Every Tribe, Every Tongue, Every Nation...

A love song born of a grateful choir. It's all God's children singing Glory Glory Hallelujah He Reigns!

I don't know if I have ever shard my experience in Haiti with you. Two words. LIFE CHANGING. I cannot express how the Haitian people touched my life and the lives of so many from our mission group. One in particular is following God's heart to Haiti this semester. She is giving up her life of comfort in America for a life full of love and praise to God in Haiti. There is no doubt in my mind that God will work through her every breath in Haiti. Please please pray a prayer of blessing over Miss Chelsey as she embarks on this wonderful journey. Most importantly, pray that she only brings home a couple of children when she leaves Haiti, because knowing her she will bring the entire orphanage!

I'm sure she's really gonna appreciate this picture....maybe not. We were so tired that day...but she was still just a dancing. Aint she cute?! I know right!

On a lighter note, I made these cupcakes. I wanted to make my own chocolate frosting....so I did. It turned out well but I ran out. I was too lazy to make more so I just opened up a thing of the store bought stuff...needless to say I ended up with segregated cupcakes. Its ok though, they are just cupcakes!

They were yummy, I think I'll go eat one now! Got milk?

A Birthday Wish Top Ten of Course!

Wanna here a cool story about what happened on the 24th of July twenty-two years ago? 

I was born.

I know right? That was a pretty great story because I'm a pretty swanky gal. You can roll your eyes if need be! When my dad asked my bro what he thought about his new baby sister...this is what he said and I quote. "Goodness gracious GREAT balls of fire!" I personally think thats a pretty awesome thing to say about your sister, but I'm crazy. My mom also made up a little diddy that she would sing to me. It goes something like this..."Little bitty, little bitty. She's so sweet and she's so pretty. Ten little fingers and ten little toes. Big brown eyes and a little pug nose...." I think its cute, so I sing it to Boots! Anyway, in light of my Birthday I thought I would share my top ten birthday moments with you. Here goes.

10. "Happy birthday! Hope all is well with you...hard to imagine, I was at your baby shower. :)"

                  -Leighann McCoy

9. "Happy #22, My Little Papoose!"

                  -Debbie Hobgood

8. "Whoa! You have developed the power of levitation on your birthday! I guess your degree is paying off!"

                  -David Petersen

7. "Happy Birthday Mallory, Happy Birthday Charlie, Happy Anniversary, Happy Graduation!" 

                  -Edible Arrangements Gift tag from Mom

6. Getting the cutest dress in the world from Jill at my birthday dinner and some yummy peach rosemary jam from Cara.

5. The Sayers family taking us out to lunch after church! Notice how much I love food.

4. Getting to talk to my should have been sister Victoria and my great friend Meghan. COME BACK TO KNOXVILLE!

3. Eating this marvelously delicious cupcake!

2. "I love you! You are beautiful and I am so blessed to be your husband! Happy Birthday stinky!"

                           - My awesome husband

1. Seriously people....it doesn't get much better than this. Nough said. Wait for it......

... Lindsey Jo and Bryant singing me a song. For your viewing pleasure please remember that she is a professional guitarist. 

LOVE YOU ALL! God is too good to me!

To Save Time....Let's Just Assume I Know everything...

So I haven't blogged in a while...but that's just because I haven't had that much to talk about. You know how when you talk on the phone to someone everyday and eventually you have nothing left to say? Exactly...that's why I figured there was no need to blog. I would just bore you endlessly.

Anyway, tomorrow is my Birthday! It's really not that exciting. 22 is kind of a boring year. I guess everything after 21 is just boring in general. Guess what Charlie got me for my Birthday??? Wait for it...this is good. A bathing suit from VS that I ordered two weeks ago! What a good husband, he know's just what I like...size and all!

On another note, I start teaching at West High in two weeks. WHOA! Is summer really over? Am I really about to start my career? Is this the beginning of the rest of my life? And the most important question....Do I have to act like a big girl now? Poop.

Speaking of poop... I'm getting to puppy sit this weekend. It is mucho fun...except for the little poop turd I stepped on this morning. Don't worry it was hard. Bahahahaha....it took me about ten minutes to realize what it was because Boots does not poo in the apartment. I guess the puppy was busy during the night.  Poor Boots just does not have the energy to keep up with this puppy, nor does she care too. This little pup can chase a toy for hours...Boots just stares. But they do have one thing in common.....

.... nap time! I think I will join them. Sleep tight Daphne and Boots! For anyone reading, stop what you're doing and go take a nap. It will change your life!

And So It Begins...

Well, summer school has officially begun. Twelve hours of graduate classes have left me with four papers to write a week. That's right people, I said FOUR! I'm really not complaining, I guess I just expected tests instead. When you think about it though, this writing thing is pretty nice. Most everything is opinion based, so it's not like they can mark up my paper with a BIG red X and tell me I'm wrong. This makes me very happy. I'm also extremely happy that this means I will finish my Masters next May instead of at the end of next summer. It will be nice to not have to worry about anything but where we are going to live next summer.

Oh yeah...did I mention Charlie is shooting for medical school. Gahrooossssss! I cannot even imagine what that's going to be like. Actually, I can. ALOT of studying and late nights. That's ok though because I have this AMAZING dog. Seriously, Boots is way cooler that we thought. It turns out that she does bark. We heard her...at the Dairy Queen drive thru in Mississippi. Pour window lady...prolly scared the pee out of her. That's another thing...Boots literally gets the pee scared out of her. Vacuums and treadmills seem to do the trick, and hairdryers too. The other nifty thing I found out about her....she knows STAY. Coolest thing in the world... I can finally go to the bathroom by myself! One last thing...I painted her toenails sparkly pink. That's right Princess Boots has arrived!

Graduation...And A Song!

I GRADUATED! I'm so excited that four years of undergrad and crazy micro classes have finally paid off.  Now I just need to get through my teaching internship and I'll be good to go. I just realized that when I start teaching I'll get to go to prom for the rest of my life. How cool is that?

Anyway, this weekend mine and Charlie's family got to spend some time in a cabin in the smokies. We did a lot of fun things...like go to the aquarium (where I pet a sting ray)....and eat ice cream...and play Ms. Pacman. Just so you know, I totally suck at Pacman....but I'm sure you all expected that right? We ate alot too, I love food!

So since I was a tiny tot, I've been singing. It's not anything that I'm great at, but just something that I enjoy doing. I figure that since we're so close here on this blog and all that I would let you in on a little secret. Here goes...wait for it....I secretly wanna be a country music singer. So here goes world, I did my makeup and hair and everything just for all my viewers out there...bahahahaha. This is dedicated to Lindsey Jo because I'm jealous of her getting to go to the CMA Fest!

....I think I'll just stick with teaching!

Change in Plans...

So apparently I'm not teaching at Fulton anymore, rather I will be interning at West High School. This is why they told us it was a secret...because things can change. Oh well, I'm still thrilled to be teaching and I'm sure every school will bring their own individual challenges to the table.

I've also had another change in plans, it seems that I no longer drive a red Dodge Charger. Now, I am soooo thrilled to say that I drive a....wait for it.... red Dodge GOLFBALL! Dang tornadoes. Dang hail. Dang car! But more importantly, I am thrilled to see that only cars were damaged around us. Nobody was hurt in our apartment complex. It's so sad to see that this wasn't the case for many others in the Southeast. I hope that we will all keep those who were lost in our prayers, along with their families.

On a more joyful note... I'm graduating in 7 days! HOOORAY! Can't wait for a fun-filled relaxing summer! NOT! I start 12 hours of graduate classes beginning in June. Oh well, can't complain right? More and more I am realizing how thankful I should be for such an awesome opportunity for higher education and a the chance to become a great teacher.

That's all for now, ya'll stay away from them dang tornadoes!

Meet Boots

Guess what?!?  I got a dog! Well me and the hubs got a dog... technicality. We went to the animal shelter to adopt a cat. His name was Burrito and he was very orange and fuzzy. When we visited with him he would lay down and attack if you tried to rub his belly....this is how we ended up on the other side of the shelter where Boots was. She was in a room with two other dogs. Those dogs were jumpin and barkin like "hey you! pick me! I'm sooooo cute!" Boots was just chillin, all calm and collected. Then she gave me the look. You know what look I'm talkin about. The "I'm so freakin cute you have to take me home look." Unfortunately, we left the shelter empty handed. Sad right?

Don't worry... we went to PetSmart and bought a ton of dog necessities.... then we went back and adopted Boots! Let me tell ya folks...Boots is a pretty swanky dog. She never barks and she has yet to pee/poo on the carpet. I am absolutely thrilled! You're probably thinking, "Man, I really wanna meet this non-barking/peeing/pooping dog!" I gotcha covered. Meet Boots....

School School and a Bottle of Rum

I'm just kidding about the bottle of rum part... I watched Pirates of the Caribbean last night and just can't get the theme song out of my head. Although a bottle of rum might seriously help me through this SEVERE case of senioritis. I gotta stop slacking...like that physics test I skipped yesterday...don't worry, we get a drop grade!

Anyhow, yesterday I found out where I was getting placed for my teaching internship in the Fall. FULTON! I'm so excited cause that is EXACTLY where I wanted to be. Shhh....it's technically a secret and I'm technically not supposed to know....so you can't tell anyone. Just so you know a little more about Fulton, it's in inner city Knoxville. The school is made up of about 1000 students that are very culturally mixed. Many of these students haven't had all that much growing up, including that little bit of love many of us got from our parents. I know this internship is gonna be a challenge for me....considering where I went to high school. BUT I CAN'T WAIT! Just from observing this school for few months, I already know this is where I'm supposed to be. Many of these students have this mindset that they can't do it. And let me tell ya, that really pisses ticks me off, because I know they totally can!  (My mom says that saying piss isn't very lady like.) In order to gain respect from these students, you really have to build a relationship with them. I know I can do it, but at the same time we grew up under so many different circumstances. How will I relate? I guess I won't, but I will be there to listen. NO MATTER WHAT.

Please please pray for me and these students over the summer. Pray that God will be glorified through this experience and that these students will succeed through school. Most of all pray for God to work in their hearts.