BOOOOOO Finals

Finals time SUCKS.  It is the WORST time of the year for me.  I have my Insurance final on Tuesday afternoon, Business Associations on Thursday afternoon, Bankruptcy on Saturday morning, and then Estate and Gift Tax on the following Thursday.  May 13 PLEASE GET HERE.

That's all I have to say.

Wednesday's Wise Words

This week I have had one thought on my mind quite a bit.  When I lived in Troy, I led a group of girls at my church.  When I first started working with them, they were in the 7th grade.  I left them when they were starting their junior year.  Needless to say, working so closely with such an amazing group of girls for so long, we are all extremely close despite our age difference.  The girls are now seniors in high school, getting ready for their big prom this weekend and then graduation in just about three weeks.  They are precious girls and I love them all like they are my sisters.

One of the girls lost her father this past Thursday night.  He went in the hospital two weeks ago for hernia surgery and just had complication after complication after that and got progressively worse.  When he passed away on Thursday night, Em immediately texted me (we'd been in contact through all of this).  I had been telling her that if she needed or wanted me to come home, all she had to do was ask and I'd be there as quickly as I could drive.  Well, after she texted me to tell me her father had died, she asked if I'd come home.  I couldn't say no.  I left Thursday night from Jackson around 11:30 and made it to Troy around 4 a.m. Friday.  I spent a lot of my weekend with Em and her sister and their mom.

I say all of this to say a couple of things that qualify for Wednesday's Wise Words.

1.  Honor your father and mother.  This is one of the hardest of God's Commandments for me to follow.  I so often feel like I know more than my parents or know what is better for me than they do.  It is hard to respect them a lot of times because of this attitude.  However, I have to remember that the Lord instructs us as children to obey our parents and to follow their teachings.  I am blessed to have been raised in a Christian home where my parents taught me right from wrong, good from evil, and to love the Lord with all of my heart.  My parents' teachings came from the Bible and for this I am incredibly fortunate and even more grateful.  I just have to remember to honor them and to live in a way that glorifies God so that others can see that I was raised by amazing parents who passed this trait on to me.  My new goal is to live so that I can satisfy God's command in Proverbs 23:25:  "May your father and mother be glad, may she who gave you birth rejoice!"

2.  Share your love.  I am not a 'touchy-feely' person.  I am not one to express my feelings.  For some reason, I have always been one to keep those kinds of things on the inside.  Sure, I love my family and friends in a way that I could not express with words, but it is often very hard for me to say this.  However, after seeing (again) how quickly things can change and how, in a blink of an eye, someone can be taken from this world and from my life, I am reminded that I need to get over that.  It is so important to share our feelings with those we love and care for.  As we've always been told, we are not promised tomorrow.  We are not ourselves promised another day on this earth, but neither are those we care for.  We need to take every opportunity we have and make the most of it by saying "I love you" and showing those we care for just how much we love them.

That's all that I have for today, except to tell all of you that if you are reading my blog, you are someone special to me.  No matter whether we are as close today as we were at some point in the past or whether we talk regularly or not, you are my friend.  I love you and I am grateful God has placed you in my life, for whatever season.  Thank you for being there for me.

Miss Macy

Miss Macy thinks she is a person.  She cracks me up.  She talks to me and the roomies.  Seriously.  She makes THE funniest noises and it really is like she is trying to communicate with us.  She is hilarious.  She has the cutest little ears.  They are to Macy what facial expressions are to us.  I can tell what she is thinking, what she wants, and what she has done by the 'expression' of her ears.

Macy loves to chew on rawhide bones and chew strips.  She can't have real toys because they last all of 3 minutes before she has pulled an ear off or a tag or a tail and gotten to the stuffing.  Macy loves to have her belly scratched.  If you start to pet her, she immediately either rolls onto her back or picks up her arm so you can get to her belly.  Macy loves her treats.  She will do all of her tricks: sit, shake, up (her meerkat move), or crate up.  She loves my roomies.  Kip plays with her - he treats her like a rag doll and pushes and tosses and beats her up.  Justin spoils her with belly rubs and biscuits.  Macy loves to boss other dogs around and to chase cats outside.

Here are some recent pictures of the spoiled rotten monster who thinks she not only runs 927 Manship, but is a human.

Top 3 Thursday - Pet Peeves

3.  Cruising in the Fast Lane

I get so annoyed, especially on the interstate, when a driver sets his cruise on 70mph but then rides in the left lane, which is the FAST lane.  If you're going to cruise at all, get in the RIGHT lane.  The left lane is technically for passing, not even just riding along at a high rate of speed.  I travel back and forth and spend way too much time on interstates to have to deal with this.

2.  Smacking Gum

It's gross.  I am not a fan of gum.  I very rarely chew it myself and only when I am in desperate need of some breath freshening and have no other options.  If you're chewing gum, I don't want to hear it and I don't want to see it.  It's gross.

1.  Text Talk

We speak English.  We should write, type, read, speak - just all in all communicate - using correct grammar.  This text talk annoys me TERRIBLY.  It is NOT 'u', 'ur', 'gr8', 'ic', 'thx', 'b', 'b4', etc.  If you send me a text message using this mess, it makes me not want to read it or reply.  Of course, I do, but it does make me cringe on the inside.

As Promised . . .

MORE pictures from New Orleans and the 2010 Southern Republican Leadership Conference!  I wish I knew how to make cute little collages so my post wouldn't be 10 pages long, but sorry, I don't!  So enjoy it like it is!  :)

Jamie and I on the Amtrak train from Jackson to New Orleans.  It was so much fun!

A group of Republican women from Jackson, along with Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant rode the train with us.  They had this life-size, cardboard cutout of Sarah Palin that they carried around all weekend.  Of course we had to take a picture since Jamie had texted all our friends and told them we were riding the train with Sarah Palin!

We stayed at the Ambassador Hotel on Tchoupitoulas Street.  It was THE perfect hotel.  I was really worried because the pictures on the website made the place look so quaint and homey and I was afraid our room was going to be terrible.  But, it looked just like the website pictures!

We were waiting on Sean Hannity to start his show.  These guys are all second year law students with me:  Blake, Ron, me, and Jamie

On our way back into the Hilton for the show, we ran into this man pushing this bulldog in a stroller!  I had to have a picture with her!  Ron jumped in.

This is Rick Santorum, former Senator of Pennsylvania.  He currently practices law in Pittsburgh and DC and is very involved in the Republican Party and also contributes on Fox News some.

This is my favorite man alive.  Well, not really, but I love him.  Hello Haley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi.  AMAZING man and SO knowledgeable.  Look him up.  You, too, will be impressed.

This man will be a surprise candidate in 2012, or at least a lot of people will pull for him.  This is the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry.  Great guy.

Friday night we went out to Cats Meow on Bourbon.  This is me and my friend, Meg.  She's a 2L also.  Oh, and that's Ron looking mighty creepy in the background.

This lady hung out with us all night long!  I'm really good at making friends with strangers in bars apparently.  She is married and has kids and was there with her sister and brother-in-law, but she liked us better.

So, Jamie and Ron left me to go the restroom or bar or somewhere.  Jamie says he was gone five minutes and he came back and I was on the stage with strangers singing Cher.  haha.  Love it.

After the convention ended Saturday afternoon, me and some of the 1L boys grabbed Tyler and his wife and went walking down to Jackson Square and all around.  Eventually we stopped for burgers and drinks at Margaritaville.  Starting with me and going clockwise: Me, Tyler's wife, Mary Ruth, Tyler (2L), Nathan, Frank, and Kenton (all 1Ls).

I am a bit embarrassed to put this picture on here, but as Jamie says, it really sums up the whole weekend.  Ridiculous, out, laughing, and being crazy.  SRLC 2010 right here.

Top 3 Thursday - Restaurants

TOP 3 RESTAURANTS

This week's top 3 is restaurants.  I know I have been in lots and lots of good restaurants, but I guess because I've been in Jackson for so long, I can only think of Jackson restaurants.  There are a lot of not good things about Jackson, MS, but one good thing is that it has some amazing places to eat!  Because I live and go to school in downtown Jackson, I've had the opportunity to really explore the hole-in-the-wall spots that have been around for decades and have their specialties more than mastered.  So, all three of my Top 3 come from the "City with Soul."

3.  Amerigo

Everyone has their favorite Italian restaurants.  If you're from Troy and you're asked about Italian, you're most likely going to say something like Olive Garden.  No.  Amerigo is amazing Italian food.  It's the real deal.  It is a chain, however, with about 5 restaurants - the other four are all in Tennessee, I believe.  Amerigo is one of "the" date places for our area.  The atmosphere is super classy, yet simple.  The food is beyond delicious.  The servers and staff are all incredibly friendly.  I love it because you can go at lunch in blue jeans or business casual and enjoy lunch portions of their tasty food beside attorneys, politicians, and judges.  Then, you can dress up in almost cocktail attire for a super nice, romantic (if you have someone to go to a romantic dinner with) dinner.  Amerigo is definitely a must if you come to Jackson.

2.  Pizza Shack

The Pizza Shack is only two blocks from my house and if you have been to Jackson to visit me, I've taken you here.  This place has THE best pizza I have EVER had - even better than pizza I've gotten in Italy.  It is definitely a hole-in-the-wall but it is on a very highly travelled road so it gets good business.  You can kind of see in the right of the picture the patio.  It is so much fun to go here for lunch or an early dinner and sit out there under the umbrellas and enjoy some greasy pizza and some sunshine. 

The place is super simple.  You eat on plastic, red checkered table cloths with paper towels and styrofoam plates and cups.  I LOVE it.  The food is SO delicious, it is worth the 15 pounds you gain from eating there!

1.  CS's

Please tell me that if you were driving around looking for somewhere to eat lunch, you wouldn't immediately pull over when you saw this place!  I know this place doesn't look like much, but oh my goodness, you'll never eat a better cheeseburger in all your days.  CS's has been in this exact same spot since the 1960s.  They have NEVER done ANY renovations.  LOVE it.  I wish I could give you a virtual tour of this place.  You walk in the door and are immediately on top of tons and tons of tables.  You seat yourself because the place has 1 waitress, 1 checkout guy who also works as "cook", and then 2 kitchen people.  The waitress, Ms. Inez, has been there for something like 23 years.  The top of the walls are lined with EVERY type of beer can you can imagine - all years old.  The rest of the walls are covered with bumper stickers, calendar pages, invitations to private parties hosted at CS's, school posters, etc.  It's amazing.

The menu is a piece of grease-stained paper that is passed around from table to table.  They are known for their burgers and have one Jackson Free Press awards for "Best Burgers in Town" an unprecedented number of times.  One of the burgers, the Inez, named after Mrs. Inez herself, is covered in chili, cheddar cheese, and jalepeno peppers.  But, no worries, if you don't want to eat 4000 calories at lunch, they have their low-carb plates which are DELICIOUS.  CS's also has a choice of 2 blue plate lunch specials which are just as good.  The best thing about CS's - just like it has not done any renovations since the 60s, it hasn't raised its prices much, either.  You can enjoy your entire lunch for less than $6 and be full for the rest of the day!  But, remember, CS's makes so much money at lunch, it is only open from 11 am to 2 pm, so don't miss out!

**By the way, I swear I like healthy places, too.  I don't eat junk food all the time!**

Wednesday's Wise Words

I have not done a Wednesday's Wise Words in quite a while.  I thought I would share something I read earlier this week, so here is this Wednesday's Wise Words.

Everyone can make a difference.  That's the bottom line.  Most likely, everyday we come across and interact with dozens of people.  Sure, they may be the same people everyday, but what about the waiter at the restaurant or the cashier at the gas station or the clerk at the bank?  A few months ago, I realized how frustrated I often get with service people when they don't do exactly as I feel they should when I feel they should.  Since then, I have been trying to make a conscious effort to be nice and overly friendly to people like that.  Sometimes it is incredibly hard, but I can tell it makes a difference - even if just a small smile - when I throw in a simple compliment.  I try to make a difference.  BUT, I need to make a little more of a difference.  We can all make a difference everyday.  We just have to start the each day with our minds made up that we are going to make a difference in the life of someone else that day.  We have to decide that we are going to be a blessing to someone else.  We have to decide that we are going to say something positive to someone even if we don't really want to.  We have to focus on making the best out of every moment.

James 2:17 says, "Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."  We need to show those that we come into contact with God's love by our actions and our words - EVERYDAY.

One last thought.  Last week I ate lunch with an attorney here in town.  He said that when he was in law school, every night as he was laying in bed trying to go to sleep, he asked himself, "Who today?"  He was asking who did I impact positively today?  He said that he did it for two and a half years while in law school, and ten years later, he is still asking himself this every night.  This made him specifically focus everyday on showing God's love.  That's my new goal.

Weekend in NOLA - Part 2

Saturday morning after Jamie and I finally woke up, we went to lunch at this cute little sidewalk cafe.  Jamie was not feeling very well, so he went back to our hotel, and I walked down to the conference.  I met Nathan and Frank there.  Saturday afternoon's speakers were great.  I got there just in time to hear Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour.  He is amazing!!  I love him!  We also got to hear Herman Cain.  I'm telling you all right now - watch out for him in 2012.  He's going to be the 'dark horse' candidate for the Republican Party, I promise!  Even though I was able to attend the convention because of Mitt Romney (who didn't come to the convention at all), I am a HUGE fan of Ron Paul.  He spoke Saturday afternoon and had the crowd going CRAZY (not all good, of course, but mostly good).

Unfortunately, this is the best picture I was able to get of Ron Paul speaking.

We also heard Michael Steele speak.  He's the Chairman of the NRC.  He was pretty impressive.  Other speakers on Saturday included:  Representative Thaddeus McCotter, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana, Texas Governor Rick Perry (watch out for him in 2012 as well!), former Congressman Rick Santorum (love him), and Senator David Vitter.  Most of the speakers were very enjoyable to listen to and I had a great time and learned a LOT.  The convention pretty much wrapped up around 4:30, so Nathan and I grabbed Tyler and his wife, Mary Ruth, and headed down to French Quarter Fest to meet up with Frank and Kenton.  We shopped around a bit, enjoyed the music, and then went to Margaritaville so some of them could eat lunch/dinner.  After a fun evening there, we all headed back to our hotels for showers and short naps.

Jamie's girlfriend Jessica got into town around 7:30, so when she got there, the three of us met Ron and Nathan for dinner at Acme Oyster House off of Bourbon Street.  I am not a seafood person at all, but that place was so much fun.  The boys tried their hardest to get me to eat a raw oyster promising me all sorts of things, but I just could not bring myself to it.  I actually want to gag thinking about it even now.  After dinner, the five of us wandered about Bourbon Street for a while.  We even ran into a couple of people we all know from Jackson that were not even there for the conference.  I thought that was fun and completely random.  Jamie and Jessica left the rest of us around 11.  Ron, Nathan and I spent the rest of the night going in and out of different bars and wandering the streets.

Ron and I back at the Cat's Meow.

Nathan and me at the Cat's Meow

The boys bought me my first ever hand grenade.  I was kind of excited.

The boys hanging out in a courtyard of some bar.

I wanted a cute picture with the horse but Ron ruined it!

This night was so much fun.  I loved all the people on Bourbon Street and had so much fun dancing and singing in the different bars.  I met some fun people, too, including other convention goers and fans of my friend Paige's sister's company, Southern Proper, all the way down from Chicago!  We stayed out until the sun came up!  I seriously didn't go back to our hotel under about 6 in the morning, but it was totally worth it!

Sunday morning, Jamie, Jessica and I woke up around 8 and we checked out of our hotel around 8:30.  We made a few stops at different places in NOLA.  They dropped me off at my house in Jackson around 1:00 Sunday afternoon. 

I am SO glad that I went this weekend.  I made new friends with some fun, amazing kids from law school that I haven't hung out with in the past.  I got to listen to some amazing speakers and hear some very innovative ideas that will help me decide how I will vote both this November (to win back Congress for the Republicans) and then again in 2012 for the presidential race.  I had the opportunity to re-experience New Orleans.  It was just a GREAT time.  I will try to post more pictures in a couple of days when I get more posted.  There are a lot more fun ones that are on my friends' cameras.

Weekend in NOLA - Part 1

This weekend I had the opportunity to go to the Southern Republican Leadership Convention in New Orleans.  My friend, Jamie, and I took the Amtrak train from Jackson to New Orleans.  It took a little longer than a car, but it was so much fun.  It also happened that we rode the train down with several crazy ladies that were part of the Mississippi Republican Women.  They were absolutely hilarious and kept us entertained the entire ride.  They even had a life-size cardboard cutout of Sarah Palin.  Mississippi's Lt. Governor Phil Bryant and his wife also rode with us.  Because of our conversations and laughs with these women and Lt. Gov. Bryant, Jamie and I felt like celebrities at the convention.  Every time we ran into one of these women or Lt. Gov. Bryant, they said hello, hugged us, gave us free stuff, etc.  LOVED it.

After we got to NOLA, we checked into our hotel.  It was perfect!  It was in THE best location and we got a great rate.  Jamie and I then went down and had a snack at these fun little bar/grill called Lucy's that our cab driver had recommended.  After going and checking in at the convention, we went to Harrah's Casino to wait for some of Jamie's friends who were coming up to have dinner with us.  We played penny slots.  I won $64 in less than 15 minutes on PENNY SLOTS!  Jamie, on the other hand, lost $20.  We met his friends and had dinner at Gordon Biersch Brewery.  It was DELICIOUS!  After dinner, Jamie and I headed back to our hotel where we were going to wait on some friends to hit the streets of NOLA.  But, we were tired and ended up calling it a night.

Friday morning, Jamie and I got up and got dressed for the convention.  We met our friend Ron and walked down to the convention.  It was so neat.  I used to be incredibly into politics, but since I have started law school, I've kind of gotten away from it.  This weekend most definitely rekindled my love of politics.  Friday's speakers included Sarah Palin, JC Watts, Rick Perry, Tony Perkins, and Bobby Jindal.
                                    

Right after Sarah Palin spoke and got the crowd pretty excited.

We caught former Representative JC Watts in the hallway after he spoke.

Jamie, Ron and I went to lunch at the restaurant in the hotel.  While there, Jamie saw a man he used to work with who invited us to a private party upstairs.  After hanging out for a while longer at the conference, we went up there.  It was quite fun.  It was for the Louisiana Legislature people that were there, so I felt a little out of place, but we made friends quickly.  We stayed there for a while and then went back downstairs to a dinner at the conference, A Taste of Louisiana.  We met up with some more of the people there from MC Law and hung out.

Ron, me, and Jamie at the Taste of Louisiana

Nathan, me, and Blake at the Taste of Louisiana

Blair, me, and Kenton at the Taste of Louisiana

After the Taste of Louisiana was over, we got to go to the live recording of The Sean Hannity Show.  He had JC Watts, Bobby Jindal, and others on the show.  Sean Hannity gave out footballs and then signed them.  It was fun.  I didn't get a picture with him, but I did get to take pictures of some of my friends with him.

Kenton caught one of the footballs and then was able to get it autographed!

LOVE this man!  Sean Hannity after his show!

Sean and Tyler, one of the guys from MC Law

After the show, the convention ended for the night.  We all went over to Harrah's for a while where we hung out with our Mississippi Republican Women friends.  Then Jamie and I went out on Bourbon Street where we met even more friends from MC Law.  We had THE best time Friday night.  It has been so long since I have been to NOLA so I had forgotten what Bourbon Street is like.  I sang karaoke with a strange woman, danced like crazy, and just all in all had fun.

Me, Ron, Meg, and Jamie at the Cat's Meow on Bourbon

We finally made it back to our hotel around 3:30 in the morning.  On Bourbon, time goes by so quickly!  Thankfully, we were able to sleep in a bit Saturday morning before the convention really got going!

I'm going to end this post, but check back for NOLA - Part 2!

Top 3 Thursday - Biggest Fears

BiGgEsT FeArS

This week's Top 3 is biggest fears.  For the first time ever, I am actually doing my Top 3 EARLY.  I am going out of town tomorrow and know I will not have an opportunity to do this tomorrow.

So, I thought about this one for a while today.  There are several things that I do not like.  I'm not a fan of spiders.  I don't care for traffic.  I am not fond of sickness.  However, there is really only one thing that I could think of that I truly fear.  I know I rarely follow the rules of this Top 3 thing, but this time instead of three, and not four like before, I have only one Top 3.

For most of you that know me at all, I'm sure you can already guess what my biggest fear is.  I have no idea why I'm so afraid of this.  I don't remember any traumatic experience when I was a child (or a teen, or a young adult, or ever).  I have never even really had any problems with this.  But, for pretty much my entire life, I have feared this.  I truly thinks it gets worse as I get older, which is probably not good.  Guys, my biggest fear is . . .

dun dun dun . . .

curious?

I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but I'm deathly afraid of . . .

THE DENTIST

Guys, I hate the dentist.  I cannot even describe in words how much I dislike it.  I mean, when I turned 16 years old and could drive myself to the dentist, I would pretend to go to the dentist and drive around town for an hour and then go home and act like I'd been.  I mean, even thinking about the dentist makes my stomach knot up and my palms sweat.  That's pathetic, hmm?  I cannot even handle someone telling me about their dental experiences.  When a friend (or a stranger or anyone) begins telling me about their latest dental dilemmas, I get physically sick.  I want to throw up.  I sweat.  I shake.  I can't handle it.  I mean, I do not even want to hear about someone getting their teeth cleaned.  I really, honestly, genuinely hate it.  Don't tell me about your teeth.  Don't talk about your dentist.  Don't do it.  Like I said earlier, it's terrible because the older I get, the more I need to go to the dentist to make sure my teeth stay okay, but it is the hardest thing.  I would rather go to the gynecologist!

I mean, I usually love to find fun pictures for this Top 3, but the thought of what I might see when searching dentist on google images was too much.  So, no pictures.

Okay, that's it.  I've told you my biggest fear.  Call me lame or a baby if you want, but I do not care.  You keep your white, straight teeth and I'll keep my lunch.

Easter Weekend in Troy

This weekend was so much fun.  It started off Thursday night.  Classes were cancelled on Friday, so everyone could hang out.  Since I was leaving Friday morning and the boys were all going to play golf, we decided to have a night in and just played Rock Band and other games. 

These are my roommates.  Justin, in the red, is from Ohio.  Kip, in the black, is from Minnesota.  Kristin says that sometimes when I come home, I sound like a northerner when I speak.  They would totally disagree and are constantly making fun of my accent.  We were all in the same section our first year, but Kip and I actually met at church.  When our house became available, we all were looking to move, so it just worked out that we moved in together.  We get along pretty well, even though we all have our weird quirks.  I love my roomies!

These boys are basically the group that I hang out with on any given night.  They're all in law school.  Starting from the left is Rob, Justin, Kip, Jamie, and Patrick.  Rob is married to the sweet Maria.  They are great.  We're at their apartment in these pictures.  They are always begging us to come over and it never fails, when we get there, Maria has made tons of snacks (she made the cookies Jamie is eating this night).  Rob was in the other first year section last year, but we've all become friends.  Jamie was the second person I met at law school.  We were in the same orientation group and ever since that very first day, we've been best friends.  He's the only one out of my orientation group that I still have tons of classes with, even though all of us are close, too.  Patrick was also in the other 1L section with Rob.  He lived across the hall from Kip last year and that is how they became friends and then he and I became friends out of necessity because we were always together.

Jamie and Patrick are probably the two people I hang out with the most outside of class.  Patrick is a huge movie buff and is constantly trying to "educate" me on different movies and is always making me watch something or the other.  Again, Jamie and I met during out orientation group and we have been close ever since then.

EASTER in TROY

I went home to Troy on Friday.  I was going to hang out with some friends on Friday night, but one of them was sick with a virus and so we didn't get to hang out.  Instead, I just stayed home and hung out with my parents and Erin and Jared got there a little later and they hung out for a while before going to their old house for the night.  Macy LOVED getting to spend all that time with Rosie and Millie.

Saturday morning we got up and dad made breakfast and Erin, Jared, and Rosie came back over.  The girls and Jared went to the nursing home to visit Meme.  She loved having us all come over.  She's pretty funny and scolded each of us while we were there for something.  Jared had lost too much weight.  Kristin didn't come back and "fill her order" at Walmart.  Erin and I haven't been to visit in too long.  After, we went down to the church to meet Dad at the Easter Egg Hunt.  We then travelled to Dothan to eat at Outback to celebrate Kristin's 21st birthday.

After I got back to Troy that night, I met some old friends at Monarca's.  Six of us girls hung out and caught up over Mexican.  We then went and met some more friends at Buffalo Junction.  After hanging out there, we went to The Front Porch and met even more old friends.  Since it was a holiday weekend, everywhere we went was just old Troy folk.  It was fun to see everyone and I absolutely LOVE hanging out with these girls.  I'm so grateful that we are still friends after having finished high school 7 years ago, and me having left 9 years ago!  We're blessed!

Sunday morning I got up bright and early for Easter Sunrise Service at our church.  We were at church from about 6:30 until 10:30.  After church, while we were waiting on Dad, we took some pictures.  They are my favorite pictures of the weekend.  They are evidence of just how crazy and ridiculous my family is!

My parents' girls and Jared.  I love that Erin, Kristin, and I could be our own picture.  We're all serious and smiling and we look color coordinated, though Erin is actually wearing brown while Kris and I have on black.  Then you have good ole' Jared looking goofy and wearing pink.  We should crop him out.  Just kidding, J!

Here is my sweet family.  We're all growing up and moving on and it's kind of crazy.  Kristin turned 21 last weekend and she's the baby!  Erin and Jared are now 3 hours from Troy and are on their own both working.  I'm 5 hours from Troy and completely on my own in school.  I think Mom and Dad are kind of missing us!  Dad kept saying how glad he was that we were all home at one time for the first time since Christmas.

This picture just absolutely cracks me up.  Jared is the one who said, "Oh, let's do a family jumping shot!"  Of course we girls agreed.  Kristin and I just look silly and my dress is super short (that's why it's not on facebook!).  Erin looks silly, too, and like she is holding Mom down.  Mom looks like she is trying to use Erin and Dad to lift herself.  J is sucking on his blow pop and pretending to jump.  Then Dad looks like he is posing for a commerical with his crooked arm.  It just makes me laugh.

Jared, the one who kept suggesting the jumping picture, never actually jumped.  I will say, though, that this picture really makes me laugh because he did not jump.  We're all up in the air (surprise - we did it at the same time) and J is crouched, sucking on his blow pop.  We're all in such funny poses, too.

And the best picture of all.  Mom was so jealous of our jumping shots and she wanted to take one, too.  She barely made it off of the ground, but she did!  This was the third try for this picture.  The first time, J took it too early.  The second time, J took it too late.  This time, I was not expecting him to get it, so I did not make a good face or do something funny, but I still like it.

All in all, Easter weekend was a great weekend.  I'm glad I went home, even though the drive is absolutely terrible.  I love my friends and my family, both in Troy and in Jackson, and so I'm glad I got to spend time with all of them.