Wordless Wednesday!

 

Academic Honors for both smarty pants!

 Last night we got to show off both girls and how hard they work at school.

Lily's first Academic Awards and Alexis just has one more! CRAZY!

Though I dont know how they both do it between all the cheer.........soccer, track, etc... 

they do what they need to...with only a little bit of coaxing from me. :)

We are so very proud!

Up first, Lily!

Next, Lex's turn

Her first Academic Award certificate

Two smarty pants!

Lily and her best friend forever

And we all love Rachel!

Lex only gave me a short amount of time for pictures so I got what I could! :)

A quick family pic!

DNOW!

 The weekend was full of DNOW for both girls! This is the first year that Lily was able to go and she was SO excited about it!

They were gone Friday and Saturday night and had the best time! I loved hearing all about it once we got them back after Church this morning! We had family lunch and then came home and they both took a loooonnnggg nap! :)

I loved that Alexis grew with her friendships with her Church friends! She had so much fun with them!

PACKED house!

Love Kara and love Holli and so thankful for them (Kara) to open her home and (Holli) leading the girls!

Lily's group from the home she stayed at. Mrs. Elizabeth was a great hostess!

They had a great and big group!

Lily and her group! She had a blast and said that her favorite part was playing hide n seek in the neighborhood after session!

All matching in their shirts!

Thankful they had such a great weekend! I have to say, Tyler and I enjoyed ours too!

Be my Valentine!

 We all had our special Valentine's and felt the love!

Reese spent the day with us since the basketball games were happening and then we enjoyed lunch and some shopping before coming home and they 'hung out' the rest of the afternoon!

Alexis and JC enjoyed lunch and ice cream to celebrate their day. He brought her chocolates and beautiful flowers!

Tyler and I............though he would NOT take a picture with me...........enjoyed a low key night at home watching a movie and enjoying no noise or anything since both girls left for DNow at Church! We had a date night the next night to celebrate and it was a great night! (Though he still wouldnt take a picture with me!)

Matching best friends forever! 

Cuties!

Basketball season has come to an end

 Both teams went out with a bang! 

Making it to the semi finals at the Regional tournament is nothing to be mad about!

They both came up short but should hold their heads high!

They had a huge crowd and student section cheering them on so that should make them see how everyone enjoyed knowing how well their seasons were!

Last for this group of ladies! Now on to Alexis' SENIOR year! Just wow!

Cheering them on!

My girl doing what she loves!

Out there shining!

Lily with her crew supporting!

A thing called work!

You know, when you are growing up, you always talk about and tell everyone what you want to be when you 'grow up.'

When you get in high school, you start preparing for the direction of what you want to do when you grow up.

College, you pick the major and you study to graduate to become what you want to do when you are now 'grown up.' (so you think)

But, I have to say, doing what you 'want to do when you grow up' doesnt always turn out the way you have it planned. You may even graduate with the degree that you had set out, but not even end up working in that field or what you thought you would be doing.

Well, that is what happened to me. 

Having a degree in Human Resource Business Management from Auburn was not an easy route. Taking Business classes was not as easy as taking some other majors but I stuck it out and graduated. Even though I graduated with that degree, I have not worked in that field besides my internship before I graduated.

Do I wish I would have gone more down that path that I have set out?.......................sometimes, yes. I could and still can see myself in some sort of HR related field.

But..........

to see how God's hand has been in every step of my career world, has just been amazing to watch unfold.

When I got the job at Blue Cross and Blue Shield, that was such a great corporate experience but I did not do what I had thought I would 'when I grew up.' Seeing how what I wanted, within those years in terms of job shifts and promotions, didnt align with what God had planned for me and to see how it all fell into a perfect shift to be able to transition to JSU, once I had Lily and Tyler had his job change, is just a blessing.

I love where I work and what I do and I have to say, it is a bit part because of this crew and even past co-workers that I just love dearly!

I mean, I am with them essentially more than my own family with the way 'work' goes. If you dont have a good work family, then it makes work life just a little bit.........................terrible....and boring...and mundane. :)   Doing what I do every day, day in and day out, is just better with them!

This isnt all of us, but we broke out and had a 'fun' lunch for Valentines day! Love these ladies!

Wordless Wednesday!

 

'Kick it at Prom!'

 So, after the boys game last night, (that I might add JC was Captain, played an awesome game and they came away with a big home game win!)

we were walking out...........and JC had it all planned. He came around the corner (and had about 10 close friends hanging around too) and asked Alexis to Prom.

It was very sweet!

What was funny was, he came up to me and said "Mrs. Amber, Audrey (his sister) drew everything out, but I traced over it and 'made' it!" ha! He wanted to make sure Alexis could read it and his handwriting would not have done that! :)

And, she said yes! A big group went to McDonalds to celebrate the big win after the game.

Alexis had a great night!

Our multi-talented girl!

 Lily is into all the things and loving it all!

She goes from track to soccer and then back again!

I mean, I just dont know how she enjoys all the running.........but she does! :)

I love watching her do what she loves just as much as I do watching Alexis! Lily is learning the high school ropes of it all...and is kicking butt while doing it!

Spotted her toward the end of Track practice.........finishing up and out there just a running!

Then last night we all enjoyed watching the girls and boys team during their 1st home game of the season. Both teams did great!

And....bonus, we got to watch the awesome ball girl too! :)

Life lately!

 Life lately is still full swing, basketball, soccer and track!

Basketball is winding down but both girls and boys are still winning so now they are moving on to the Regional tournament this Friday!

Sweet 16 for both is a BIG deal!

Soccer for Varsity starts tonight. Lily is on JV so they dont have their 1st game for another week or so.

Track will be here next month too!

So, just over here doing our thing!

This weekend was gorgeous! Friday, especially, made me itch for Spring and Summer because it was just beautiful!

We had all things basketball, Church and gearing up for the week!

Lily supported her team last night even though they did not pull through during the Super Bowl. She looked cute as she supported so I had to take a picture!

Lilys future!

 I want to claim this and make a post so I can go back to 02/06/2025 to remember.

Yesterday, Lily was asked by her friend, Bre, to come to her College Signing day!

SO exciting for Bre that she got a full scholarship to Montevallo! Congrats to her and her family!

Montevallo is a great college and the fact that she is going to continue to do what she loves with running, is so exciting for her and her family!

And.........here is where the good stuff comes in.

Lily BLEW her away especially towards the end of the season. 

I do not mean to sound 'mean', however, I am just stating facts.

So, if Lily continues to excel and love the sport of Cross Country and even Track, I cannot wait to see what her future holds!

So, some time soon, the reality is, there can be a picture just like this of Lily.........and all of her supporters and us! 

So exciting!

Wordless Wednesday!

 

My girls!

 

My girls.

I mean.

Look at them.

They are just growing so fast.

Being a teenage girl....is hard.

Being a Mom to teenage girls.........

dont get me started, how hard. 

(Though, Tyler/Daddy, just thinks we are all crazy and really has no idea how it is to be a girl............a teenage girl (at that)................or a woman........or a woman that is a Mom....to two teenage girls) (just for the record!) :)

All the things.

Friend drama. Being a good friend. Boys. Hair. Makeup. Emotions. Periods. Being respectful. Being kind. Giving yourself grace. Learning how to manage time. Being responsible. Making good grades. Learning that studying is very important. Being truthful. Listening. Putting others first. Keeping up with items. Being ladylike. Planning for futures. Sports activities. Morals. Working hard matters. Pushing yourself to be the best version of yourself.

I can just keep going with the list of ALL the things that I try daily to instill into and talk to the girls about. 

I know the daily grind of our lives can cause tension, with all we have on our plates, and all that is expected of us day in and day out, so how we can get frustrated at each other is just the way it goes but despite that, I hope that even with the frustrations, they always know how much I love them.

Sometimes as a parent, you have to be the bad guy. You have to hold your child accountable and have to give consequences that you dont like to do. Being a Mom, saying 'no' seems like what you do more than saying 'yes.' 

But, at the end of the day, I know everything I do, is to best benefit them. Even if it isnt the option that the girls would prefer most. 

So, to the two faces that are shining so bright in this picture, I love you and want exactly what God has planned for you.

I want you to walk in His light and shine in His path that he has chosen for you. You will struggle. You will fall. You will have pain. You will have hurt. You will have consequences. You will have love. You will have hope. You will have happiness. You will have success. 

If you trust in Him and do the very best you can with the life he has given you great things are in your path.

I mean.

Look at them.

These two girls, that have my heart, I cannot wait to see grow and become beautiful young women with so much potential in their futures!

No matter how hard it is,

God's got us and I am thankful.

A workout to remember!

 So, you know, start the new year out with new things!?

Well, that is what I did and it will go down as a memory for sure!

A good workout, lots of laughs, dinner and hanging with fun co-workers made for a great Friday night!

We kept the weekend low key and didnt have anything on the agenda and it was nice to just catch up on laundry and enjoy the nice weather! Yesterday was full of Church, lunch and then gearing up for this week ahead!

I have to say, the hype was real and I was so glad I gave it a try! Will I be back? No. Did I consider it a workout or just a harness that killed my insides.....well, not a workout! ha!

We laughed alot though!

Fun times!