Photo 13: Animal

What else would I put here besides our sweet and dear, Molly!?!!

We do love her!

Photo 12: Water

Mom and I took a trip out west and visited Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and Las Vegas. More details to come on this trip later but I'm going to use my picture from Hoover Dam for water. I just love these pictures!

Photo 11: Family

Granna and Grandad have a new playset at their house. This fall the boys, and well everyone, has had a blast on this thing. Looking forward to many more nice days at Granna and Grandad's!

Photo 10: Something Fun

Michael Jackson Dance for the Wii!

Photo 9: Something I made

I've been Pinteresting a lot lately. So this is one of my latest projects - painted wine bottles. They didn't come out just the way I had hoped but they will work this year then I can always repaint them!

I also changed my decorations for our tree this year so I ended up making some garland to go with.

Photo 8: What I Wore

I couldn't help but think of Shelly, which is what I wore for 3 months. Of course, I could have picked the outfit I wore today, my favorite outfit or accessory but I went with the thing I never want to wear again!
Man I look rough!

Photo 7: Books

My book selection has decreased lately. I've let some friends borrow a few, I don't have all of them in this shelf and since I've gotten my kindle I don't even purchase books anymore. Oh well, at least I'm still reading!

Photo 6: Flowers

We had a meeting at the Bilmore last week and used these sunflowers as centerpieces. They turned out so pretty!

RHS Class of 2001 10 Year Reunion

Really!??!  It's been 10 years since I graduated high school. How is that even possible?  So that means reunion! I had mixed feelings about the this. I was excited, I was dreading it, sometimes I didn't even care, I wanted to have a good turnout, I wondered who I would see...yada, yada. As you can imagine Mark was just beside himself excited about it. :)

The festivities included the football game on Friday night, family day at the park Saturday and the reunion on Saturday night. Well, we didn't miss a one.

Friday night was fun! We started off by touring our high school. I really didn't think this was necessary considering we only had 3 halls. I could literally stand at one and see all of them. BUT it ended up being pretty impressive. They have added on a new cafeteria, wood shop and automotive shop. Although, several things still remain the same like the gross hanging blinds, dirty floors and small desks. It was also fun for Mark to see it too. He still can't get over how small our graduating class was. Thanks Missy for setting up the tour!

Then we headed to the football game which just so happened to be homecoming. It was fun to watch those little guys. When we were in school I always thought our players were big and macho, not so much anymore. They are SCRAWNY! We had fun catching up and eating blow pops, a football tradition. Then it's not a Friday night if you don't go to Ruby Tuesday's afterwards. So we did just that, just like old times.

Bradley, Casey and the boys came to mom and dad's on Saturday. We just don't get to see them enough!  The reunion festivities continued with a day at the park with families. I only went for a little bit because I wanted to see all the kids. There sure were some sweet ones!

Saturday night was the big shin-dig at Rockwood Country Club better known as Ratchett's.  Sounds real classy, huh?  Don't let Country Club fool you. It's more like Kuntry Club. Take a look below. This will give you an idea of the location. 

We had better than expected bar food and some karaoke. It was fun looking at old yearbooks, chatting, taking pictures, singing and laughing. Mish and I took it upon ourselves to play a superlative game as an ice breaker. Some of the categories included; Who Has the Most Kids, Who Traveled the Furthest, Who's Been Married the Longest, etc. It was a lot of fun to learn things about everyone.

We had a few good rounds of karaoke!

One of the most fun things was trying to recreate a picture taken 10 years ago. Can you tell a difference?

Good times! Can't wait to see you guys again soon! Maybe this time we won't wait 10 years.



Photo 5: Something Old

You may recall me posting about this old church pew a few months back. Well, it still isn't exactly used like I want but the piece is at least finished. My space in which this sits just still needs a bit of work.

Ugh, see how boring this is. And that wall needs some color! 

Photo 4: What I Read

Could I have chosen something more interesting!?!? Anyway, I'm in the process of studying for my CMP Exam. This is the CPA Exam or Bar Exam in the Meeting and Events Industry. So I have been reading these thick, boring text books. Ok, let me take back the boring part. There really are some interesting things in these books and it's something I can use at my job. When I pass this stinkin' test it will ALL be worth it! Then I can get back to my Redemption Series.

Photo 3: After Dark

My husband is OBSESSED with watching movies. And as for me....well, I'm not. As you can see we have a subscription to NetFlix. Boy as soon as we get a movie in we have to watch it that night so we can hurry and get it back in the mail. I get his reasoning that we don't need to sit on it for days on end so we can reap the benefits of our membership. But man, oh man! I have to be in a certain mood to watch movies and I actually have to have an interest in it. So, many nights after dark Mark is watching movies. Sometimes I'm with him and sometimes I'm not.

What's up?

Just a few of the things we've been up to lately....

* Celebrating the marriage of our sweet friends, Adam and Betsy!

* Girls Night at the Journey Concert

* A few thirtyone parties

I hosted a Thirty One party a few weeks ago here at the house. It was so fun to just get the girls together and shop! I got some great hostess gifts! I just love my bags.

At my party Mark's sister decided to have one too. Mom and I went to that one just this past weekend. We just can't seem to have enough bags!

* Southern Fried Festival

Mom and Dad came out this weekend for a few reasons.

1. To pick up dad's trailer

2. To go to Melanie's 31 Party

3. Spend time with me and Mark

4. And the biggest reason was to go to the Southern Fried Festival in Columbia, TN.

This festival was somewhat of a let down. We got there early because we had the party at 1pm. The crowd was a bit slim but started to pick up as we were leaving. You might ask if we had anything fried. Of course we did. Kentucky Fried Chicken was a huge sponsor and had a booth (that for sure made it worth dad's time). We had fried chicken, fried oreos, fried twinkies and fried pies. They had a few cooking demonstrations and cook-offs all hosted by Shane Tallant. I'm very fond of Shane for a couple of reasons. He is on HGTV, which is a favorite channel of mine. He's married to Autumn House, daughter of Gerry House (radio personality). AND he's VERY good looking, to boot.

Check out these super cute pumpkins we got! They can sit or stand.
You can also put a tea light in the top and it will glow or even use it as a candy bowl. I just thought they were adorable.

Photo 2: Hands

Some of these photo topics make me think about pictures already taken too.

This one comes from my wedding day, dancing with the best dad ever. And boy can he get down!  We held hands when I was little going up the slide, crossing the street, and skipping to the car after church. We held hands and danced at my 16th birthday party. We held hands as he walked me down the aisle and as we danced to My Girl on my wedding day. Most recently we held hands when I was in the hospital with my back. You're never too old to hold Daddy's Hands.  

And now these are mine and Mark's hands today. We hold hands in the car, when we walk, when we watch a movie and many other times. It's just a nice touch from someone that loves you and cares about you. I hope we're still holding hands when we're 80! Team Rogers!

Photo 1: Clouds

These photos comes from Sunday, September 11, 2011. We had a full day of going to church, hosting small group, eating and watching the Titan's game. About 5pm we started to hear thunder, thinking it was going to rain. We barely got a sprinkle but man what a nice job it did to the sky. On such a day like 9/11 the sky looked so peaceful.

30? Let's say 90-day photo challenge.

Ok, this little photo challenge that I spoke of now 3 weeks ago was way harder than I imagined. I just couldn't remember to do it every day. Sorry, it wasn't always top of mind.

My goal is to still take 30 pictures........by December 1, will that work? Ok, thanks! So it will now be 30 photos in 90 days.

I found several 30-day photo challenge lists online so I've taken a few from each one to make my own. It has been fun to look at my list and think of the photos I can take but I've been stressed since I haven't been doing it daily.   

Let's get started.

Labor Intensive

Boy, this LABOR day has been labor intensive for sure. I had a goal to get caught up on blogging by September 1. Well, I'm not too far behind. The reason is I was way behind and wanted to get back to present day happenings. I also wanted to do a 30 day photo challenge. So I'm going to have to get caught up on that real quick, we're already on day 5!  Stay tuned...

Family Trip to Myrtle Beach

Earlier in the summer (before my accident) we had planned a beach trip with my family to Myrtle Beach.  I always thought we would still go but man the part I was dreading the most was the 10 hour drive. I did have to be realistic and tell my family there was a possibility that we wouldn't be able to go. Dang, I hated the sound of that. I wanted to go so badly to see the boys on the beach and have some quality time with the fam. Since I was back to work we thought it would be fine. We drove to Knoxville immediately after work and spent the night, so that took some time off the drive. We made the rest of the trek early Friday morning. We stopped frequently so I made it ok but was sure ready to lay down once we got to the condo.

Wow, it had been years since I've been to Myrtle Beach. We had a 3 bedroom condo for a long weekend. We did get some rain but it worked out with the boys' nap schedule. We had so much fun playing in the sand, playing in in the room, going to dinner, riding rides at the amusement park and just being together. I even got in the lazy river for a few minutes with Drew (shhh, don't tell the dr.)

I was very please with some of the family pictures we got too. It was your typical khaki/white outfits but it looks so great on the beach. Check out my wardrobe options, pretty good, huh? You can't even see Shelly!

Healing

Be prepared, this is a long one................So the two weeks of me doing absolutely nothing were horrible. It's not like me to be in the bed and down for the count for days and days. My emotions went up and down. I knew I had to be strong, positive, hard-headed, determined, and independent to get through this, which is what I was.....most of the time. Then I had my down times where I was so upset that I had to be in bed and couldn't do anything, I was depressed, I felt guilty for putting Mark through all this (he was in charge of cooking and cleaning), I wanted my mom to be here, I wanted to be out of pain, I wanted to get comfortable........I wanted to be normal. Then I would have to snap out of it and thank God that my injury was minor compared to what it could have been.

I can't tell you how many times I've ran the events of that day over in my head. I could have not come up out of the water, I could be paralyzed, I could have had to have surgery, I could be in a wheelchair, you fill in the blank.  There are so many shoulda, coulda, woulda's.

After about a week and a half, I wanted so badly to get back to work and into the routine that was normal for me. It was the doctor's orders to be in bed, at home, for the first week. I took it upon myself to do the same for week 2. I could have easily pushed myself (which I've done many times) and hurt myself even more. I opted to take care of myself on the front-end, hopefully that means less on the back-end (later in my older years). On week 2. I could pretty much stay up, with my brace, for 1-2 hours at a time. I tried to check email and help Mark out with what I could during that time.  I finally built my tolerance up to half days. I went back to work and just did what I could. I'm so thankful to have a job in which I can do from home and just have the flexibility while I try to get back into the swing of things. They even altered my work station in which I could stand OR sit, whichever felt most comfortable.

The time has, of course, been dragging for me. You saw the nice brace, a.k.a. Shelly, in the previous post. I am able to wear that under my clothes but man are my wardrobe options limited. Especially since it's summer, I feel like everything is low cut (or enough to show Shelly anyway), dark colored (Shelly is white), or just looks silly. During this time I also have a beach trip (swimsuit?  probably not), wedding, concert and my 10 year high school reunion. Nice, great timing, Katie!

As a matter of fact, I went shopping for a dress for the wedding (thank goodness I'm not IN it), and I just came home pissed. I didn't like anything I put on. I either looked like a marshmallow, it was cut too low or I had to go up in a size for it to fit. UGH!! So, I just have to get over it and move on!

My friends and family have been awesome! I've had phone calls, text messages, emails, meals, treats and many prayers. I don't think they gave me credit for how daring I was. :)  The highlight of most days was being able to FaceTime with Drew. He can light up anyone's world!

Proverbs 17:17 A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.

My friend, Stacy, recommended that I read 90 Minutes in Heaven. I have all this time now, ya know. It's a story about a preacher who was in a car accident, believed he went to heaven and lived to tell about it. He explained his emotions, the months and months of recovery, relationships with his family and friends, and how he coped. I really could relate to some of the story. The main thing that really hit home was when he was in the hospital and he had had several visitors, all wanting to help in someway. A long time friend was visiting, saw his actions and told him to get his act together, people were trying to help and all he was doing was saying no. He made a deal that he would start letting people do things for him. We too had several generous people offering to help in any way, cook dinner, clean the house, stay with me, take me to my doctor's appointments, and bring work over. Mark and I both always said "No, that's ok, we're fine."  I thought we were, we were making it. I didn't like the feeling of not being able to do something for myself.
The point in the book was that he was not treating the people that loved him most very good. If they could heal him, they would. If they could change places with him, many of them would. If he asked them to do anything, they would without hesitating. As a pastor, he had spent most of his life ministering to others, to meet their needs, help them during times of difficulty and now he was doing a terrible job of letting those people do the same for him. I too was being selfish and didn't even realize it. I'm not sure how many people we said no to but if I could do it all over, I would. I'm sorry if I've offended anyone just know that it was not intentional.

So as you can see this has really been hard for me, it's been a long road. I now only have 24 days until I get this brace off. I am recovering well, back at work full time, I'm able to be up all day (even watch movies after work with Mark), I'm cooking and cleaning again, well on my way to getting back to my normal.

Oh, one funny thing I did want to mention. I'm on the board of MPI (Meeting Professionals International), a professional organization I'm involved with so everyone was fully aware of my accident. I went to a meeting last month and we always have door prizes at the end of the meetings. Well my name was called for, get this......whitewater rafting tickets!  The crowd was yelling "No, don't give them to her. She can't have them." I took them anyway, I'll be ready by Spring, right?

Thank you to all of my friends and family that have been supportive, praying for me and there for me during all this.

Broken

Even though our vacation was over as well as the 4th of July I thought I still had a few weeks of summer left. However, it sort of came to an end on July 9th. We had plans to rent a pontoon boat with some friends and hit Precey Priest Lake here in Nashville.

Mark really didn't want to go and mom and dad had made a last minute trip into town so he decided to stay home and entertain the in-laws. I didn't plan to being gone long so I would be back in time to eat dinner with everyone.

I met everyone at the docks with coolers packed, yummy snacks, towels and sunscreen in hand. We had a great time cruising the lake, floating in the water and sliding down the slide that was on our boat (which was a request of ours).

We decided to move locations and ended up stopping to watch everyone jump off these cliffs. There were so many boats just chillin' out. Well we were about to pull away and Captain Lance asked if anyone was going to jump before we left. My friend, Adam, said "I'll go." Well shoot, I had been thinking about it myself so I said "I'll go, if you go." And so here we go......

I had seen others take life jackets with them so they weren't worn out swimming to/from the boat, I followed suit. We had to climb up the cliff which Adam had to help. We were barefoot and the rocks were a bit slippery. We got up there behind a family (dad, son, daughter). As soon as we reached the top Adam jumped. I mean our friends from the boat didn't even get to see him. Me on the other hand had to get my act together. I tossed Adam my life jacket down below and he yelled up to me "be sure to keep you arms to your side so they don't smack the water." Ok, I thought, I've got this. I just have to keep my arms down and jump out far enough so I don't hit the rock I'm standing on. People had been doing this all day....

Ready, set......

Go!

Looks fun, right!?!? Well, it was, I guess, until I hit the water. As I was falling, I thought I would never hit the water. I think when that thought entered my mind I must have lost control and started to lean back some. I hit the water and it completely knocked the breath out of me and my back was KILLING me. I made it over to Adam and grabbed on to him and my life jacket and swam back to the boat. Oh man, I was in so much pain and could not breathe. So I somehow make it into the boat and lay down on one of the benches. I just wanted to get my breath back. My dear friends were trying everything to make me comfortable. They gave me ice, fed me aspirin, got me in the shade, talked to me, anything they could do, bless their hearts, they were trying. I tried a couple of times to sit up and whoa, that was painful.

Remember Mark was not with me and I didn't want to call him right away because I thought mom would panic. So I waited a bit and called him. I could tell he was napping so he was aggravated I was even calling to begin with.
Me: "Mark, I jumped off a cliff and I think I've hurt my back."
Mark: "WHAT ARE YOU AN IDIOT!?! DO YOU THINK YOU'RE 16?"
Ugh, what a jerk, right!?! I immediately hung up on him, not really the support I was hoping for.

I wasn't going to call him back now I was pissed, hurt and crying. We waited another few minutes and I asked my friend, Betsy, to call him. She continued to tell him that it's a bit serious and he needed to come pick me up. We headed back to the dock. I had to get off the boat and into the car somehow. I could walk so I did just that. I got my stuff and walked to my car where I waited on Mark and dad to get me. That was the longest car ride ever, all I wanted to do was lay down in my bed. Mark stopped to get me a heating pad and back brace so we put heat on it immediately (this is a no-no, we should have put ice).

I laid down for an hour, may-be and tried to get up to eat. I could not walk. I could not sit. I could not stand. I just remember crying at the table while my family sat and finished dinner. With that, I decided to get to the ER. We went to Stonecrest right by the house. They took me back fairly quickly. I think we got there at just the right time. The waiting room filled up rather quickly afterwards.

The nurses completed all the registration processes, vitals, etc. I was finally taken for an x-ray. The doctor told me a couple of things could be wrong but that she's ordered a CAT scan to get a better look. So they wheeled me in for that. The doctor came back and said I had a burst fracture on my L1 vertebrae. She continued to explain that the vertebrae pretty much exploded on impact of me hitting the water. This could be treated with surgery or by a brace. In the meantime, I had to potty. Mom asked the nurse if I could use the restroom and she comes back with a bedpan. Ummm..I.DON'T.THINK.SO. I made mom help me up and take me to the potty. I thought it was a quick trip and I made it just fine. I had walked into the ER for crying out loud. I get back in bed and my nurse had ratted me out. The doctor got on to me telling me they are keeping me overnight because the doctors aren't in right not but will be first thing in the morning. The other reason I needed to stay was so they could monitor me. They were concerned the fragments from the fracture that were just sort of floating out there could injure my spinal column doing more damage. That's part of the concern with me getting up and moving around too. They also wanted to monitor my legs and feet for numbness, make sure I was conscious, etc. So they put a catheter in and finally moved me a room.

I didn't sleep very well that night. I was on some pretty good drugs so I wasn't in too much pain but I think I was more concerned about having surgery. I did NOT want to go through that. Poor Mark was there by my side the entire time. (This was after Lisa gave him a good talking to and he realized this was way serious). The doctor came in first thing, I was NOT going to have surgery. Woohoo, PRAISE THE LORD! What a relief! So, someone would be in later to measure me for the brace that I'd have to wear for 3 month (Oct. 9th - Holy Cow)!

The day flew by! I had several visitors, the nurses were in every 2 hours, I had appointments on Monday Mark had to cancel for me, he had to call my boss, etc. I ended up staying Sunday night too. I got the brace Sunday night so I had to get another x-ray on Monday just to make sure it was doing the trick. I slept much better that night, while Mark was curled up on that silly fold out chair.

I was ready to be home Monday but I pretty much had to lay down, flat and on my back, the entire time. The nurses/staff at the hospital were awesome! Mark was a pretty awesome nurse too, but he had to go home with me! :) I was out of work for 2 weeks laying down most of the day, getting up to eat, potty and shower. I did not have to shower or sleep in the brace but if I was up for any other reason the brace had to be on.

Hola Mexico!

At the end of June we went to Mexico with a few friends and had the best time. Really, we couldn't have picked a better group! We started off with a few days of rain and I mean down pours but then ended off the week with lots of sunshine. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

We have fun on the beach, at the pools, had photo shoots, went snorkeling and even rode the spinnaker.

Music to my ears

Bonnaroo Music Festival - whew, what a sight to see! I never really thought I would step foot in the field known as Bonnaroo located in Manchester, TN. BUT when a friend says I can get you FREE tickets and my husband is dying to go, I decided to tag along. However, there were some rules for my participation:

1) We will NOT spend the night.

2) We will leave when I'M ready.

3) We're taking a car so I can get the heck out of dodge, if need be.

4) I will NOT be freaked out by what I may see.

5) Even though I don't know any of the music, I WILL have a good time.

So after I laid down the law, we were going. We ended up leaving the house around noon on Saturday. That was good. I knew we weren't staying all night so the less time there the better. It was hotter than a dickens and so dry. Just from walking through the dry fields and dirt our feet were SO dirty. Yuck it was disgusting. I saw girls with rain boots on because of all the dirt which I thought was a good idea but then I think about their sweaty feet in those boots. I think I'd rather have dirt......and I did.

Right when we got there I started to feel sick. I hadn't had much to eat since breakfast (by this time that had been a while ago) and the heat did not help. So I headed to the VIP tent that had air conditioning. Aaahh, a little relief. Then it was time to get ready for Nate's show. It was in a tent that had some air conditioning too. So by the time the show was over and we got outside it was actually pretty nice. We just missed the hottest part of the day. We were starving so we head to get pizza. I felt like I was just eating dirt with all the dust still flying around.

Nate's second show was ending so we went to meet him and spent some time in the Comedian VIP trailer. Now that was nice, a few snacks, water and air! We were talking about staying for Eminem (which didn't go on until 12:30am - OMG). So I wasn't thrilled but went with the flow. We stayed in the trailer until closer to show time then we walked all back stage hoping to get to sit with Nate and Laura with their VIP badges. Well we got right up to the gate, walked closely with Nate and got DENIED. So they herd us like cattle to another gate. We thought it was going to suck and we would just be out there with all the other fans. No special treatment??!? What?!?!? But I know Nate Bargatze! Have you seen my badge!?!?

They finally let us out and we are smack dab right in the middle of the mosh pit, 10 rows from the stage. Yes, I said mosh pit. I could not have been more annoyed. Mark was having the best time dancing (or what he calls dancing) his little heart out. That's all that matters, it was his birthday after all. I think it was over around 2am, way past my 9pm bedtime.

Laura and others waited around, not me, get me out of there. So we head for the car and we get lost. We have no idea where we are. We came out a different gate than we entered. So we were lost and Mark was not helping. He has NO sense of direction. I was crying, all I wanted to do was get home. A nice "cab" golf cart picked us up for $10 and took us right to the car. Best $10 ever spent!

So Bonnaroo, an experience that I think I can only handle one time.

Country Music Assocation Music Festival - now that's more my cup of tea. Although, I could have done without Taylor Swift. We ended our fun music weekend with the CMA concert at LP Field.

Paint + Zoo

We kept our niece, Rachel, for a weekend and of course it included the zoo and was full of girlie activities! Rachel (and Mark) love the zoo. Every time we keep her we HAVE to go. I'll admit I don't really get tired of it either. She loves the carousel, the birds and the giraffes.

We also went to paint pottery. Rachel painted a cupcake dish and a dinner plate with an "R" in the center. She did such a great job! It was a neat place and they had a large variety of items to paint. I think we'll have a date night there soon.

On the way home we saw the ducks at a nearby neighborhood entrance. They were very friendly and I was able to snack a few pictures.

We also painted fingernails and toenails, watched Rapunzel and Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue more than once.

Go Nashville Sounds!

First of all, I apologize for the stupid spacing issues on my blog. I'm not sure what the heck is going on.

Second, we caught a Nashville Sounds baseball game with some friends before it got so dad blame hot here!

We had a great time eating ballpark food, chatting, cheering and having fun with the mascot.

Wine, Friends and Babies

Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend (before I wasn't able to walk after that stinkin' race) we met some friends at Arrington Vineyards for some wine, food and good conversation. The guys even fit in some football. We did the tasting, brought some picnic type foods and just had a great time being together.

I even ran into some other friends, Ian and Amanda, as they were having one last date night before baby Paisley arrived.

And now Paisley is here, beautiful as ever.