What a fun time...

My college roommate Leanne is having a baby! Leanne and I lived next door to each other as freshman and became quick friends. Then we both dated Lee H.'s, who were also friends, and we did so much together throughout college. So it was very natural for Leanne and I to live together in an apartment our senior year of college...the first year we were able to live off campus. We had such a great time and learned sooo much! She's such a great friend, and, lucky for me, she and Lee were always going through the same things Lee and I were, but they were always first. So she always had tons of wisdom to pass down. They got married just a month before Lee and I and now, three years later, are having a little boy! Alicia Mattern and I decided it would be fun to have a little party for Leanne and Lee and invite some of our friends from college. We had the best time. It's just so good to be back with people who really know you and who you're so comfortable with. We laughed and had lots of fun. They got some great stuff for little Samuel. We're so excited! They're going to be fabulous parents, and I'm glad to again have someone to tell me what to expect!

leanne and lee's shower

Extreme Yard Makeover

Our yard finally got a much needed makeover this weekend. Our friend, Lee's freshman and 5th year roommate, Kyle Jeffreys is so great. He owns a landscape contracting business in Coffeeville, Miss. Lee asked him a few weeks ago to give us some ideas of things to put in our yard. (It looked like junk. We had a lot of plants, but there was no order to it. Lee has a bad habit of just planting things wherever he wants with no rhyme or reason to it!) Kyle called this past week to tell us that he not only had some ideas but was coming down on Saturday to help us do it. He brought all the plants with him. The two of them worked outside tilling and fertilizing and planting new stuff. It looks so great! I'm so excited for it to all grow and bloom so we can see how great it looks. Thanks for your help, Kyle! You're a lifesaver. And Lee is no longer allowed to plant things in anywhere without calling Kyle first!

Aaahhhhhh...

What a great way to end the week! I had a massage this afternoon at Trio. Some of my sweet little students gave me a gift certificate at Christmas, and my yearbook girls gave me one for my birthday. So...I put the two together and made an appointment. It was so great. I think I could have stayed on that table for 3 more hours. When I got home, Lee kept wanting to talk and wanted me to tell him all about he massage, but I wasn't saying much. I felt like I'd been asleep for 2 days. I was just worn out! But it was so worth it. Give Mindy at Trio a call. She is wonderful!


These are my sweet little girls who gave me the gift certificate. LeeAnn Dean and Spencer Ferguson are missing! Thanks, girls!

A Great Concert

We went to a really great concert Tuesday night. We saw Shane & Shane in Hattiesburg at Temple Baptist Church. This is Lee's absolute favorite band, so we couldn't pass it up. We made plans to go down right after work with Alyssa and Sam. What we didn't know was that Phil Wickham and Shawn McDonald were opening for them. I only knew one song by Phil Wickham, but I really liked everything he sang. He has a really smooth and steady voice. We have a strange liking for Shawn McDonald. He is Lia's absolute favorite person. He came to her church in the fall for a youth conference they had, and Lia got to be his "errand girl." He even sang her favorite song just for her while they were all hanging out at the church. So....we feel like we know him. And them, of course, there was Shane & Shane. If you've never seen them in concert, they are fabulous! It is such a worshipful experience. It's great to hear them sing, but they really lead worship. It's not so much a concert. It was pretty much the four of us and a church full of teenagers, but it was really fun. Lee would not sit down the whole time. I know this is a terrible picture, but it was so funny. On the songs that no one knew, everyone would sit down and listen. Not Lee. He stood strong for his favorite group through the entire concert!! I put the songs at the bottom in the order they played. Click through and take a quick listen!

The Big Parade

Ok, so I had a first this past weekend. My very first Mal's St. Patty's Day Parade in Jackson. I had heard from so many people how absolutely wonderful it is, so I was pretty excited. Our friends Cliff and Katy had a St. Patrick's Day brunch at their house that morning to get everyone prepared for the parade. So we met at their house and ate and talked to everyone...all in our green. Finally, it was time to go downtown for the parade. I was so excited. We piled into the car with Kell and Mary Straton and Chris Roberts. Little did I know that we would have to walk 100 miles to get to the parade!! Seriously, everyone in the state must have been at this parade...and they came from all over the state. Car tags from everywhere! We trudged uphill to the parade route and met up with the rest of our friends. I really love parades, so at this point, I just couldn't stand it. And then it started. First come the Sweet Potato Queens on their float. They were cute. I mean, I've read the first book, so it was fun to see them. Then came all the Wannabes. One of the craziest things I've ever seen. There were groups from all over the country. At this point, I'm thinking that I'm ready to go home. I kept asking Mary Straton if things were going to get better, but it was her first time, too. I was too scared to ask any of our friends around us because they had already told me how great it was. I didn't want to hurt their feelings! So I just continued to watch. FINALLY, the floats came through throwing beads. There was a pretty good number of them, so we stayed to watch. We were a little too far back to catch a whole lot, but we were able to get some things. Of course, by the end of the parade there were people everywhere either too drunk to stand up or throwing up everywhere. Ridiculous.

All in all, the parade was fun. We got to see lots of our friends we haven't seen in years, so it was worth going. This parade brings out the state's finest, so watching people was as much fun as the parade itself. People came up with some crazy things to wear! The whole thing really was like Mardi Gras...just all in green and shrunk down into one big parade!

Spring Break is Over :(

And it went by so quickly! I flew out last Sunday for Houston to spend a few days with my mom and dad and sisters. Lia was out for the week, too, and Alyssa came on Monday. We had the greatest time. We did a whole lot of shopping and just hanging out. It was fun to sit around in the living room at night and talk until early in the morning. And how great is it to sleep in? We found a prom dress for Lia, so that was really exciting.

I got back home late Thursday night...really late. I went up to the school Friday afternoon to do a little bit of work...just a little bit...and then Lee and I went to eat at Kell and Mary Straton's that night. It was so fun to see them and catch up. We finished out the week with the St. Patty's day parade (see above), lunch with our small group on Sunday, and went to church that afternoon to see Chi Alpha, Pinelake's high school choir, perform.

I love Spring Break. It always comes at just the right time for the teachers and students! We're all just about ready to go crazy, and then we get a long break to get us back together. It's downhill from here!

It's Spring!

My favorite time of year. I love it when the weather gets and stays warmer. I get to start wearing skirts and sandals and flip-flops again. The days are longer, which I love...I can finally get things done during the day. Some people (my husband and sister being one of them) hate that it's dark outside when we wake up, but I love it because it means I can stay outside until 8 o'clock. I love coming home in the evenings to watch the sun set at the end of our street. And being a senior teacher is great in the spr ing. The kids have so much going on that it flies by and we're finished before we even know it has started! The end of spring is a great time to take a trip to the beach...warm enough to get outside on the beach but not so hot you might melt. Some people say that the seasons change to keep us from going crazy...the weather changes just when we think we couldn't stand it anymore. But who couldn't do spring all year long? It's just a perfect time of year. I wish it would stay spring for much longer.

You MUST see this...

Ok, so I know we're a little behind, but Lee and I just watched Facing the Giants last night. What a great movie! I've been wanting to see it, and my friend Stacie told me last week that she had watched it and couldn't wait to tell other people to watch it. So I couldn't wait for this weekend to roll around so we could rent it. Oh my gosh, it's so good. I had heard the acting wasn't that great, and it's not. I'm not sure if it got better throughout the movie or if I was so caught up in the story that I didn't care anymore, but after the first 30 minutes, I never noticed it again. I already knew the storyline and was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I don't think I've ever cried so much through a movie! The story itself is great...a wonderful reminder of what God can do in our lives when we let go and allow him. But then we watched all the extras on the DVD, and I cried through most of that. Most people have probably heard that it was all done with the help of volunteers. But to see video footage of those volunteers giving up their time and working so hard and then literally on their knees in prayer thoughout the process was so moving. If you haven't seen this movie, you need to rent it...and invite everyone you know over to watch it with you. If you have seen it, rent it to watch the extra footage. It's worth it!!

How cute is this guy?

FINALLY! Lee got some glasses! He got contacts the week before we got married and hasn't had his eyes checked since. He resisted even getting the contacts, but I wanted to make sure he could see me come down the aisle, so he gave in! Getting glasses has been a constant battle at our house. I mean, I get tired of reading all the basketball scores on the tv at night because he can't read them. For whatever reason, when I mentioned it this morning, he agreed, so I called around all day until I could find someone who would take him this afternoon before he changed his mind. His vision is two times worse than it was when he got them checked last! I don't know what he's been seeing when he looks around! Anyway, I love the new look, and I'm so glad he went. Now maybe he can read the captions on the movies to me!

A Special Night

Last Sunday, Lee and I were privileged to be able to attend Sam's formal ordaination ceremony at Eastside Baptist Church. MoMo and PaPa came up from the Coast, so we were able to spend the afternoon with them, too. The night was really special. Alyssa and Sam have such a great church family who loves and supports and encourages them. What a great place to be for a newly married couple! It was so neat to watch every ordained man in the church walk up individually to place their hands on Sam and pray for him, some of them so elderly they were barely able to make it to the front of the church. As her sister, it was really special to then see them turn around and whisper words of encouragement to Alyssa. We're really proud of Sam and are excited to see the great things he's going to do!