A Hikin' We Will Go

My parents just recently purchased a mountain house in Clayton, GA so a few of my girlfriends and I went up for the weekend about three weeks ago. It was such a fun and relaxing weekend. We went up on Friday evening after work. We took Friday night to get settled in and come up with a tentative plan for Saturday.

Saturday we got up pretty early. We had set it up where each person or two people would be in charge of one meal or dessert. Saturday morning was Lindsey's day for breakfast. She brought a breakfast keish. It was very yummy. After breakfast we got dressed and ready to go on our hike. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day. So we loaded up the car and set out to find Three Forks Trail. A couple of the guys I work with had told me about it and said that we should definitely check it out...so we did.

It took us about 20 min or so to get to the trail from the house. We finally arrived and found several other cars parked at the entrance to the trail. I had been warned that the trail could be a little difficult in certain places but I knew that we could do it so I didn't tell the girls what I knew. But they would soon learn from a guy that had just finished as we were about to go in what it was all about...his exact words were "It is a bi*** of a hike". There was a brief freak out moment for a few of them but we set out to conquer it anyway.

We did take a camera with us to document our little hike so come along and check it out...

After the hike we were all pretty tired. But we headed to little downtown Clayton and went in a few of the local shops. Small towns always have such interesting little stores. After rambling in the stores we finally made our way back up the mountain to the house just in time to watch the sunset. It was absolutely beautiful! Wish I had a picture to share with you but we were not quick enough to snap one. That evening we enjoyed Katie & Paige's Sante Fe Soup. It was just what we needed to replenish us after our long day. The rest of the evening was spent laughing, story telling, movie watching, and in a little friendly game of Cranium...ha! Who knew us gals could get so competitive with one another!

All in all it was such a wonderful weekend and just what each of us needed. I look forward to spending many more weekends at the mountain house with friends and family.

2009 CMA Awards

The CMA's are one of my favorite award shows. Since I was young I have loved country music. I attended many different country concerts with my friend Amanda & her family very early on and my concert going has only increased over the years. As I have gotten older I have expanded my horizons as far as different genres that I listen to and I have come to appreciate the musicians even more. Everything that goes into writing a song, producing the album, the rehearsals for a show, and just the energy it takes to get up onto the stage and perform night after night makes me appreciate what each person involved does even more. The CMA's are a perfect example of all of that combined into one night.

As I watched the awards last night I watched it in a different way than I ever have before. I sat back and really paid attention to every single aspect of the show. I thought about how awesome it would be to be able to be apart of such a huge production. I know that I have expressed in the past how music is my passion and how much I would love to be able to work in the industry at some level. I have served on the production team at Buckhead Church for the last 2 years or more and I feel that I have really found my place. I have learned so much being apart of the team. I never really thought about working production though. I always thought that I would be better suited working in an office setting for a record company in Nashville. I have found though that I really like the hands on aspect of working behind the scenes. So as I watched the awards last night and really thought about how much hard work went into prepare for just one night, one awards show I was truly blown away. If I say that I wasn't discouraged or scared that I would never be able to be good enough to be apart of something so big I would be lying.

When I signed up be a volunteer on the production team at the church I had no idea exactly what all went into producing each Sunday’s services. It is truly a production. Each Sunday an environment is made to captivate and engage each person who walks through the door. An environment that is inviting and will allow everyone to be comfortable; even if it is their first Sunday to church in a while or their first Sunday ever. A lot of hard work and dedication is put into each and every service on Sunday much like what was put into the CMA award show. Watching from a different perspective last night really got me thinking a lot about the work involved in putting on any type of show or service. It is all really quite amazing to me.

I loved that there were so many different performances at the awards last night. I thought that Zac Brown Band did an AMAZING job doing their own rendition of Devil When Down to Georgia. It is really hard to believe they were not that long ago singing in the local bars and small clubs trying to make a name for their selves. They have come a very long way and I couldn't be more excited for those GA boys!!! Carrie Underwoods's performance was very sexy and I personally thought it was great. I've read several people's comments that they did not like what she was wearing, some felt has if she was trying to sell sex (so to say), etc. Carrie is a grown woman and an incredible artist. I do not feel that her performance portrayed her as trashy at all. I also really enjoyed the Vince Gill & Daughtry performance along with the Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews performance. I love watching as artist from different genres join together on songs. Last but certainly not least I will talk about Taylor Swift's two performances. I thought that her first performance was alright. I thought that the vocals were a little off. Her second song though I thought was wonderful. I love how the crowd got to interact with her. There were several other performances by others that I enjoyed but these are the ones that really have stuck in my mind.

So that is my take on the awards show last night. What did you think about it? Have you ever watched it from a different perspective before? What were your favorite performances?

Suggestions

Hello out there to anyone who still even reads this here blog of mine. What can I say I've been busy but also have had a mental block for some time now with what to blog about. I feel as if I always give you updates and that is just boring to me. I started the blog to actually write. Maybe if I just jump back into it my juices will start flowing for me again. Who knows! I sure could use all of your suggestions...got anything you want to hear about or anything you think would make a good post? Leave me a comment. Got something you want to ask me? Leave me a comment. I'll answer your questions and use your suggestions for new material! So come on now...don't be shy...help a homegirl out! :)

And to hold you over until next time here is a lil slideshow of Halloween this yr. It was such a fun day/night.

HaPpY bIrThDaY...

to my wonderful Mama! I am so thankful for you and everything you do for me. Honestly don't know what I would do without you!

Just thinking back I can't believe it was this time last year that Peyton and I were planning your BIG surprise! Man, how time flies. So here is to another year...I LOVE YOU!!!

Time sure does fly

I can't believe it has been 5 1/2 months since Nolan Maddox was born! He has brought such joy to all of our lives. It is quite different having a lil man around. He is very laid back and just kinda go with the flow. I love him more and more every single day. Here are a few pics of him at 5 months...

Maddox & I

Such a cute lil man

This he will kill me for one day...it was just too funny not to put up!

De-Daddy w/ Addison and Maddox. Maddox is always mesmerized by De-Daddy's voice.

September recap

Ok so I said I would try to post more regularly but as you can tell that hasn't happened. So here we are on the last day of September and I am finally getting around to blogging again. I guess it goes to show that my life hasn't seemed to calm down any since the beginning of the month. So I'll do a recap of Sept. for ya and go from there.

I celebrated my birthday on the 13th. I turned 28. YIKES, two more yrs and then the big 3.0. I will certainly be enjoying the last two yrs of my twenties! I spent my birthday weekend in Athens. It was a great time. My best guy friend in the entire world came down in the middle of the week so I got to spend some time w/ him on Friday night. We haven't gotten to have one of our fun filled nights in Athens in forever so it was great to be able to do that. Saturday morning I met up w/ Katie to spend the day with her. We got ready and headed to the tailgate since it was UGA's first home game. It was a long but fun day. We went to the game and cheered the Dawgs onto victory. I did A LOT of screaming at the game and woke up without a voice the next day.

Since Sunday was my actual birthday I requested that my mom cook lunch instead of going out. Since I'm not at home anymore it isn't very often I get one of my mama's good home cooked meals. So she cooked my birthday meal for me (that I have every yr) and boy was it yummy! That night she had gotten tickets to go and see Jeremy Camp in concert. I absolutely LOVE him so I was really excited. I had never seen him live before. And let me just tell you he looks even better in person than he does in pictures! That man is very easy on the eyes. Anyway, he puts on a great concert but what I loved about it so much was it was more than a concert...it was a night of worship.

That next week was pretty much just like any other week other than I ended up not having a voice at all for pretty much 3 days. I figured it was just from all the screaming I had done at the game the previous Saturday. By the weekend I was feeling pretty ok again. Lindsey came up to watch the ballgame with me on Sat. night. We went to Hudson Grille and cheered the Dawgs on w/ all the loyal fans. I didn't scream or anything during the game. I raised my voice but nothing like the weekend before. I say all this b/c it happened again the following week...no voice. Come to find out...it was strep throat. I should have known...that is the only thing I EVER get. So I was sick for pretty much two weeks straight. Fun times, fun times.

After being sick most of last week all I wanted was to go home...my parents home. I just wanted to be near my mama. Yes, I'm still such a baby when I am sick. So I packed up and headed home Thurs. evening. My mom and I had already planned that we would watch the season premier of Grey's together. I couldn't just not go home ;) Anyway, I ended up spending the entire weekend at home. It was exactly what I needed! Saturday night a very close family friend got married so we all went to that. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and could not have been any more perfect. My mom and I stayed the entire time and danced the night away w/ the rest of our good friends we don't get to see very often. It was such a fun time.

That brings us to this week. I am back to 100% health wise and I am feeling great. The week is half way over and the weekend is right around the corner. The weather could not be more perfect w/ fall finally in the air. I will spend another fun filled weekend in Athens this coming weekend w/ great friends and we will cheer the Dawgs on Saturday against LSU. In case you haven't figured it out yet...Fall is my favorite time of year...college football, great weather, and trips to the mountains! So there it is...the recap of September.

October 1st is tomorrow...wonder how many times in Oct. I will blog?!

Changes

I know that I haven't posted anything in a month and I do apologize for that. I hope that some of you who actually read this here outlet of mine will stick w/ me. I promise to get back on the bandwagon and post more frequently again. There have been several changes in my life since I last posted. I have just been taking some time to sit back take it all in and enjoy where I am right now in my life. I do believe though that I am ready to share a little about all the different changes that have occurred.

This time a month ago I was still very much getting adjusted to being in Atlanta away from my family and my friends. I was still getting adjusted to being on my own again and everything that comes with that. So while I was really excited to be on my own again I was sad and a little down. I can handle certain types of change (i.e. new hair color, etc.) but when it comes to big changes I don't always seem to do well with those. I have questioned if I acted too soon and jumped at the chance of moving. But after a lot of thinking and talking with others I don't think that was the case at all. If I had to do it all over again I would do it again in a heartbeat...well probably choose a different apartment but other than that I wouldn't change my decision. I know that the Lord opened up the door for this to happen and I am so glad that I finally took the step to make it happen. So in the last month I have really began to adjust to my new environment and I really do love it. I love being in the city. Who would have ever thought?! I certainly wouldn't have.

Another change that has occurred is that I am now a single female loving life in the city. The boy that I talked about in previous posts and I are no longer together. I won't go into it all just b/c there is really no point. The beginning was great and I was extremely happy. But just like all things everything is always great in the beginning. Things ended and that's that. Anyway, so while I have been adjusting to living in Atl. I have also been adjusting to being single again. I have bounced back pretty well I think. While I am waiting for my one prince in shining armor to come and sweep me off my feet I will continue to live, grow, and have fun while I wait.

Lastly I would like to share with you about a new thing I have been given the opportunity to do. One of my best friends Katie has recently made a few changes in her life as well. She is now living/working in Athens. I was very sad to see her go but she is living in the greatest town in GA so visiting will not be an issue! :) Since she has left though that left our small group without a leader. So I approached Katie about taking over the leader position in the group. Since I was her apprentice she thought that it was a great idea. So I am now the official leader of a small group. We have added four new girls and I am so so so excited about this new group. I really do feel that this is exactly what I am suppose to be doing and I can't wait to see where all the Lord will take us.

So that's it...that is the update on my life. Many changes all for the good though. So now that I have gotten the update of everything out of the way I hope to get back to posting regularly again. If you have anything you would like me to blog about I am open for suggestions....