Abby's Senior Pictures.

While I was in IL in October, I had the honor of taking my cousin Abby's Senior pictures. I had so much fun spending the afternoon with her and my Aunt Alaina.
With the help of Picasa, here's a video of the pictures that I took...I'll post a few later, but this has all of them, set to one of Abby's favorite songs. =)
Hope you enjoy.

University of Illinois Marching Festival.

Collage 1 of ?
Below is a collage of my cousin Abby's marching band competition at the University of Illinois on October 17, 2009.
We had a great day watching bands and hanging out. And, as I said in my previous post, they did well in placing.
More collages to come. =)

Seniors '09

Going to Illinois and taking my cousin's Senior pictures made me realized that I never posted Hailey and Heather's photoshoot.

Hailey and Heather are both beautiful girls, inside and out. They were my first senior shoot. Hailey asked me to take some pictures for her early in the year. Heather wasn't happy with her school pictures and knew that I took pictures and asked me to take some for her. Since it was my first shoot and I knew both girls, I decided to do them together. They both are awesome girls and had similar ideas for pictures.

We planned the shoot on a Sunday afternoon in March. The week of the shoot we found out it was supposed to rain on Sunday, but decided to do it anyway. It turned out to be a great shoot and we had a lot of fun, rain and no rain.

Below are a few of my favorites (and I say a few in complete seriousness because I took about 200 of each young lady).

I'll be posting Abby's pictures probably early next week...after I edit them and send them to her. =)

Wednesday.

Okay, so I haven't been blogging like I thought I would while I was gone, so here's an update of what's been going on.

Wednesday (Oct 14th)--I left at about 8 in the morning to head to Ohio. It rained every minute of my trip except about 20. So I was driving through the mountains in the rain. It wasn't actually all that bad. It was a great time to get to know my car. Who's name is officially Jane. I also call her Janey. Arrived in Dayton about 6.

Thursday (Oct 15th)--Left for IL about 9 in the morning. Rained a little less and I was able to use cruise control. Arrived in Peoria about 2ish (IL time, 3ish SC time). Went to bell practice with Aunt Alaina and Abby.

Friday (Oct 16th)--Spent part of the day at the Vojta's. Then back to the Curtis' b/c Mom and Dad were there for the weekend. Went to the Washington football game (they won 10-0).

Saturday (Oct 17th)--Aunt Alaina, Mom and I went to Abby's band competition at the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana). It was a GREAT day! Pictures to come soon, but they did so well. On the field: 3rd overall, 1st drumline. Parade: 1st drumline, 3rd drum majors. It was a lot of fun watching bands all day. And, of course, the Marching Illini was awesome.

Sunday (Oct 18th)--Talk about a day of drama...Ty was supposed to fly into Bloomington around 9:30AM. I was going to pick him up and bring him back to the Vojta's for a big family gathering...Baker and Curtis sides. First his flight got delayed til 11. Then til 4. It was a big mess. Uncle Dave ended up calling Delta and getting Ty a guarenteed spot to the flight coming in at 9PM. Ty was so exhasted, he'd been up for almost 36 hours straight by the time he caught a few z's on the plane from Atlanta.

Monday (Oct 19th)--Spent the day with the Baker's. Grandpa planned a jam session since Ty was there...I'll have pictures up of that soon as well.

Tuesday (Oct 20th)--Spent half the day with the Baker's, then headed over to the Curtis' for the rest.

That pretty much catches you up...today Aunt Alaina is getting Abby out of school early so that I can take her senior pictures. I'm very excited about that. Right now we're just hanging out, so I'm going to go and spend some time with Grandma. =)

Until next time...

What's in a name?

So I decided to take a quick break from packing and stuff to blog.

Firstly and bestly, I have to say that I am SO excited about heading up North later this week. I'll be staying the night in Columbia Tuesday night to cut an hour off my trip. Leaving Wednesday [early] morning to head to Ohio. Staying with the parents overnight and heading to Illinois Thursday morning when Mom leaves for work.
Not really sure what the "official" schedule will be because we're still trying to work out details with some other family travels. I do know that Thursday when I get in, I'll probably go see my Aunt Alaina at work, stay the night with the Curtis', then part of the Friday with the Vojta's because my Aunt Diane won't be working that day. Saturday with be with the Curtis' because my cousin Abby has a band competition at the University of Illinois (I'm okay with being a nerd because I am SO excited about that!!). Sunday is when it gets kinda blurry. My brother is flying in that morning and leaving Thursday morning. I at least know that 2 days will be with the Baker's and 2 with the Curtis'...just don't know what days those are. After I drop Ty/Will off on Thursday, I'll probably be with the Curtis' for the rest of the day, then to the Baker/Vojta's where I'll be leaving to go back to Ohio on the 24th and then from Ohio to SC on the 25th.
I'm pretty excited about this trip. Especially after talking to Abby (my cousin) earlier on IM about how cold it is.


I guess that means I need to get back to packing...because I don't know exactly where my sweaters are. I think they are under my bed; wish me luck. Haha. Oh, wait, one more order of business...

I still have not decided on a name for my beautiful car. I first went with "Shadow". Shadow is a character from Homeward Bound, the one problem? Shadow is actually a boy, but I was okay with this because my car is black and I thought it would be cute...but it's just not seeming to fit. So here are some other that I have come up with...
-Lady from Lady and the Tramp
-Jane Banks (or JB) from Mary Poppins
-Rita from Oliver & Company
-Georgette from Oliver & Company
-Eve from WALL-E
-Colette from Ratatouille
Any more suggestions...or votes?

Discovery of the day: I am definitely a fan of whole wheat Cheeze-it's (especially the slightly burnt ones).

The search is over!!

For those of you who have been following my dramatic car search, it has now come to it's end!! I'm very excited to be the owner of a 2009 Toyota Yaris, Black 4-door Sedan.
You'll see the pictures below, but I got a very good deal. The car only had 61 miles on it when I found it. And I was able to find it locally, which is also great.
I haven't named her yet...but I have already determined she's a girl...she's too cute to be a boy. ;P
More pictures to come soon of the inside and such when I have time. I've been working my regular job this week along with working at the county fair at night for some extra funds [see below pictures]...so she's a little dusty. We'll fix that soon and have more pictures of her!
=) Happy Friday to everyone! Hope you enjoy your day!! =)

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."
Psalm 100

Almost a new car owner!!

I just have time for a quick blog before I get to sleep. I'm working at the fair this week at night and I am so tired from my first day.
I got off work a little early today to go to Scott Will Toyota to test drive the 2009 Toyota Yaris 4-door sedan. It was different to driving the hatchback, but was still very good. The biggest reason that I decided to test drive it was because when I met with the salesman yesterday to talk about the 4-door hatchback (2010) he said that his boss really wanted to get rid of the sedan. It only has about 60ish miles on it. So I went in to test drive...talked him down to a price in my range... =) and tomorrow I take the paperwork to the bank to get everything situated...if all goes well, I should be able to drive it off the lot tomorrow...........I'm very excited. Not excited about the car payments by any means, but excited to have my own car again.
So I just have a few more details to work out, but I am so very excited. As soon as all that happens, I'll be posting pictures. =)

Thanks to everyone who's been praying for the situation and helping me out in other ways.


Also, quick update on Gpa Baker. Mom told me today that he went back into the hospital today...they thought the pneumonia was coming back, but after looking they found that something was going on with the spots on his lungs (I don't know the exact details b/c I'm really bad with medical terms). So the doctors were trying to decided if they should put in a shunt(sp?) or start him on chemo...I'll keep everyone updated as I here more info.

Thanks again everyone!!

Until next time.....

Car drama...well sorta...

Okay, so I went car shopping today in Cola. I talked with the dealership on Friday and was under the impression that the car that I wanted (2010 Toyota Yaris--5 door hatchback) was at the dealership. Well...when I got there, the salesman (who's name is Gollie--pronounced "Goalie", yes, that's his real name) went to get the car, and pulled up in the 3 door hatchback. While the 3 door is very cute, I told him I was actually interested in the 5 door hatchback and was under the impression they had it on the lot. So he went and checked while Erin and I sat in the car checking out the features. He came back to say that it actually hadn't been delivered to the lot yet. So we test drove the 3 door, just to see if I was going to like the car.
Confession: I do.
The one thing I was sure if I was going to like was that everything is the middle...speedometer, gas gauge, everything. It's actually pretty neat. The wheel doesn't obstruct your view and gives the car extra storage...basically 3 glove compartments.
So we talked a little and he said he would give me a call when it came on the lot. About 30 minutes later, he called while we were at Panera Bread eating lunch. Turns out that the car hadn't gotten there, but they sold it on Thursday........
So...back to square one essentially. So I've been calling other dealerships in the area to see if anyone else has one. Hopefully the wait will be short...just pray that the Lord gives me peace, because I really like this car. It gets great gas mileage. It's just a great car, plus it's cute. ;P
I know that only girls will understand "it being cute" is important.
We shall see. I'll keep everyone posted...

Car issues

Alright, well, to make a long story somewhat short...I was in the Walmart parking lot yesterday afternoon and when I went to try to leave, my car made a horrible sound (I would try to describe it, but I couldn't find those letters on the keyboard).
[[Side note: in the Walmart parking lot there are usually a lot of little birds.....I thought that I could have possibly killed one. Imagine how that would sound and you pretty much got it.]]
So I called Fulton Auto (where I normally take my car) and they came and towed it. They called me this morning and told me that it was the engine...I don't remember the specifics (one, because I'm not mechanical at all, and two, my brain shut off when they told me that it was the engine...and how much it was going to cost).
My Dad called them this afternoon and they explained everything to him...I don't remember everything, but I do know that there was some fluid where it wasn't supposed to be and something about the pistons. But they won't really know everything until they take the engine apart.
Right now I'm just trying to figure out if it'll be better to just get something [relatively] new or buy a new engine. So we shall see...
So to all of you people out there in blog world...please pray that I have peace in what I should do... I'm not afraid of making a bad decision...it's just really stressful. It's definitely the kind of decision that you want to take time making, but it's not something I can take too much time to make a decision.

Psalm 56 "in God I trust, I will not be afraid"

Ocean Isle Beach.

One of several pictures I took on my 4.6 mile walk Saturday morning on the beach....that's right, 4.6 miles.
Let's just say that I did not realize that it was 2.3 miles from the beach house to the pier.
FYI: it's not a good idea to walk 4.6 miles, on the beach, barefoot...unless you want to have aching muscles the next day.
Lesson learned...lesson learned. On the upside, I do have a decent tan on my neck, back, shoulders and arms now. =)
More pictures to come very very soon.

Ocean Isle

Friday Night Sunset at Ocean Isle Beach, NC