I'm A Big Kid Now

So yeah, I did a Facebool survey meant for "Grown-ups". It was 38 questions for people who are a little older and I just did it for amusement. Enjoy!


1. What bill do you hate paying the most? Cars bills, especially when you have to fix stupid things like your windows. Who knew that could cost $330!!!

2. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner? Well, most of our meals are eat-and-run, but we did have a really nice dinner at Sawadee Thai Restaurant a few weeks ago.

3. What do you really want to be doing right now? I want to be at home sleeping in my bed!

4. How many colleges did you attend? Two: Covenant and AB Tech (woot)

5. Why did you choose the shirt you have on right now? I'm wearing a purple dress from Target. Pants and shirts aren’t comfortable anymore with my pregnant belly :).

6. What are your thoughts on gas prices? They’re not as bad as they have been and I save $0.10 a gallon when I shop at Kroger, so I’m making it okay. And if it gets too bad, Cole and I will start riding our bikes around Aiken again. It’s really quite fun!

7. First thought when the alarm went off this morning? ”Maybe my cold is too bad. Maybe I have a fever. Maybe I can call in sick…” I got up anyway.

8. Last thought before going to sleep last night? ”I am so tired…”

9. Do you miss being a child? I miss college and wish I could go back sometimes, but I’m pretty content with growing up.

10. What errand/chore do you despise? I don’t like grocery shopping. I love cooking, but I wish a fairy could get everything I need and just drop it off at my house.

11. Get up early or sleep in? Sleeping in is AMAZING.

12. Have you found real love yet? OH YES!

13. Favorite lunch meat? Turkey or Roast Beef.

14. What do you get every time you go into Wal-Mart? Bannanas.

15. Beach or lake? I love the lake. No messy sand and I love skiing!

16. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual? No, and people that think that have commitment issues. Don’t even get me started on what I think about the world’s view of marriage!

17. Sopranos or Desperate Housewives? Neither. I prefer a good movie.

18. What famous person would you like to have dinner with? C.S. Lewis. He is the most amazing writer and Christian apologist.

19. Have you ever crashed your vehicle? Well once I backed into the garage door because I forgot to open it. Nothing big though.

20. Ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose? Nope.

21. Ring tone? Something really perky that Verizon made up.

22. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth? The woods. Or the Frankfurt, Germany airport.

23. Somewhere in California you've never been and would like to go? Coronado.

24. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or a new relationship? Definitely a new career… I’m going to be a mom!

26. Do you have a go-to person? Oh yes. My husband or my five closest friends.

27. Are you where you want to be in life? Getting there…

28. Growing up, what were your favorite cartoons? Spiderman :)

29. What about you do you think has changed the most? My standards and values. I feel like I finally know exactly what I believe and can articulate it to others.

30. Looking back at high school were they the best years of your life? Yes and no. I really really enjoyed them, but I wish I’d had a little more maturity.

31. Are there times you still feel like a kid? Oh yes. Most people mistake me for being one of the high schoolers I work with. In fact, I bet most people think I’m a poor knocked-up teenage mother. No one ever bothers to look at my left ring finger ;).

32. Did you ever own troll dolls? Yes, and I actually thought their hair magically grew.

33. Did you have a pager? No. Those are sooooo 90’s.

34. Where was the hang out spot when you were a teenager? Downtown Asheville!

35. Were you the type of kid you would want your children to hang out with? Yes.

36. Who do you think impacted your life the most Cole, without a doubt the best person God ever put in my life!

37. Was there a teacher or authority figure that stood out for you? My pastor Jeff really impacted my high school years and Drs. Davis and Foreman made Covenant amazing.

38. Do you tell stories that start with “when I was your age”? Sometimes. I don’t want to be condescending though. Plus I’m not THAT old!

Ohhhh CC!

This week all the Covenant College students are heading back up the mountain for another year of school. And I am jealous! I've been following facebook and reading everyone's happy comments about being back and seeing people and the nostalgia is hitting me hard! OH if I could just rewind a few years and enjoy that time all over again! College is so wonderful and carefree... no real life 8-5 jobs, no house payments, no huge responsibilities, and you can even skip class if you want to sleep in! Sure, you have the papers and the homework and the occasional huge, overwhelming projects, but that's all part of experience and most of the time you pretty much live a carefree life. THINK about it: you can plan your day so that you don't have to wake up until 11 or 12! You have someone else making all your meals. You live with your best friends. There's always something fun going on. You feel independent but you don't have the whole weight of full responsibility on you yet. Oh man, college was good.
Here are a few pics to illustrate my college experience:

Well, we did party some...

And we played some...

We goofed around a lot...

Oh yeah, and we studied...

But we had to take breaks so we wouldn't shoot ourselves...

We ate a lot...

So then we worked out a lot...

But over all, I made the best friends in the world...

And I finally graduated...

Go CC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s.

Just in case you read this, that post was for you Mrs Bruns and I will put up pics soon!

Being Pregnant Motivates Me...

And I'm serious. There's nothing like knowing that a baby's on the way to get me off my rear and doing things to prepare. For instance, since I've been pregnant I've/we've painted two rooms, ripped up the carpet in our living room/dining room, cleaned out a huge closet full of technological stuff and pieces of paper from Cole's schooling (oh yeah, we had fun... not), cleaned the baby's room-to-be, rearranged and de-cluttered our room, and are in the process of putting down hardwood floors. After that I will actually get to decorating the baby's room. We've also started talking about making a will (weird!) and setting up a college fund for baby Nickell. Not to mention lots of serious talks about what kind of parents we want to be. Knowing that a little one will be here in five months really makes me think. Wow!

Soon to come: I'll put up the pictures of all our projects once we have the "after pics".

Oh beach...

So due to the lack of creative juices lately, I haven't posted anything in a while. I think two weeks of vacation zapped my energy and turned me into a slug :) You know how you always think that you'll get books read, letters written, and be all rejuvenated to come back to regular life? Yeah well, usually you end up sleeping in late, sitting around waiting for something to do, watching tv or movies, and generally not exerting much effort. So then you get back to the daily grind and you're completely exhausted with "doing nothing" and totally not ready to get up at 6:45 and work all day. Yeah, I want to go back to the beach...

The Sand Lobster!

Handstand competition

The Marshall/Johnson cousins minus 5

P.S. I can't make these pics larger without loosing the quality.

VACATION!

After coming back from Miami and working one week, I'm off the beach for TWO WEEKS! Wahoo! Aren't you jealous? :)

Brain Dead

So I thought I would come back from Miami with all these funny stories and witty comments, but I think I've gone brain dead in the creative department. I only have four things to say:
1) It was hot. I think I lost 10 pounds in sweat.
2) I hate Florida. And it should never under any circumstance be called southern.
3) I love Haitians - they are so friendly and hospitable.
4) Do tha stanky leg!

How I've missed this....

Yesterday I arrived in Chattanooga to spend a couple days with Carolann before picking up some youth girls to drive them to Miami for the mission trip. I only get to see CA about every 5 or 6 months and I know that once we have kids and life gets busier, that will probably decrease a lot. So sad, but that's life. Anyway, last night the two of us and Nicole ate dinner at Tony's where we stuffed ourselves till we all felt pregnant with food babies, then walked accross the Market Street Bridge where we were almost run over by a crazy person, and lastly stopped and ate some icecream that we really didn't need but really enjoyed. It was SO much fun and we just talked and laughed the whole night. This is one thing I have really missed living in Aiken. While I love it and love my life there, I still haven't made deep friendships like the ones I had in college. When I'm sad or extremely happy or just need someone to talk to, I still call Carolann or a friend from Asheville instead of being able to sit down with someone in Aiken. Friendships just take more time now than they did in highschool and college and I miss those connections.
So, I am going to enjoy every minute of my time with CA! I wonder what whacky plans we have for today...

See ya!

I'm off to Miami for our High School summer mission trip! Pray that I won't get overheated or gag on my food too much while there :) Of course, I can always play the pregnant woman card and opt out of anything too strenuous. Haha!

Yay morning sickness!

Since Danielle suggested that I keep people up to date on my little bun in the oven, I thought I'd would inform you all of the recent nausea I've experienced thanks to this little one. First of all, whoever named it morning sickness must have had a very rare and easy pregnancy or have been a man. It doesn't just take over your morning, oh no, it comes back again right after lunch and again as you try to wind down for the night. Basically I don't know how women gain weight in the first trimester because the nausea always seems to come about 20-30 minutes after I've eaten. This means rather than just throwing up a polite little amount, I throw up my entire breakfast, lunch, or dinner. My poor husband tries to offer comfort but I just shoo him out because it's rather embarrissing. I mean, I haven't been this sick since I was a little kid with a stomach virus! Anyway, enough of that. I feel sorry for any men reading this :)

Foods that make my gag reflex kick in:
Any cooked vegitable
Most veggies in general (I'm gagging down cucumber slices as I type)
Mushy fruits like bannanas or cantalope
The smell of cooking meat! Ugh!!
Coffee - surprise surprise, who'd have ever thought!
Cookie dough :( so sad
The smell, but not taste, of Chickfila
Lots of other things depending on the day

So here's to you who can eat a well-balanced diet without gagging. Meanwhile I'll enjoy my pasta, pizza, icecream, and crackers!