Spring Break 2012, Gatlinburg

I realize that we have been back from spring break for almost a week now, but I've been busy being a computer lab teacher, 1st grade teacher, and middle school PE coach this week on top of soccer practice, church, and getting all my errands run so I've been neglecting my blog a little bit. (And that, boys and girls, is what we call a run-on sentence.)

Anyway, spring break was last week and the 4 of us met my parents in Gatlinburg, TN for a week-long getaway. We stayed in a 3 bedroom condo that was connected to an indoor water park that was much like Great Wolf Lodge in Dallas. We wore bracelets all week that let us come and go in that water park as often as we wanted. Well, as often as the kids wanted. Which was every day. Which was fine because it was free and it was close.

It's a tough life...

SNAKE!!

This bucket dumped 100's of gallons of water every 10 minutes. It was Austin's favorite thing.

And the wave pool was Aaron's favorite thing.

Austin spent a LOT of time playing with this little contraption.

Right across the street from our condo was scenic helicopter tours. Austin made his little mind up that he was getting on that helicopter and he knew who he needed to talk to to make that happen. My dad. As soon as he mentioned it to him I believe it was a done deal. So we all loaded up and went across the street to the helicopter place. I stayed on the ground with my mom and we sent all the boys up for a 15 minute flight over the smokey mountains.

My dad and Robbie, ready to take off!

My sweet boys :)

They flew right over the condo we were staying in.

They all absolutely loved it and it was an experience that none of them will soon forget.

One day (I say that because all of the days run together on vacation) we spent a few hours at this place called MagiQuest. It's a game where you are given clues and you have a 'magical' wand that is used to unlock the treasures. Another way of saying that is that it is a game where you read the same clue about 10 times before you stop and ask someone that works there which room it is in because it is a timed game and at the end of it you have been speed walking for 90 minutes and you really just want someone to tell you where to go. The boys really enjoyed playing it and they got to keep their wands at the end of it, so I would call that a successful trip.

How can you NOT go in a building that looks like this?

Aaron was getting instructions on what to do next.

Austin was a little crazy with his wand!

After the wand game we went to our favorite out of town eatery, Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Aaron LOVES their hot dogs so he was so happy to see that there was one there. They have the BEST fries, and one order can feed 4 people easily.

Mmmm....

Aaron recommends the bacon cheese dog.

Our original reason for going to Gatlinburg was to snow ski. But because we have all had a warmer than normal winter, the ski mountain had to close down early. But that didn't stop us from going there. There is a place in downtown Gatlinburg where you can get on a tram that takes you up the mountain to Ober Gatlinburg. Our day at Ober included ice skating, riding ski lifts and sliding back down (multiple times because it was just fun), and there was also a playground and rides. We spent a full day up there and had a blast! Although it was kind of odd to be riding a ski lift and having to worry about your flip-flops falling off!

My world...

Aaron is a really good ice skater!

Austin..not so much. But he gave it a good try.

Robbie and Aaron on the ski lift

Austin was more comfortable on the lift than Robbie!

Snack time on the ski lift!

These were the slides we rode on (several times) for the Alpine slide down the mountain.

The view from the top.

This made me feel bad for the people who lived in the houses on the sides of the mountains. These things would let you look right into their houses!

Yes. I made them put their arms around each other.

I also turned 36 while we were up there. My parents kept the boys for the day and let Robbie and I have a date day. So we did have a little time to do some things that WE wanted to do for a while, so thank you so much mama and daddy!!

Wow, sorry about the picture overload on this. Believe it or not there were SO many more that weren't included here!! Just a few more....

The boys were mezmorized by this potter.

A friend of mine told me about this place where you can go feed bears. They were SO cute! This one was my favorite because he would stand straight up and beg! Thanks for the tip on this one, Heather!

Fishing, Anniversary Party, and What I Want to Be When I Grow Up

I am sitting here trying to figure out where the last few weeks have gone. Between having a 2 week long sinus infection and planning my parents 50th wedding anniversary, I just now realized that we are in March. And almost half-way through. Maybe it's true that time goes by faster the older you get, but THIS fast??

A few weeks ago Aaron was fishing in the pond just outside our house, and Austin came running in the house to tell me that Aaron had a big fish on the line and I needed to help. This was right in the middle of my took-too-much-sinus/sleep/allergy medicine time period and all I really wanted to do was crawl in the bed and sleep off my drug-induced brain fog, but in the spirit of trying to be a good mom (and because Robbie wasn't home to do it for me), I slipped some shoes on and walked out to the pond. When I got out there and saw that fish, I sobered right up. It was the biggest fish that we've ever caught out here and certainly the biggest fish Aaron had ever caught. The line was about to break so we had to work together to get the fish pulled up onto the bank without losing him. After I got him unhooked we put him in an ice chest. I'm not really sure why, but that seemed like the natural thing to do at the time.

Poor thing was so big that he couldn't even turn around, so he just sorta swam in place for a while. He weighed 7 1/2 pounds and was 22 inches long. I text Robbie a picture of it and he said to put ice in there because we needed to get it mounted so Aaron could hang it on his wall. So Aaron, Austin, and I worked together to get ice out to him. When Robbie got home we got him out and prepared him to go to the people that stuff animals so they can be wall hangings for a living.

We could live off of the animals we catch in our yard.

Just call us Swamp People.

Anyway, completely unrelated to animals on the walls, this month is my parents 50th wedding anniversary. My brothers and I decided that we wanted to have a reception for them, so that's where my past few weeks have gone. I went to their house and got pictures that started in the 1960's and ended with now. 50 years of pictures in one album done over a 2 week period. I got the pictures in order as best I could and just went for it. It was so neat to see my parents together as teenagers, young parents, parents of teens, and grandparents. And although there have been several health issues along the way, they are still going strong. I am so very thankful that God chose them for me. When I was placed for adoption, my life could've gone so many different ways. But the way that God chose for me has been perfect for me and I am well aware of how blessed I have been.

We had the reception last Saturday and it went well. I got to meet my mom's best friend from high school (and maid of honor).  She was the one that introduced my parent's to each other and set them up on a blind date. I saw people there that I haven't seen since I was a child and it was neat to catch up with everyone. My parents cut the cake together and fed it to each other. So fun to watch!!

How cute are they??

I'm glad that we were able to do this for our parents. They have been such good role models for my brothers and me. They have always put God first, and they have taught us so many valuable life lessons.

My mom and her maid of honor, Barbara

Somewhere in the midst of everything else, Aaron has been playing basketball at his school. He's not as comfortable on the basketball court as he is on the soccer field, but I give him credit for at least trying it this year. Luckily it was a short season and ended just in time for spring soccer to start up.

I've also been substitute teaching on and off over the past few weeks at the elementary. While I was in college, I never once thought that I wanted to be a teacher, but after being in the classroom some, I've decided that I love it and I think it's what I want to do when I grow up. Now that my kids are both in school full time, and my house is built, I want to focus on what's best for me. Since I already have my bachelors degree, I'm looking into going the non-traditional route to teaching, but every card has to play out perfectly for that to happen by this fall. Please pray for me on this journey. If I am hired as a teacher for next fall, my summer will be full of getting in the required courses before August. I know that everything happens in God's time, and it may not be my time just yet, but I know I can do this if given the opportunity, so remember me in your prayers as I go through this please.

My Harding Days

I usually try to post every weekend, but I was out of town this past weekend, and then I was hit upside the head with a nasty sinus infection, so today is the first day I have felt well enough to try to make sense out of my thoughts. I realized Monday that I had been completely overdosing on medications without even realizing it, so I feel like I've been in some sort of medicine-induced brain fog that I'm trying to find my way out of. After thinking of all of the medicine I've taken this week, I guess I should just be thankful I'm still alive. Let's just say that a Unisom, a full dose of Nyquil, and an antihistamine on top of that can really mess a person up.

Never again will I do that. Never.

Anyway, since I have not been able to breathe through my nose or go an entire sentence without coughing, I've decided to put off the C25K until next week. I am still very motivated to do it, but I've got to get myself completely well first.

This past weekend, I went back to my college Alma mater, Harding University, for a women's event with my friends, Amie and Dianna. Just being honest here, I only went to one of the main speakers and spent the rest of my time reminiscing over my college years. I spent some time walking around campus alone. It was a beautiful day and it seemed like everywhere I went had a special memory for me. Even the sidewalks brought back memories of how Heather (my roommate)and I left the dorm with just t-shirts and shorts with no shoes in the middle of a huge rainstorm and ran up and down the sidewalks splashing in the water. I went into the Ezell building where all of my psychology classes took place. I loved my psychology professors. I looked at the board of all of the ones that are still teaching there and wished that I could see them all again. I looked into the office of one of my favorite professors and thought about how I sat across his desk from him crying my eyes out about something that had happened and he gave me the best advice I could've been given in that situation. I thought about how I was so stressed out I was about my Stats final that I actually threw up in a trash can after I finished my test. I thought about Mrs. Luallen sitting at the secretary's desk and how Robbie and I both loved to go see her. So many memories in that old building.

Heather and I in our dorm room our Sophomore year

I sat in one of the swings on the front lawn that I remember sitting in with Robbie before I knew that I would marry him. I thought about how we would take a blanket out on the front lawn and read the Bible and pray together. I had never known anyone like him before and I remember praying then that if Robbie wasn't the man I was supposed to marry then I wanted someone just like him. I had tears in my eyes as all of the memories came back to me while I sat there. I know that everything works out in God's time, but I had never just sat and thought about how perfect His plan was until right then.

I needed that time.

I decided I would go back and be part of the conference that I had gone to Searcy for but as I was waiting on the next thing to start, one of my best friends from college, Carla, stepped out of the conference room she was in. So Carla and I decided to skip out on the next part and walk around campus together. We went into the Benson Auditorium where we had chapel everyday at 9 am the four years I was there. We were allowed 10 chapel skips per semester and I used every one of mine up. I am not a morning person, so if I didn't have an 8:00 am class to get to, then getting up for chapel proved to be very challenging.

This is a reflection of Carla and I overlooking the front lawn. Love this view!

When Carla and I got in the Benson, we saw that there was a group on the stage practicing for Spring Sing, which is coming up on Easter weekend. I was a part of Spring Sing my freshman year of college along with my fellow Delta Gamma Rho peeps and had the best time, but I remember those early Saturday practices when we would've all rather still been in bed. I was amazed at how many of the students wore their pajama pants to practice, and then tried to remember if I had done the same thing before I talked about how tacky it was. And even though I couldn't remember what I wore to Spring Sing practice 17 years ago, Carla and I still had to say something about it.

When did the pajama pant become socially acceptable for public wear, anyway?

It's just not right people.

Anyway, after Carla and I had critiqued everything that the group on the stage were wearing, we walked around the campus together. We went into Cathcart, which was my freshman dorm, and looked around the lobby. I thought about how my friends had gotten me a cake for my birthday while I was living there and we had a big party in the lobby. My time spent in Cathcart is some of my very favorite Harding memories. There was a 'ghost' in the dorm that would turn mine and Heather's TV on and off and the volume up and down. Her name was Gerdie. We talked to Gerdie as if she were in the room with us. Either there really is a ghost named Gerdie or we had one really messed up TV. Either way, we felt like she was with us most of the time and would occasionally get bored and need to mess with us, which was totally ok with both of us.

Harding has made so many changes since I graduated from there that there are parts of the campus I don't even know about. I was sad to see that they had taken out the steps where Robbie and I had our first kiss. Did they not even think to ask if anyone wanted a little piece of that concrete to at least use as a paper weight? There is no telling how many couples that are married today had their first kiss on those steps.

Robbie and I were all dressed up to go to an opera together here. It was my Sophomore yr and this was the first night that I thought that I may one day marry this guy.

I am so thankful for my time at Harding. I know it has everything to do with the person I am today. The friends I made there are worth more to me than all the money in the world. I am thankful for my parents that strongly encouraged me to go there (and by that I mean, I had a Harding flag hanging in my room from the time I was 5 and that was the ONLY college I was ever exposed to). I am thankful for that time away from my parents so that I could discover my own faith and to decide for myself what I believe. And most of all, I am thankful for God lining everything up perfectly for Robbie and I. We had a few years of an on/off relationship before I realized that he was just not going to give up and I needed to just go on and marry the boy. (Just kidding, honey.) (Well, kind of.)

Robbie and I at a Delta Gamma Rho function in 1995.