Blue-eyes & Bluegrass

Monday

2010-04-02T09:32:00.002-05:00

This upcoming Monday starts my long-term substitution. Mrs. Ross in the 5th grade at Bagley is taking a maternity leave and I will be filling in for her. This position is going to be a great experience for me. I am somewhat nervous about the job but really only because of the discipline problems that this group has. I have heard from so many people that this is a "tough group". Ouch! I will be teaching reading three times a day. I have an advantage on the Scott Foresman Reading Program because that is mostly what I did with Mrs. Mayfield during my student teaching, just a grade lower. Please keep me in your prayers, especially in the beginning, that I will give it my best and that hopefully something permanent will come available soon! Hope everyone has a great weekend :)

Lately

2010-03-24T23:45:00.000-05:00

My life lately hasn't been that interesting. Mom had her surgery almost a month ago. Friday will be a month actually. In some ways it seems like longer and some ways it's flown by. I knew this was going to be a long road of recovery but I don't think I realized I was going to be as tired as I am. Mom has been recovering so well and I can tell she is improving everyday. She goes this coming Monday to get the stitches out and a new cast put on for two more weeks and then, hopefully, it's downhill from there. Therapy is supposed to start at week six and we are praying that she can actually put her foot to the floor by then. This would be an appropriate time to thank so many of you who have called, sent cards, come by, brought food, etc. In times like this you really and truly find out who your friends are. Thank you for all you have done.

There have been several times that I have gotten the chance to get out a little and have some "me" time. (Kim, thank you so much for coming and helping as much as you have with mom. I love you to pieces!) One Saturday night we were asked to play down at Tannehill and we had a great time. We had to make a shortened trip just to play and back, no jammin' in the sound room but we did get to go eat beforehand. (By we I mean Patrick and myself). The next Saturday we were asked to play for the City of Sumiton's Verteran's Memorial Group at the Sumiton firing range. There was a shooting competition and they needed some entertainment so we showed up! :)

Below: Rick taking a break on the banjo. I was having to turn my head and listen to speakers. Not the best sound system we have played with.

Below: Someone asked me about the looks....the sun was right on us!!!!!

Below: I love this picture! You can really tell we are feeding off each other!

I'm only ATTEMPTING to play!

We had a great time playing, like always. I am glad that Patrick loves it as much as I do and we both have parents that love to play as well. Hopefully I will have an even better update about mom very soon and some more good news. I start working at Bagley for a lady who is taking a maternity leave within the upcoming weeks so I will try to post again about that soon. Hope everyone has a great weekend coming up! :)

Picture Catch-Up

2010-02-25T20:53:00.013-06:00

Here are a few pictures from the Ladies Retreat.....(There was too much fun going on and not enough picture takin')

The rest are pictures from Hailey's 7th Birthday party with family.....

Such a BEAUTIFUL girl!

Brad....natural!

Who needs a guitar when you've got the box?!?!?!?

The video below is Blake on my birthday being his usual, charming self! (The video looks blank but if you will double click on the play button it will work)

Valentine's Day Update

2010-02-19T10:09:00.000-06:00

Valentine's Day this year was good. Patrick and I went to Red Lobster and even though we had to wait forty-five minutes to get in, and then an hour and a half on our food (because the waiter lost our ticket), we had a great time just visiting. We ended up kinda laughing about it later. I guess it's better to laugh it off then getting in a knot about it.

When Patrick showed up at my house to pick me up he came in with a box of candy and a card. I thought that was very sweet and he said, "Now let me go get the other half." Other half?!?!? He went out to the car and came dragging in a four foot teddy bear and two dozen roses! I couldn't stop laughing when I saw the bear. His response: "I knew you liked bears so I though I would get the biggest one I could find. I also had to buckle that thang in the passenger seat to get it here!" Oh well, so much for being cool riding down the road!!! I still thought it was sweet nonetheless.

Of course I have to leave you with one picture of my bears and my baby....George!

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day and many many more. I have lost of picture to update you with so my next post may be a montage of pictures!

Good Morning, Ms. Whitfield

2010-02-16T14:05:00.001-06:00

My morning......

This all happened on Friday morning, February the 5th. I was subbing for a third grade teacher and was looking very forward to it. I get to the third grade classroom that morning and I was looking over the schedule for the day. I saw that the first thing that they were to do was to come in class, unpack, and go use the restroom. So being the conscientious person that I am, I make them go by tables so as to not bombard the bathroom. While I am watching the other students, I hear screaming and hollering from the bathroom and one kid running up to me going, "BRADLEY'S NOSE IS BLEEDING!!!!!!" I am like oh no, a nose bleed. WRONG!!!! I go into the bathroom, push through the CROWD of boys, and see Bradley, bless his sweet little heart, holding his nose and blood absolutely pouring from this face. It was not a stream, mind you...it was a river!!!! So I grab paper towels and hold them to his face and he is screaming, "It hurts, I can't breath, make it stop, it hurts, I'm bleeding, ouch, oh no, I can't breath". During this time of pain and suffering, my mind flashes to the grape lady...OH NO, STOP, I CAN'T BREATH! (It is at this time that I would like for you to pause and click on the link to the "grape lady" so you will know exactly what I am referring to.) So I quickly flash back and about that time he does one big cough...... "A-CSDAJFDKLJGFADLGHJFADGA" and blood is then flung on my sleeve! Do you know me at all????? I automatically start gagging! SO now we have a bleeding child and a gagging teacher. Another teacher is coming into the bathroom as I am walking out and I say that I am taking him to the nurse and in a pitiful voice I say, "but i don't know what to do with the rest of them?!?!" She comforts me and tells me to go on and I know she is thinking that she hopes i don't throw up and as I am trying to make it down the hall with crying child and drippy blood soaked paper towel IN MY HAND (just as a side note, it was running off my hand into the floor, are you getting how bad we are talking here?) i turn the corner to see the principal. I immediately say, "he's bleeding!" which at that moment was the dumbest thing i could have said because after the picture I have painted that was pretty obvious. He says for the little boy to come with him in the bathroom. I am already freaking out so i just follow....WHY?!?!?!? I wash my hand off in the sink and he is holding the boy now and tells me, "Ms. Whitfield.....I think I got it now." I shockingly say..."Oh yeah...right...my bad!" I walk back to the classroom, tell the kids not to say a word, to get their morning work done, and I sit and go WOW....it's only 7:55! Good morning to you!

My Top Ten Wishes

2010-02-05T11:25:00.002-06:00

My friend, Amanda, made a post about her top ten wishes and asked that we do the same. I am taking her up on this and also making a list of my own.

I wish that/to.....

1. be a better Christian. I know that people say this a lot but I truly want to be a better Christian. I want to be an example that someone could look up to and most of all I want to make it to Heaven.

2. be a better friend. I seem to have gotten in the habit of talking about what's going on with me and maybe not being such a great listener. I wish for my friends to know how important they are to me.

3. I knew where I would be five years from now. I know that we are not supposed to worry about tomorrow b/c God takes care of us, but it is very hard not to wonder. Will I be working, single, still in Bagley?

4. be a better guitar player. I am happy with how I have progressed so far but I truly wish to be great on the guitar.

5. get in shape. I am proud of myself for getting some weight off, but I wish to be more determined to exercise and keep myself in shape.

6. get my master's in education. I don't know when I will be able to go back to school but I am determined to reach that goal.

7. be the best teacher I can possible be. I know that I don't have my own classroom yet but when I do I want to be the best!

8. stop having road rage. I am going to have major blood pressure problems if I don't stop getting so mad when I am driving.

9. visit/call/check on people from church more. This may very well fall into the categories of being a better Christian and being a better friend, but to be more specific I wish to be better at this.

10. be content. With all that I have stated above, I wish for contentment. As the apostle Paul so wisely spoke in Philipians, "I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content".

Your turn.....

I Need to Blog

2010-02-02T11:36:00.000-06:00

It seems like it's been forever since I blogged. Everyone keeps asking me what I am doing these days since graduation and my response....NOTHING! That is exactly what I did until January 20th. That was my first day to substitute and it was in a first grade classroom. WOW!!! Can you say totally different from the fourth graders I am used to!? I knew it was going to be a change but didn't know how big of one to expect. Since then I have subbed for Mrs. Mayfield two and half days which was absolutely wonderful. I got to see all the kids from last semester and since it fell on the last Friday of the month we got to watch a movie together. That is the best group of kids and I have missed them tremendously. Other than trying to get my name out there to sub I have not really done much else. I hope that everyone is having a great week and hopefully my next blog will be more entertaining!

Graduation Day!

2010-01-06T16:56:00.004-06:00

I DID IT!!!

I'm sorry it has taken so long to get the pictures from graduation up. It was easier just to upload them to facebook so many of you have probably already seen them.

I graduated on December 12, 2009 from the University of Alabama in Birmingham with a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. I love saying that. It sounds so professional!!!!

That was one of the best days of my life. I have worked so hard and it finally has paid off. I had so many wonderful friends and family that helped me celebrate this day and I am forever indebted to them. It meant the world for me to look up in the audience and see them or for them to come and help me celebrate afterwards. You know who you are and I love you!

There are two slideshows below. One of them is from the actual ceremony and then one is from the get together at Lloyd's.

Thank you again to all of those who made my graduation a very special day. Much love!!!!

Let The Teardrops Fall...

2009-12-11T09:39:00.000-06:00

...in the words of a famous Patsy Cline song, I knew that they would be falling heavy Wednesday. That was officially my last day at Bagley Junior High School. I have had such a wonderful student teaching experience and could not have asked for a better class. Coming into this experience I didn't really know what to expect for myself. I knew what they had taught us in class and what UAB was expecting of us but never in a million year would I have thought that I would have gotten so attached to these kids.

There are three fourth grade teachers at Bagley. Mrs. Mayfield teaches Reading, Mrs. Chandler teaches Language and Spelling, Ms. Blankensopp teaches Math and then at the end of the day every homeroom teacher gets their own class back to teach Science and Social Studies. I started off staying in Mrs. M's room and teaching Reading three times a day and then Science and Social Studies. It was better to start off teaching the same thing three times because I would get more comfortable with the lesson as the day progressed. After several weeks of that schedule, I began to travel with Mrs. Mayfield's homeroom class as they rotated and taught them every subject. It was a tough ride for a while because there was so much work but I enjoyed it more because I got to be with, what I affectionally termed them as, "my" class.

There are 21 students in Mrs. Mayfield's homeroom and I love them each individually. I knew I would have my favorites but this is such a great group of kids that I honestly think they are all my favorite. There is one student in my class named Lance that is one of my faithful blog readers. How he found it...I'll never know, lol! He literally begs my everyday to give him a "shout-out" on my blog. So, as promised, HEY LANCE! (This kid should be one of the students on "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader".) I could not have asked for a better group of students to share the experience of student teaching with and my heart breaks to have to leave them.

I also could not have asked to be placed with a better teacher. Mrs. Mayfield has been incredible. She has helped me in any and every way possible and taught me so much about teaching, how to handle students, how to love students, and how to make teaching fun and meaningful. I got the opportunity to watch her for the first week or so and I mocked myself after her. I know that when I am in my own classroom that I will find my niche and get in my own groove of things but I am lucky to have had the chance to watch a teacher who actually knows what they are doing and does a great job at it.

Here it is, Friday, and I already miss those kids so much. I know that I will get to return and visit them again but it still hurts knowing that I can't see them everyday. I can't wait to see how they grow up! I took a picture of each of them individually and made a Christmas card for them. I am glad that I did because now I have a picture of all of them. I truly am blessed to have gotten the chance to be a part of these kids' lives, and to have them as a part of mine.

Words Aren't Enough

2009-12-01T22:17:00.006-06:00

I see everyone posting updates on Kristy and Brian and as I continue to read I am constantly reminiscing in my head about all the times that I have had the pleasure and the opportunity to spend time with this family. I did not get to visit as much as I would have liked because of school and work. There are many times that Kim would go to Atlanta and beg me to go with her and I couldn't get off work to go. I could kick myself now for not just up and leaving anyway. I have been praying so hard for Kristy and Brian and wishing everyday that I could go see her. The only thing, other than prayer, that has given me comfort are looking at pictures that I have. I don't know that they will bring you comfort like they do me, but I wanted to share them just the same. The last time I visited with Kristy was with Kim in August of 2008. Here are a few pictures from our trip and the last one is a very touching picture of Kristy and Helen I took as we were leaving to come back home. Thank you, Kim, for taking me with you on that trip.

Kristy and Brian, I love you both so very much. I wish I could do more but I feel that I am doing the best thing I can do, and that is pray. I wish I could be by your side at this time. You are constantly on my mind during the day and in my thoughts and prayers when I pillow my head at night. I hope to see you soon. Kristy, I can't wait to see your smiling face. I love you with all my heart.

The Countdown Continues

2009-11-09T20:00:00.001-06:00

So...I now only have 32 left until I am a bonified, certified, dignified..(yeah right)...teacher!!!! It's so close that I can taste it! Student teaching has been hard. I'm not going to lie about that one. I feel that it has been well worth it though. It has had its ups and downs just like anything but I think the hardest part is going to be leaving the kids. I knew that this would happen and that I would get emotional. The kids will ask me from time to time how much longer I have and when I tell them only a few weeks and I see their little faces frown I can't help but tear up. Since I have been in the classroom consistently and gotten a real taste of teaching I know for certain that there is nothing else I would rather be doing. Please pray that I will pass my final portfolio evaluation and it will all be smooth sailing from here.

Athens

2009-10-15T02:52:00.000-05:00

Two weekends ago Mom, Patrick and his folks, and myself all went to Athens to The Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention. We had the best time! For a bluegrass lover there is no way to describe how much fun it was. Everywhere you looked there were people in small groups pickin', people buck dancing, arts and crafts, and food. Patrick competed in the fiddle competition and did an amazing job. He didn't place but he really should have. I have two videos of him playing and I also have two videos of a good friend of ours, Sabrina, playing. Pat's dad, Rick, accompanied Sabrina on the guitar. The only complaint I have is of the second video of Patrick's. I was recording him, sitting out there just as proud as could be, when this young girl walked by me...TWICE, and an old lady asked me to scoot down. Seriously?!?!?! Could that old coot not have waited two seconds for him to finish up? So you can still hear how great he was but the video kinda stinks. Sorry Pat! Anyway, I hope you enjoy pictures and videos from our trip!

"Westphalia Waltz"

"Cattle in the Cane"

"I Don't Love Nobody"

"40 Year Ago Waltz"

Just a Note

2009-10-01T23:15:00.000-05:00

Well, here it is a month later and I said I was going to blog more. So much for that goal. I have been so busy with Student Teaching I havne't had much time to do anything. I just wanted to give everyone an update and let you know that the ST is going great. I'm loving it so much more than I thought I would. We are leaving this weekend to go to Athens for the Fiddler's Convention. Patrick is competing in the fiddlers competition and i am "supposed" to be singing in the band competition with the Kilgores. Let's see if I don't back out. I will update and let everyone know how it goes. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!!!

This Past Month

2009-08-31T19:26:00.000-05:00

I don't know where to start! First of all, I am so sorry that it has been so long since I have updated my blog. It's a low-down shame...lol! I do want to let all of my blogging buddies know that I have tried my best to keep up with your blogs so if you haven't seen any comments from me in a few weeks it's not because I haven't been following you it's just that I have been hurriedly reading and then moving to the next blog. This past month has been crazy. I will try to update in one paragraph, leave you with a new video, and call it a night!

All of you already know about the Bahamas trip and/or have seen pictures that Kim has posted. We did have a great time and loved the time I got to spend with my friends. My last day working for Mrs. Z at UAB was August the 7th and I hated so bad to leave. She was the best boss ever and I absolutely loved my time working there. It's hard to believe that I worked there a whole year because it FLEW by. I miss Mrs. Z already but we have stayed in touch and will continue to. I have made a great friend and mentor while working there and I appreciate everything she did and continues to do for me. I started student teaching August the 25th at Bagley in the fourth grade. It is going very well so far and I will pick up one hour of teaching next week so I am excited and nervous about that.

I think that pretty much covers everything I have done this past month other than pick up some hours at the drug store. I want to leave you with a video. I have been practicing literally everyday on the guitar. I love getting together with the Kilgore's and playing and I thought that y'all might enjoy a taste of what we do. This song is called "Take Me Back" by Daily and Vincent. Excellent band and I highly recommend them to any bluegrass fan! Hope you enjoy and hopefully I will be able to comment like a good little blogger and post again more frequently. Hope everyone has a great week!

Has It Been That Long?

2009-07-04T15:01:00.000-05:00

Wow! I didn't realize it had been 13 years since my last post. I have been so super buys with work and school that I didn't even realize I hasn't posted. Lame excuse, I know! So, what's been going on with me?!??!? EVERYTHING! I am actually supposed to be doing homework as I type but I, well I, I'm just...ok I'm being lazy! I have gotten extremely good at procrastinating! Procrastinators Unite...Tomorrow!

I know I don't have to tell you because if you click on my page you can see it but I just wanted to remind everyone that I will graduate in ONE HUNDRED SIXTY DAYS, TWENTY-ONE HOURS, FIFTY-FOUR MINUTES, AND 54 SECONDS, 53, 52, 51, 50, 49.......! I am so pumped that it is getting so close. All I have been doing lately is working towards that goal. I am taking summer classes and they are killing me. It's a lot of work crammed into a little slot of time.

I am also still working but not for long. That's right, as of sometime mid-August I will not have a job at UAB anymore. It makes me very sad to even think about it. It was my decision to step aside and let Mrs. Z hire someone who could be there for her more than I can this fall. With student teaching coming up I just can't assure her when and for how long I will be able to work. After a lot of talking, praying, crying, and thinking I have decided to step down from my position there. I love my boss and will miss her dearly. Her exact words, "I best be gettin' a graduation invitation!" As for my other job, that is still up in the air. I am still debating on whether to quit there completely or hang on to my Saturday job. I have two options: I will have some extra cash flowing in but I will be exhausted to the point of illness, or sit at home every weekend and have plenty of time to do homework and think up new strategies to beat my family at Scrabble. Please keep me in your prayers that I will make the right decision, however hard it might be.

The only other thing that I have been doing is playing my guitar, I mean Kim's guitar, some. I have gotten to where I can play pretty much everything that I sing with a few pointers from Rick Kilgore. I can keep rhythm fairly well but I take to long switching chords. I am still trying though and when I am not homeworking it up I am playing. So this is what has been going on with me lately and why I have been MIA for a while. I hope everyone has a great 4th of July and eats lots and lots of ribs. In the words of Sipsey from Fried Green Tomatoes, "The secrets in the sauce!" Happy 4th!

P.S. - I'm leaving for camp tomorrow.. A WOO HOO!!!! Heather and I are in a cabin again so I may have some really funny stories in my next post!

Takin' It To Heart

2009-06-17T14:50:00.000-05:00

"I'd Rather Have Nothing" by Garth Brooks

I'd rather have nothing
Than a whole lot of something
That don't fit the life that I lead
Material things and all that wealth brings
Just must be for some other breed
'Cause life ain't about the worries and doubts
That comes with the lust and the greed
And I'd rather have nothing
Than a whole lot of something I don't need

One Year Ago Today....

2009-06-01T22:16:00.001-05:00

...I broke off my engagement with Todd. I can't believe that it has already been a year. In some ways it seems like several years and then in some ways it still seems so fresh on my mind. I guess that's the way time is though. I can look at my life now and see how I have matured from everything I went through with him. I can see how much more cautious I am with people I date, or potentially want to date. I know everyone has hurt in their lives and I am not trying to make mine sound like it is worse than anyone else's. I thank God so much that I found out what I did before it was too late and that I didn't end up in a marriage that could have caused my soul to end up in hell for eternity. God truly has blessed me! Now, I may blog another post tomorrow mourning my ring. You see...even though we broke up on June 1, 2008, I didn't give the ring back until June 2nd. It's ok to be sad about that though right???? All joking aside, I just happen to realize what today was and a lot of memories came flooding back, good and bad. One day I hope to find the man I am meant to be with, but until I do.....I guess I'll just wait, lol!

The Results Are In And....

2009-05-27T15:40:00.000-05:00

I PASSED THE PRAXIS!!!!!!!!!!!!

About LB

2009-05-25T23:42:00.000-05:00

My work: I have two jobs. I work at David's Discount Pharmacy and Gift Shop in Sumiton and also at UAB as an assistant to one of the professors in the education department. I love my boss, Mrs. Z. Her name is actually Mrs. Zimmerman-Brown but that is so much to say so I just started calling her Mrs. Z. She doesn't seem to mind!!!!

My passion: Music! I know that many of you already know that. I feel like I eat, sleep, and breathe what new song I am going to learn or perfecting an older song. Just love playing around with music.

What keeps me awake at night: Watching "I LOVE LUCY"! I start watching and I think, "ok...last episode!"

The most important thing I ever lost: My Dad, although I know I haven't lost him and that I will see him again someday.

My blogs: www.elbyone.blogspot.com, www.elbyandherdulcimer.blogspot.com, www.elbyandherfiddle.blogspot.com. This reminds me that I haven't updated anything on the latter two in a LONG time!

I'm thinking about: Wishing my knee would get better and that in one week my summer semester starts back. LAST CLASSES THO!!! WOO HOO!

I'd like to learn to: Play the fiddle, mandolin, dobro, and banjo. In that order actually. I think I just want to be a well-rounded bluegrass musician.

My grandma always said: Are you warm enough? Did you eat enough? I love you, hear! I miss my Maw-Maw. She was the sweetest!

My first job: David's. As of August the 4th I will have been there a total of SEVEN years. That blows my mind!

At the end of a long day, the first thing I want to do is: Sit in my chair at home. It used to be designated as my dad's and now I have staked claim on it. I find comfort sitting in it.

I wish: To be the best Christian, daughter, sister, sister-in-law, niece, aunt, friend, teacher, employee, (wife and mom someday) I can be.

Thanks Rachel for the start! Now it's your turn....

Sonic Giveaway!

2009-05-20T17:52:00.001-05:00

So I am sure that there will be lots of folks start to post this same thing but since I am posting this it is giving me a chance to win a Sonic Gift Card. A WOO HOO!!!! Click HERE for a chance to sign up and win. Hope you win....well, I hope I win but you know what I mean!!!!

Scholastic Book Fair

2009-05-18T23:18:00.000-05:00

I was going to go in to work today but I helped Mom with her Chamber Banquet programs at the drug store today and it was so late that I just decided to take a lazy day. I have to work at UAB Tuesday and Wednesday and then the drug store Thursday, Friday, and Saturday so I think I deserved one day of rest this week. I completely forgot that this was the last week of the Scholastic Book Fair at the local Scholastic Warehouse so I rushed on over and spent WAY to much money. I ended up coming out of there with some great new books for my personal library but I ended up spending....drum roll please.....$220! I know, I know. That is ridiculous! It was like Christmas in that store and I went crazy finding all kinds of neat stuff. I hope one day my kiddos in class will enjoy the library I am trying to build.

GO GO GOKEY!

2009-05-14T11:58:00.000-05:00

Well, for me it's over! Danny Gokey got sent home on American Idol last night. I cried like a baby! This guy just has such an awesome story and I think that he deserves it out of these three guys. I will still watch it next week but I will most definitely be pulling for Kris Allen. There is no way that I think our next American Idol needs to be Adam Lambert. His lifestyle alone should disqualify him from being an "idol". I know this is a singing competition, but honestly, I can't stand to hear Adam YELL! When he sings softer stuff he has got a pretty good voice but he just bellers most of the time. My vote will definitely go to Kris next week and I hope that Danny does good from here on out. That guy has got one AMAZING voice!
GO GO GOKEY....!!!!!!

So Much...

2009-05-12T19:07:00.000-05:00

There is so much to catch up on but I have no idea where to start. I want to tell you about the past couple of times that I have gone to Tannehill and how wonderful it has been, I also want to tell you about school, and then lastly a conversation that me and HP had. I have a lot of pictures and a few new videos but they will have to wait until next time. There are some from Mother's Day but you will have to check back on Kim's blog to see those! So hold on tight, it's going to be a wild ride!

-Tannehill : The past two times that we have gone to Tannehill, the Kilgore's and myself have put on at least an hour's worth of a show. When we have gone we just had intentions of pickin' a little and then listening to other people. We never dreamed that they would ask us to put on a whole show! Now, I have gotten on stage a sung maybe two or three songs at a time, but NEVER sang like ten to twelve songs. We have had a great time every time we have been and I appreciate all the support that I have from family and friends. Mom and Murray are always done there rooting me on but this past time we have gone Don, Sandra, Mark, and Shana came. That meant so much to me for them to come all the way out there and see me sing! Thank you guys again, it was very special for me to look out there and see your smiling faces cheering me on! I know that some of you may not know a lot of the songs that we have been working on but we have a great line-up that we have been practicing. I am going to list some of the songs that we do and if you are interested in hearing them just click on the name of the song and it will take you to a link on youtube and you can hear the full song. These are also the songs that we have performed down at T-hill. Some of them are a work in progress and we have not done these all in one show, some have been split over the course of both shows we have done. My personal favorite is Kentucky Borderline but Blue Kentucky Girl has lots of senitmental value b/c Mom used to sing it on that very same stage! Hope you learn a new song!
Few Old Memories, Kentucky Borderline, Baby, Midnight Angel, You Win Again, Last Love Letter, Jolene, Tulsa Time, Walkin' After Midnight, Satin Sheets, Cash on the Barrelhead, Your Cheatin' Heart, Pick Me Up on Your Way Down, Old Slew Foot, Who's Cryin' Baby, Broadway, There Is a Reason, Blue Kentucky Girl.
P.S. - If any of these don't play please let me know so I can update it! :) I couldn't find a video for "Who's Cryin' Baby" by Rhonda Vincent.

-School : Grades are in!!!! I took five classes this semester and made 3 B's and 1 A. This adds up to only four classes I know. One class has an "N" beside it meaning "not submitted". Our entire class is pretty mad about it b/c the teacher was late turning in grades. I am pretty sure that is a B also but when it finally comes through I'll letcha know! I had a HUGE state test called the PRAXIS II on April 25th. You talkin' about nervous...WHOO WEE! I won't get the result back for a month and I am pretty scared about whether I passed it or not. It was like the SAT on steroids. I am sitting on pins and needles waiting on that baby to come through. I'll update yall on that one too when I receive it. You'll know everything is fine when the title of the post is CHA-CHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Hailey : Let me start by saying how much I love this kid! I can't believe that she is graduating from Kindergarten in 2 days! Where has the time gone? Anyway, I always love it when she comes to spend the night with us and she always seems to give us a great laugh. Let me share a conversation that we had on the ride from her house to ours.
HP: I am NOT believing that!
Me: WHAT?
HP: Those boys were NAKED!
Me: WHAT?
HP: Those two boys were standing out in their yard with their shirts off!!!!
Me: OH, well baby, sometimes people do that out in their yard. It doesn't make it right but yeah know...
HP: Don't those people know that there are kids in this town and that they don't need to be seein' that!
ME: (snickering) No sweetie, some people just don't think!

(I'm so proud of that little modest booger! Shows that she is being raised right.)

My Addictions

2009-04-26T19:35:00.000-05:00

So I have been inspired by my other blogger buddies, Teale and Amanda, to seriously think about things that I am addicted too. I think these are things that sometimes I may not even think about but that I am just so used to doing that I...well...just do it.

Facebook - Need I say more! It's the first thing I do when I get to work. Shhhhhh!!! Don't tattle on me!

Pandora - Seriously, I can't work anymore with my favorite stations being on. I have always wished that there was a bluegrass station here in B'ham but we are in the south...what was I thinking??? For those of you who don't know, Pandora.com is a website where you can create your own station. You can enter an artist or song you like and it will pull up that particular thing and then songs or artists that are similar. AWESOMENESS! I have learned so many new bluegrass artists and bands that I didn't know which have in turn made me buy new cd's!

Starbucks - HELLO WHITE CHOCOLATE MOCHA W/ EXTRA MOCHA!!!! The best part is that they just put a new SB right beside the School of Education. I was driving out of the way home just to swing by one. Not anymore! SCORE!

Blogger - I am always finding things that I want to blog about or looking forward to reading my friends' blogs.

Texting - I have my cell phone glued to me for this very reason. I may not be able to answer when you call but you can bet your bottom dollar I'll text you. I think this is a disease.

Sweet Tea - LOVE IT!

Music/Singing - I can't think without music going. Mom gets so aggrevated at me b/c we will be in the van and I'll be talking to her and then as soon as she starts to respond I break out in song. I am still listening to her but I can't help it. It's in the blood, Mama!

YouTube - I constantly search this thing. If someone says, "Have you seen that new commmercial where the guy is pickin' his nose?!?!?!" or other things to that effect, I will say no but I will shortly. I will then promptly go to youtube.com and type in guy pickin' his nose commercial and BOOM! I love this website.

Rick and Bubba - Can't start my morning without these guys. I learn more from them that I think I do at school. I don't like when they get on their religious discussions and tend to turn the channel at that time but other than that I LOVE THEM!

These are some of mine. Now go make a new post and tell us all about yours!

The Proof Is In the....Tail-Sucking????

2009-04-22T14:12:00.000-05:00

For any of you who have ever wondered...."Does George really suck his tail?" HERE IS YOUR ANSWER!!!!!!!!

As I was doing homework last night, George was determined that he was going to get in my lap. Therefore, I ended up doing homework with a tail-sucking cat in my lap. As you can see he is a big cat and there isn't much room to scoot up to the computer with him in the way. I ended up arms extended as far as they could go trying to type. But, hey, what you won't do for your cat!!!

New Pictures!

2009-04-20T21:30:00.000-05:00

Controversial???

2009-04-18T13:44:00.000-05:00

So this past weekend while all of the church folks were in Nashville, Mom and I kept Blake all weekend. We couldn't have had a better time!!! I don't get to spend alot of one-on-one time with Blake so I decided to take some pictures of me and him. Here is the controversy. I took a picture of me and him giving each other sugar and of course I thought it was the cutest thing ever. I got a picture of him giving me a kiss, me giving him a kiss, and then one of us nuzzling noses, ya know, all the ooie gooey aunt stuff. I used the picture of us giving each other sugar as my facebook profile pic. I was super proud of it and thought "look how cute at me and my lil' buddy". I got a couple of comments saying how cute, or that's sweet, but then I got one that kinda made me feel strange. Someone, who will remain nameless, commented that while they loved me and all that my profile picture was freaky....??? How is that freaky? Some of you may have seen the comment before I deleted it but either way I changed my picture thinking well, I actually didn't see it that way but ok I'll change it. I guess my beef is why would that offend anyone? I mean, is that what our world has come to, that a picture of an aunt kissing her nephew would make someone feel freaky? It's not like this person didn't know who the kid was and that I was kissing some random person's kid. I don't know, maybe I am taking it wrong and being over-sensitive. I just thought it must have really bothered this person for them to have posted a comment like that on my facebook wall. Anyway, I am a proud aunt of Blake and Hailey and by George if I want to kiss them I will.

And While They Were Gone To Nashville....

2009-04-12T20:24:00.000-05:00

LB Singing

2009-04-06T20:47:00.000-05:00

Here are two videos from Sunday night when the Kilgore's came over and picked some. A couple of you had said yall wanted to see me singing something so here ya are. I would like to thank my fans to which none of this would be possible, also to my band, the awesome pickers that they are, and to my videographer Kim, you rock and roll all night long, sweet suzy! (inside joke)! All kidding aside, here is some music:

Don Williams "Tulsa Time" (just a snip-it)

Dolly Parton "Few Old Memories"

Wickedly Awesome!

2009-04-06T14:18:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday several people from church went to go see the broadway musical "Wicked"! I honestly can't say enough good things about this production. It was unbelievable! I have been wanting to see it for some time now. I don't have any pictures b/c you can't take cameras in but I did try to youtube some of the performance but found little to nothing. Apparently they are VERY strict on recording also...imagine that! I did find this clip, however. This is the trailor for the production. Maybe this will give you a sense about how amazing it was. Listen to what the director and other people say. They help explain the premise of the entire show. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything!

Pickin' and Grinin'

2009-04-01T23:29:00.000-05:00

Long time no post! Just like everyone else there have been boo-koos of things going on in my life right now and I can't seem to ever find the time to blog anymore. I gave up on the idea of the Idol Review. First of all no one read it and second of all, no one read it. So I decided to scratch that and just catch yall up on the music in my life. Within the past month and a half or so we have made friends with the Kilgore family from down close to Parrish. We met them through a mutual friend of Mom's named Brewer Gant. Brewer knew that I loved to sing and wanted to learn to play the fiddle and so he introduced us to the Kilgores who just happened to be super duper talented musicians. The dad's name is Ricky and he can play just about any instrument you can think of. I think he is just a wonderful man and I love to hear him saw on the fiddle. The son's name is Patrick and he has been in several fiddle competitions and won many times. The mom's name is Pam and she plays the upright bass. Now that you have been introduced to that family, let me add that they are members of the church! I was so excited to learn that they were Christians! So we have been getting together with them quiet about to pick and mom has even been getting her electric bass out to play some. We thought that we had progressed enough that we even went down to Tannehill last Saturday night and put on an entire show. I ended up singing about 9 or 10 songs!!! We have had the best time with them. Ricky also hooked me up with this fella that has a ton of fiddles and he gave me one. So now I have a new fiddle and an amazing fiddle teacher. The fiddle that I got from him was played in the Alabama Symphony Orchestra so it is a very nice one. I am so proud to own it. Before I jump right into the fiddle playing, Ricky thought that I needed to learn to play the guitar first. Therefore, I have been playing guitar! I picked up on how to make the chords pretty easily but I am having a difficult time with timing. Timing is everything you know..lol! I will get better one of these days and let yall hear it. The videos I am posting on here are from Monday night when the Kilgores came over. We had a jam session right there in the living room. Mom even called my uncle, Wood, and he walked over and listened. I got to sing and practice some new songs but I actually just videoed the guys playing. Hope you enjoy these incredible musicians!

Ricky playing "Orange Blossom Special":

These other two are both of Patrick sawing on the fiddle:

Idol Review-Wk2/Top11

2009-03-18T16:38:00.000-05:00

I have about three posts going on in my head right now but first and foremost I'm going to complete my idol review. So last night was Country Week which may be no surprise to any of you that this is my absolutely favorite week. I honestly teared up when they started doing the history and showed the Grand Ole Opry and the legends of country music. This type of music runs so deep in my veins and holds such a special place in my heart. Might sounds crazy to be so passionate about music but I dwell on what new songs can I learn to sing and try to learn to play. These people are out there living my dream and I couldn't help but tear up several times throughout the two hours. So I could go on and on about this but let's jump into the review!

AMERICAN IDOL WEEK 2/TOP 11 Theme:
Grand Ole Opry/Country Music Week

Michael Sarver singing "Ain't Going Down 'Til the Sun Comes Up" - Michael did okay this week. I was hoping that since he was the country singer of the group that he would shine this week. Needless to say, he didn't. He's not my favorite but was still like to see him around a few more weeks to see what he brings to the table.
Allison Iraheta singing "Blame It On Your Heart" - Well, at least she didn't beller this song like she usually does. She did okay for her not to be used to singing country music. I sure hope Patty Loveless wasn't watching though.
Kris Allen singing "To Make You Feel My Love" - Not only is this guy cute as a button, he has some amazing pipes. I was surprised at how well he sounded on this song. I like the fact that he was singing without his guitar so it showed a more intimate side of him. Overall, very good performance.
Lil' Rounds singing "Independence Day" - Pretty much this girl could sing the newspaper and I would listen. She was lacking a little because she isn't used to this genre of music, but she still rocked the house. Randy and Simon criticized her song choice but I agree with Kara that she stood for what song she picked and it meant something to her. Kinda one of the main points of singing....right?
Adam Lambert singing "Ring of Fire" - What in the world was this?!?!?!?! Everyone is raving over this guy but I can't seem to see why. If he wouldn't scream when he sings then he has a pretty good voice, but everything about his creeps me out. Mom said, and I quote, "I feel like I'm watching Satan as he's trying to lure people in his door!" I laughed uncontrollably! Adam does have nice pipes, if only he wouldn't scream and dress like an emo.
Scott MacIntyre singing "Wild Angels" - Not the song I would have picked for him and definitely not his genre of music. He did mediocre, but the way he sings everything so passionately makes you like him. Not a great vocalist, but gives you hope for people with disabilities.
Alexis Grace singing "Jolene" - NO WAY! Completely butchered the great Dolly Parton's song. I would have been utterly embarrassed to sing that song on live television. She did not have her game on at all and the arrangement...AWFUL!
Danny Gokey singing "Jesus, Take the Wheel" - Once again, a crowd pleaser. Danny has amazing vocals and sang that song with such confidence and passion. If he doesn't win I predict that he will at least be in the top three. By far my favorite of the night.
Anoop Desai singing "Always On My Mind" - Anoop almost ties with Danny in my book. I was so worried about what he was going to sing. Even when they announced the song I was cringing! He turned out a KNOCKOUT performance. Simon even took back what he said last week about him not deserving to be in the competition. I really really like Anoop.
Megan Corkrey singing "Walking After Midnight" - This girl messed my song up! I said to Mom about 50 times last night, "I wonder if anyone will attempt a Patsy Cline song..." Well there ya are! Megan has the flu but even if she didn't have she messed up a classic. I sing this song a lot at Tannehill and I was a little protective of it. Not my favorite Megan performance at all.
Matt Giraud singing "So Small" - Wonderful job! Matt played the piano again during this performance but he did amazing playing and singing. All the judges like it and I think I remember Simon predicting he would make it very far in the competition. Good compliment from him!

My only critique that goes to most of the guys is this: Why did the guys keep choosing girl's songs. Two guys sung Carrie Underwood and one sang Martina McBride. All the ones that chose them did good, but it was a little strange. Tune in next week to see what happens with the top 10!

***Side note - I started this post earlier today only to finish it after church. I watched the result show and Alexis Grace was eliminated. Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, and Randy Travis all had amazing performances.

Swap Items

2009-03-11T21:04:00.000-05:00

I was so excited when I received my swap items and I saw that they were from Laura. I have met Laura several times and I knew how crafty she was and I immediately became giddy! Laura sent me a book which I can't wait to read. I have been having to read a lot for school and it may take me a while to get to it but I can't wait none the less. I also received a flower pin. I remember seeing these and thinking how cute they were and now I have one...YAY! I already have a purse picked out to pin it on. Thank you Laura so much for being so thoughtful and sending me some great things!

***Side note - for some reason I thought this was a secret kind of thing so I didn't tell my "swapee" who I was. I just signed the bottom of the letter I wrote her with a ???????. Whoops! So, Rachel Garrison, I was your swaper. Just wanted to let you know and sorry for making you wonder, or my gifts may have given me away! :)

Don't forget to check out the idol review below...

Idol Review-Wk1/Top13

2009-03-10T23:52:00.000-05:00

So I am going to start something here. I have decided since American Idol is now in the top 13 and this is one of my FAVORITE shows, that I will do a review of the show every week. This will be a way for those of you who are unable to watch it to catch up and also to give my own personal critiques. Of course I will be looking for comments from the audience....that would be you! So here we go:

AMERICAN IDOL WEEK 1/TOP 13
Theme: Michael Jackson Songs

Lil' Rounds singing "The Way You Make Me Feel" - PROPS TO LIL'! I am absolutely loving this girl. From the first time I saw her audition I liked her. This girl is a powerhouse! I felt that she would end up going far and I still do. Of course the only one who wasn't raving over her performance was Simon who said it was "just okay". I completely disagree with Simon and say Lil' is here to stay!
Scott MacIntyre singing "Keep the Faith" - Eh....Let me start by saying that I really like this guy. Every time I see him sing it's hard not to tear up but it's only for the fact that I sympathize with him and I am proud to see how far he has come. With that being said, he's not a great singer. He can tear up the piano now, but as far as vocals go he is lacking. I think he will stay because people with sympathize with him, but I will be surprised if he stays within the next 2 weeks.
Danny Gokey singing "PYT (Pretty Young Thing) - WOW! Without a doubt my top choice as of yet. This guy has never failed to put on a steller performance and I give him my vote a thousand times over. Every judge bragged on him, even Simon. I look forward to seeing him in the finals.
Michael Sarver singing "You Are Not Alone" - this fella is mediocre in my book. He has a good voice but his personality kills it for him. He tries to act humble but I don't think that is a genuine thing. I think he is playing up the "oil-rigging" thing to get the blue-collar workers voting for him. His performance wasn't top-notch but I wouldn't vote him out just yet. He may be able to crank it up for a better performance next week. His Hollywood performances outshone tonight's.
Jasmine Murray singing "I'll Be There" - I really really want this girl to do great but she is just not bringing it to the table. The performance was very safe and then the all-to-familiar long last note saved her performance. I know she's got it in her to belt it out but it's like she is bottling it up. She did way better in Hollywood and I fear that this week she may be in trouble.
Kris Allen singing "Remember the Time" - don't you just want to put this little guy in your pocket! He is cute as a button and can sing to boot! Tonight's performance was not his best and I have to agree with Simon that it wasn't a song that he should have brought his guitar out with. It really was clumsy looking and all over the place but I have seen this guy sing his heart out. I would definitely give him another week to see if he improves more.
Allison Iraheta singing "Give Into Me" - Does this girl look like Meagan Tavel to anyone else?!?!?! Just wondering. Allison does alright but I feel that a lot of her singing is actually just singing. I haven't completely made up my mind on her yet. The judges seem to really dig her though.
Anoop Desai singing "Beat It" - Anoop, Anoop, Anoop! Oh me, this was not a great choice my man. I really like Anoop and I pretty much like whatever he does; however, this performance was definitely not his best. It didn't give him a chance to shine. (I'm not really sure ANY Michael Jackson song can give you a chance to shine...) I don't think he did quite as bad as the judges made it out to be but I definitely hope he holds on for a few more weeks.
Jorge Nunez singing "Never Can Say Goodbye" - Bless his heart. It's time for this poor fella to go back to Puerto Rico. He has an ok voice, with an okay look, and an okay personality. So okay...let's send him home. He seems like he would be a stand-up kind of guy but not someone I see going any further in the competition.
Megan Corkrey singing "Rockin' Robin" - What in the world is this girl thinking?!?!? This is the kind of song you may sing in the shower or if your listening to an oldies station with your grandmother but not for an AMERICAN IDOL performance. Btw, whatever she is doing with her arms while she is singing really freaks me out. It's kind of like her arms are way to long and she's not sure what to do with them so she just flops them about. She has a very unique voice but I haven't heard anything I'm utterly impressed with.
Adam Lambert singing "Black or White" - What a confusing character?! In a way he has a look about him that reminds me of Elvis. Before you freak, take another look at him. This guy has some amazing vocals and he is definitely a good performer but he is not my cup of tea. He "bellers" a little to much for me. I think he will go very far in this compitition though. Lots of people like him and the judges are crazy over him.
Matt Giraud singing "Human Nature" - Very boring. I was surprised at him because during Hollywood week when he sung "Georgia" I was blown away. I don't know where those vocals and personality has gone but he needs to bring them back pronto. This performance was lacking in a little bit of everything.
Alexis Grace singing "Dirty Diana" - I just can't make myself like this chick. She started off during auditions as this sweet little homemaking mommy and has turned into someone you might find on fifth avenue. Her look is COMPLETELY different. The way she twitches around and moves when she sings really looks very sexual and inappropriate. I would not mind if she went home tonight but don't see that happening just yet.

So there you are. American Idol's top 13. My personal favorite, as you can see from my side border, is DANNY GOKEY! Hope you enjoyed my personal critiques and look forward to hearing you like.

What?! This Is What Friends Do!

2009-03-09T00:23:00.001-05:00

My Friday

2009-03-06T21:44:00.000-06:00

Well today has been a very eventful day. I got up early this morning to see Kim come and pick HP up, (yes, she spent the night again), and then I went back to sleep for about thirty minutes only to get back up and get ready for school. I was in class from 10:00 to around 11:45 although the class is supposed to meet until 12:20. Then I headed over and ate lunch with my good friend Amelia, who I used to be office-mates with and I miss DEARLY! After lunch I came back to my office at UAB, which was around 12:45 or 1:00ish, and then I worked until 6:00. Whew! Then I came on home, ate supper, and started on my Amish Friendship Bread that my great friend Jennifer gave me. I have been petting and doctoring this thing for NINE days now and I was most definitely ready to get her cooking to see how my hard work at "mashing the bag" turned out. I took some pictures of the cooking process because in all honesty this was my first time in the kitchen completely by myself. This is also the first and only thing I have ever made from scratch, considering I have never made anything but a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Anyway, the slideshow below is pictures of the cooking, acting like I'm licking, and the finished product. I also heard from my good friend Matt Leadbetter tonight. I haven't talked to him in months. He is killer on the dobro!!! It is always great to catch up with old friends.

Exhaustion!

2009-03-03T23:52:00.000-06:00

Hailey Paige came to spend the night with Mom and I tonight and bless her heart I could tell she was tired when I got home from school. Mom went to pick her up and then came on home so she was already sitting on the couch bundled up watching American Idol when I walked in the door. We snuggled up for a little while and I got some much needed Hailey lovin', then we ate supper and just sat around relaxing watching our favorite Tuesday night tradition, AI. There were only about 4 people left to sing and I noticed HP getting up and crawling in Mom's lap. It wasn't 10 seconds later that I look over and this is exactly how I found her...PASSED OUT! That girl was out of it! She was so tired I don't think she even realized her head was cocking back that far. I started laughing so hard and the picture really doesn't do justice to how funny it really was. Anyway, I picked her up and carried her to bed only for her to come to about the time I laid her down and here come the tears..."I WANTED TO WATCH ANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M NOT TIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!" So we have to get her back up, go put in a DVD of Andy Griffith (b/c the 10:00 episode had not come on yet), and let the poor little one snuggle up once more before hitting the hay. I love that HP loves to come to our house and spend time with us. She truly brightens my life more than I could have ever imagined.

Our House During Snow 3/1/09

2009-03-01T20:26:00.000-06:00

Starting Over Again

2009-02-19T19:39:00.000-06:00

Well, I don't know how else to say this other than just to say it. I am single again. Dwayne and I ended things tonight on a mutual note. There was no fighting or sour words or anything. It was actually the best break-up I have ever been through, if you can say you've had a best break-up. We dated for a little over four months which is the longest I've seen anyone since Todd. I know that this is definitely the best thing for me but emotions are still running high and I am very sensitive right now. I guess the song sums it up pretty well, "Breaking-up is hard to do".

Valentine's Day Update

2009-02-15T22:07:00.000-06:00

Valentine's Day was great this year. I didn't have to work at the drug store, which I was ecstatic about! Around 11:30 this lady called my cell phone to make sure that someone would be at my house to receive a delivery. I knew what this meant! I had to take our garbage to the dump before they closed at 12:00 so I missed the actually delivery but when I got home this is what I saw!

I was so surprised that Dwayne remembered that my favorite flower was a lily! Every time you walk into the front door it smells heavenly. Some of the lilies haven't bloomed yet and I'm eager to see their pretty colors also. Not long after I got home from the dump (lol) I got a present from my best little sweetheart! Kim, Hailey, and Blake pulled up at our house with a Valentine's present for me and Mom. Hailey ran in the house saying, "close you eyes Gran-Nana!!!!" The pictures below is the Valentine that Hailey picked out for me. I have the most thoughtful family ever!

After getting all kinds of goodies that morning, I got ready and went and met Dwayne for dinner and movie. We had a great time and enjoyed spending the day together. I'm pretty sure he enjoyed his Lindor truffles I gave him and maybe I helped him enjoy one or two myself. I hope that everyone else had a great Valentine's day also and can't wait to read what all kinds of goodies you girls got!

Ladie's Retreat VIDEOS!

2009-02-09T23:00:00.000-06:00

***WARNING*** There are 13 videos below. These are videos of each one of our ladies, or at least most of our ladies, on the Ladies Retreat trying to do "Tongue Twisters". I mentioned these in my previous post about our retreat and that Regina brought some handouts that had tongue twisters on them. After watching Granny, Martha Wiley, try the first one and everyone laughing so hard I had to get my camera and record it. I know there are a lot of videos but most of them are only like 30 seconds long. Hope you enjoy seeing what we do when we get away for the weekend!!!!

New Blog

2009-02-08T23:14:00.000-06:00

I love my new blog! Tonight is it's first night at it's home and I am soooo happy with it. My cousin, Teale, completely hooked me up! I hope that you will all go and check her out at Teale's Digi-Designs. She does AWESOME work at very reasonable prices. Thanks again Teale! If I will ever go and update my dulcimer and fiddle blog maybe I can get you to fix me up there too!

Ladies Retreat

2009-02-06T21:50:00.000-06:00

He had a BLAST! Here are some pictures of us playing games and enjoying each other's company. Regina Hunt brought these handouts (that you see everyone reading from) that were tongue twisters. It was hilarious to watch everyone try to say some of those things. I took several videos and am trying to upload some of them now, just wanted to go ahead and get the pics up. We had a great time, as usual, and can't wait to go again next year and enjoy time with my fellow Christian sisters.

Happy B'day HP

2009-02-05T16:13:00.000-06:00

Today is my precious little niece's, Hailey Paige, 6th birthday. I can't believe how big that sweet little girl is getting. I don't want to take away from Kim blogging about it b/c I know she will but I just wanted to let her know that her Aunt Lori loves her more than anything and will always be there for her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my ALL TIME BEST GOOD BUDDY!

B'day Gathering at Kim's

2009-01-27T21:26:00.000-06:00

The Friday after my birthday Kim invited Jennifer and myself over to watch a movie and eat "healthy" pizza. Come to find out one slice of that "healthy" thang costs me 8 points. EIGHT POINTS A POP! It was awesome none the less. I hated that Heather didn't get to make it but she had to stay home with her eleventy billion babies while Dusty went on a boy's retreat with Jake. We missed you girl! We ended up not watching a movie but did manage to make it to Wal-Mart. What would a night be without a run to Wally World. Anyway, if you have read Jen's blog you already know all this. Just wanted to put some pics up to show my wonderful friends and tell them how thankful I am that they are a part of my life. Kim, Jennifer, and Heather: I love you girls more than you know and appreciate all you do for me and what a great Christian example you all set for me each and every day. I see the wonderful example's that yall set for being great wives and mothers and I only hope to follow in your footsteps. Thank yall again for EVERYTHING!

Blue Light Special

2009-01-26T11:34:00.000-06:00

SOOOOOOOOO..........I'm on my way to school this morning, not really running THAT late but just my usual 10-15 minutes. (Side note: you will all be proud to know that this semester I have not been late to a class yet and I have arrived with make-up on and hair done every time. AND these are 8 o'clock classes people!!!!) Anyway, I am passing the well-known "boobie trap" and coming back up that hill when I see a cop flashing his lights behind me. I am in the left lane and I know that I have to get over but I coming up on a bridge. I am crossing the bridge, slowing down, and the cop then turns the siren on. HOLY COW! I am trying my best here! So I have my head hung in shame as I see him get out of the car and I go ahead and roll down my driver's side window. I wait....but no cop. I don't see him in my side mirror anymore so I do that whole basically sticking my head out the window thing when I hear a key tapping on the passenger side window. I turn and for some reason it scared me and I litterally jumped. Now he really thinks I am hiding something or up to no good! He asks to see my license and insurance info and as I am getting everything out the water works start. Mind you I was trying very hard not to be one of "those", but I couldn't make it stop. It's kinda like when you are in school and the teacher asks you to come to the front to speak to her. I was never able to calm myself down and stop crying. I always had like a nervous breakdown. Anyway, that's what I felt like. So he proceeds to ask where I was going and was I headed to work. I said sheepishly, "no sir, I'm on my way to sc-sc-sc-school". He said, well I will go ahead and tell you that tears don't work with me. What do you think happens next....I CRY HARDER. I wanted to shout, "I'm not crying for you to not give me a ticket; I'm crying in fear of your gun and what my mom is going to do to me!!!!!!" He tells me that he will give me a warning this time but to slow down. I take my license and insurance card back and tell him adios as I wipe my tears and try to get back on the highway. First thing in my mind as I pull off...Mom never has to know this! I mean she is at home getting ready and I am 10 miles away and she never really will even....RING RING! There goes my phone ringing and it's none other than my MOTHER! How does she know EVERYTHING! I get so scared that I don't answer. I am sitting there thinking she has got to have a camera hoooked on this truck or is tapped into my brain or something. I try to calm myself down, again, and I think that there is no way that she knows. She is only calling to check to make sure I'm traveling safely...right?!?!? WRONG! I call her back about 5 minutes later to hear her answer the phone with, "Well, did he give you a ticket?" How the.....When did......How could.....WHAT????? I find out that my brother is on his way home from work and sees me across the highway and calls my mom to see if that was me. He tried to call me first but I was in a dead spot and he couldn't get me. LONG story long, I didn't get a ticket but it was a VERY eventful morning! I dedicate this song to Hailey Paige because she loves it and it reminds me of our fun times. Plus it's about getting pulled over. HAILEY - may you never drive like your Aunt Lori, just enjoy your song!

Happy Birthday To Me!!!!!

2009-01-22T22:07:00.000-06:00

Well today I turned the big 2-3! I can't believe it!!! It seems like just yesterday I was taking my driver's test. But man, that was 7 years ago. I had a great day. I want to say thank you to all of my wonderful friends that either called, texted, emailed, or even posted a comment on my previous post. You guys ROCK! I woke up at around 8:30 this morning but I really wanted to sleep in a little later. After I kinda sat there a second I grabbed my phone and had like 5 or 6 text messages already telling me happy b'day. That a way to make a girl feel special! Tonight was awesome as well. I caught up on a little homework and then helped mom get ready for some friends and family to come over. Kim, Brad, HP, BP, Dwayne, and Mary came over to help me celebrate. Mom made an AMAZING dinner of country fried chicken, gravy, biscuits, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes.....and......to top it off.....THE PERFECT CHOCOLATE CAKE! This is an anual tradition. I know that I will not get to eat this cake any other time of the year except for on my birthday. It's a wonderful tradition that makes me tear up just thinking about it's wonderfulness! It's the best cake in the world. I wish I could describe how happy it makes me. HMMMMMM!!!!!! Anyway, I took some pictures to share with you all. Thanks again for all the wishes and hope you all have a GREAT weekend.
P.S. - Weight loss this week was 1 pound, which I was proud of. After tonight, not so sure :o)

The New Do

2009-01-16T23:50:00.001-06:00

Thanks, Weight Loss, and Breath Mint

2009-01-13T11:52:00.000-06:00

***Strange title I know but those are the main things that I am posting about. I am going to bullet everything off so I don't lose you***

-Thank You - I need to send out a big thank you to all of you who responded to my last post about books. Your ideas were great and I honestly read everything you guys said and it helps. Meagan, thanks for telling me about the award-winning books. I learned that in my class like the next day after the post what you were talking about. I had not been to all of my classes and I probably jumped the gun but I still am glad that I went on and posted that because I will still need some other books for a library in class. Thanks big time girl and thanks to all of you who commented with help!

-Weight Loss - The weight loss has gone fairly well. Mom and I went to WW tuesday night and I lost exactly 3 pounds. Not bad for my first week if I do say so myself. My goal this week...MOVE MORE! I have got to get some activity in somehow. Also, Mom, Kim, Christy, and myself have started on the Scale Back Alabama Program. Christy has posted all the details so I will link you to her so you can read. Wish "The Fluffy Floozies" luck!!!! CHRISTY'S BLOG!

-Breath Mint -Weird title I know! There is this wonderfully funny and great guy down at Tannehill named Tim McClendon. I have become friends with Tim over the past year or so and I support him in his work of being an original artist, meaning he writes his own material. ABC 33/40 has a contest going on right now that helps original artist get going on the track to success. Tim entered the contest and so far is ranked like number 14 out of 40! The name of his song is "Breath Mint". For the longest time I called it "Warrior River" because he mentions it and it just seemed to fit..lol! Anyway, I need my blog warriors to come together and go and vote for him. I wouldn't take the time out to post this if I didn't think that he really deserved it. He is a good 'ol country guy that has written a HILARIOUS song! If you will go to this website, "CLICK HERE", and go to register/login and just follow the instructions. It is a little work to get to vote but so far I have not received any emails or anything from them. I strongly encourage you to take the time to do this. After you register you are going to look for the category COUNTRY and then scroll down until you find the title and artist "BREATH MINT". Please give it 5 stars! The reason this is such a big deal is at the end of the contest whoever makes it into the top...whatever...gets to be on television presenting their song. Tim has expressed to me how bad he wants to make it there and I really hope yall will pull together and get him on the show. (Just a sidenote, I also saw Justin Brasfield on there. I reckon he is trying to do the original artist too!) So come on guys....VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU!!! :o)

Help Needed/Wanted

2009-01-07T22:13:00.000-06:00

Last semester one of my teachers mentioned something that I had not thought of before and then today, as my new semester began, another teacher mentioned the same thing. They said that as future teachers, we ourselves need to start our own library. GULP! I had never thought about this. I always remembered my elementary school teachers having books in their room but I reckon I just thought the school was like...well...here ya go! Not hardly! I have been given some pretty good websites where you can find books pretty cheap and then I have been told that garage sales or thrift stores are a good place to find used books. This is where you come in. If you or anyone you know have books children's books that you are no loner using and would like to sale them or even give them away I would be very interested in buying them or taking them. I am looking for books for children ages 5 to around 12. Even if you come across a website with some good books please let me know. The more information I have the better.

Today was my first day of class. I started back to work at my UAB job yesterday and I am of course enjoying it. I did have to move offices and have moved into a MUCH smaller space but hopefully this is just a temporary move and can have my own office again very soon. This semester is going to be a tough one. I have classes Mon-Fri and am still working two jobs, only part time of course. I have had to cut my hours down at the drug store again but it is well worth it for the opportunity to stay at UAB. I thought for some of you who might want to know what my week looks like that I would share that with you. Here is what my schedule looks like until May:

Mon - EEC405 8:00 - 10:30, UAB work 11:00 - 5:00
Tues - EEC 406 8:00 - 10:40, UAB work 11:00 - 5:00, WW 6:00
Wed - EDR 440 8:00 - 10:40, UAB work 11:00 - 6:00, Church 7:00
Thurs - David's 8:00 - 12:00, HPE 301 3:30 - 6:20
Fri - EPR 410 10:00 - 12:30
Sat - work 8-5 at David's (only every other week)
Sun - Church (woohoo!)

Some ways you can look at that and think that at least on one week I have kindof a long weekend because I get out of school at 12:00 on Friday and don't work on Saturday, but then the next week I do. I still have to make time to study and try to have some kind of "social life"...(haha Kim!)

Hope you guys have an excellent rest of the week and look forward to hearing great things!

Today's The Day....

2009-01-06T15:44:00.000-06:00

....that Weight Watchers begins. I don't start counting points until tomorrow but tonight is the official weigh in and beginning of the program for me. I have done this before and I am familiar with it but I am serious about it this time. Can't wait to start working out and get myself in better shape and get healthy. If you see me start to eat something I am not give me a very mean look!!!!

Greatest News Of My Life

2008-12-29T22:10:00.000-06:00

Saturday afternoon when mom went and got the mail I received the best letter I have ever received. It was from UAB School of Education. When I opened the letter the first thing I saw was.....

"Dear Ms. Lori Whitfield,
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! You have been admitted into the Teacher Education Program"

I can not tell you how ecstatic I was. I was almost in tears I was so happy. I have been waiting on that letter for months. FINALLY! I am so proud of myself for making it this far. One more year from this month and I will officially be a teacher.

Resolutions and Such

2008-12-26T15:41:00.000-06:00

I would like to begin by saying that I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas. I know that I did. I have several sets of pictures to put up from our annual family Christmas party and our immediate family but I will get to that later. I have been thinking alot about what I am going to resolve to do this new year. I can't believe that 2009 is less than a week away. So, I decided why not just blog about it and then if I start slipping maybe yall can get on to me and keep me on track. So...here we go!

1.) Be a better Christian - Don't we all won't this? I find myself struggling so much sometimes and I definitely know that I need to be a better prayer. My goal is to pray and study more and be the best Christian I know that I can be.

2.) Lose Weight - Again, so does everyone else! As of January 6, 2009 I am starting back to Weight Watchers with mom. She is already going and I have promised I would go as well. I am going to start my goals low and then add to them. I seem to work better that way. I will keep you updated on how it goes.

3.) Save money - I am the world's worst at this. I have got to start saving and make a nest egg. I am so used to living with mom that I don't think about one day being on my own or contributing to a household with someone. So I am going to be a better saver.

4.) Do better in school - I do "alright" as I say. But I want to do AWESOME! I am going to make more time to study.

5.) - Be a better daughter, aunt, and friend - Just what that says...'nuf said!

Hopefully you will all have great New Year's Resolutions to better yourselves as well. What are some of yours?!?!?!?

Ode To My Brother

2008-12-17T14:13:00.000-06:00

Yeah, I know. We are actually not picking at each other. I just thought I would write a post to tell my brother just how much he means to me. He is so protective and I always have been like, "why does he act like that?" Well, ya know what??? I AM SO GLAD HE IS! There are so many people that don't have a big brother to watch after them and I am thankful to have someone in my life that cares enough for me to tell me like it is. I think about the fact that I have four other sisters that I could have a relationship with but it just doesn't work out. I am actually okay with them not wanting to come around but wouldn't be if it worked out that way with my brother. I am very thankful that Brad is not like that. I know we have our moments, like every sibling rivalry, but I wouldn't trade him for a million other brothers. Thank you so much Brad for being you and for taking care of your little sis..... I love you much!

Hilarious!!!

2008-12-10T15:02:00.000-06:00

Click HERE!!!!!

8 Things...

2008-12-06T23:21:00.000-06:00

My cousin Teale tagged me for this. Love ya girl!

8 Shows That I watch:
Friends
Andy Griffith
Everybody Loves Raymond
Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Dateline
20/20
American Idol (When it's on)
Whose Line Is It Anyway

8 Favorite Restaurants:
Red Lobster
Hobeneros
McAlister's
Chick-fil-A
Steak & Ale (I miss that place)
STIX
Wings
Waffle House

8 Things I Did This Week/Weekend:
Attended Church
Took a nap
Talked to Kim
Watched the Alabama/Florida game
Ate Chili (yum yum)
Helped clean the house
Hung out with Dwayne
Loved on George

8 Things I Look Forward To:
Seeing my Heavenly Father
Seeing my earthly father
Graduating college
Spending more time with my family
Having my own classroom
Finding "the one"
Having lots and lots of babies
Having my own place

8 Thins On My Wish List:
Royal Blue F-150
My own guitar
A horse(y)
Money would be nice :)
An even bigger F-150
An endless supply of no-weight gaining chocolate
To be super skinny (which goes along nicely with the above)
For everyone to be happy this holiday

I hereby tag: Melissa, Amanda, Megan, Kristy, Christopher, Courtney, Christy, Brandi, Josh, Leah, and Chad. Kim told me not to tag her :o)

Last Night.....

2008-12-03T11:04:00.000-06:00

Last night for some reason I couldn't sleep. So instead of doing my usual laying in bed and watching TV all night I decided to actually get up and do some cleaning. Surprise, I know! I was cleaning out my desk when I opened up the bottom drawer and found a TON of stuff that I was keeping from when Todd and I dated. I had started making a scrapbook and had saved so much stuff it was unreal. I had ticket stubs, pictures, wrappers from gummy bears we had ate, dried rose petals, wrist bands from Six Flags, every card he had ever gave me, and the list goes on and on. I didn't realize I had saved so much stuff. It's not that I had forgotten that I had all this stuff, it's just that at the time I remember thinking that there was no way I had the heart to go through it all right then. I guess after that I just kinda left it alone. Well, when I opened up that drawer and realized all of those memories were still in there I just kinda sat there for like 5 minutes staring at it. Then I said to myself it was time to trash it. I probably should have just done one big sweep and threw it all away, but I felt this need to look at everything one more time before I did. I looked at all the pictures and read all the cards and to my surprise not even one tear fell. I felt like I had no emotion at all. Just blank. It was the weirdest feeling yet I was glad that I didn't hurt.

While I was cleaning I had one of my all-time favorite George Strait cds playing. It's his "Somewhere Down in Texas" cd. The last song on the cd is called "By the Light of a Burning Bridge". I have heard this song a hundred times and loved it but never really listened to the words. You know how you just kinda automatically start singing but you don't really listen to what you're saying. I kid you not, while I was going threw all the plethora of things to get rid of this song started playing. When I heard the first words of it I stopped and listened closely for the first time and when I did it comforted me just about as much as anything has this past 6 months. I have always heard people say, "This song helped me get through a really tough time in my life". I would always think that was a little strange because there is the Bible to help you do that, not a song. Well, I can honestly say that when I listened to this song I had those exact feelings; "This song is going to help me through a difficult time". I know you are probably thinking, "okay, it's been 6 months....MOVE ON!" Well, in a lot of ways I have. However, this was a man that I had every intention of spending the rest of my life with and I loved very much. I never once thought he would do anything to hurt me. I still have rough days. Don't believe me, ask Kim. He may have had his little ways, as we all do, but I still loved him none the less. Anyway, I tried to find this song on youtube so you could listen to it but it is not on there. I did find the words though. What really got me was the chorus when it says, "once you get your courage up, you light a match and your eyes adjust". I guess it's becuase that is exactly what I did. I finally got the courage up to discard all of these memories and I feel so much better.

I know this is a lenghty post, and if you are still reading, thank you! Days are filled with sorrow and care as the old gospel song says, and then days get brighter. I continue to look for those brighter days. Last night was just another stepping stone in the healing process and although it may not seem like it, it was a BIG one. I'm so glad I am able to move on from this part of my life and see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just like the song says below, "it's amazing what a man can see by the light of a burning bridge"

By The Light Of A Burning Bridge

Walt Aldridge/Michael White
Artist: George Strait

Oh, I’ve been stumblin’ through the darkness
Tryin’ to feel the ground beneath my feet
Afraid of movin’ much in any direction
Stuck where the past and the future meet, but…

Chorus:
I finally got my first good look, a little fire was all it took
And as the flames grew brighter I saw everything that I’d missed
Once you get your courage up, you light a match and your eyes adjust
It’s amazing what a man can see by the light of a burning bridge

There were things I saw that I’m not proud of
Things that I’d do different now from then
But when I really make myself get honest
It’s over, and I can’t go back again, ‘cause…

Repeat Chorus

It sure is hard to let go and to leave the past behind
But there ain’t no other way
That you can find some peace of mind, when…

Repeat Chorus

It’s amazing what a man can see by the light of a burning bridge

Like Father, Like Son

2008-12-02T16:40:00.001-06:00

If Only We Had A Heart Like This....

2008-11-25T15:07:00.000-06:00

As I was signing online today my homepage had an article about this little boy. Normally I just ignore and keep going to Facebook or Myspace or wherever I might be headed but this caught my eye. It definitely made me think and made me cry. If only we had a tender heart like this sweet young boy!
PS - You have to scroll down and make the music stop on that slide show of me and HP to listen to this video or "You Are My Sunshine" will drown it out!!!! LOL!!!!

Teale's Give-A-Way

2008-11-24T12:42:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone. My cousin Teale is having an awesome holiday give-a-way. For more details and to enter for this drawing please click HERE!!!!

I'm Exhausted

2008-11-19T12:41:00.000-06:00

I am just tired. Sleepy, tired, exhausted, drowsy, lethargic, heavy-eyed, sluggish, etc. I have completely forgotten what sleep is, much like my friends with the new little babies say. But, I have no new little baby. I have two part time jobs and a full load of school. Just thought I would complain a little. YAWN!

The Joys of Being an Aunt

2008-11-13T13:07:00.001-06:00

My niece, Hailey Paige, made me feel so super special last night. Blake was sick last night and Kim stayed home with him instead of bringing him out to church. Since Brad has to leave church about 15 minutes early, Hailey went ahead and sat with us after class. She was good, as always, and sang her little heart out while the young boys lead their songs and anytime we stood up she would reach her little arms out for me to pick her up. I say her little arms but bless her heart she is getting so tall she could almost hold me. Every time I go to pick her up Mom says, "you're going to break your back!" Then Hailey will look at me with those big ol' brown eyes and say, "you're the only person that holds me anymore!" AS TEARS SWELL....of course I am going to pick her up!!! I don't care if it does break my back, she's my all-time-best-good-buddy and I love her so much that I would do anything for her. Well last night as she was sitting with us and as the church service came to a close we all stood for the final song and a prayer. I guess I had already held her too long before because when she jumped for me to get her I didn't have the strength to hold her anymore. I said, "here baby, stand on the pew. Aunt Lori's arms are getting sore and I just can't hold you anymore right this second". She was ok with that! Then she looked at me and gave me a little kiss on the cheek and whispered the sweetest thing I have ever heard in my ear. She said, "I hope you win!" I looked puzzled....."Win what sweetie?", I replied. "A trophy!!!" she said with a big ol' smile. Still puzzled I said, "what in the world would I win a trophy for?". Then she replied, "for being the best aunt in the world!" AWWWWWWW!!!!!! I teared up then, and am tearing up now just typing it. That is love right there, folks!

I love this little pip-squeak more than I could ever imagine. I am so blessed to have gotten to see her go through all the major steps in her life so far, and I hope to see her go through many many more. I am so proud of her for doing well in school and being a sweet baby girl. I can't believe my little buddy is about to be six in February. She will never know what she means to me and how much I cherish the times I get to spend with her. I made a slide-show below of pictures of times we have spent. I don't have any of her baby ones on here. Hope you enjoy this slide show as much as I enjoyed making it and reminesing my favorite times with Hailey Paige.

Today.....

2008-11-09T00:54:00.000-06:00

Today was supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life. Well guess what?!?! IT WAS! I was supposed to be getting married today and starting my life with the man of my dreams but as fate would have it, I didn't. I thank my Lord everyday for the blessing He has given me, and I know that this was truly one of them. It has been a bittersweet day. Mom, Kim, the babies, Mary and I ended up spending some time together. I am blessed with wonderful friends and family. Thanks for all of those that called and told me that they were thinking about me and loved me. It means more than you will ever know. I look forward to finding the right one someday, I'm just glad that today was a stepping stone and not a stumbling block.

100 Things About Me

2008-11-04T16:36:00.000-06:00

100 things about me (you may or may not know)

i was tagged to do this post a long time ago. I am just now remembering that I was going to do it and actually had the time to spend on it. I hereby tag: Kim, Melissa, and anyone else who I KNOW has not done it!

1. My full name is Lori Beth Whitfield

2. I have lived in the same house all my life

3. I love my niece and nephew like they are my own

4. I have a passion for bluegrass music

5. I miss my dad so much that it hurts

6. I work two part time jobs and am in school full time

7. I can’t wait to start teaching but I am so scared that I will do a bad job

8. I am blessed with a ton of wonderful friends

9. I really hate any other kind of mayonnaise other than KRAFT

10. I can’t STAND for my food to touch

11. Boogers make me gag

12. One time I got stabbed in the eye with a sucker stick and it was supposed to be just a sweet hug from Hailey

13. I have a cat that sucks his tail

14. I have attended three colleges; Bevill, Faulkner, and UAB

15. I love scary movies….ANYTHING scary

16. I would marry chocolate if I could

17. I am the youngest of seven children

18. If I was a boy I was going to be named William Trey

19. I was ALMOST named Julie

20. I want to have lots and lots of babies

21. I can’t stand for a guy to be clingy!

22. Sometimes my cell phone irritates me so bad that I have actually broken several phones

23. I know so little about myself that Kim is helping me think of things to type

24. I am a natural blonde (with some added highlights)

25. I am addicted to Vault

26. I own all ten seasons of the t.v. show FRIENDS

27. I backed into a John Deere tracker one time. Can anyone tell me why my neighbor would park behind me where I couldn’t see it to begin with. And, yes, she drove it over to our house to visit…go figure!

28. My friends make me laugh really really hard

29. I really want to learn to play lots of instruments and play for a living (sha right)

30. I just recently bought my first REAL cowboy hat

31. I think that it’s awesome that people sometimes think Blake, my nephew, is my kid (I would so claim him)

32. I’ve been engaged once…yes, I gave the ring back

33. I am a huge Rick & Bubba fan (except for when they talk about church)

34. I love pumpkin pie and for that reason my mom only makes it once a year

35. I have a tremendous amount of cute shoes, yet choose to wear tennis (I say tenny) shoes

36. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving…yummy yummy

37. I was born at 5:10 on a Wednesday and my niece, Hailey, was born at 5:10 on a Wednesday

38. Some of my best memories EVER are at the lake with Kim

39. I have a tackle-box full of make-up. I think I’m addicted to buying it

40. My favorite color is blue

41. My favorite Disney movie is “The Little Mermaid”

42. I could listen to the song “Dixie On My Mind” on repeat all day long

43. I drive a truck named “Faizy Day” (Kim named her)

44. I am a member of the Church of Christ at Adamsville

45. I was born an Aunt

46. How “magic shell” hardens BLOWS MY MIND

47. I want to visit Scotland one day

48. I live in the basement of my house with no windows so it is really dark and really hard to wake up

49. I am almost always late everywhere I go

50. I fell at Wal-Mart when I was eight and still have a egg-shaped bump on my forehead at age 22

51. I have a BEAUTIFUL wedding dress at home

52. I have a hard time telling time

53. I never go anywhere without my lipstick

54. I am a professional at putting my make-up on in the car while driving

55. I have done Kim’s make-up in the car while SHE was driving (it’s all about the technique)

56. I will graduate will my bachelor’s degree next December

57. I used to not have trust issues until recently

58. I’m terrified of losing my mom

59. I like to make people laugh

60. I tend to not be motivated unless pushed

61. I HATE it when people elbow or poke me repeatedly to get my attention

62. Small or faint noises in the background drive me insane, especially if I’m trying to watch a movie

63. I want to be a bluegrass singer!

64. I would love to teach college one day, perhaps after retiring from elementary teaching

65. I am scared I won’t find “the one”

66. I love my brother and wish I could get to spend more time with him

67. I love making new friends, but would never trade my old ones

68. I think George Strait may possibly be the hottest male ever

69. Chuck Wicks runs a close second

70. I hate crunchy peanut butter. I thought the point was to make the peanuts smooth like butter. No butter I have ever eaten has chunks in it.

71. I have been cold for the past 22 years because my mother doesn’t know there is a heat button on our thermostat

72. I have been involved in 4 accidents in my life. Three involved me rear-ending someone, including my mom. One involved someone pulling out in front of me. None involved me putting on my make-up while driving.

73. Kim is the best friend I could ever ask for

74. I have one sister that I have never met, not by my choice

75. I am a big Auburn fan

76. I am terrified of needles!

77. Every year we have a family Christmas party at our house and one day I would love to carry on that tradition when my mom can’t do it anymore.

78. I was the Vice-President of my senior class. I don’t know which crazies voted me in

79. I really want to lose weight but numbers 16 and 60 are keeping me from it

80. I would go to a Bluegrass Festival every weekend if I could

81. I wish I knew how to clog…seriously debating taking classes

82. My sister-in-law is more like a sister

83. My office number is 246

84. I love “I Love Lucy”. I can watch the same episodes over and over and be in tears every time

85. Older people make me smile. They are just cute!

86. I am an extremely fast texter

87. I already know what I would like to name my kids, of course I will compromise

88. I like the word “onomatopoeia”

89. I don't have very much self-confidence and put myself down for things that I probably didn't do half bad on

90. I worry over things that I have no control over

91. I have a fascination with trains. I even love listen to songs about trains

92. I am, without a doubt, Dolly Parton’s biggest fan

93. I have watched someone get a tattoo in real life

94. I love Christmas time for many reasons. One reason being I get to go “Christmas Light Lookin’”. It’s the small things that amuse me.

95. I don’t have to spend money to have fun.

96. I laugh very easily at most everything, even if it may be an inappropriate time

97. I could make myself sick eating bread…LOVE IT

98. I tend to be forgetful

99. I can’t stand history and am going to have a hard time teaching it to students

100. I have a very blessed and happy life

Barns of Horror

2008-10-31T22:53:00.000-05:00

The past two days have been a trip...and the weekend still isn't over. I am hoping to have some new pictures from Tannehill so I decided to go ahead and make this post so there wouldn't be such a huge one later. Thursday night, Kim, Heidi and myself went to the Barns of Horror up in Hayden. We were going to try and go to the one Corner puts on but they were not open. Barns was AWESOME!!!! On the way down there we kept noticing the guy in front of us driving in the opposite lane. He did this for miles! Kim got really concerned and called 911 to report him. We were all afraid he was going to hurt himself or someone else. Well we got to the Barns and we were the only people there. NO WAY! Right before we started to walk in another car pulled up and I told the lady, "yeah, we are waiting on them!" Well we really weren't but it sounded good. One of the ladies backed out but her daughter came in with us. So there we are...Kim, Heidi, Me, and some chick. Come to find out this "chick" is pregnant. How did I know?!?!??! Well about 2 minutes into the barn she says very rednecky, "oh man,I hope they don't scare me and I fall because I'm pregnant!" She said this with all the muster of a chain smoker! She REAKED of cigaretts. So off we go, getting the daylights scared out of ourselves! After the trail, we are standing around talking about how great and horrifying it was when this booger came up behind us. Of course we were all skidish because....well....he was a booger! He ended up getting in the picture with us one time. (It's in the slideshow above!) After we left the BOH, we decided that it was just too early to call it a night. So we headed over to STIX to grab a real late supper. The food was wonderful...UNTIL.....the next day. I know Kim already told you all about it in her blog but man, that was unreal. Heidi never got sick but Kim and I had it bad! I know you really wanted to know that. Anyway, all in all we had a GREAT time. It was so much fun to spend the evening with friends that I can honestly say is family. I love you girls and I had a great time. Can't wait to do it again.

Happy Halloween and Weekend!

2008-10-30T17:10:00.000-05:00

I hope that everyone out there in blogland has a wonderful Halloween and a great weekend. I am just now about to leave school and go get ready to go the Barns of Horror and another scary barn thingy that the Corner baseball teams puts on every year. Kim, Heidi, and myself are going and I will try to post some pics soon. I can only imagine how much fun this is going to be. We may end up scaring ourselves more than anything. Hope you all have a excellent time also and look forward to seeing pics and stories from everyone's halloween!!!!!

BlackWater Bluegrass Festival

2008-10-29T13:11:00.000-05:00

Well, in keeping with the name of this blog, I have some bluegrass pictures, lol! I can't believe it's already been 3 weekends ago (btw, the date on the first image in the slide show is wrong, it should have been October 10-11) since we were at BlackWater Park again for their Bluegrass Festival. We attended the festival when they had it in the Spring which many of you remember from pictures or videos. Ya know, the infamous "clogging man"! Well, I can't wait to tell you about our trip this time.
I took off Friday and Saturday becuase I knew we were going and I couldn't wait! On the way down there Friday, Mom and Mary didn't want to have to stop and eat so we ate a sandwhich at home and then snacked down there. The shows were great. I have videos to follow. One band inparticular that played was David Davis and The Warrior River Boys. They did a great job and I made a new buddy from their band. If you get a chance you should really check out Robert Montgomery. He is an amazing banjo player!
Well, then comes Saturday, the MAIN reason we are going......MARTY RAYBON! One of my good friends, Matt Leadbetter, used to play with Marty Raybon and Full Circle. In the Spring when we went to see them play we got to meet Marty and he was a GREAT guy. So this time Matt was no longer playing with him, but we were excited to see them just the same. On the way to the park Saturday we timed it so we could go and eat at Ryan's before the show. Just a side-note, every time I go to eat at Ryan's with Mom and Mary it takes us AT LEAST and hour and a half. So I am done eating way before they are and so I call Kim to check on her. While I am on the phone with her I am "people-watching" as my dad used to call it. Everyone is going up to the buffet line and slopping the food on and I notice this man with really long arms. I keep looking at him thinking to myself..."he sure does look familiar, do I know him from somewhere?" Then it hits me! IT'S THE CLOGGING MAN FROM MY VIDEO! I know that it was at this moment that Kim became deaf becuase I screamed in her ear. I kept getting louder and louder but I was so excited I couldn't help it. I felt like I had seen a celebrity. I only videoed him; I had never actually met him. So I got so loud mom told me to get off the phone that people were looking...I don't really think they were she just says that sometimes. After mom got done eating she told me to come with her that we would just go over and meet him. This is at Ryan's mind you. So we walk up to "the clogging man" and introdice ourselves to him and his wife. They are super nice! I can't remember his wife's name but his name is Clyde. After getting the courage to tell him that I videoed him back in the Spring, he said, "oh yeah, I have seen that video!" I said, "ohhhhhhh, are you mad?" Then he laughs and assures me that he thought it was funny too! WHEW!!!!! Well we tell them that we will see them after while and I especially told him I was looking forward to seeing him clog again.
So we get to the park and set up our chairs and everything and we are soooo ready to see Marty Raybon. I realize I had l had left my sunglasses in the car, so I get up to go get them. When I get to the van I see this big white van pull up and I wonder to myself if that is Marty and them. Sho nuff!!!! As they were getting out of the van I noticed one of the guys was looking like he might have remembered me or something. I started walking towards them and the guy said, "HEY!". I guess he did remember..lol! He said that he remembered us from the last show but he couldn't remember my name. I told him and he said his name was Daniel Grindstaff. Also another wonderful banjo player. You should definitely click on his name and check out his website. When I saw Marty he gave me a big ol hug and said he was glad to see me. AAGGGHHH! In the words of Kim, I was like, "DUDE!" Mom walks up and starts talking to him and the first thing he asks was, "Where is my Banana Pudding you promised?" We all got a big kick out of him remembering that and Mom assured him she would make him a BIG chocolate cobbler for next time. I asked Mom, "Does this mean we are like....friends...with Marty Raybon?" She said she would sure like to think so.
After the first set of shows Marty and the band went to the back to talk to folks and sell some cds. I went back and was talking to the guys and just pulled up a chair and joined them. Before you know it I was helping them sell cds. Marty told me he was going to hire me as a sales girl! For the next three hours, before they had to play their second show, I sat back there hanging out with all those fellers. I made some good friends though. We laughed and cut up and had a great time. Too bad Matt wasn't there though!
Before the second show Mom came back and also was talking to the guys and somewhere in the conversation she told Marty that the song "Next To You, Next To Me" had always been one of my favorites. Little did I know that Marty was going to get up on stage and sing it for me!!!! He said right before he sang, "This is for a girl sitting out here that said this was one of her favorites"! Can I just tell you I was on cloud nine. I figured he would sing it anyway so I saved the memory on my camera all day waiting on that song. Well after he said he was singing it for me I got so beside myself that I couldn't sit still while videoing. Needless to say, the video turned out AWFUL! If you don't watch it but only listen the song turned out wonderful but if you try to watch the blame thang it might make you dizzy. Kinda looks the the Blair Witch Movie ya know.
Well I wanted to share what a wonderful time we had at the BlackWater Bluegrass Festival. If you want you should go check out their website. I found more pictures of us. CRACKING ME UP!!!! I might go steal more off of there and post them on here. I'll let you know if I do!

All of the following photos on the next slideshow came straight from BlackWater Bluegrass Festival's website. I can't take credit for these wonderful shots. Look close, you can see Mom and Mary in the picture of Clyde the Clogger!

I guess some people were not as happy as others to be there!!!!!! ;)

How Cool Is This!

2008-10-27T19:53:00.000-05:00

I got to looking around on the BlackWater Bluegrass Festival website today and I looked at all of the photos from this past time and then I started looking at the photos from the Spring. Well, here we are! Looks like I was saying something funny because Mary's mouth is wide open! I thought that was so cool that this picture was on their website. I feel so special!!!! What else is funny...my head is completely blocking Todd!!! HA! I got a kick out of this. So I can post it and not have to worry about cropping him out! I got a huge kick out of this picture being on their website. Just thought I would share.

Just to let you know...this is my third post today! What is wrong with me?!?!?!?

The Wonders of YouTube

2008-10-27T13:33:00.000-05:00

Wow, two posts in one day! YAY ME! I was searching on youtube, as I do so often, for new songs to sing at Tannehill. Jason and I get on there and look for new songs for each other or songs to do together. Well somehow I stumbled onto this one and it cracked me up. I can't decide if it's the crazy song or the crazy dancing. Eiter way, it's appropiate for this time of year. Enjoy this fun video!

Gilbert's Halloween Party

2008-10-27T10:15:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween All!!!!!!

New Pics Are Up!

2008-10-23T23:07:00.000-05:00

Hey yall! I created a new blog for my fiddle. Just wanted yall to be able to find it. The address is elbyandherfiddle.blogspot.com. The new name is FiddleDe-Dee. Thanks Melissa for helping me with a name. You're the coolest! I also added some new pics of my fiddle on there for you to take a look at. Hope yall all have a great weekend.

She's So Pretty!

2008-10-22T14:15:00.000-05:00

Well folks, I finally got her! That's right, MY FIDDLE! After seeing her I have decided that she is most definitely a girl. Jason gave her to me at Tannehill this past Saturday night and I paid him and she is MINE!!! WOO HOO! She needs a G-string (yeah, I know laugh it up) but if I'm going to get one string I'm just going to her a whole new set. I reckon they come all together. I don't even know if you can buy them individually. Well, either way, on my lunch break today (whenever that might be) I'm going to get some new strings and some roslin for the bow. Kim took a picture with me and fiddle (she doesn't have a name yet) on Saturday. Check out her blog for a picture. As soon as I get a chance I will upload pics for yall to see. Hope to be playing yall a tune before long. You do know what this means, right?!?! ANOTHER BLOG!!! Going to get an address for it....right..........NOW!!!!

So far, So good

2008-10-21T14:35:00.000-05:00

Well I am sitting in the second class right now. The students are taking a test called "Skills Bank", and it should take them about an hour and 15 minutes to complete. So what better way to spend my time than to tell you how it is going. The first class I was VERY nervous. There were some people I knew and I was just hoping that they weren't looking at me like, "yeah, YOU are teaching ME!". I feel like I talked super fast and got all the housekeeping taken care of and when I looked at the clock it was only 10 minutes into the class. Yes, 10 minutes. I reckon I did talk fast. Well, it actually worked out well because the test ended up being so long that some of the students still didn't get finished. Now I feel pretty good about talking so fast. My friend, Magan Gilbert, is in this class right now. I can see her out of the corner of my eye...lol!!! I know she will do good on her test. Anyway, this class has gone smoothly also and I only have one more to go. OH OH....I almost forgot! There is a wonderful lady in the office right beside me that calls herself, "My UAB Mama". She knew that I was nervous this morning and she came to about 10 minutes of my class this morning and sat in the back so I coud look out and see a friendly face. Too bad it wasn't the 10 minutes I was actually talking! Thanks Mama Jerrie for being soooooo sweet to me! Also, thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement. Just pray that this next class goes well too. It is the "older" class and......um......IM SCARED!!!!!

WHO......ME?!?!?!?!

2008-10-20T10:35:00.001-05:00

So last week the teacher that I am working for, Mrs. Veronique Zimmerman-Brown, Mrs. Z is what I call her, came to my office and said "Come, on! Walk with me". I thought, "OH NO!!! I messed something up"! So as we are walking down the hall she tells me that she has something to ask me. She say that she hopes I won't be to afraid to do this but that she has a BIG favor to ask me. So by this point I have gone from fear to HUH?! Then she says, "I have a meeting to go to next Tuesday and I don't have anyone to teach my classes. I'd really hate to have to cancel them." In my head I am going, "PLEASE ASK ME TO DO IT!!!!" Then....she asks, "Would you be too scared to get up and teach three classes next Tuesday?!?!?!" I am now talking in a screech! "I would LOVE to!" So ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow I will be teaching THREE college classes. I am so super pumped. How many college students can say they got to teach a college class? I feel so honored and blessed to have this opportunity. Yall please pray that I won't get nervous or anything, yall know me!!!! I was thinking, "what if I get up there and I'm talking and I burp while I'm talking?!?!" You know you always think of the most embarrassing things that could happen to you. Anyway, I will be sure to let everyone know how it goes. WISH ME LUCK!!!!

Video Catch-Up (LONG POST)

2008-10-08T10:42:00.000-05:00

I have sooooo many videos that I have taken over the past several months and Kim has been saying, "You need to blog about that". So I decided to make one big blog of these funny/interesting videos. I will tell you what they are as you follow along. Enjoy all these crazy moments in my life!

The first video is my dear friend Heather! At her birthday last year (I know...how slow am I) a couple of the girls took her to STIX. Of course we told them it was her birthday so they would come and sing to her and she got alllllll into it! I don't know if you will be able to hear at the end but we are all laughing at the fact that she was standing up acting crazy and she says, "ohhhh, i hope nobody from church saw that". TOO LATE!!!! Here it is...and I love you Heather!

Ok, this next video is from when Hailey was playing T-ball. Her coach, Bo, is showing them how to run up the base line and tag first base........not hard right? Well, HP thinks that she needs to jump OVER first base. I mean she does this every time she runs. Pay close attention to her little legs when she gets close to first base. After she picks out her wedgie, then she takes off running!!!!!

This video is of my Aunt Dean. She is the sweetest lady that I know and has a GREAT sense of humor. When we went over to her house for her birthday her daughter, Lane, had bought her this beautiful cake that was to die for. Aunt Dean looks like she was so excited about eating the cake that she didn't even wait for us to finish singing before she started blowing the candles out. This one is just for fun and I'm sure my family will appreciate this one.

The next couple of videos are of the BlackWater Bluegrass Festival that we went to this past Spring. Some of you have already seen this video but it is a doosie! We were sitting front row and while the band was playing (which was the band that my buddy Matt is in) this old man got up and started clogging. RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!!! I was laughing so hard. Watch about half way through he turns and I don't know if he is trying to get his wife to come up there with him or what but he is cloggin' and motioning someone up with him. His arms look soooo floppy! Me and Kim have laughed at this video 'til we cry. ENJOY!

This band that I recorded was also at the BlackWater Bluegrass festival and they were awesome. I wish that I could remember their name. They did some original songs, old classics, and then THIS! I recorded this solely for my brother. They are singing a bluegrass version of Metallica's "Exit Light". It was surprisingly great!

I have a really great friend from Knoxville named Matt Leadbetter. Many of you already know about him. He is an AMAZING dobro player. His dad has won Dobro Player of the Year several times at the IBMA (awards) and I have no doubt that Matt will one day do the same. He is playing now with the formal lead singer of the country band "Shenandoah". Marty Raybon, who was the lead singer, has none gone to bluegrass and Matt is his dobro player. We got to meet Marty Raybon back in the Spring and that was unreal. He is honestly a great man and hilarious to boot. He said if my mom would cook him some cornbread he would load up the band and come home with us! Here is a great video of Matt playing his dobro and then a long shot of the rest of the band.

Many of you know some of the more popular songs by Shenandoah like "Next to You, Next to Me," (which is one of my all time favorite songs), and "Cumberland Road". I managed to get two videos snip-its of each song. I will just post the videos back to back on here. This makes for the last of the BlackWater Bluegrass Festival videos.

The next two or three videos are from when we took a vacation to Gatlinburg with the Griffin's. We had an amazing time! This first video is one of my favorites. Anytime Don and I are together, or Taylor and I, trouble soon arises. We are driving down the strip in downtown Gatlinburg (you know the MAIN one where everyone shops so there are HUNDREDS of people) and I ask Mom to turn on the radio. I had been listening to an old bluegrass cd in the van and I thought it would be funny to turn up the song "Mountain Dew" wide open and roll the windows down. So we did!!!! Sandra is in the front seat and is sooo embarrassed. She opens a umbrella to cover anyone seeing her. It's a little dark so watch carefully but you can most definitely tell what is going on.

This video is just kindof interesting. Everyone has probably been to the "Old Mill" in Pigeon Forge and fed the ducks. It's a tradition with us and I can't go down there without thinking of my dad. This video is just us feeding the ducks and them eating from our hands. God's creation is amazing!

HOLY COW....THERE'S A BEAR! And we couldn't have been any closer without getting our arms bitten off. One day while riding through Cades Cove and were looking for "burrs" and Sandra calls them, we found one....with a buddy! There were two bears but this video is just of the big'n walking off.

Time for some family moments. One night Brad, Kim, HP, BP, and Murray (Mary) came over to eat supper and just spend time together. I was showing off my Dulcimer to everyone and Kim got a hankerin' to play. So I handed it over and immediately grabbed the camera. She was trying to play "On Top of Old Smokey" which was in the book as an easy beginner song when suddenly Mom recognized the tune and said "Hey, I know some different words to that". So with my brother playing guitar, Kim playing Dulcimer, HP looking confused, and Mom singing hysterical, we have the following video. Oh, don't forget who is sitting in the corner laughing...you can tell that laugh from miles away!

Now we have a sweet video. Kim played "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to Hailey. At first Hailey is just watching and then finally she does some hand motions at the end. When they give each other five at the end it is too precious!

One of my favorite videos of all time!!! Blake doing "TOUCHDOWN AUBURN"! Need I say more?!?!?!?!?!

While Kim and I visited our great friend Kristy in Georgia, her husband Brian introduced me to Jeff Dunham. I have become obsessed with this guy. If you haven't seen him PLEASE youtube him. He is hilarious! Anyway, we were on youtube and there is one act in particular where Jeff Dunham has a puppet that is a "dead terrorist". A lot of you have seen it, I'm sure. Anyway, Achmed, the dead terrorist, says "I KILL YOU" a lot! It got so funny after a while that we were all in tears. So the next day right before we leave we are eating at some Mexican place and Brian looks across the table at me and says, "Hey Lori...I KILL YOU!!!" I grabbed the camera and needless to say....the following resulted!

About 3 weeks ago (I know you're thinking "YAY I'm getting close to the end!) Blake was in our living room and started to walk from me to mom. Kim and I got sooooo excited we started screaming and screachin'! Well I guess I was louder than Kim because he turned around and looked at me while he was walking and gave me the AWFULLEST face I have ever seen a baby make. Everyone laughed so stinkin' hard. For a couple of minutes he kept making the face at us because I think he saw that it got us tickled. It almost looked like he wanted to cry but just couldn't quite make it there. By the time I grabbed my camera he had stopped but this video is us trying to make him do it again. My mom is standing behind me making some crazy noises and sounds like something dying. You will probably get a kick out of this one!

The next three videos are pure insanity! Two Saturdays ago Mom, Kim, CA Prater, and myself all went down to Auburn, as was previously blogged about by Kim and myself. On the way to go pick Brother Prater up we were listening to bluegrass and I thought I had found myself a golden opportunity to video mom dancing again. Well she stopped short of getting videoed too much but this didn't stop me and Kim. So not only are we acting a fool, we are trying to make fun of the clogging man from the video at the BWBF! Enjoy!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST......Mr. Brad Paisley! Kim and I are blessed to have a wonderful husband and brother. Brad bought us tickets to the Brad Paisley concert for last Saturday night. IT WAS THE COOLEST CONCERT I HAVE EVER BEEN TOO! I can't remember the last time I have had that much fun. A couple of weeks ago I went ahead and bought his new cd which I am in love with. One of my new favorite songs off of there is called "Policeman". It's just a real fast paced fun song. Well I have played it enough for Hailey that she says "I want to hear that Police song!" So I debated since I had an almost dead battery at the concert (GRRRRR) which song I was going to try and record. That was a no-brainer! So this video is for my HP!

Thanks so much for all of you who have actually taken the time to watch some, or all, of these videos. I hope to not do this again but keep these videos up to date. Hope you all have a great rest of the week! *MUAH*

Picture (WOW) and Auburn

2008-10-01T15:50:00.001-05:00

Wow!!!! That is all I can say. I have always loved Chris Cagle's music but mylanta he is a hottie! I just added this picture to the background on my computer. He is just pretty that's all there is to it. As many of you already know Mom, Kim, Brother Prater, and myself all went to the Auburn/Tennessee game this past weekend. For all the details and hilarious pictures go to Kim's blog. We had a wonderful time and I am so glad that Kim got to experience her first live college football game. This is totally off the subject but it kinda relates to the picture. So on our way back to the van me and Kim are about 15 feet behind Mom and Bro. Prater and I was talking outloud and laughing with Kim and this guy with this big ol' black cowboy hat walks by and says something to me. I did a complete 360!!! Maybe it's just the hat but man.....that is by far my favorite look on a guy. Anyway, go check out Kim's blog about the trip and hope to have up some VERY funny videos here in a few days. Hope eveyone's week is going well. Take care all!!!

Thanks Kim for a great trip and I am so glad that I got to see Auburn beat the mess out of Tennessee with you! I had a blast and I can't imagine having that much fun without you. You truly are a blessing in my life and you have no idea what you mean to me!!!!!!

FINALLY!!!!!!!

2008-09-24T14:43:00.000-05:00

Turn down the volume because I am screaming from the top of my lungs....I GOT A FIDDLE!!!!! I am so stinkin' excited I can't hardly stand it! My friend Jason, from Tannehill, bought it for me and is getting it ready for me for the next time we are down at Tannehill. He knows this guy that sells antique fiddles and he has had his eye out for one for me. I AM UBER EXCITED! If you know me, but at all, you would know that I have wanted a fiddle for YEARS!!! Now, this is not a post to say I will be neglecting little dulci but now she has a buddy. My dulcimer's name is Dolly but I am thinking I might name my fiddle Mac. I don't know why that is sticking out in my head. When I see it I might change my mind but for now I can't wait to meet Mac! I think I might end up eating, sleeping, going to school, work, church, everywhere with this fiddle. As soon as I get it I will be sure and post some pictures but for now I just wanted to share the good news!!!!!!

And The Winner Is.....

2008-09-17T15:23:00.000-05:00

DULCI-DO!!!!! YAY!!!! Thanks to all of you who took time out to vote one the name for my second blog. I really appreciate the help. Don't forget to check for updates on my blog at elbyandherdulcimer.blogspot.com. Thank you so much and look forward to hearing from you soon!!!!

Stanley & Company

2008-09-12T00:41:00.000-05:00

This is a group called Stanley and Company that comes to Tannehill every once and a while and they are TERRIFIC!!! This song is called "Sweet Thang!" The night that they played mom and I were actually in Gatlinburg but I just happened to youtube them and someone had recorded them that night. I have heard them several times and enjoyed them and I thought you might too. Pay attention to the chorus...."you better take my advice if you blink more than twice, you better have something in your eye!!!!"

She's Up and Running

2008-09-06T13:49:00.001-05:00

Just a post to let you know that I have now published my first post on my nameless Dulcimer blog. If you would like to check it out and add it to your blog list you are more than welcome and I hope that many of you will frequent it. The address is elbyandherdulcimer.blogspot.com. Rememeber that it is "nameless" and you still have about a week left to vote. THANKS!!!!!

Poll of Names

2008-09-02T00:10:00.000-05:00

This is just an update to let you know that I have added a new section on the side for you to vote on the names for my new blog. (If you are clueless about this read the post below to catch up). Feel free to keep suggesting new ones. I'm always open for new ideas!!!! Have fun voting and thanks for helping!

Addition To The Blogger Tree

2008-08-30T00:21:00.000-05:00

I have made a life-changing decision! (Not really!) I am going to make a separate blog page and I am completely dedicating it to my progressive Dulcimer playing. :) I am going to start recording myself playing some basic songs I have learned and then as I learn to play harmony and harder songs I will add more. I thought this would be a neat way for someone that is interested in me playing to be able to watch me progress and a way for me to see how I have grown. Now here is the kicker, this blog needs a name. Just as I had you do before, I am asking my fellow blogger buddies to help me come up with a catchy name. So far I have 1.) 4 strings and a pick, 2.) dulcified, 3.) appalachian mountain girl, 4.) oh play me some bluegrass music. So what I need from you is input. If you can think of any neat, different names please let me know and then after a couple of days I will again let you vote on the title. Thanks so much for helping and thanks for those of you who have been interested in this love of mine for music and my Dulcimer!

A Glimpse of the Hill

2008-08-24T21:38:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, I enjoy going down to Tannehill on Saturday nights and doing a little picking and grinning! I have been saying I was going to take some pictures and videos and upload them so you can see me in action. Well here you go! Since I have told yall before all about Tannehill, I won't go back into that so just enjoy the pictures above and the videos below. I tried to introduce you to the main fellas I am with most of the time. I had a lot of trouble uploading them so some of the videos are from youtube.com and some are from blogger. Hope you are able to view them all. If not, let me know. ENJOY!!!!

This is my dobro buddy, Joe Kizziah. He is really great and an extremely talented dobro player. Take a listen!

Ok, here it is! This is me singing one of my all-time favorites, Loretta Lynn's, "You Ain't Woman Enough To Take My Man". (I start the second verse right after Joe takes his break).

This next video is Tater singing "Don't Mess With My Toot-Toot". Tater just turned 90 years old this year and he is still continuing to sing and make everyone laugh week after week!

This video is of Jason singing "Crazy Arms". He always does an amazing job playing the guitar and singing.

I hope you enjoyed the videos. Maybe before too long I can get some video with some different songs. I just wanted to share my love for this place and let you have a taste of Tannehill for yourself!!!

Unbelievable Opportunity

2008-08-14T00:25:00.000-05:00

So I am super excited about this upcoming Monday! Last week a former teacher of mine from UAB called and offered me an UNBELIEVABLE position as a work study working with her there at UAB in the education building. I said "YES PLEASE!!!!". I couldn't be more thankful for the opportunity! Basically the job entails me grading a lot of online portfolios for beginning education students, a class and task I have already been through and done well enough in that the teacher thought of me to help her out. I promise I am not trying to sound conceited but when Mrs. Z called and offered me the position she said that out of all of the education students in mind I was the first one she called. That still makes me smile just typing it! She also called to tell me today that I would be getting my very own little office with a computer and everything....how neat is that! This is going to make my schedule a lot more cramped and I will still be working at David's also. WHEW right?!?!??! Monday thru Thursday class and work study, Friday and every other Saturday working at David's. The schedule right now is blowing my mind but it will get better once I actually start working it. The job starts this coming Monday and class starts Tuesday. I just wanted to let all my blogger friends share in my good news and my overwhelming excitement!!!!

Trip to the Willcut's

2008-08-06T17:41:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we made a sparatic trip to visit our wonderful friends in Memphis, the Willcut's! We had a great time, especially playing with the kiddos. Sam and Melissa were overly gracious enough to let Mama and myself stay in their bedroom. We felt like royalty! We are blessed to be friends with this wonderful family. We left Friday around lunch time and got there around 5-ish and headed straight to the church building to have "game night". The congregation at Munford has a game night the first Friday night of each month and we were so excited we got to make it to this one! Oh and by the way, me and my rook partner won against 2 different teams! Saturday we slept in and played around the house and then for supper Sam and Melissa treated us to ribs at The Commissary. Now anyone that knows me knows how much I enjoy ribs, and I must say, those were without a doubt the best ribs I have ever eaten. I have to admit it, I'm sorry!!! Sunday we got the pleasure of hearing Sam preach and then Sunday night they had a guest speaker from Memphis School of Preaching. All in all it was one of the best trips up there! We just got to spend some quality time with our extended family, as we like to call them, and really catch up. The only bad part about it was that we wanted to stay so bad that we stayed an extra night. I already had to be at work the next morning at 10:00 so we left Memphis around 5:30 that morning. Talking about sleep walking! To Sam, Melissa, and kids, thank you so much for a WONDERFUL visit and for everything else that you all do. Yall mean more to Mom and myself than yall will ever know and you truly hold a special place in our hearts. Love you all so much!!!! P.S. - hope you enjoy the pictures!

Four Years Ago Today....

2008-07-30T04:20:00.000-05:00

....I lost the most wonderful man in my life, my father. William Earnest "Whit" Whitfield was 69 years old when he passed away from cancer on July 30, 2008. What can I say about this man? He was my father, my rock, my disciplinarian, my friend. Like any father/daughter relationship we were close. He was 51 years old when I was born so I was most definitely his "baby". Of course we had our miffs during my teenage years but I couldn't have asked for a better dad. He disciplined because he loved me and because he believed what the Bible says, "Spare the rod, spoil the child". Although he did his share in spoiling also! I can honestly say that I don't know one single person that would say a negative word about dad. Many people still come up to me and say that they miss "ol' Whit", but not half as much as I do. This picture was taken in 1985. My mom is in the original but I cropped dad out for this post. My mom was pregnant with me when this was made. I like to think that he is smiling because he knew he had me on the way! :) I look so forward to seeing my dad again one day. I don't have to worry for a second about where he might be. That is the only comfort I get from his loss, and believe me it has been a difficult road. I don't wish the pain of losing a parent on anyone, although I know that time does come eventually. It was hard to lose my dad when I was only 18, but I feel that I have grown up and I hope that he would be proud of the woman that I am today, and am still becoming. (Yeah I know you're out there rolling your eyes saying I'm still just a kid!) Mom is having a difficult time this week, but that is to be expected. If any of you see her at church tonight if you could please say a kind word to her it would be more than you would know. She has dealt with alot and continues to deal with the loss of a spouse on a daily basis. She is one of the strongest people I know. I hope that this picture brings back memories for those of you that knew this amazing man, and for those of you who did not get the pleasure of meeting him just know that you missed out on an awesome Christian example! Thank you for sharing in my remembrance with me.

Best Video

2008-07-29T00:10:00.000-05:00

Ok, if you haven't seen this video please take 5 minutes out of your day to watch it. It is the best video I have ever seen, an absolute tear jerker. It means alot to me because it reminds me soooo much of my mom and dad. Dad always said that we was waiting on mom everywhere they went. I heard him say on several occasions that when the Lord came back mom would say, "Hold on just a second, I'm coming!!!" Jokingly of course, but mom always runs late everywhere she goes. Quiet possibly where I get it from! Anyway, the video is "Waiting on a Woman", by Brad Paisley. It features Andy Griffith which is ever cooler. Hope you enjoy this video and song, even if it's half as much as I do!

WAITING ON A WOMAN! (click me)

Discovery

2008-07-24T23:04:00.000-05:00

I have made a startling discovery..... i am so happy! I don't need a man to make me happy, i am a pretty dog-gone cool girl by myself. I have my peeps I hang with and my family and I am just stinkin' happy. Can I just say prayer WORKS!!!!!! I have just prayed lately that everything would work out like it is supposed to and that I would just be happy, and I am. HAPPY!!!!! I haven't felt this free and giddy and liberated in FOREVER!!! FREEDOM!!!!! I don't have to answer to anyone.. well kinda... i do still live at home. But really I am just happy! Whew, I feel better! Thanks for listening!

A Terrible Loss

2008-07-17T20:40:00.000-05:00

We received terrible news today that my sister, Jackie (Whitfield) McFall, passed away earlier this morning. Apparently she was having trouble with some medication and she passed out a week ago and then this morning wasn't feeling well. They called the ambulance to come and take her to the hospital but before they could get her there she was pronounced dead. This has been very upsetting to me for several reasons. In only 13 days it will be 4 years since my dad passed away. This just brings back alot of memories about what happened with him and everything. I did not have a good relationship with Jackie, but it was not by my choice. I love all my sisters but there is alot of history that keeps most of them from wanting a relationship with me. This also makes it difficult because I realize that I have already lost one sister and that there are 4 more that I wish I had a close or closer bond with. One on my sisters called tonight to inform us that we were in no way, shape, form, or fashion to come to that funeral home and if we did we would be thrown out. All of the drama makes my heart hurt. It makes me long for Heaven to see both my fathers. Please keep me and my family in your prayers that we will handle all situations the best way we can.

I.C.Y.C.

2008-07-12T18:26:00.000-05:00

Well, another year of camp has come and gone and once again I am left renewed by the spiritual nourishment I received but saddened by leaving loved ones only to meet again next year, Lord willing. For those of you who may not now, I just got back from Indian Creek Youth Camp, a Christian youth camp associated solely with the Church of Christ. Our preacher at Adamsville, Ronnie Hayes, has the 5th session which always starts the Sunday after the fourth of July and goes until the following Friday. I HAD A BLAST!!!!! This was honestly the best week of camp that I can ever remember. Heather Parker had nothing to do with it either....lol! Actually me and Heather, one of my dearest and closest friends, were counselors together in Hilltop. Yes, Hilltop. That means we were literally on top of a hill with 39 ten to fourteen year old girls. (It is at this point when you may want to go "whew"!) We had to walk up and down that hill like 5 or 6 times every day and I'm telling you what's the truth I have legs of steal right now. If I could only keep it up! Most nights "lights out" was around 11:00 or 12:00 but that pretty much meant we told the girls to go to bed and then we stayed up til around 3:00ish. Tired ain't the word! I feel like there is so much I want to say but I don't even know where to begin. So, I am going to break it into segments...try to keep up!

-Baptisms: I believe that there ended up being like 15 or 16 baptisms this week which was incredible. I know that emotions run high when you are at camp, but there is so much truth being taught that it is hard not to respond, even if not in a public fashion. However, many youth and adults came forward confessing wrong in their life and then several were buried with Christ in baptism. Two girls were from mine and Heather's cabin and we had done some major Bible studies right before some of them made that decision. It was the best feeling in the world knowing that I got to be a part of that milestone in someone's life and it fired me up to teach everyone I came in contact with...and I'm still fired up!

-Sports: What can I say? WE STUNK IT UP!!! Ain't that right Jason? As soon as I found out that my good friend Jason Mullenix was coming to camp I made up my mind that we had to be on a sports team together like the year before. The camp in divided into 16 teams and there is one female and one male counselor that are team captains. This is also for when there is Bible Bowl study the ladies can help the girls and the men help the boys. Anyway, Jason was just as excited as I was because we had a blast the year before on a team together. So, this whole week we played a total of 8 games, that makes 2 games a day because there is no time on Sunday or Friday to play. Jason and mine's team were the only ones with the perfect record of 0-8! You got it....we lost it all baby!!!! Either way, win or lose, I enjoyed the fellowship with a good friend and even if we did have some slow kids on our team, I mean S-L-O-W, we gave it all we had. Jason, you think we can get snack-shack back for next year? What happened to that kid?

-Pranks, Elbows, and Hiding: Ok, so it wasn't just Heather down at camp, we had the other mischievous sister, Dana also. I go to open my suit case one day and there lays, wrapped up in my clean wash rag, a SNAKE!!!! No it wasn't real but it was one of those wooden kinds that wiggles really well and it scared the ba-jeebers out of me. I also got the joy of being the first person sung "Get your elbows off the table" to! I had to run around the mess hall barking like a dog....lovely! On the second night down at good ol' ICYC, Ronnie decided to have a counselor hunt. Guess who one of the six counselors that hid was? ME!!!! The rules are simple, counselors can hide anywhere in camp as long as it is not on the girls side, boys side, or in a building. That may seem like it takes away a lot of space but buddy I was pumped to go hide. After about 15 minutes Ronnie rung the bell and all 234 other people at camp came looking for us. Dana and myself hid so far back in the woods that there was no way any little kids were going to come and find us. Mean I know! All the kids had flashlights though so I was thinking this was pretty fair. We never got caught and it drove the kids crazy wondering where we were. The result of my awesome hiding....CHIGGERS!!!!!

-Fundraising: Many of you may already know that Indian Creek has been around a long long time. There are many things at camp that need rebuilding or just regular maintenance done. There is a family that wants to remain anonymous that has made a challenge to the staff. Every member of the staff that raises $500 will have their money matched and donated to the camp. That means if I can raise $500 it automatically turns into $1000. This family, whoever they are, is awesome!!! There will be cans in the foyer at church for people to drop pocket change into. Now, that is not going to my share of the $500 but it will go as just a general contribution. I am going to try to get a yard sale together and have it out in front of David's Pharmacy, where I work, one Saturday in the near future. I will talk more about it later, but if anyone is interested in donating even just $5 it would be a HUGE help! Got questions, ask me or go to icycal.com.

I can't think of anything better than Indian Creek Youth Camp. I love everything about it, from the baptisms to the skeeter bites. I honestly can't say enough good things about it. I have spent many years of my life down there over summer vacation and I will continue to go as long as the Lord may allow.

Below is a video of Heather and myself entertaining our cabin with our own rendition of "Any Man of Mine" by Shania Twain. It's really just the ending to it. The one will the entire song will not fit for some reason. You may want to cover your ears!

I also feel that I need to clarify something. The previous post that was entitled "Changes" was not meant to hurt any feelings or directed at anyone other than the obvious. I hope that everyone can clearly see why I would be posting that and hurt about what happened in my life with personal relationships. It was not directed towards any close friends or meant to damage friendships. I have been hurt by a man that lied and is no longer a part of the Lord's church, period, end of discussion!

On a lighter note, did anyone notice the change of name to my blog. I tried to do the poll thing but it ended both times in a tie. I was going to have a lightening round and then Kim suggested this name and I fell in love with it. Don't forget to update your blogs with my new name!

My hands are hurting now and I am out of things to say. Hope to have some new things up later on and look forward to reading and catching up on yalls. Hope everyone has a GREAT week!

Changes

2008-06-30T20:41:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wanted to change somebody? Not the way they look or even the way that they feel about you, but actually change the way that someone is living? It is so hard to see people that are members of the church who were once faithful members just stop coming or give up their Christianity. I want to shake them and say "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING???". I just can't imagine! The Bible says in James 4:17 that "to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin". With knowledge like that how can anyone continue in sin? It even seems like the more you may try to help a wayward Christian the more they despise you. Galatians 4:16 says "am I become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" How true that is. These are just some thoughts I had and some verses that comforted me while thinking about people not living right. I think that the words of the Serenity Prayer are overlooked because they are used so much, but while going over this in my mind I could not help but remember them: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; COURAGE to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference".

Back Home

2008-06-29T20:23:00.001-05:00

Home Sweet Home! We had an amazing time in Gatlinburg with the Griffins and it is always great to get away but there is still a part of me that looks forward to coming home. We have actually been home for a couple of weeks but this is the first chance that I have had to post anything. There has been a lot going on the past weeks in the life of Lori. I didn't realize how much I would not want to go back to work also. As you might have already read on Chad, Teale, or Crystal's blog, we got to get together with them in Pigeon Forge and rode go carts. I only wish I had a picture of how Nathan was right in front of me on every ride. He would position himself just so I was right on his bumper the entire ride. I got tired of seeing the back of his head...lol! I always have to give him a hard time. We did a lot of really cool things while on this trip like ride through Cades Cove and the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. We saw 5 bears while up in the woods, 2 of which where baby cubs playing...so cute! There should be some pictures here below in the slide show.

But, I must say that the coolest part of this entire trip was the night before we left, my mom bought me a DULCIMER!!! A what you might be asking? A dulcimer is an Appalachian Mountain instrument but can be played with bluegrass which is right up my alley! I had my eye on one last year and have talked about it for a year now. There was a nice man named Mark Edelman that was making them that took time to open up his shop after hours and let us come pick one out. If you want to check out his website just click here! I have learned a few easy songs so far but I am still working on it of course. Soon I will have to get someone to video me so I can post it on here and let you hear how beautiful the instrument sounds. I am so excited to finally have a dulcimer and hopefully be able to take it and play at T.H. very soon.

Last but not least, I have yet to name this blog. As many of you already know I have a poll on the side bar to your right where you can place a vote for your favorite blog name. I had it open for a week but forgot to tell anyone and it closed with a tie. So now that I have told all of you the poll will stay open until July 5th. Vote carefully, this is a very serious matter...lol! I am also leaving for camp on July 6th for Ronnie Hayes' week at ICYC!!!! Please pray that everyone will have a safe and fun trip. Take care all and until next time....

Welcome!

2008-06-06T18:08:00.000-05:00

Welcome friends to a new and improved Lori page. Isn't the title original? This is where you come in. I will be borrowing (notice I didn't say stealing) my cousin Chad's idea in letting you vote on a good blog title. I am totally in the dark about what to entitle this piece of artestry so please leave all the feedback you would like and we will put it to a vote. I will have to get you to help me with that by the way, Chad! In the news today, I am getting ready to go to Gatlinburg this coming Monday with some wonderful friends of ours, the Griffin family. We have been going to church together for some 14 years now and have become like family in this time. Could the timing be better by the way? I am so thrilled about being able to leave this whole area for a while and taking a much needed break. We will be leaving out Monday the 9th, and returning the next Sunday. (YIPEE!) After vacation is over I will try to figure out how to make a voting thingy like Chad did so we can get this blog named properly. I do feel the need to say one thing though. Thanks for all the support and prayers this past week from all my Christian friends and family. I can never thank you enough. I know that no matter what I am going through I have so many wonderful people to lean on. It has meant so much for people just to simply say "I'm praying for you". Things will get better with time, and God will take care of me so for that reason alone I put all of my trust in Him. Thank you from the bottom of my heart friends! Please keep the Griffin/Whitfield clan in your prayers in the upcoming days. With my mom and Sandra in the same car and in the same room I just hope we don't end up in the Sevier County Jail. Love you all and look forward to returning home to some good blog names! Happy Weekend!