only thing was putting a slight damper on the day was that Gwinnett wouldn't cancel school for today. It was so frustrating because our neighboring counties of Walton and Barrow did quickly.

Well at 5:15am today I sat in front of the TV and after fifteen minutes ( and two stations) of newsreporting, it finally said "Gwinnett, DeKalb and Fulton schools are closed" You better believe I got back in the bed. I got up at 8:25 and I made chocolate chunk pancakes and Brad cooked up some sausage. I am so happy to have a holiday. We were not scheduled to have a holiday until Spring Break and the last one we had was Martin Luther King. That is a long stretch to go without a holiday and all that happens now to make this day up is a teacher workday becomes a day with students. Well worth it! I will be working on Masters things a lot of today but it is so worth it. The memories we made yesterday and the time to relax while being productive is something I needed.

Our SnowMan

Brad's Snow Angel

An Update

2009-02-24T04:51:00.001-08:00

So in the footsteps of Jennifer, I too am going to assure ( again) that I am not out of the blogging loop permanently...just temporarily. Here is an update on what is going on with us:

- I am two weeks away from completing all the classes for my Masters degree. Woohoo! This is such a great feeling as it will free up my at home time and my Meredith time. While the next two weeks may be hard ( finishing a powerpoint, one more test, an article summary, research proposal and another test), I can do it and then I can enjoy my after school life.

- My internship for my Masters degree is starting in March and will run through next March. I will complete it while I work full time as a gifted teacher. The beautiful thing is that there is some overlap in my Gifted responsibilities and counseling. These would include all the assessment I do and the plans for education. However, I am also going to be the counselor during summer school and talk to students about how they can improve in the areas that they fell short in on the first attempt on the CRCT.

- In regards to my gifted teacher position, I am really proud of myself. I started the year with:
5 second graders
10 third graders
10 fourth graders
16 fifth graders
After a whole lot of testing ( which I am not even done with), my numbers have really skyrocketed...
7 first graders
5 second graders
20 third graders ( and counting)
10 fourth graders
19 fifth graders
I like to give myself credit on giving kids who show the slightest potential a chance to prove themselves. Right now my biggest challenge is that the legal limit for gifted children served by a FOCUS resource teacher at any one time is 19( and that is observing next year's limit due to the budget cuts....it really is 17) and third grade has surpassed that. So right now I am looking at having some third graders come with fourth grade. That is fine except it makes next year challenging when some of the kids have already done a unit and others haven't.

- Brad and I are working on planning two trips. One of which is in April for our one year anniversary and has had little to no planning effort put toward it at all and a cruise in May to celebrate my "graduation" for my Masters degree. That one has gotten more attention and seems to be taking us to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Ocho Rios and Haiti.

- My goal once I am done with my Masters class is to start working out again. Pick back up with walking/jogging 2-3 days a week and Wii fit 2-3 days a week. I still weigh in at a weight my Wii Fit tells me is underweight but the packaging of it all is shifting and I don't like it. I just want to be in good health and good shape. I am not looking to lose weight.

- I used my crockpot for the first time last week and made a roast with carrots and potatoes. The meat lasted for two meals , appearing the second time as BBQ. My next goal is to make homemade spaghetti sauce in the crockpot.

- Healthwise Brad and I have done pretty well considering we both work in schools. However, I am trying to pick up a cold. My inlaws may have nipped it in the bud by giving me Zycam Nasal Swabs yesterday. I feel better congestion wise but I have a headache. It will get better.

That is about it on this end. I will be back full force in two weeks.

Another Step Closer to Being a Counselor ( If I Choose To)

2009-02-12T04:42:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, I received my PRAXIS scores electronically. While Georgia no longer recognizes the PRAXIS score as a certifying score, the University of West Alabama uses it as their comprehensive exam for the School Counseling and Guidance Masters program. Well, you need a 520 to meet the requirement and I got a 650! Yay!

I am very excited. Things are really coming together. Instead of taking the Georgia Certification Exam to get certified in Georgia, I am going to apply for counseling certification in Alabama and then apply for reciprocity. Anything to avoid taking another test.

Now all that stands between me and completing my degree is four more weeks of these two classes I am currently in ( educational research is NOT a favorite of mine) and then a 300 hour internship which my principal has allowed me to work on during summer school as well as during the course of this and next school year. By doing that I will get 90 hours out of the way this summer. Also a lot of the testing and meetings I give and conduct as a gifted teacher count toward counseling responsibilities as listed in the internship. So Masters degree ( and even better Masters level pay) here I come!

An Early Valentines Day

2009-02-10T07:23:00.000-08:00

Last week my Valentines Day started early on Thursday. I had bought Brad a Valentines Card that day and when we sat down to dinner that night, he asked me if he could give me something that he bought me. He told me it wasn't for Valentines Day. I said that he could hold on to it and use it as my Valentine. He insisted on giving it to me and left the kitchen , only to return with six red roses. He had bought them to celebrate our ten months of being married as last Thursday was February 5th. It was very sweet.

Then on Friday night we opted to do our Valentines outing so we would avod the crowd this week and because we are going to go to UGA and see Classic City Jazz perform. We first went downtown to my favorite restaurant in the city, Chow Baby. I LOVE THIS CONCEPT!!! and wish they would bring out to the suburbs. You go through a line and build your own chinese stir fry dish and then they cook it on a huge wok for you and bring it to your table. The best thing is you can go through the line as many times as you want for $11.99. I like to do rice with sugar snap peas, baby corn, mushrooms, bell peppers, water chestnuts and pineapple. Then I add teriyaki and sweet and sour sauce and throw some chicken into my protein bowl. Yummy!

Once dinner was over, we headed back toward our neck of the woods and saw a movie thanks to a Christmas gift card from Daniel and Nan. We saw the new Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr movie New in Town. It was much cuter than I thought.

Overall, we had a very nice Valentines Day. We still will trade cards and small gifts this week but I am pleased with how the first Dillard Valentines Day went.

Surveying the Crowd for Suggestions

2009-01-26T12:36:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends!
In an effort to put life back in my blog, I wanted to poll the readers of this blog to see where you think Brad and I should go on Spring Break. It will be our one year anniversary. We want to go somewhere that we can drive to in a reasonable amount of time and that has fun attractions but also just areas to enjoy kicking back and relaxing. Right now we are thinking of going to Greenville, SC and Gatlinburg,TN. In Greenville, there are some neat parks and a cute downtown area. In Gatlinburg, the main perk to me would be getting a cabin and just relaxing but also going to the main drag because my family used to go every year. If anyone has additional ideas or suggestions for where to go in Greenville or Gatlinburg, then please leave a comment.

I am Not Out of the Blog Business

2009-01-18T08:29:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!
I am not out of the blog business. Life has been busy since the New Year and before. I have not been blogging for a combination of good and bad reasons. The good reasons would be a week similar to what Jennifer talked about in her blog. I have the blessing of having my birthday and Christmas within one week. Brad and I were Christmas-ing all the way from Christmas Eve to December 28th. The next day my mom and I celebrated my birthday and then the 30th was my actual birthday. Then you turn around the next day and it is New Year's Eve. We spent ours with my Grandmother and cousins and dad and sister during the day and playing games and watching the ball drop with Jack and Christina and Carter.
The bad reasons are picking back up with work and Masters. Plus I am struggling to get my principal to see that I need to do my internship for my Masters starting in March. He thinks I should go on sabbatical to complete it or do it during the summer. That would be hard without students. So I am praying for a sign that I either stay on at my current school and get his permission to do it or find a counseling opening at another school to work under a provisional certificate next year while also completing my internship. It is a hard decision to make since I love my FOCUS position. However I am working on a formal argument to present my principal on how I can complete my obligations to my higher education and to my current job.

Christmas at Church

2008-12-21T10:48:00.000-08:00

Here is our annual picture in front of the Christmas tree at church. We took it today because we will be unable to make the Christmas Eve service at church this year.

Christmas Fun

2008-12-21T10:37:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas season has been fun but certainly one of my favorite activities so far took place last night when Sarah, Jennifer and I managed to get our entire families together for dinner. While it always is a struggle for the three wives to get together, we have only had all husbands, babies and wives together....never. We have had all couples together at once but not since Miss Emma Grace came along. So last night we met in McDonough and had a dinner at Red Lobster. It was a lot of fun and all six of us were happy to celebrate that we are off of work for two weeks ( as we are all school employees). I hope that this could become a yearly tradition for the Rayburn/West/Dillard families. Below we have some pics....

The Happy Crew

The Girls

Nothing Too Exciting But I should Post

2008-12-18T08:43:00.001-08:00

It is one day til holiday break and I am so happy about that. While work has been fine, the week has been frustrating. No longer being a traditional classroom teacher comes with its pluses but also its downsides. Since the kids are participating in holiday and end of year activities and tests, my schedule for seeing them this week is very inconsistent. That means I have to stay in my room in case they come. But usually I end up with a bunch of Meredith time set to Christmas music. I appreciate that but I also had some fun activities to do with them for the holidays that aren't getting executed. You take the good with the bad I suppose.

Today I am getting my haircut and I am finally doing something different. After having this shorter hairstyle for a little over a year, I am going to try a bob. I am excited to try something different again. With all the photo opps around the corner with the holidays, let 's hope it is different good or there may be a missing Meredith noticed in Dillard and Griswold Christmas pictures. When I get home, my sister and her husband are coming over. I made cheesy chicken spaghetti for dinner with them tonight. Thanks to Jennifer for the recipe and for advising me to make it in two dishes. There sure was a lot of food produced! We are to play games together tonight and watch the new Muppet special that aired last night.

Tomorrow is the last day of work. I am psyched. In the evening we are meeting Brandon and Lindsay ( my elementary school boyfriend and his wife) for dinner in Buford. Then Saturday we are going to McDonough to meet Sarah and Thomas and Jennifer, Jeremy and Emma Grace for dinner. Sunday will bring the Christmas service at church and then Monday we are keeping Carter all day. The holidays sure do bring some fun times!

Christmas Survey

2008-12-08T09:51:00.000-08:00

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I enjoy opening wrapped gifts. I also have become pretty good at wrapping so so far all of Brad's gifts from me are wrapped
2. Real tree or Artificial? I am a firm believer in real trees but my husband isn't so we have a fake. I told him that when I am pregnant one day I will get a real tree and he said I would probably have pregnancy brain and forget....cute :0)
3. When do you put up the tree? It has always varied. When I was at home as a child, maybe around the tenth of December and then when I was at college it got later and later. Dad and I went and found a tree one year for $7 since it was so close to Christmas. Those were special times. This year Brad and I put ours up the day after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? I like to have a birthday tree for my birthday on the 30th so no earlier than the 31st.
5. Do you like eggnog? Have never had it but it sounds gross
6. Favorite gift received as a child? This is hard. My favorite gift was pound Puppy but I got him for my birthday. For Christmas, I got a Cabbage Patch Baby that smelled like baby powder... Alaina Violet was her name
7. Hardest person to buy for? my dad and this year Brad in some ways
8. Easiest person to buy for? my mom
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail -I did a photo card this year but I have always been the one to send out Christmas cards.....even when we were a family I did it.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don't know....
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Muppet Family Christmas - they all go to Fozzie's mother's house. The Sesame street gang, the muppets and fraggles are there. It is great.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? before Thanksgiving a little, In the past few years on Black Friday some and then here and there til I am done
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? yes
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? my mom's apple cake
16. Lights on the tree? colored
17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night and Mary Did You Know
18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? Travel locally
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all...Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!!!!!!!!!!!!
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? angel
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We do Brad's parents house on Christmas Eve. Otherwise, we wait til Christmas Day. The last three Christmases when Brad and I were together we waited til Christmas night so this will be the first time we get to open our gifts to each other on Christmas morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? people without Christmas spirit
23. What theme or color are you using? There are a lot of snowmen in our house.
24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? my mom's apple cake
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Peace and time with my family

Two Hours and Counting

2008-11-25T10:17:00.000-08:00

In two hours, I will be leaving work and rejoicing in the fact that I will not be back for five days! Hip, hip, hooray!

I am ready for a break and while I will still be working on Masters items ( as the term comes to an end in two weeks), I will be working on them in the comfort of my home.

Tonight brings a fun night with my husband. We are going to see the Gwinnett Gladiators play at the Gwinnett Arena. This was part of my birthday present to Brad, and we will be sitting second row. It should prove to be a fun night. I will try to take pics.

Tomorrow brings with it the joy of sleeping in. However, I am also excited about my goal for myself tomorrow. I am going to try to use my Nannie's Red Velvet Cake recipe to make a cake to take to my Grandma's house for Thanksgiving.

Here is a look at our schedule for the rest of the break:

Weds Night - Dillard Family Thanksgiving - We will be eating at Brad's parents with Mr. Jack and Linda, Jack, Christina and Carter and Daddy Jack and Mama Dorothy.

Thursday Night - Griswold Family Thanksgiving - We will be eating at Grandma's with Grandma, Dad and Jan, Suzanne and John, my Aunt Joyce and Uncle Ken and maybe my Aunt Carolyn and Uncle William.

Friday - Black Friday Shopping?!?!?! We did this big time two years ago with Jack and Christina ( like we were no later than 4:30 and were in major lines, tag teaming with cell phones, everything) but I don't know what this year will bring with Carter and all.

Saturday - Thanksgiving with Mom - We will eat with Mom and John, Suzanne and John.

Here's to being on Thanksgiving Break in 1 hour and 50 minutes!

I Have Been Tagged!

2008-11-19T08:26:00.000-08:00

Twice actually. Two of my blogging friends have tagged me to list seven things about me, Meredith Griswold Dillard, that you probably don't know. This is hard so we will see how it goes.

1.) I was co - president of chorus at my high school my senior year. I had been in chrous since seventh grade and loved to sing. Although unlike most choral presidents before me, I hated to sing solos. I could sing in an ensemble but never by myself. It is kinda funny because I can dance on a stage by myself forever but can't sing. One of my regrets is that I am not singing anymore. I will at times work with the sopranos in the youth choir at church and our music minister at church says he needs me in the adult choir, but I just don't have time right now.

2.) I LOOOOOVVE Christmas time! I know most people love Christmas but I go all the way. Last year while Brad and I were engaged, we had a Christmas shower where everyone bought us Christmas decor and Christmas household items. It was fantastic. I think that we have enough to decorate each room. My favorite Christmas decoration themes are penguins and snowmen. To me, there is no greater joy than sitting in the den by the light of the Christmas tree lights, drinking a warm beverage and cuddling close with someone you love while watching A Muppet Family Christmas. It may have something to do with the fact that I am a December 30th birthday person.

3.) Brad and I got married exactly 6 months to the day after he proposed. He proposed at UGA on October 5th. We at first thought about May 31st as it would have been the first Saturday after school got out and our first date had been on July 31st. However, we reconsidered and placed the date on April 5th because it was the Saturday leading into Spring Break, and we would be husband and wife sooner! Turns out this was a good move because our nephew was due at the beginning of June, and if he had decided to come early, things could have gotten interesting :0)

4.) I consider myself very lucky to have loved and known my great-grandmother for 20 years before she died. Most people don't get a chance to share such a long and deep relationship with great-grandparents and sometimes not grandparents. Memaw was the most giving, sweet, caring individual, and she always made me feel special. Both happily and sadly, she lived longer than my grandmother, her daughter. My favorite memories with Memaw involve picking apples and putting them in five gallon buckets when I was shorter than the five gallon bucket at their house on Rockbridge Road, the way she would always bring me into her Sunday School class every Sunday at church and brag on me to her friends and enjoying eating her coconut cakes with her. To this day, we still don't have her recipe and it makes me sad that I don't have that piece of Memaw history to remember her by.

5.) One of my best friends, Jennifer, and I share the same birthday but we are a year apart. I was born in 1980 and she was born in 1981. Still, we are both December 30th babies. Our poor husbands have to find enough presents to fulfill the expected Christmas and birthday gifts all at one time.

6.) I struggle with my body image big time. People think it is crazy, given the size that I am but I still get caught up in it. I always have. When I was growing up, my sister and cousin were thin as a stick....you could have spoon fed them butter by the stick and they wouldn't have gained weight. I , on the otherhand, held on to my baby fat for awhile. It was hard to be the "chubby" one of the bunch. Then I got older and started dancing and my body image really changed. I do realize that I am on the small end of things and have very little room to complain but I still don't like the idea of gaining weight. No matter what size you are when you start out, it doesn't feel good to get on the scale and see a higher number or to try on a pair of pants that fit a year ago and realize they don't. I just know that this has plagued me all of my life and I want to do everything that I can to prevent any future daughters of mine from letting this haunt them like it does me.

7.) My parents are two of my best friends. I am very close to my dad as a result of living with him from the time my parents got divorced through college and then for six months after I was divorced. I believe that my dad and I have an openness that most fathers and daughters don't share. I feel very fortunate to have that bond with my dad.

My mother and I have a great time just being girls together. We shop and lately we have gotten into a trend of going to see movies together which is fun. On Election day, we went walking together. I just wish my mom lived closer so that we could see each other more.

The Power of Prayer

2008-11-12T10:50:00.001-08:00

Let me preceed this entry with the suggestion that if you havent read the previous post, you will be wondering about some of what I am talking about.

But on we go....

Granddaddy reported for surgery this morning at 6:30 and was supposed to go in for surgery at 8:30.

The doctors first paged my mom , Uncle Michael and Aunt Brenda at 10am. They were panicked because they thought that must mean something was wrong. Actually, the doctors just wanted to let them know that Granddaddy didn't go into surgery until a little before ten so it would be longer before they heard anything. Also, they shared that Granddaddy's vitals were very good going into surgery.

I called Mom at 12:50 pm and she said that the doctors had come out again and said that things were going well. His vital signs were still good too. They said if all went according to plan they would be in surgery for approximately two more hours. Then Granddaddy would be in recovery for two hours.

Mom just called at 1:40 and told me that Granddaddy is out of surgery. The doctor says that the surgery went well. He says if there is no interior bleeding (which could be a happening for anyone having this surgery) and they don't have to go back in to remedy that than Granddaddy will be in ICU for three days and then in the hospital for up to six after that. This is a serious surgery and he will be weak afterwards. Right now, the possibility that he will need to go to a rehab center after all of that is still out there. We will just have to see what each hour and then day brings us.

But for right now I am optimistic! Keep praying for my Granddaddy. This is just the first step to a long recovery.

Pray for my Granddaddy

2008-11-12T05:40:00.000-08:00

Hello my friendsI wanted to ask you all to lift my family up in prayer today. My grandfather has been in poor heatlh since Brad and I got married in April. As a result, he has lost a lot of weight, a lot of spirit and most of all a true will to live. This morning at approximately 8:30am Granddaddy will be undergoing surgery to remove an anyeurism from his aorta. This is a major surgery, especially given his age, his frail nature right now and all that he has been through the past seven months. We don't know that he will make it through the surgery, but the alternative of not going through surgery provides a bleaker outcome of the anyeurism eventually ruptruring and causing him to go into shock and bleed to death.

At this point, I am turning it all over to God. I want His will to be done. Granddaddy is ready to go if this is his time and if he did die, he would be reunited with my grandmother who passed in 1997. He told my mom one night this weekend that he knows that Nannie is waiting for him and is going to "beat his tail for making her wait so long for him". Still, I am not ready to let go. I went to see him yesterday and thinking that it may have been the last time I see him is so hard. I am really a shell of a FOCUS teacher today.

I enjoyed my visit with Granddaddy. He looked a lot better than I thought he would though he was in his pajamas when he greeted me at the door :0). He greeted me like he always does with a joking " Who is that? Who is coming up here to see me?" and a hug and kiss. I told him if I had known we were having a pajama party then I would have dressed more appropriately. He still cut up and joked like he always has and I thought that was a good sign that he still has some spunk in him. We sat on the couch and my sister took some pictures of us. Then I encouraged him through eating a bowl of soup and jello. He had preop procedures done to him yesterday and he was there from 11 to 2. They had a very hard time getting blood from him ( it took four people and he cried and Doris that took him there cried) and when he started to think about that, he talked about how he did not want to go back there anymore. Of course, that is where he is going today and we told him that he had to go back in order to get well enough where we can get him out raking leaves and cutting the grass again.

After all that happened, my aunt was coming in and my sister, mom and I were going to go get something to eat. I went to hug him and I told him how much I loved him. It didn't feel like I was done so after Mom and Suzanne hugged him I went back over to him and told him that I needed another one for the road. We stood there and embraced each other and I told him slowly, " I Love you so much Granddaddy......You look really good today " and as I said that I looked at him , holding his hand and he started to tear up and sob a little as he tried to talk ,almost like a child and I told him through my own tears "I am proud of you and you are strong you can do this. I love you" Between sobs, he said" I am proud of you too and I love you" He embraced me and Suzanne and then we left to go get something to eat.

When we got back from eating, I walked back in the house first, and he lit up and he said " Well look who's here?" His face lit up and while I don't think he remembered that I had been there earlier seeing that I caused that reaction in him was very comforting. After that, he went back to the back of the house and as he left the room he said " I will see you all next week." I hung on those words thinking they might be the last ones I hear from him and yet ...wouldn't you know always the jokester. .. He came back out for an encore. He walked through and said " I am going to bed and as he graced the doorframe to the hall, did a "broadway kick" in the air and went down the hall.

I don't know what to expect from today, in a lot of ways I don't know why I am here today ( I am going to be teaching for 30 minutes due to the early release schedule conflicts and do carriders today...that is it.) but just know he is expected to go into surgery at 8:30 am ( though everything around this has been late) and the surgery would take four hours if everything were to go okay.

Savannah , how we miss thee!

2008-11-09T18:30:00.000-08:00

So it is ten days since I posted last...Shame on me! But as busy as I am, it makes me miss our time in Savannah more! So here is a tribute to Savannah as well as a catch up for my blog readers. Here is our trip to Savannah in the middle of October. We had a blast hanging out with each other and Jack, Christina and Carter. This is my slideshow. You have to click on it and then it will play. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Dont Count Me Out.....

2008-10-31T04:55:00.000-07:00

I have not blogged in over two weeks and that makes me really sad! I actually have a lot of really good blog-worthy material to post. Our trip to Savannah, Brad's birthday and carving our first pumpkin together. However, sometimes the mechanics get in the way. Here's how:

1)I am really busy with my Masters. I don't know why I feel so much more overwhelmed as I am starting to wind down the program ( only 9 more hours of classes after this term) but it is that way right now. So that means time is a problem.
2) We don't have an internet active computer at home so in order to do the blog I must take my work computer home or bring my camera and cable to work. Sometimes I am not mentally present enough to do that.

Despite these problems, I will be taking my computer home this weekend to work on Masters work so I will strive to make updates.

Relaxing Times

2008-10-13T07:32:00.000-07:00

Today is Columbus Day and I am at work. A lot of my friends have had a fall break or at least a holiday today. Not Gwinnett County. Our next holiday is Election Day and that will be the first since Labor Day. With calendars like this, we really cherish the opportunities from our relaxing times. This weekend Brad and I went on a date Friday night. We went to the Lawrenceville Town Square and ate Italian. After our meal, we ventured to a new establishment on the square and had frozen custard for dessert. Definitely relaxing! The weekend before that brought time at the lakehouse. This week will be relaxing as I am Masters class free! We are going to see Wicked Tuesday night and leave for Savannah on Thursday. I am looking forward to our mini vacation. Brad and I just need some us time!

Here are some pictures of us at the lakehouse:

Before the boat ride

Thinking about how to get in the boat since the water was so low that morning

Figuring it out

Sailing off with Captain Jack and First Mate Brad

Because I am Putting Off Doing Masters Work....

2008-10-07T08:41:00.001-07:00

A SURVEY!

35 Random Questions About Me

1. Do you like blue cheese salad dressing? NO! But my husband loves it.

2. Do you own a gun? Nope, but I have shot a rifle and this past weekend at the lake shot cans with a bebe gun.

3. What’s a favorite drink at Starbucks or other specialty coffee house? hot chocolate ( which it is slowly becoming time for) or a strawberry and creme frappucino no whipped cream

4. What do you prefer to drink in the morning ? milk, maybe hot chocolate

5. Do you do push-ups? no, not really

6. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? My engagement ring

7. Favorite hobby? sleeping, walking, shopping, blogging, reading when I have time

8. Do you have A.D.D? Based on the fact that I am doing this survey because I refuse to concentrate on the task at hand....yes!

9. What’s one trait that you hate about yourself? physical: my hair has a mind of its own. otherwise: I care what other people think too much ( in limitation, this is a very good thing)

10. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: I wish I was done with this paper. I would love to go home. What will I find to buy at Kohl's today while I am paying my bill?

11. Name 4 drinks you regularly drink. water, milk, cranapple drink and more often than anything else, nothing :0(

12. Current worry right now? My professor is going to give me a bad grade on the final I turned in electronically three days before it was due but for some reason she did not receive. I have sent her a picture of my screen where I sent it in and everything and all she has told me so far is that at least she has it now and I needed to press the submit button or it won't send. Considering I have sent seven weeks worth of work successfully using this method, doesn't she think I know that by now?

.13. Current hate right now? Getting up early.

14. Favorite place to be? at home under the covers and ready to relax.

15. Do you like to travel? yes! I wish I could do more!!! I am so psyched about our upcoming trip to Savannah. Even thought it is Savannah, it is still exciting.

16. What color shirt are you wearing? camisole that is white with black yellow and brown flowers on it with a black sweater on top

17. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? I did as a child in the summers.....would always have flannel sheets in the fall

18. Can you whistle? no

19. Favorite color? chocolate brown, purple or black

20. If you could would you be a pirate? Nope.

21. What song do you sing in the shower? Now that I am married, I don't sing in the shower.

22. Favorite girl’s name? Lillie, Corinne, Hannah, Faith

23. Favorite boy’s name? Braden, Jackson, Daniel, Cody, Josiah

24. What’s in your pocket right now? nothing

25. Favorite bedsheets as a child? my teddy bear flannel sheets and my pound puppy blanket

26. Worst injury? sprained ankle or pulled groin muscle

27. Do you love where you live? I would like

28. How many TVs do you have in your house? 3

29. Who is your loudest friend? umm Dustin Sosebee hands down!

30. How many pets do you have? zero, my cat died earlier this year

31. Does someone have a crush on you? maybe, I mean who can resist this personality? ;-)

32. What is your Favorite Book? I don't know. Nicholas Sparks is my favorite author for adults.

33. What’s your favorite candy? Reese's Pieces

34. Favorite Sports Team? The Georgia Bulldogs

35. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Already?

The Weekend

2008-10-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

So happy the weekend is here. Tonight we are finally spending some time with our good friend Andrew. We don't know what we are doing yet but I would kinda like to go to the park on a walk or something outdoors.

Then tomorrow we are headed to a Patterson family reunion. The Pattersons are my paternal grandmother's side of the family. My grandmother just turned 80 at the end of September and is the last of her siblings so it should be a special day to celebrate her. Plus it will be a great chance to see family. We never really had many Griswold family reunions because outside of our family, my Aunt Joyce's family and Uncle William's family, there weren't many Griswolds. Pa's brother drowned when he was in his thirties. While he did have children and my dad has family on that side, we just dont see them very often. So Griswold reunions happen every holiday plus some.

After the family reunion, Brad and I will head down to the lakehouse to meet Linda and Jack for a night at the lake. We were down there this time last year. In fact a year ago Sunday is when Brad proposed to me when we stopped in Athens on our "way " to the lake. So special times and restful times will occur this weekend!

In regards to the hair, I am continuing to look at something to do with mine. This is really more for me than anyone else, but this is a more accurate portrayal of what I want to do (as of right now) than what I posted earlier.

The Back

The Front