Bittersweet.

This weekend brought on an end and a beginning in the lives of two of my cousins. Yesterday was Treavor's last high school football game. While he didn't get to play because of an unfortunate injury, it was still pretty hard for me to accept that it was really over. We all know of my partial feelings for Treavor. And football has been one of our greatest common interests. I've enjoyed watching him play ball for over ten years and to know that I probably will never see him play again is a little rough...



But luckily, the end of his football career came directly at the beginning of Whitley's time with dance. I danced for many years long ago and was really excited when Whitley decided to join the dance team at school. Today was her first competition, and it was SO FUN! Brought me back to my olden days of dance recitals complete with sponge rollers and crazy makeup. Her team did AWESOME! They won first place AND were grand champions in the school team division. So proud of her and so excited to have something to hopefully bond a little more with her over.














Not a great video, but you get the idea. They were great!

Ok. I'm OVER That Thing...

Yeah. Title pretty much sums up my feelings on the 30 Days of Posting Business. It was fun at first and nice to have topics to write about. But as the days went by, the topics got more lame and more repetitive, and I just can't do it anymore. Not to mention, I'm sure you fine folks are DYING to know what's going on with me!! So I won't keep you in suspense any longer...

Let's see. I don't even remember when I posted on my own accord last. Seriously, I just had to look back to know. Since August 25, I have been running non-stop. I haven't had a free weekend, and won't until after Thanksgiving. I'll give you a week by week break down to the best of my memory.

Week of August 29- This week my mom and Jim, Aunt Deana, the Ballard's, and the Head's (Nicole's mom and dad) went to Cabo and left me here with approximately 8000 dogs and children. Not really, but close. I had Charlie, Piper, Scarlett, Lizzie, Kaiya, and Whitley and Treavor. FULL HOUSE to say the least. That week was mostly filled with dog poop and paper writing. Again, I NEVER want to be a single mom. It's so stressful! Nonetheless, we made it through the week. I was supposed to go to Knoxville that weekend for my annual Labor Day/Boomsday fun. Unfortunately, my trip was cancelled as Jason's grandmother passed away. He came home that Tuesday and she passed Thursday. I went with him for visitation and funeral and just tried to be there for him as best I could. It was a little on the awkward side because that's kind of a girlfriend move, ya know? And I'm not his girlfriend. But I wanted to be there if he wanted me to, so on we went. It was nice to spend time with that side of his family. I had never met most of them, but they were kind and warm to me even during their hard time. Oh yeah, and class started back. Ugh.

Week of September 5- Everyone finally came back. I want to say that I did something for Labor Day, but honestly, I just can't remember. I don't really remember much about this week in general. I had a 31 gifts party. Ordered some cool new stuff. My previously schedule Knoxville trip was moved to this weekend. I just went to hang out and luckily missed the horrific game and monsoon. Did some tailgating and bar hopping. Napped a lot. It was a good time.

Week of September 12- This week was an up and down one. I gained some housemates, so that's cool. Went to dinner with some great friends and had a fabulous time. Witnessed the most AMAZING FOOTBALL GAME OF MY LIFE!! For those of you that don't know, we beat White House, my nemesis of my LIFE! It was such a great feeling to even be there. So proud of Treavor and his team for fighting the good fight and leading us to a victory that not many Greenbrier teams have seen. Whitley and the dance team danced an awesome dance during pregame. I'm totally impressed with her skills! WHO KNEW?! Whitley's got some moves! Then after the game, Aunt Deana, Christy, Allie, and I ventured east yet again to Gatlinburg where the Mother/Daughter group from our family had already gotten the party started. Mother/Daughter is an annual trip my family's female take. There are just a few criterion for Mother/Daughter attendance: You must be 18. No Men, No Kids, and No Husbands. Other than that, anything goes! We had a great time in a beautiful cabin in the mountains and at Dixie Stampede! It's nice to get to catch up with everyone, especially my cousin Jana who is closest in age to me. Good times.

Week of September 20- Wait, that's now! I'm in full-force wedding mode these days. I've spent most of my time getting ready for Nicole's shower on Sunday. I'm so excited that it's getting closer! The wedding is less than a month away now, and my weekends are devoted to wedding events. This and next weekend is various showers, then BACHELORETTE PARTY!, then luncheon and finally WEDDING TIME! Can not believe it's already time. Wow. Can't believe it.

Well, I guess that's pretty much caught up. So glad to be back to my own style!

The Trip From HELL!

So this weekend, I took seven 17 and 18 year olds to Six Flags Over Georgia to celebrate Allison's 18th birthday. Any of you that know me, know that my cousin Treavor, Allison's boyfriend, are unusually close. So for me to spend a weekend with he and his friends is really not out of the ordinary. Bright and early Saturday morning, we loaded up and headed south. There were many, many bad times (hence the title) that I won't elaborate into. What I will tell you about is Treav, Allie, and my boo Ross.

As I said, Treavor and I have always been unusually close. I say unusually because really, how many boy and girl cousins that are six years apart in age hang out on a regular basis? It's bizarre, I know, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. You can look through old pictures from when we were kids, and there is a ridiculous amount of pictures of Treavor and I! I joke to Aunt Deana that I'm gonna but my own baby ad in his senior yearbook to fit them all in. I think he and I are a lot alike, which makes it easier for us to relate. We like to go to games, and swim, and just be goofy pretty much all the time. My favorite tradition that Treavor and I have is the UT/Bama game in October. This will be the third year we've gone together (and hopefully third victory for Bama...ROLL TIDE!) and I'm really, really looking forward to it. Something I'm not looking forward to however, is next fall when he goes to college. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for him and I will do anything possible to help him attain his dream of attending UT. With that said, I am gonna be a mess when he leaves. And that bothers me more and more everyday.

Ok, so there is a point to this gushing about my love for my cousin, I promise. Along the way of Treav's life, I've met and made friends with so many great kids that are his friends. Two years ago, when my uncle died, I saw more friends reach out to him to support him and care for him than I could ever share with you. There have been a few, though, that have really made an impression on me, and Ross is for sure one of them.

The story about Ross is a funny one. Ross's mom, Bethany (what's up shout out!), and Treavor's mom, Aunt Deana, were BFF in high school. Though Treav and Ross were close to each other in age, they really weren't raised and destined to be BFF like their moms. That's where fate stepped in and brought the two together a couple years ago. Since then (but really forever), Ross and his parents have become like family to Treav, me and our whole family.

Ross is one of those kids that you just want to hug. He is one of my favorites ever and I'm really glad to have gotten connected with him through Treavor. This weekend was the second of many trips to come that Ross has come on with me. He's moving off to Knoxville in like 20 days or something and I'm just about as sad with him leaving as I will be when Treavor does. I'm excited for him and this new part of his life, but sad sad sad to see him go. At least I have his wonderful mom and dad still here in GB to hang out with and many trips to look forward to!

Allison, aka Allie, AllieCat, AllieGator, or Gator, is by far the best addition to the Cousin Club in many, many moons. She and Treav have been seeing each other for almost two years, and in those two years, she has become a wonderful addition to our family.

She is one of the most caring and sweet girls I've ever met and I'm so happy to have gotten to know her and be a part of her life. She comes from a great family, who have welcomed all of us with open arms, which if you know many of us, is not an easy task! I'm looking forward to working with Allison through her college journey to become a teacher like me!

With the help of these three, I made it through an otherwise undesirable weekend. Luckily, I learned that next time, it will just be the four of us! I'm thankful for great family and great friends.