An East Tennessee Weekend

i don't think i have taken advantage of east tennessee as much as i did this past saturday.  my friends hallie and jess spent the night at my house in maryville on friday night.  we ate dinner at los amigos...yum...and had a movie night with my mom.  i have never heard jess and my mom laugh as hard as they did.  we woke up saturday and went hiking.  it was an absolutely beautiful day to hike the chimneys.  we researched it before we left and everything talked about how strenuous of a hike it was.  this made us a little nervous, but how bad could it possible be?  well let me tell you now from experience it is strenuous! at one point i thought to myself...why did i think this would be fun?  could i have been more negative...i think not!! my mind quickly changed as we made it to the top for a little devotion and sweet girl time.  here are just a couple of pictures.  more are on their way!!  

as soon as i got home from the hike i changed in my bathing suit and board shorts :) and headed out to norris lake with my young life team.  my sister went with us!   we spent the night tubing and wakeboarding.  i am still incredibly sore from the wakeboarding, but the good news is that i got up and was able to to make it outside of the wake.  it is the getting back in that is the problem.  i post a couple of pictures of tubing.  my camera died about 10 minutes after we got out on the water :o(

east tennessee was so fun and so pretty this weekend.   

this is me right now

this is me right now.  here are a few updates from my life...

i spent this past weekend with a dear friend and boss, joy, at the atlanta gift market. we shopped, laughed, cried, and learned a lot about each other. i look forward to these trips because i learn so much from such a sweet friend. i always leave time with joy so encouraged. she really does have the gift of bringing joy!

i am going to be teaching algebra ii honors and geometry this 2009-2010 school year. i couldn't be more thrilled.

i will be teaching in the law, business and public affairs academy at Hardin Valley Academy. maybe all those years of watching legally blonde will pay off?! will carver, will you come be a special guest speaker one day?

i have been inspired to develop a new hobby. i want to sew so bad. here are a couple of items i hope to make one day. they are pictures from amy butler designs.  she has to be one of the cutes girls ever.  my first project is going to be curtains for my room under the supervision of my meme.

last but not least...i have twitter.  i love it!!  i am following kris allen.  i don't know if he updates because he has been driving through the mountains since june 20. hmmmm.   my roommate and i have so much fun tweeting!! 

An American Low Country Boil

I LLLLLOOOOOOVVVVVEEEEEEE the 4th of July at my Mom an Dad's house.  Anyone and everyone is invited to come and eat, play games, dance, watch fireworks, you name it.  One of my favorite parts about the evening is the dress code I have established.  Everyone must dress in red, white or blue.  I love dressing to a theme!  It only seemed fitting to have a patriotic dress theme.  My pup even met the dress code with a navy blue bandana.  He was the cutest there.  I fell even more in love with that night.  

A SayBaugh Wedding

My friend Lindsay Baugh "saybaugh"  got hitched last Friday!! It was a quite a wedding.  Saybaugh is a friend from high school.  She is now married to Most Attractive of the class of 2005 from MHS.  They are going to live in Argentina.  Saybaugh makes her own clothes, doesn't wear shoes, and has an overly free spirit.  Her and her husband had not seen each other for four months, and the first time they saw each other after 4 months was when she walked down the aisle.  They hadn't talked in a week until they said "I Do."  And, their first kiss in a year was at the sound of, "you may kiss your bride."  Some other extravagant wedding details include...4 hours before Saybaugh would walk down the aisle, we were out on the lake tubing;  she had me organize and coordinate the wedding,  there was an amazing choir, and she made the paper for her programs.  

Hand me my dog, Hand me my bag...and that American Flag!!

This past weekend my mom and sister and I packed up the car and headed to Nashville twice!  We hit the road and about 20 minutes down the road had an unexpected flat tire, so we came back, switched cars, and headed off again. This time we made it!  We were on our way to see Legally Blonde the Musical.  This is my favorite musical.  I told my mom that I identify a lot with Elle Woods.  This made her laugh, but all through out school whenever I would get upset about math classes I would pop in Legally Blonde and Elle would inspire me to keep studying!  I don't know if I should be embarrassed by telling you this, but it is the truth.  I just love her personality and how all things are so positive.  Anyway, when we got to the theatre we realized that we had first row seats!!!!!! Dream come true!! I thought Lindsay was going to faint as we walked to our VIP seats.  We could see the sweat and feel the spit(gross but didn't care) of the performers.  I also got to chat it up with the orchestra.  Lindsay and I got invited to the after party!!  It was a great trip and a much needed escape from school.  Thanks mom!!  

Laura Bell Bundy, the original Elle Woods

Emmitt...he was patting my back while this photo was taken

Rhiannon from MTV's Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods

She played one of Elle's sorority sisters

Lauren from MTV's Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods

The understudy for Elle

Vivian

Laura Bell....We love you!!!

Elle Woods...maybe?

Bales Girls out on the town in Nashvegas

VIP Parking

Kristin, Welcome to the Family

Tate and Kristin heading to the reception after the wedding ceremony

Uncle David, Aunt Carol, Cole, Tate, and Seth at Tate's Graduation this spring

My family grew by one person on June 6, 2009.  Kristin Gregg...Geren is officially after 7 years my cousin.  Check out Jennie Andrews for a couple of pictures from the wedding day.  They had a very sweet wedding.  I do ask for your prayers for our family during this time of happiness and sadness.  On the long awaited day of my cousin's wedding my aunt was admitted into the hospital.  She had been battling pancreatic cancer for three and a half years.  She was in the hospital for about a week and a half until she went home to be with Jesus last Wednesday.  At her memorial service our pastor said that some people are either lovers and some are fighters, but Aunt Carol was both.  She loved her husband, three boys, and us so tenderly, yet she was one of the strongest women I know.  We rejoice in her new heavenly dwelling with the Lord, but our hearts break without her presence in our lives!

it hurts so bad but feels so good at the same time

I am going to wrap up my posting on Frontier Ranch! It has taken me way too long to share the whole week with you, but there is not much time in my life with school to study and weddings to attend!  

The last three days at Frontier Ranch were incredible. We conquered repelling down a mountain and racing on the ridge runners.  Yes, I repelled down a mountain.  One on one times were hard at times and rich in conversation at times, but every time was so worth it to get a peek into what Jesus was saying to each one of the sweet girls.  Cabin times became so real, genuine and comfortable.  I am uber excited to share with you that our cabin times did not stay at Frontier.  We are now meeting on Thursday mornings at Panera.  We are reading through Luke.  It is one of the most precious gifts to see my friends at 7:45 am in the summer with their Bible in their hands reading the Word of God!  AWESOOMMMMEEE!!  I want to tell you about one thing that I had never seen at a YL camp, but absolutely loved.  It was called cardboard testimonies.  At first I was a little skeptical, but to be able to watch and be apart of it totally changed my mind.  Through the week, the whole camp would gather in the club room for "real life."  This is where the people on assignment would share through role play...kinda...what they were like in high school and going to YL camp.  During the week leaders had to opportunity to write on an index card what they were like in high school and on the other side what they are like today with Christ.  At the last session of real life, some of the leaders were chosen to write what they wrote on the index card on a piece of cardboard.  We walked out one by one to a song and showed our old self side of the cardboard and then flipped it over to reveal who we are today with Christ.  Golly, so many stories were told that day that our high school friends could relate with, and it showed them that Jesus really does make all of us new!  I wish I could tell you every detail about what happened the whole week at Frontier, but it just overwhelms me.  I will just end by saying, God is good! The girls that traveled the long and brutal journey with me to Frontier fought with all their might to not go.  Now, they can't believe the experience they had and are so glad they finally gave in to the begging.  They got to meet Jesus and will forever be changed!