Because my willpower is too low for these. ;)

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves
3. At the end of the post the player than tags 5 people and posts their names, than goes to their blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know they done got tagged and to ask them to play and read your blog.

Randi got me! I think she knew I would play along. ;)

What was I doing 10 years ago? (March 1998)
1. I was a freshman nursing student at Kennesaw State University.
2. I thought I was "so mature" because I was 18 and dating someone that was 26...I now realize I was just gullible!
3. I would have just renewed my season's pass to Six Flags over GA. I've had a season's pass every years since I was in 4th grade. I'm a roller coaster junkie!
4. I was finally finding my groove at my new job at Kennestone Hospital.
5. My parents were putting their house on the market...it sold in April.

5 things on my to-do list today?
1. Put the finishing touches on my pasta salad before we head out.
2. Celebrate Easter with Ian's grandparents, parents and cousins.
3. Finishing loading William's birthday pictures on to Shutterfly and send them out.
4. Make up William's Easter bunny basket after he's in bed.
5. Spend quality time with hubby at the end of the day. :)

Snacks I enjoy?
* it would have been easier to just list the few things I don't enjoy...but here are the ones I've been eating most recently*
1. Rosemary triscuits and cream cheese.
2. Frozen waffles with butter and syrup as a sweet snack at night before bed.
3. Mickey Mouse shaped cheddar cheese slices...we got those for William, but I think I've eaten more than he has. :P
4. Salads...I have at least two a day. I love salad!
5. Peanut butter crackers. I'm not much of a breakfast eater in the mornings...so I snack at that time.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire?
1. By a private plane/jet to get me through Atlanta traffic and to my weekly doctor's appointments!
2. Open up no kill animal shelters throughout the country and provide vet care and obidience training.
3. Adopt two girls to compliment my two boys. Then provide financial assistance to others that wanted to adopt but couldn't afford it.
4. Travel the world at leisure...stopping on every continent.
5. Take care of our families' and friends' debts!

5 bad habits?
1. I'm a worrier!
2. Sometimes my "friendly competition" turns a little sour if I start to loose at a game.
3. I'm a procrastinator.
4. I don't fold my laundry straight from the dryer...I've learned to be a little wrinkled!
5. I've been known to double dip at family functions...but it is never intentional. I just go back in and then catch myself doing it.

5 places I have lived?
1. Columbus, GA (born on Fort Benning)
2. Woodstock, GA (most of my life was here...from 2 yrs to 24 yrs)
3. Canton, GA ( where Ian and I had our first place when we got married)
4. Leland, NC (where Ian and I bought our first home and had our first son)
5. White, GA (a small town 25 miles north of Atlanta that if you mention it people will look at you with a tilted head and say "where?")

5 jobs I've had?
1. The hostess with the mostess and server at Folks (originally called Po Folks - small southern cooking restaurant)
2. Nutritician Tech at Kennestone Hospial. I was responsible for matching the patients meals with their diagnosis/condition and surveying for food allergies.
3. Student Assistant at KSU. I worked in the Teacher Resource and Activity Center. Helped faculty, staff and students prepare lesson plans, activities and keep up to date on current curriculum standards.
4. High School Science teacher. Worked at Cherokee High school. Go Warriors! Taught biology and physical science. That school was my family!
5. Library clerk at Myrtle Grove Library in Wilmington NC. I took this job after turning down a science position for Chemistry when I found out I was pregnant.

- of course, my most recent job is mom to William and incubator to Matthew. This is the most challenging yet most rewarding I think of all jobs out there!

People I'm going to tag?
whoever comes across this and out of sheer boredom decides to do one on their own.
No names (haven't really been around often enough to find blogs I frequently go to yet). I'll start searching for some soon.
Happy Easter to all!

Easter goodies

Of course we has a family celebrate the true reason and meaning of Easter in our home and among our families...but we also take part in the lighter/funner aspects as well. The Easter bunny is a staple in our house, primarily because mom and dad both love those reese's peanut butter eggs! ;) I have never seen anything wrong with egg hunts or chocolate bunnies, but I guess you have to have someone out there that just have to complain about something (Rosie O'donnell anyone?). Now, some of these are the people who rightly focus on the sacrifice of our Savior and see anything else that has commercialized the holiday to be trival. It is trival...but it's also good clean fun! I don't think God is opposed to fun or He never would have let Walt Disney walk the earth!
Actually, the people that bother me most are the so called "strict and conservative" Christians that won't let you do anything with a bunny, but will gobble down a chocolate cross with a candy rose on it. I think that is more sacrilegious than nibbling a bunny's ears. To take symbol of Christ's pain and suffering for us so lightly...and they dare say egg hunts are the devil's work? Give me a break...and a basket...I'm hunting eggs!

Snow fall

Yesterday morning we woke up to a beautiful scene...snow flurries in March. For metro Atlanta...this is unheard of sometimes even in January, so we appreciate it whenever we can get it. As a child I would stay up late when the weatherman predicted so much as a dusting...in hopes that schools would be closed. I would wake up in my bed every hour and peer out the curtains to see if the "magic show" had started. Most of the time I woke up tired and in a very grumpy manner...made my way out to the bus stop. But sometimes, my wishes came true and I woke up to a winter wonderland (at least in the eyes of a southerner where 2 inches was beyond our wildest dreams!). Snow always brought out the child in people...including my parents...and the innocence that comes with being young at heart.

On this "snow day" (it never actually stuck to the ground - just dusted our deck and roof) I was able to enjoy it with my son and husband. I saw my little boy spin like a spiraling snowflake in avid delight. When a gust of wind would take the flurries high over his head, he would squeal and clap as if he were in the front row of the most sought after play in New York. I can't wait to see what he would do if it actually accumulated enough to make a snowman!

It has amazingly enough snowed twice in two weeks, the morning of my son's birthday and then again yesterday morning. I am now viewing snow in a different way...a cleansing way. As if God decides he needs to purify our lives from the hardships of being adults sometimes. Whenever I have felt myself over the past two weeks start to come undone with stress or pressure...God has given me snow! On my son's birthday morning, I was up at the crack of dawn heading to a prenatal specialist appointment for my other son that is on his way. We had done a procedure the previous afternoon and I was nervous that we were not going to have favorable results...but we did and I relaxed and enjoyed my son's birthday as I had prayed I would be able to. We were scheduled to have our little baby's surgery to help him out on Friday afternoon, but were unable to do so when the doctor called saying he was too short of staff and needed a room full to monitor both the baby and myself. I was very frustrated at even having to wait another 48hours, but at the sight of snow Saturday morning...I knew all things would be alright. God was giving me a wonderful opportunity to create memories with my son that is here with me now before I am restricted to bedrest. And I greatly appreciate the chance!

Back in high school, I was part of the church choir. This morning while in the shower I was reminded of verse of one of the songs we used to sing (we even made a cd to sale for a fundraiser for the church!). It said "by Your blood, I am made whiter than snow". Thank you God for wiping away my most stubborn doubts with a delicate snowflake.

Thirteen Things about YOUR NAME I got this idea from my friend Randi's page...she knows I love surveys, so she should have known I would have jumped on this! :) My Thrusday Thirteen #1 - 13 places I want to travel to someday. 1. Just to make this list a bit more simple, I list this as one place - I want to go to all of the Disney theme parks world wide. I'm such a Disney nut! 2. Greece - for the food, friendly people and a beautiful architecture. 3. Vatican City - I would love to see the art work of some the "greats" like Michelangelo and Raphael among many others. I'm sure they are breathtaking. 4. Colorado - I'm not a ski bunny at all, but I would love to spend a long weekend at a ski resort, sipping hot chocolate and trying not to break my leg on the bunny slopes. 5. Argentina- one of my college professors was from the coast of this beautiful country. She shared many pictures of her homeland. I would love to explore it. 6. Germany - both of my parents were raised there for a short time, my dad being born there, because of being Army brats. I would love to see what the towns look like now compared to the old black and white photos we have. 7. The British Isles- both Ian and I have many roots in the British, Irish and Scottish lands. It would be nice to go back and explore our history together. 8. Alaska - we did have the chance to live there for two years through the coast guard, but I thought two years would be 23 months too long for me. I need sun and warmth, but I'd love to go adventuring in the summer months...cruise anyone? 9. Japan - REAL teryaki and beautiful landscapes...need I say more? 10. Galapagos Islands - this is for the science teacher in me...always be itching to go there! 11. Jerusalem - to see the Dead Sea Scrolls, where the Last Supper took place and to lift my voice in praise and thanksgiving at the site of the crucifixion. 12. Egypt- I was fascinated in Egyptian lifestyle as a teenager. I would love to see everything from books become real before my eyes in person. Their science and technology for back then was amazing! 13. Heaven - this should be on EVERYONE'S list I would hope! ;)

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Chick fil a

I am a meat eater - NO doubt! I love steak, burgers, pork, roast, fish, and in small doses...lamb. But I LOVE me some chicken!! Now I love it even more! Every Tuesday, Chick fil a celebrates "family night". For every adult meal, you get a free kid's meal. That's not exactly why I love it...but it does help out the pocket book...and that's always welcome! The reason I love it is that now "family night" has truly taken on that meaning.

We met up with my husband's grandparents, aunts and all of his cousins on Tuesday night for a true Family Night together. Our son William was immediately swarmed by great-grandparents, great-aunts and second cousins. Everyone wrote their order down on a piece of paper and Grandaddy ran up to place it and pay for all of us...which there were quite a few of us! We took up an entire corner of the restaurant!!

While we were waiting on the order, William's cousins took him to the playground to work up and appetite while the rest of us "adults" relaxed and chatted at the table together. William was also able to spin the wheel of prizes and won a free milkshake...which daddy decided he needed more than William! Don't worry...William got an icecream cone after dinner!

This would have been a family night regardless if people were coming and going, eating at different times, talking on cell phones...but no one did those things. When the food got to the table, we all bowed our heads in prayer and sat together with three tables bunched up. No one got up until everyone had finished their meal...and then it was only for dessert orders! What can I say...we all have good appetites!

It was nice and very heart warming. It reminded me and Ian of why we did want to come home. We want our son(s) to grow up with memories of family around the dinner table...whether it's the one at home, or the one at Chick fil a.

A little about our new place.

You would never know we lived within a 30 minute drive to the biggest city in the southeast. We were so fortunate to find a retreat away from the hustle and bustle of "city" life, yet we are still just a 5 minute drive to I-75 and all the "good stuff" (like restaurants and shopping!). Our little secluded neighborhood is on the county line of Bartow and Cherokee counties in north Ga. As we drive the 4 miles from the interstate to our home, we are surrounded by huge Georgia pine trees, winding creeks and streams that diverge from the Etowah River Valley and even a small farm (complete with goats, emus and llamas!). Our son loves to pass by the farm!

When you crest the hill to go into our subdivision you are blessed with the awe inspiring view of the foothills of the majestic Appalachian Mountains. And if you look to your right, you are brought back into time by a quaint log cabin, complete with green tin roof. It is so beautiful. I can't believe I was away from it all as long as I have been. We have just moved back here from the picturesque town of Wilmington NC. Though I do appreciate the beach and the beauty of the ocean...my heart longs for mountains and trees. I need rolling hills and magnolias taller than houses. I need deer, fox and wild turkey to run through the yard or across the road. I need to see the moonlight through the pines (thanks Ray Charles!)

If you ever make you way to GA and find yourself traveling north of Atlanta (either on I-75 or I-85), make sure you have your camera ready. God's handprints are all over this place!