Welcome to the family, Annie!

I love animals! Ever since I was a litte girl, I've always had atleast one dog, two cats, and begged for more all the time. I am THRILLED that Jim and I adopted our first pet this week. We, of course, have the sweet kitty- Effie. However, Effie spends most of her time hunting critters and bringing them to our doorstep to see (which we are so thankful for-I'd much rather have it at my doorstep than in my house!!) But Jim and I really wanted to welcome a dog into our litte family. So that's exactly what we did!

Oh, I just love her. I found her at the animal control pound in Jackson. Jim and I actually found another dog we thought we wanted to adopt on petfinder.com. When I called to check on her, I was told he was taken into a foster family that would probably keep them. No big deal, Jim just suggested that I drive down to the pound and see what they had. That's when I found Annie- and I was sold!! 

If anyone is looking for a new pet- I would HIGHLY recommend looking at a shelter. Eleanor was a shelter animal too and everybody knows she's the queen! There are so many animals out there that need a great home. 

Don't shop-Adopt! :)

Happy Memories

Whew! It's been a while since I have blogged. I will have to say the last two weeks have been really crazy and I've spent my whole spring break playing catch up! As some of you know, almost 2 weeks ago we lost my sweet grandaddy to cancer. The cancer was found about two weeks before my wedding last June. We were told he would need to have major surgery immediately. Well, being the stubborn man that he was (And I mean that lovingly!) he of course decided to put off the surgery until post wedding. And I am so glad that he did! Having him at my wedding gave us some happy happy memories that we will always have! For people that were there, you'll know he was THE big hit of the dance floor! Who knew. Cancer- no big deal?! It didn't stop him one bit! Unfortunately, that was the last time he was actually himself. Although I was so sad to see him go- I'm happy for the life and memories he left behind.

Gamby getting down with all the girls! 

Thank you thank you to everyone who called, texted, sent food/ flowers, and came to the service. We couldn't have done it without you. Our little community of Senatobia is pretty great at helping others and I am so glad to call it my home! (well my forever home, not my current home I guess- ha!)

"Does this place have free wi-fi?"

This past weekend, Jim and I went home for the first time in almost 2 months- Crazy! It may not seem like that long to be away from home, but it is for us. Most anyone that knows me knows that I LOVE going home.  Don't get me wrong, I love our little life here in Brandon. It's exactly where we need to be right now. BUT I can't help but think about moving home someday, hopefully!

On Saturday, Jim went with his family to Oxford and I went to Memphis for a visit with my grandfather. Before I left, I had lunch at a NEW pizza place in good old tobie town! It's called hole lot of pizza. It was really good- I was impressed. This is a big deal for our little town. I had two sweet dates- Taylor and Emilee.

We walk in to the pizza place and Em says "Does this place have free wi-fi?" Taylor and I almost died. I mean what six year old thinks about wi-fi?! I'm not sure I really even understand what it is. Not this girl- nothing gets past her. All I have to say is Magnolia Heights 1st grade, get ready! haha. 

When we got home on Sunday- this sweet little girl wanted to jump up into the bed with me. 

She is warming up to us! 

Tomorrow is the big test for my fellow fourth grade teachers- The State Writing Test. Please say a little prayer if you think about it for us around 8 in the morning. We've worked really hard:) 

Valentine's Day!

So last week was Valentine's Day so I know I'm a little late! I am trying to finish up a grad school class so I can move on to another one before May (which is when I take my comps, hooray!) Anyways- we postponed our Valentine's Date until the weekend after. I love love Valentines Day and anything pink or red. I made these Valentines for my students: 

Get it?! It made for some cute pictures:-) 

We had the mustaches for the boys and lips for the girls! We don't get to "play" very much in school anymore. I try to make a big deal of holidays. They need it! 

On Friday night, we headed to Amerigo's to eat dinner. I had never eaten there! My best friend, Julie, eats there like twice a week. She's obsessed. She is also the pickiest eater I know! I figured I would like it since Julie was such a fan. We both loved it, great Valentines gift to us! 

We also decided to exchange Valentine's gifts (we didn't buy Christmas in order to save for a vacay!) I had to take a picture of my outfit for my friend/stylist, Hannah. She was very proud of me for being so fashion forward wtih my denim: 

My pink jeans and Valentine's gift! 

On another note, I feel spring is a'comin! Thank goodness, there is a lot to look forward to! We are headed home this weekend for the first time since Jordan's wedding. I really can't wait to get my tobie town fix. :-) 

Superbowl and February Thoughts!

How fun was the superbowl??! It was so exciting to watch Eli represent Ole Miss in such a positive light. Jim and I went to the Milner's house to watch the game and fesitivties. However, I have to admit that I was much more excited about holding baby Jack. How adorable is this little guy?

And this little guy too... 

I have always always babysitted sweet little girls, and I only had one little sister. Therfore, I've never been around boys. Man, they are sure fun! Maybe the Lord is trying to prepare me. I've always wanted a house full of little cheerleaders running around. 

On another note, I have seen so many negative facebook statuses lately.  Statuses about how terrible Senatobia is, how bad parents hate their teacher/school, and other not "facebook appropriate" things.  Be happy and encouraging! Don't instigate a bashing of your community or school.  Grr......Not that I'm sure I'll change anything- I'll just have to do some "spring cleaning" of facebook friends :)

To leave on a happier note: Congrats ELI and the GIANTS!! Hotty Toddy. 

Effie

Well I thought when I married my Jim- my love for cats would cease. WRONG!! God has a funny sense of humor because here I am with my new buddy: 

The Story Behind Effie: 

   When we moved into our house, the old owners told us they couldn't catch their cat to take it with them.  The cat was wild and wouldn't let anyone near it. A few days after we moved in, here comes the cat! We couldn't catch her either. However, we did let them know she was back. PLEASE NOTE: We did tell them she had returned. I am not a cat stealer. Well of course, I tried to make friends. She wouldn't have any of it. The next day when my mom arrived, she caught her! We brought her inside and tried to feed her some milk. She was very very afraid. I have had many many cats and never have I seen a cat this fearful. I knew I would have to get her to trust me somehow. So I bought cat food and begin leaving it outside in the garage at night; I left the door cracked so she could get in from the outside. She started coming around more and warming up to me. Now, she comes inside on her OWN! She doesn't make it past the kitchen but we're working on it. Now I am very aware that this isn't my cat. I know. But until they come to get her, I'll treat her just like my Eleanor.  

The Name Effie:

       Most everyone knows I love "E" names, hence Eleanor and Eunice. I've also had an Emma. Effie is the name of my great grandmother. I also have a great aunt Etta, maybe I should get a friend for Effie.

Weekend in NOLA!

I just got back from Lissa's bachelorette party in New Orleans!! We had a blast!!! Melissa's wedding is in March- but her birthday was Friday. So this was the perfect weekend to throw her bachelorette bash! We had a large, but great, group. The theme was disco. Now, most people know that I do not like to dress up. It is way out of my comfort zone, I even loathed certain swaps because I did NOT want to wear anything related to that theme. (I promise I'm not that boring, just don't like wearing crazy stuff.) Since Melissa has been one of my best friends since the day we moved in Martin- she knew this was a little out there for me. She provided my outfit. Which was a cute, and tame, black and white dress. I wore platform gogo boots- way out there for me and a great wig. Whew! I was scared I wouldn't like all the attention we would get on Bourbon Street. However, since there was SO many of us- it was a blast! We took lots of pictures that I'm sure are somewhere on the internet without our knowledge. 

We started out the evening with dinner at Antoine's in the French Quarter. I had eaten here before for Fran's debutante and really liked it, I was excited. We were put in the "dungeon." I can't imagine why they would want to hide 15 girls in disco outfits. After dinner, we headed to Bourbon Street where we were the most popular girls around. Here are a few pictures from the night: 

All the group before going out. Please note the Bride in the middle. 

Hannah and I- she's a much better disco girl that I am. I look ridiculous- my hair wouldn't stay on.

She was a hit everywhere she went. 

Even the singer wanted to be her. 

The bride and I!

It was a great weekend- a nice break from school. However, I'm off to a grad school group meeting, yuck. 5 more months and I'm done. 

Have a great week!!