Happy Birthday T!

     For those of you who don't know, T is a family friend whom I consider my brother. I always wanted a "big" brother.

     Yesterday was his 18th Birthday and to celebrate we all loaded up and headed downtown. First, we went to Kooky Canuck, a restaurant that has a 4lb and 6lb burger. If you eat the whole thing in an hour, it's free. Instead, we all split it and paid for it. I'm not sure what would posses someone to eat that whole thing by themselves... Although, I'm pretty sure T could have eaten the whole thing by himself.

We all finally finished eating the monster and were stuffed.

     To let our food settle, we went to the roof of the Peabody Hotel to look out over downtown.

     It was so pretty up there. The Mississippi River is still very high. Buddy said he wanted to go down there to the beach and ocean. :)

     After we had seen enough, we went to Maggie Moo's to get ice cream. It was delicious. While we were there we saw a zombie from the annual zombie walk ,which I'm still not sure what that was about. It terrified the kids and even scared me. There is always something interesting going on downtown. :)

     All that to say, "Happy Birthday T!"

New Student Orientation

I am officially a college freshman. :) All in coming freshman at U of M are required to go to New Student Orientation. (Known as NSO from here on out). Let me just give you the run down of this college first.
Day 1:
We arrived at school to check in for the two days we were staying there. I met up with one of my best friends and we walked in together.


I over packed..

 After checking in and being pointed in the right direction we went to our dorms. Unfortunately, this is not the dorm I will be staying in this fall. :(

Then it was time to start the day!



College Freshman!



Sadly, those are the only pictures from the first day. If I would have taken pictures it would have consisted of a whole bunch of people who just lectured about different things at the U of M. And also a WHOLE LOT of walking. When they said we would be doing a lot of walking they were NOT kidding. Being the unprepared college freshman I am, I wore flip flops. One of the biggest mistakes of my life!!!

     On day one some of us had advising appointments. I was one of those lucky people. My academic advisor was great. She knew exactly what she was doing and helped me pick my classes. She also went a step ahead and registered me so I could skip all the hecticness on day two.

     After dinner, we were able to go to the rec center on campus and hang out...It wasn't all that great, but oh well.

     Day one ended with me collapsing in bed around midnight.

Day two:

     Day two began with a wonderful breakfast. The Tiger Den has milk! I was excited about the milk, not the coffee. :)

     After that was more and more lecturing. I think this picture explains how we all felt.

One of my other friends fell asleep during a lecture. I'm sure she wasn't the only one. I was too busy trying to spell Kleenex to fall asleep, or listen for that matter.

     After lectures it was time to register and have student i.d's made! My picture didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would.

     Then my mom and I went to lunch in the UC. As we were walking to our table we spotted Josh Pastner, head basketball coach for the Tigers, eating lunch. MGB's mom went and got his autograph and of course we all giggled like school girls.

After lunch it was finally time to leave, but we had to take one last picture.

In the words of little orphan Annie, "I think I'm gonna like it here." :)

A Real Flower

A few hours after I wrote my last blog (the one about Buddy giving me "flowers") he brought me this.

If any boy has my heart, it is definitely this little boy.

As always he was very excited about the flower, but I think he knew this one was special and wasn't like the other flowers he had given me.  What else was special about this flower was it had bugs ALL over it. Needless to say, this flower stayed outside.





I'm Thankful for My Handful of Weeds

     Lately, my little brother has taken it upon himself to decapitate or pick every Dandelion in the back yard. If the Dandelion is the white, fluffy, seed one, he decapitates it, simply leaving the stem standing alone. For the yellow weed, he picks them and brings them to either me or my mom. Today, I finally caught him in action. 

     Today, he brought me two "flowers".  

His helmet makes this picture even cuter.



(Ignore my bad hair day and uh bad face day...)

     He then proceeded to return outside to play. He would play for a while, then decapitate some more "flowers". He finally found some yellow ones that he had not picked yet. At first he decided to leave them, but then said, "Oh, what the heck. I pick these for Nannah."



     I then ended up with a total of five little "flowers" from him that were covered in tiny little ants...Oh well, as Sherri Easter's song says, "I've never seen flowers more beautiful than these".

Down Home Roots

     A few weeks ago my family and I went back to our home town, Cookeville, TN, to visit my grandpa. I thought I'd write a little bit about what I did while I was there. Ya know, just in case someone cares.
     While I was there it just so happened that it was Senior Night at my old elemntary school. All the graduating seniors of this year go back and talk with old teachers and hang out.

The billboard had pictures of us from when we were in K-4th grade.

     As we signed in we recieved a letter that we had written to our future selves in 4th grade. In this letter, we wrote about what we think we would do in the future. I wrote," I see myself in 8 years going to college to become a teacher. 12 years getting ready to teach kingergarten." This made me smile since I will be majoring in education this fall and hopefully teacher kindergarden in a few years.

     I concluded my letter with a list of boys I had had a crush on. The second one on the list simply said, "A 6th grader". I'm so glad I have a level head now.

     Later that night, we all took an informal tour of the school. This resulted in alot of laughter and old memories.

I wish I had a picture of us when we were in elemetary school, but I'm too lazy to scan it.

     After Senior Night, we met up with my Grandpa, who we call "Pa" and his uh "friend-girl"  to eat dinner.

My grandparents were married for 52 years. 6 months ago my Grandma, "Granny", lost her battle with cancer. Ever since then Pa has been a complete mess to be honest. He had no one to talk to and nothing to do except cry. It was pitiful. About a month ago, an old family friend became an answer to my prayers.  They began going out to eat and hanging out like two teenagers. After a long talk they came to the conclusion that they are, as Pa put it, "going steady". Pa is in such a better mood now that he has her to call and hang out with.



Aren't they cute?

I have to tell the story that comes along with her, who we call Ma. So when I was about 3 or 4 years old, Granny and I would go to Wal-Mart almost everyday and we would go down Ma's check out line. Well one time Ma said to me, "You have the meanest ole Pa in the world." Well that broke my heart. I started sobbing and through my tears I told her, "Don't you talk about my Pa!" You should hear the way she talks about my Pa now. ;)

     Another thing we did was help clean out the house. Granny kept EVERYTHING... As I was going through my things I found some items that made me smile.



Those are my foot prints on my dad's hospital attire right after I was born.

A picture I drew of my family. I was probably 9 or 10. My art skills haven't improved much...

And finally, I went to lunch with my dad. When I was younger, my favorite place to eat with him was the Algood Diner.

(For those of you who don't know, Algood and Cookeville are equal to Bartlett and Memphis, except when we pulled up to the diner we parked across the street, left the widows down and the door unlocked.).

(Warning: This photo make cause you to drool excessivly)



It was even better than I rememberd.



My dad could not understand why I was taking a picture of my food. I said," So I can blog about it." To which he replied, "What's a blog?" I tried to explain, but he just ended up shaking his head at me. Oh well.

    

Catherine the Caterpillar

     Every year for the past four or so years, my family has gotten a caterpillar from a lady in the home school group, also known as "The Butterfly Lady". This year was no different. We bought two, one for us and one for a friend. Of course these little guys needed names so we named them. We decided on Catherine the Caterpillar. It was only fitting that we named the other one William.
     The caterpillar came in a two liter bottle with a plant inside for it to eat.  This is what the caterpillar looks like when it comes home.

You can kind of see the caterpillar as it is eating in these pictures, but I wanted to post them because I thought they were hilarious.

Anyway! These things set off eating the plant as fast as they can. And with in a few days all the remains of the plant is the stem. After the caterpillar has had all it can eat, it climbs to the top of the bottle and hangs in the shape of a J for a few days. Usually, by the next time we look at it, it is already in its cocoon. However, this time we caught it while it was making its cocoon. (It was really cool, but pretty nasty looking.)

It looked like it was giving birth or something, but it was actually wiggling out of it's old caterpillar skin. It took it probably less than a min to get the skin off. Sadly, I don't have pictures of Catherine in her cocoon.
A few days after Catherine was done chilling in her cocoon, she emerged! She sat around in the bottle for a few hours waiting for her wings to dry. Then we took the bottle outside, cut it open and set her free. :)

 Buddy was so excited for the butterfly to come out because he, "ikes butterbys...they so big and stowng".

He was trying to get her to fly into his hand. He was using the sweetest voice, saying. "Come on. Come here".

      So as all this was happening I knew I was going to blog about it for two reasons. 1. I have nothing better to do with my time. 2. It made me think of 3 important truths.
     First truth is that God is the Creator. (Genesis 1-2) I don't understand how anyone could watch a caterpillar turn into a butterfly and not be in awe of how creative and powerful God is. We didn't have to tell the caterpillar to shake off it's skin and get in it's cocoon. God created her so that she knew what to do, when to do it and how to do it. This just blows my mind.

     Second truth: Each year that we get a caterpillar, I think of the children's book by Max Lucado called Hermie. I love that little book. As Hermie (a caterpillar) roams around he becomes sad that he's not anything "special" like the ant, the snail, or the lady bug. Hermie takes his sadness to God each night and asks, "Why did You make us so common?" And each night God would answer, "I love you, Hermie and Wormie. But I'm not finished with you yet. I'm giving you a heart like Mine." This made me think about all the times I have personally asked God something like, "Why don't I look like so and so?" or "What are You doing with my life?" God's Word says in Psalm 139:14, "I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." God doesn't make mistakes. EVER! The Bible also says in Philippians 1:6. " For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." See, God isn't finished with us yet. For that I am thankful.

    Third and final truth: As I watched Catherine gorge herself on the plant then go into a cocoon, then come out as a beautiful butterfly it made me think about salvation through Jesus Christ. Before salvation we are like Catherine as a caterpillar, crawling around gorging ourselves on sin. All Catherine did before becoming a butterfly was eat and eat. The same is true with us, all we do is sin and sin. Next, Catherine shed her old skin.  The same happens to us. Although it isn't a physical shedding it can still be pretty disgusting since we recognize how nasty our sin is. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." Just as Catherine shed her old skin, so do we which leads to the next step: a beautiful and new creation. Just as 2 Corinthians says, we are a new creature. When we accept Christ's free gift of salvation, we are changed forever. Christ makes us new. This change should be so different that people aren't even sure of who we are. Catherine's change from a caterpillar to a butterfly was drastic. If she had not have been in the bottle the whole time we had her, I would not have know that she was once a fat little caterpillar.
     I hope all that makes sense. What I'm trying to say is we should be like a butterfly that looks drastically different from a caterpillar.

 Oh, as a side note about William, the other caterpillar we gave to a friend. He went through the whole process just like Catherine. However, as he was sitting outside to dry... our friend's dog ate him... What can you say? It's a dog eat butterfly world out there.... :/

Reception

     Now that I was done with high school it was time to celebrate! I think this was the best party we've ever had, but maybe just because it was mine. 

My mom did a great job on decorations. 

I am so thankful for all my friends who came. It meant so much to me that they would take time out of their Saturday for me.

And finally, one last picture of me and my dad before he went back home.

After this I opened presents. Graduation presents are amazing. Just sayin. :)
And just like that my high school career is over. It's bitter sweet, but I can't wait to begin my new journey.



Stick a fork in us, we're done!

Graduation!!
     I didn't think we would ever make it to this day, but we did! As soon as I woke up that morning I was so nervous. I'm not sure why, but I was. I got there on time, which was two hours before the actual ceremony. We took a class picture in our cap and gowns. (I wish I had a picture of it).
     It hit me once again that I was almost a high school graduate when we lined up for the processional out front. To me, it was so weird to see people I've grown up with since middle school and then to graduate with them. It's hard to believe we've come so far.
     We walked in one at a time (which took forever) to the graduation march. Standing up on stage watching everyone come in I almost started crying. I'm such a sap. It doesn't take much for me to cry.
     Then the ceremony began. It went really well. The valedictorian and salutatorian did a wonderful job, as well as everyone else who spoke or preformed. Of course, I didn't pay attention to the whole thing because I was looking for my friends and family in the audience. I found them all. :)
     Then it was finally time to walk across stage and receive my diploma. What a wonderful feeling of accomplishment! (Once again, we don't have a picture of it...)
     After everyone received his or her diploma there was just an air of excitement which was celebrated by our class doing the wave. I hope it looked good. haha
     Once the final prayer was given it was time to move our tassels. A simple move from right to left now means we are no longer seniors, but once again freshman. I teared up alot at that. I'm not sure if it was because I was excited and happy or if it was because I'm now a freshman. I didn't like being a freshman the first time. haha
     As we walked out the back doors there was just an overwhelming excitement. This excitement continued as we walked outside to toss our caps. FYI, if you want to throw your hat, you have to pay attention cause I missed it. I was talking and next this I knew caps were flying everywhere while mine was still in my hand.
     Then more pictures with family and friends. Here they are.

 Katie: We've been friends since 2007 I think. She likes it when I sing to her. haha

 Kristina: We've become friends this year. I'm so excited about going to college together!

 Hallie: Friends since 10th grade I think. She is such a great friend!

 Me and my dad, Donathan

From left to right: Dad, me, Alyssa, Grant, Mom, Pa

"Amy! Amy!" "It's Lisa..."

Friday May 6th, 2011: Graduation Rehearsal
     I felt the need to write about this, but I'm not sure what to say. Rehearsal began with a lot of sitting around and doing a whole lot of nothing. What was suppose to start at 5 didn't start until 6, homeschoolers always run behind. The highlight of the evening occurred right before we ate. The lady who was in charge of everything told a lady to give us directions on the food line. So the lady went up front and began telling us. Well the lady in charge begins yelling at her saying, "Amy! Amy! Use the mic!". So "Amy" gets up to the mic and says, "uh, it's Lisa..." Apparently it doesn't take much to entertain me because I thought that was hilarious. Maybe my lack of sleep had something to do with it.
     We ate, took pictures, signed yearbooks, talked about college and the graduation while the parents got ready in the santiuary, which was a long time. Then practice began. It was long and tedious, but went well overall. I'm just glad that's over with.
    Sadly, I just realized I only took two pictures from rehearsal. Fail...

 Elizabeth: I've known her since 7th grade. It's amazing to see how far we've come.

Holly: We cheered together in 8th grade. She cracks me up!

Last Dance

Thursday, May 5th, 2011 was a last for me, however, it was not sad. I had  been looking forward to banquet/prom since the beginning of the school year. I continually went back and forth on being very excited to complaining about not wanting to go. I had already bought my ticket and my dress so I had to go. And of course, it's my senior year, so I had to go. Thursday finally came and I was in a pretty good mood. My hair was done by the wonderful Mrs. Tracy.

After getting my hair done, I began to get ready with my friend, Mary Grace and her sister Maggie. I love those girls. :) I've known Mary Grace since 7th grade. She was my first friend when I moved here. Mary Grace did my nails,which I later took of before I left the house.... They were not working for me. But thanks for your hard work.

Next was getting dressed and pictures with family. Mary Grace and her sister had to leave to go pick up a friend at this point.

I love my sister

I finally got him to take a picture with me.

We finally arrived at banquet. By this time, to tell you the truth, I was not very excited. To this day I'm not sure why. After picking at my food, because of my nerves, the seniors were presented.

My mom apparently didn't get a picture of me coming down the stairs, but she did get a picture of me being escorted by my grandpa. I think his goal for this weekend was to make me cry. haha

Here are all the seniors who were presented.

I think this is when it finally hit me that I'm a senior and highshool is over. 

Then the dancing began. Dancing at our banquet/prom is not even similar to dancing at a public school. We swing dance...Sadly, only like 2 people there actually know how to swing dance so the rest just look like fish out of water and overly caucasin. Kinda like this:

Just kidding. :) We use to dance when I was about 8 or 9 to Dancing Queen by ABBA. I think that is the reason I like to dance now. After this I mainly just sat around alot and talked. Lame, I know. We went to Ihop after the dance. I don't want to talk about that because I was sick after eating there...

All in all, it wasn't to terrible, but I am glad that it is over. I may change my mind next year though.