I traded big city buildings for big rolling mountains last week and went to visit my family in Narrows. Sometimes life gets a bit confusing and a girl just needs to go home and be with the people that have known her the longest.
It was a good trip full of family fun, gardening, writing and enjoying the beauty of mountains.
It rained nearly every day I was there, but we had one beautiful summery day and spent it playing in the pool with my nephew and nieces. Of course, this means you are about to be overwhelmed by their cuteness with a few pictures I took.
Kennedy
Kaydance
Landon
Kennedy
Kaydance
Fawntane and the girls
Fawntane & Kennedy
Kaydance
The girls watering flowers I planted
Landon asking me not to take his picture
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Notice the lack of posting around here? Well, that is because it’s April. The most difficult time of the year for me as I “prepare” for the anniversary of when Jarrett was killed. I’ve been feeling a lot of stress and worry about the upcoming anniversary, but I’m trying to be gentle on myself.
Anyway, some very nice folks in Giles County have offered to host a golf tournament in honor of Jarrett, with all proceeds going to his memorial fund. Even if you are not a golfer, please help us spread the word!
Here are the details:
Castle Rock Golf and Recreation of Pembroke, VA will host a golf tournament in honor of Jarrett Lane, one of the 32 students killed at VA Tech on April 16th, 2007. All proceeds will benefit the Jarrett Lane Memorial Fund and its mission to better the future of deserving youth in Giles Country.
The tournament will be held on Saturday May 9th, with a tee time of 9:00am. Teams of four will play on one of the area’s most beautiful and challenging golf courses. The registration fee is $300 per team, and teams can register by calling the golf course before May 8th at (540) 626-7276.
Just to let you know, the Jarrett Lane Memorial Fund is used to provide college scholarships to Narrows High Grad. We have a vision of expanding this to provide financial assistance to deserving youth in Giles County who wish to participate in various academic, athletic and leadership development programs.
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I’ve had a run of good luck lately with obtaining new clients and projects! Which has been good when realizing I need to make money, but not so good when I realized this means less time can be spent napping.
Circus
Yesterday I drove to Roanoke to attend the circus with Fawn, her kids, my mom and grandmother. This circus was organized by the Shriners, and from what I can tell it was the George Carden Circus. I’ve been to the circus a few times in my life, but tend to avoid them these days because I’m afraid of clowns. Although, when offered a ticket to go with my nephew & nieces on their first trip to the circus, I couldn’t decline.
Luckily for them they are so young they will not remember this circus. However for me, I will be forced to live the rest of my life haunted by things I saw. Here are three reasons why I will never again go to a George Carden circus:
1. All the circus ladies wear thongs under their very, very short skirts. Well, except for two special ladies who I swear were wearing hand-me-down Playboy Bunny costumes with big purple bows placed right where the good Lord split them. I saw more ass at this family-friendly event than I’ve seen in women’s locker rooms.
2. In one of their skits, a clown paraded around with a pistol, held a clown at gun-point and killed the other clowns. The killings were complete with sound effects of shots. Um, wtf?? I don’t even know what to say.
3. Over-priced everything. Sure, the kids got in free, but the cost of activities and food inside now means that one of them will not be able to go to college. After spending about $60, the kids got to ride an elephant twice around a 20-ft circus and ponies around another small ring.
Cute Kids
Need to recover from the circus nightmare? Got the image of circus ass stuck in your head? Well, replace it with these sweethearts. I’m saving my money to buy some kisses.
Kisses for Sale
Ewww....
Practicing for V-day
Ladies Man
Kennedy
Kaydance
Sweet Sisters
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Please watch the whole video because the best part is towards the end. (Sorry for the low quality, but as any true fan would do with their favorite rock star, my sis took this video with her cell phone.)
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Finally, Halloween has come and gone. Finally, the nightmares about unfinished sheep can stop. Finally, I will be able to have conversations without bursting out into uncontrolable “baaing”.
As a thank you for listening to all my complaints about this horrible fabric that made my house look like a crime scene for the horrific murder of Lambchop, I present to you Lil’ Bo Peep and her sheep.
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Notice the lack of blogging here lately? Yes, I’m still alive, just been really busy.
I spent this past weekend in Ocracoke with some lovely ladies from work. We went down to celebrate the marriage of one of our other co-workers. I will confess, I was nervous about traveling with 4 other ladies. Although we all get along at work, traveling together and sharing a hotel room (read: 1 bathroom), is greatly different. But, I had a blast! I spent the ride down and back listening to my VP tell stories of her adventures in Europe – from lunches on a beach and becoming friends with strangers, to exploring an old, abandoned jail with a lover – I was enthralled with her tales. The whole weekend was full of fun, void of any fights or bathroom drama, and we all came back slightly closer than before we left.
Now that I’m back in town I’m busy making Halloween costumes for my nephew & nieces. My goal is to finish them before Monday when my mom, grandmother, sister & babies are coming to Richmond. One of the final “court” meetings we have for the settlement is happening on Tuesday. So, besides trying to make adorable baby sheep costumes, I’m also arranging lodging and babysitting for my sis, clean my house, prepare for our hearing and continue my search for more income. But, this time next week a large chunk of my to-do list will be checked off and I will be able to add many new things that I can worry over.
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Yesterday was Landon’s first day at pre-school. I can’t believe how quickly he is growing up. Not only does he look like such a big boy, but he road the bus by himself!
Here he is with his Thomas the Train backpack and his “I was born awesome” t-shirt, ready to go.
From what I gather from Fawn, Landon’s favorite part of going to school is riding the bus.
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I don’t have any big travel plans for this summer. I made a trip to Baltimore, will head to Narrows for a weekend or two and if I’m lucky I’ll get to go to the beach for a day. But, while I’m spending most of my summer in my inflatable kiddie pool in my backyard, my friends, family & co-workers are traveling the world. Here is a list of some places they are visiting or have visited this summer:
Ireland
London
Italy
Paris
Spain
California
Seattle
Vegas
Milwaukee
OBX
Va Beach
Cancun
Grand Canyon
Canada
Belize
Texas
Savannah
Smoky Mountains
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Two of my favorite women have started blogging. Announcing my beautiful sister, Fawntane. And, my friend Keila. Not only are both of these ladies amazing mothers, they are creative, authentic, funny and have similar tastes in wordpress themes! Enjoy!
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My sister took her cute babies to have their birthday pictures made. Landon turns 3 mid-May, and the twins turn 2 at the end of May. By some miracle we made it through the entire photo shoot without any tears. I had thought for sure one of the babies, the photographer, myself….or all of us would have started crying. Here are a couple of my favorite shots.
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Over the past year I’ve attended a few too many ceremonies and memorials, most of which I have thought were a waste of time and didn’t come close to capturing Jarrett’s spirit and life. But, this week I had the privilege of attending a ceremony that I enjoyed. It was attended by people who played important roles in Jarrett’s life & mine.
The video below contains the most beautiful speech I’ve heard about Jarrett, given by his advisor/teacher, Marc Edwards. Following the speech, Craig Whittaker sang the song he wrote in honor of Jarrett.
The Bridge Builder
By Will Allen Dromgoole
An old man, going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim, near,
“You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide-
Why build you a bridge at the eventide?”
The builder lifted his old gray head:
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today,
A youth, whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm, that has been naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him.”
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