Memories on Mothers Day

Yesterday i came across a channel on YouTube called Story-Corps. The videos were animations of peoples memories, that they had recorded at Story Corps, one of my favorites of the whole series, was this one by Joshua Littman and his mother Sarah.

I LOVED the idea behind Story Corps and have been inspired to do my own, with my own family if I can. That would make an AMAZING mother's day present.
(For next year)
(without the cool animations)

Anyways it got me to thinking of different memories I have of my mom growing up.....
Looking back at the "ripe old age" of 21, I wish I could have appreciated my mother a little more growing up, I wish I hadn't been so stubborn/rebellious, I wish I would have pitched in more...

Having my own house and living things to take care of, I suddenly realize what a big job having SIX children was, not only that, but caring for the house, and homeschooling all.of.us.

And honestly homeschooling with her was a lot of fun, we watched Tadpoles grow into frogs (and then die from the worms that were in the dirt we placed with them) on our kitchen counter....

We captured at least one Praying Mantis a summer, to feed and care for. We even had a fish or two..(who also promptly died.)

I can remember one time, when I was 8 or 9, she woke us up excitedly one more, telling us to hurry and get dressed, as there was a surprise waiting outside. At this age, the desire to have a dog was an all consuming thing, and since she didn't give us any other hints as to what the surprise was, all I could think of was we had gotten a new puppy!

I can remember being soo excited that my fondest wish had come true, and couldn't believe we had to eat BREAKFAST before we could go see what it was.

I can still feel the crushing disappointment I felt, when mom excitedly showed us the seeds we'd planted a couple of weeks before, were starting to poke through the dirt. It wasn't until years later, that we told her why our enthusiasm didn't match hers.

The thing that impresses me most about my mother, is that she never complained about us kids. Never. At least not in my presence.

As a more mature teenager, adults seemed to forget my age when they started spouting off about their own kids. I heard so many parents complain and gripe about their kids, then follow it up with an "Oh but I love them"... yes I can tell by the way you are disrespecting them, and their privacy by airing their dirty laundry to the first willing ear.

I've seen other parents, be little or talk down to their children, or play the favorites card, or be downright hateful to their kids...in the name of parenting.

My mom (and Dad) never did that; sure they had rules and restrictions we were expected to follow, but they treated us with respect...even when we really didn't deserve it.

I appreciate that soo much now.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!!

My Aunt, Grandma, and Mom

{Guess What?}

I'M GOING TO SCHOOL THIS FALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HEY! Stop rolling your eyes.

Why am I so excited to get back into the grind of school work? 

Because for a while there I wasn't sure I'd be able too. With Financial Aid not coming through, and their office giving less than satisfactory information whenever I took the time to bug them, I was really starting to give up on being able to pay for my LAST semester, much less a new one. But after some intense  prodding from mother dear, I sucked it up, loaded Pompei in the car and drove the 35 minutes out to the main campus, to talk to them in person. An hour later I was on my way home, my debts paid and some extra money headed towards my mailbox! This is a HUGE relief off of my shoulders, I can breathe again! THANK YOU GOD!!! WOOO!!! *happy dance*
Now all I want to know is, why in the world did I not do this earlier?!?!?!? 
A Very Happy,
e.r.i.n.

Summer Week 3

This weekend I got to spend some time with my two youngest siblings, Wes and Autumn. I don’t have favorite siblings (or at least that is what I tell myself) but if I did, these two would defiantly make the first cut… and I do love all fo my SIBLINGS. (And of course they won’t read that part but I digress.)
We were driving over the mountain to attend our “other sister’s” high school graduation, and Weston decided he wanted to ride with me. He probably just didn’t want to ride with my parents. So I was the only other choice. Touching I know. Weston is seriously one of the world’s sweetest kids, he’s super thoughtful, always has something kind to say, I sometimes wonder if he was adopted! No wait he probably got that from our mom, along with my other sister Robyn glad someone rubbed off on her. …The rest of us? Like our father. Pray for us.

I personally had a great time talking to him, about nothing I can’t remember a word I said, but I know I had fun, on the way back we gained youngest sister Autumn; now Autumn is a lot more rambunctious that Weston is...but has toned it down a lot in the last year. I decided to let them spend the night with me, and the dogs thought that was the best thing ever. Texas went back and forth between the couches trying to decide who to sleep with. He finally gave it up and came back with me. I need to spend more time with them for sure, though we do see each other daily, it’s not the same as making memories with each other.
Writing that on the “To Do” list..Since I guess my 101 in 1001 is too long…

It is traditional in our church, during a revival that the members invite the pastor’s family and the visiting pastor to their home for dinner and fellowship, during the week they are there.
When my roommate first suggested we have the evangelist over, I’ll admit I really wasn’t keen on the idea. Its a little nerve racking inviting people to your home in my opinion. Plus I’m really reclusive when it comes to my house so the idea of stuffing 16 people plus my three dogs, wasn’t appealing to me. (My family = 8, Their family = 5, My friends = 3, Plus =?) But being the good person I am, I agreed to but my feelings aside and help out in any way possible. A.K.A scrubbing the house from top to bottom.

Those who have been around me within the last year know that I love to clean/organize my house. (read: MY House) Every Saturday if I’m home, I spend the day scrubbing the bathrooms, mopping floors, vacuuming, doing laundry…its my version of therapy. When school started up again I had to let go of those habits in favor of doing homework, but for the most part I’d do that throughout the week.
So scrubbing my house and the dogs only took about two hours max. It looks pretty good if I do say so myself! {May 27th - The party was a success,everyone had fun, there was enough food, the dogs were calm and quiet in their room, we did it! Woo! }

Work is a buzz today, Destination Imagination is on campus and so there are people and kids all over the place. Apparently one of the “hot” things to do, is trade pins with all the kiddos walking through the arena, my boss brought her extensive pin collection, and donated a few to start mine.  I’m looking forward to working this overtime I believe! Speaking of work, the job hunt has been going slowly, I’m really not ready to leave the university but at the same time, money is the issue here. There is a position here in the department that’s open but I’m not sure its something that I can, or want to do…despite knowing they’d hire me in a heartbeat. Another thing is I’d believe they would be committing me to working for at least a couple of years….
There is a couple of other position on campus that I’m looking at, but I still want to be able to bring my service dog in training and according to new “Animals in the Workplace Policy” (who in the world has one of those?) Service Dogs in Training are NOT allowed, despite the TN law, granting them the same access rights as fully trained service dogs…

Anyway so that’s where I am with that…

My cooking mood has continued from last week, it’s amazing what a lack of money will motivate you to do!
All of the sudden I have the will power to go 8 hours without a lunch break, I’m eating lunch before I leave for work, I’m passing up Taco Bell on my way home!!!

On top of the Steak Bites, I also whipped up a batch of Stove Top Mac & Cheese. I love baked macaroni & cheese, but I have the slight problem of not having a stove, so when in doubt “Google”, and I found a great recipe from Rachel Rays’ website. It was so. Good. I mean for really good; like I ate the whole batch in like two days good. That one is defiantly going into my recipe book.

For tonight I’m going to get up my nerve for burgers. So far my burger attempts have turned out pretty sadly, but armed with Rachel Ray’s Everyday Cooking website, I’m going to see what I can make up!
{May 27th - I have officially given up making homemade burgers. I just can't do it!! I'm sure these burgers aren't BAD bad, but I really really don't like them. How about that.}

My Mother

I can honestly say, that my mother is one of the most inspiring women I have met in my life. Now that I'm older and have more responsibilities, I can fully appreciate the time she put into homeschooling us, making us take piano lessons, evolving us in 4-H, keeping us evolved in church, encouraging me to start raising puppies, not too mention all the time spent driving us hither thither and yon.

She's stayed up late nights helping us finish projects, for state fairs, pushed us to do competitions. While all this is good, the biggest thing that impresses is me is how she's never complained about doing any of this. Never. I sometimes cringe when I hear other mothers ranting too their children about how they are doing this and that etc.. Just makes me realized how blessed I am.

I have a Totally Awesome Mom