Happy 35th Birthday!

Today is my 35th birthday. As promised, I will celebrate this day by posting pictures of me from throughout the years. Some of these are WILD! I told you before that if I posted embarrassing pics of others, I would do it to myself.

 

I admit, I am lazy and did not scan the pictures. I took pics of pics because my good camera battery was dead. (Hush- it’s my bday- I can be LAZY if I want.)

 

These are in NO order…unless you count the order that I found them and took the pic.

 

This one is at my first bday. It is on the trailer porch and that is Mama- Mac standing by me. My house is now where the trailer once stood.

birthday

 

Just a few weeks old…Why is my mother feeding me cereal when I am THAT young?!

 

Christening. I LOVE my dad’s suit!

2nd birthday maybe? Looking a bit like Jade here.

 

Random mall in Mexico.

 

2nd year of teaching…Wow, those pants are HIGH waisted!

Look at the wall board and carpet in the trailer! CLASSIC! (and the deer head- Yes, Ma’am!)

 

Bridal shower just before I got married in 1997. (First year teaching)

 

2nd grade..at Aunt Carol’s ..what DUFUS made us pose like this?! Notice the broken arm.

 

Oh dear! 7th grade!

 ‘

Todd, Aunt Carol, Me- 7ish?

 

Me and Mama

 

Me and Jade 2002

HEAVEN’s TO BETSY!!! (1993)

 

Senior Prom 1993

 

The last time I wore a Halloween costume. I was a deer. Those are real antlers and people were impressed at how long I wore them! (Dawn’s House 1998ish)

 

College Graduation 1997

 

In Florida at my grandparents- 1980?

 

7th grade “Prom”  I was SO excited to have a “hoop dress”.

 

Senior Pictures 1992

 

Dance Recital- 4th Grade

 

Me and Todd at the “new”house. Checkout the paneling and carpet. (We won’t even mention the overalls!)

My grandmother and me…WOW! Just WOW!

Me while pregnant with Jenna..Nov 2001

 

Mexico- 2001- 12 weeks preg with Jenna

 

Snowstorm January 2002- Jenna due ANYDAY- Yes, this was the day I kneeboarded behind the 4 wheeler. Not the brightest idea I ever had, but better than the time I cliff dove in Jamaica.

Me with Jenna when she was about 2-3 weeks old.

Me with Jade 2009 snowstorm

 

Me and Jenna- Wedding 2007

Me and Hope- Props to Hope, Derrick, AMS, and Uncle Carlton! They gave me a housecleaning from Sunflower Maids for my bday. I seriously screamed when I read the email! WooHoo!!!

Daddy walking me down the aisle (beach)

Jeff and I- wedding reception 2007

 

Gonga (Miss Aqua Net), Mama, and me…LOVE the couch (Yes, I used that couch in college. It was SOOOO LONG and Velvet!)

 

Me and Jenna at my baby shower for Jade- 2008

 

ME and Jenna- Beauty Pageant- 35 weeks pregnant

 

ME, Jenna, Baby Jade

 

 

 

My 16th birthday- Not sure what to comment about: the socks, the blanket, the paneling, or yet another deer head.

1993

Kindergarten

Gooo Eagles! (10th or 11th Grade)

  ‘

 

Me (left) showing off my cat in Advanced Sciences. I won the award for the highest avg in this class. No, we did not dress like that always- It was Spirit Week!

9th grade dance recital

Oh My Word! 8th grade dance recital

 

Me and Jill waiting on the bus. Look at Jill’s mullet! (Let’s just focus on her mullet and NOT my perm)

10th Grade FFA National Convention. This was taken outside the Bass Pro Shops in Kansas City. I am 2nd from left. We look really bad partially due to the fact that we were on a short bus for 10 days traveling through 10 states.

Just before Sr Year. State Convention FFA. This picture begins to show some hope.

 

One of my slumber parties in high school.

 

 

My first deer. Not sure whose coveralls I was wearing, but it was someone large.

 

2nd grade class pic.

 

AMS and me- 7th grade prom

 

Me and Daddy HS graduation

 

Me and Dawn 2005 or 2006

AMS and Me (10 years later from the last pic) My first year teaching.

My family Christmas 2009

 

Valentine’s Day 2010

3rd Anniversary-2010

Hilton Head 2010 Spring Break

 

May 2010

 

Ok, So I think I was fair to those of you who I have posted pics of before. I included some HIDEOUS ones of me. I apologize for the poor quality, but between teaching, mommying, and living a life, it was all I could do.

Thanks to ALL of you who have called, visited, Facebooked me, or emailed me to wish me a happy birthday. It has been a  special day. I am about to get dressed to go to dinner and Trivia Night with Julie and Jennifer. I ALWAYS look forward to our bday celebrations. I got some wonderful, generous gifts and I am thankful for each of them.

Impromptu Weekend Away

After our Friday 13th we were ready to get away. We had plans to stay home this weekend with the exception of Jeff needing to spend all day Saturday in Augusta for his Emmaus training. I had plans to do laundry and clean house. Jenna was going to Justin’s, so it would just be Jade and I. That WAS the plan.

Then when Jeff’s truck broke down, he needed to take my car to Augusta. That would leave me stranded at home ALL day. I LOVE to be home, but I don’t like to be stranded. I was willing anyway since Emmaus is so important to Jeff.

Enter Stage Right: A text from Aunt Carol inviting us to the farm! JUST IN TIME!

Out went the plans for laundry and cleaning house and in came the fast packing, run to Wal Mart, and loading up the Polaris so we could get to the farm!

AC and Uncle Joe have a group of friends who RV together mostly during football season. This year they have expanded and RV’d at each other houses and even took a cruise together. This weekend they all gathered at the farm in Sparta. Uncle Joe owns 1800 acres of pure nature.

 

 

There were 4 RVs and some of them are worth 3-4 times what it cost to build my house!

 

 

Friday night we had a LATE meal of chicken, corn, slaw, etc.

My family stayed in the farm house. There was NO RVing for us. Don’t get me wrong, I do love to camp.

 

 

 

Saturday, Jeff left at 6am and headed to Augusta. Being in Sparta meant that he had about a 45 min drive rather than the 1.5 hrs that it takes from home. (Win- Win) Jade and I stayed at the farm and it was a really laid back day. Lots of fishing, ATVing, sitting around, and eating. Such fun!

 

Nonni and Pop even came over Saturday afternoon. They spent the night, too. (Mark it down- POP LEFT HOME FOR A WHOLE AFTERNOON AND NIGHT DURING HAY SEASON! Add to that the fact that other than our family, he knew NOONE!) You will soon see that he got more than he bargained for out of this trip. (In a good way)

 

This guy here is named Chris. He is (in)famous at Bulldog Park for his cooking and music. This guy tailgates like no other. Literally, I have come across pictures of his tailgate tent on SO many Facebook pages. Especially at the GA-FL game, he attracts people.

In this pic he has a weird look on his face…why, you ask? Could it be that he recognizes someone. Hmm,

 

 

 

 

Pop was sitting at the table and somehow someone called Chris by his full name. The bells in Pop’s head went off and he said, “WAIT A MINUTE! There can only be one Chris Raines in this world, and I went to college with him!”

Chris replies, “Tell me your name. No one introduced us.”

Pop, “Clayborn McMichael”

Chris, “Well, there can’t be but ONE Clayborn McMichael and we ROOMED ACROSS FROM EACH OTHER AT MIDDLE GEORGIA COLLEGE FOR TWO YEARS!”

The room all went like this….

 

 

WHAT! That has been 40 years!! Yep! They lived together in college and had MANY, MANY stories to share. Such a SMALL world.

Cool!

 

Aunt Carol and Uncle Joe were wonderful hosts, as always.

 

The kids had a major wrestling match. Jade held her own, too.

 

We came home early today and have been rather lazy outside of laundry and a little house cleaning.

The weekend definitely helped ease the pain of Friday. No, it didn’t repair the truck or replace the 10% pay cut, but it certainly brightened our spirits.

We are ready for our work weeks with thankful hearts for jobs, family, health, and a wonderful weekend. Thanks so much AC and UJ!

Pity Party

I had all out plans to blog about the first week of school and especially to tell you all about my fabulous student teacher. That will have to wait until a different time.

Today turned out to be a fairly rotten day. I'm gonna whine for about 3 paragraphs and then I'm done. Ready?

My check engine light came on this week and we had plans for jeff to get it serviced today.

Jeff got called out on a out of town job this morning, so my service went out the window. Then, his truck broke down about an hour away from home. ( read: both vehicles broken) Jeff hitched a ride home in the tow truck. Fun. He spent the rest of the day at the mechanic's shop fixing my car and seeing about his truck. Fortunately, my car is fixed without breaking the bank. Jeff's truck will be fixed with only minor dents into the account. For that, we are SO thankful.

Then, jeff got a call that all paychecks were being cut 10%! OUCH!! Permanently! Double ouch.

That's not all. Today was payday and jeff was informed that all checks are being held until Monday. Grr. Fortunately, we are ok, but so many of the guys were expecting and depending on being paid today. We can wait til Monday, but not much further.

I think that's all the bad news we got today. We are still employed and are just fine. For that, we thank God!

We also have much more to be thankful for! We are blessed! Pity party over!

Let the camping party begin. We are headed to Sparta for some pre football season camping. (I'm staying in the house). Gonna be fun.

If this post is random, I'm typing it on my phone while in wal Mart. Hee hee.

3rd Grade

 

Today, Jenna started 3rd grade. we took the traditional “stand in from of the fireplace” pictures. I have a pic like this from every year since 2 year old preschool. I keep meaning to put them all in one file for comparison.

Jenna spent the whole day in her “homeroom” with Ms. Leverett. She LOVED it and had a great day.

 

I made her pose on the hearth and on the floor. The reason I did this is because remember that at the start of 2nd grade she stood ON the hearth and I wanted to be able to compare. She is really too tall now, so I made her take one on the floor to compare for next year.

 

I started my 14th year teaching. It was a pretty good day. I will say that I have an AWESOME student teacher who is an absolute natural in the class. I mean, she is GOOD!

I am also blessed with an inclusion Para pro at the end of the day. She was knowledgeable about the students and was able to offer a lot of support. I look forward to working with her this year. She is going to be a HUGE help and I am so thankful for her!

 

Jade started the 3 yr old day care class today. She is way young for this class, but the way the classes are, it was her turn. She did great. I taught both of her teachers, so I know she is in good hands. BIG NEWS: Jade kept her Pull Up DRY ALL day! YEah!

 

Here is Jenna at the end of 2nd grade. Look how she grew over  the summer! (Ok, so I realize the zoom is different, but look at her head compared to the fireplace. ) They grow too fast!

Big Bump

Summer is REALLY over now. I have been at work for 4 days, but the students officially return tomorrow. Last night was Open House and I met a good many of my students. I love to stay positive and say things appear to be set for a great year, but truth be told, I left Open House a little nervous about a few of my future students. I met MANY students that will be great and I will just try to make a positive impact on all students and pray that they leave me brighter and better than they begin.

I also went to meet Jenna’s teachers yesterday. She has Ms. Leverett and Mrs. Reagin for her academics. I am very happy about this. She seems to have a good class. She also will Ms. Meyers for Gifted.

Jeff took Jenna to Open House and Nonni watched Jade in the hallway. Apparently, Jade tripped and hit her head on the block wall. OUCH!  She has a REALLY big bump and knot on her head. She seems to be fine. We iced it every hour and watched her closely. It looks MUCH better today. This is her trying to kiss the knot. You can see how big it is on her forehead. 

On Sunday at church Jade played in the baby swing and I found this picture on my phone.Think she is a little too big?

 

Tomorrow will be a crazy day with the first day of school for 3 of the 4 of us. Jenna starts 3rd grade, Jade starts the 3 year old class (She is young, but they are shuffling a lot of kids, so she moves too.), and I start my 14th year of teaching. Gonna be fun.

Baptism

Jenna was baptized yesterday. She was one of 7 to be baptized. Mike, our pastor, did a wonderful, sweet service. Strange as it may seem, our church has a swimming pool for members to use. We also use it for baptisms.

 

 

There were originally 5 to be baptized, but the man in the tie joined in when he went to the pre baptism meeting with his friend. Notice in this pic there are only 6 in the pic.

 

Now there are 7. Reed (green shirt) joined in after it at started. That’s just how we roll.

Jenna was first up. I MEANT to tell her not to swim to the preacher…and she DIDN’T. Thankfully.

 

This is Pam and she was found through a prison ministry that two ladies in our church have. When she was released she came to our church and it doing wonderfully. (Note: She is the lady that lost her earring. You will need this info in a bit.)

 

Jenna had lots of guests at the service. The Macs came.

 

Grandmama came.

 

Bryn came (and her Daddy, too, but somehow I don’t have his picture. I KNOW I told Justin and Jenna to pose, but they never did. )

 

Us- HOT!

My sweet friend Dena surprised me and came. It just made my day! She came and visited for a while after church and I was SO glad to see her.

 

and Robyn and Zach were there. What a great crowd to love and support Jenna.

 

Nonni and Pop were there, too. How did I not get a picture?! Grrr! I guess I was just too hot.

So for the earring story… I feared Jenna would swim during baptism. I forgot to tell her not to. She is pretty mature in her thinking, but let’s face it, you NEVER know what a child might do! At the end of the baptism, the man noticed that Pam’s earring was at the bottom of the pool. He knelt to get it and missed. Jenna PROMPTLY and gracefully fish dives in and retrieves the earring. Thankfully, I told her to wear shorts under her dress. So, technically she didn’t swim, but she came close enough. Ha!

It was a great day!

Today I went back to work and I have to say that it was a good day. I have a terrific student teacher who I am enjoying getting to know. I love my coworkers, and I am thankful for a happy place to work. I will be tired by the end of the week and I have TWO sleepy girls this afternoon. Neither wanted to get up this morning. Ha!