Ahhhh- I can finally breathe!!!!

Yes, I know, it's been a very, very long time. But friends, there is a reason. I have barely had time to breathe the past three weeks. This summer has gotten off to a crazy busy start. I can't believe it's almost halfway over. I'm at the beach now with the family recovering from the madness, so I thought I'd take a minute and update the ole blog.

After school was over, I went right into wedding mode. I made list upon list of things that had to be done, what I needed to get, where I would get my dress altered, what I would wear to the bridesmaids' luncheon and rehearsal dinner, etc. Although I wasn't working everyday, I didn't really have time to relax yet. The week of the wedding came. I enjoyed a couple calm days before the storm hit. To be honest, the wedding ceremony itself and my amazing sister were beautiful, but the combination of the stress I'll go into in a minute makes me want to consider eloping (if/when the time comes). I hear people say the time and money are not worth it all the time, but I lived it a week ago.

It all began when we found out a week before the wedding that Trey's dad had to have triple bypass surgery. He went in on Friday morning and PRAISE GOD, did amazingly well and was able to not only attend the wedding, but stand next to Trey as his best man a week later. We were so thankful but were definitely stressed and worried about him. In addition, most of you know Cortney's one wish was to have an outdoor wedding. I've never been much of a risk-taker, especially when it comes to a day as important as your wedding. We had heard however, that it hadn't rained in many years on June 14 in Florence, so we were hopeful. As luck would have it, the rain won. We got up Saturday morning and had to make a call by 9:00 am in order for the florist to do what he needed to do to build the outdoor arbor. At 9:00, it was storming so we had to move the ceremony inside. Oh, but of course, by 4:00 it was beautiful outside but by that time we couldn't go back. Not only did we have to move the wedding inside, but Cortney's AND Trey's wedding cakes were messed up. Her's was supposed to be square and his round, the caterer reversed it. She took it like a champ, but still....Not only that, but Cortney started feeling sick at the reception so I went with her to a classroom in the church building to sit down and rest a minute. Five minutes later she was throwing up. That continued until 4:00 the next morning, and she didn't feel good for the most part of the honeymoon. There you have it...S-T-R-E-S-S! Bottom line though, they're married and to those that witnessed the day from the outside, it couldn't have been more perfect. As for me- I may have an appointment at the courthouse one day.

Here's a picture of my beautiful sister on her wedding day.



I left the day after the wedding to go to Impact. It was good, as always. The theme was "Day of Reckoning" and I have no doubt God was in that place and worked in the hearts of tons of people. It was good to get to see lots of old friends.

I left Impact and drove straight to the McKinneys' house (so strange to say that!) to spend the night and leave yesterday morning to come to the beach. That brings me up to date. I'm sitting on the balcony as we speak listening to the sound of the water and kids playing. It's so relaxing- and so welcomed for me right now.

I hope you are all doing well. I'll post pictures of the beach when I get home!

SCHOOL'S OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm breathing a little easier now! Today was my last day of school. Although I have to go back in the morning to meet with my principal and go over our end of the year checklist, the majority of my "teacherly" duties are done. I had a great class this year. The kids were so smart and really sweet, overall. (Sugar buns boy is off to middle school. I tell ya, what entertainment he was.)

Summer always goes by really fast so I'm going to try and enjoy every minute. June is CRAZY busy, but busy with good and exciting things. First comes Cort's wedding. She gets married June 14. I leave the day after to go to Impact for a week. I leave Impact on the 21st to come home and turn right around that very day and leave with my entire family for our annual beach trip. Twelve adults and all eight kids will be making the trek to Orange Beach for a few days. We're all so excited and are counting down the days.

Hopefully, July will be my month to sit back and do NOTHING! I have to have some of those days in order to feel like I've had a vacation.

So, congratulations to me. I've made it another year. Praise be to God for giving me all the strength!

Here you go, Paige!

*Maybe I should...start going to bed before midnight on a school night so i won't be so tired the next day.

*I love the smell of ...men's cologne, downy, babies, candles, mineral spirits used to clean gym floors...ha!

*People would say that I...overthink things way too much and am very paranoid.

*I don't understand why...gas keeps going up. i'm starting to get really mad about it.

*When I wake up in the morning...i hit the snooze button about five times before i finally get out of bed.

*I lost my will power to...follow through with most of my new year's resolutions...a long time ago.

*Life is wonderful with...my God and my amazing family and friends.

*My past made me...most definitely nuts, but i can't use that as an excuse for the rest of my life. God used it to give me strength and to teach me lots about life so it's a blessing.

*I get annoyed when...the same parents come in my room everyday and ask random questions that their kids should already know the answer to IF THEY WERE LISTENING.

*Parties are not...fun unless I'm there....hahaha

*Dogs are...cute if they stay little and have no ticks.

*Cats are...sweet but i'm allergic.

*Tomorrow I am going to...try and get memory albums finished that i'm giving my students for their end of the year present.

*I have a low tolerance for... dishonesty.

*I'm totally terrified of...so many things i can't even list them all.

*I wonder why I thought my life would be...easy.

*Never in my life...have i wanted to travel as much as i do now. many of you say you want to accompany me to mark off some things on my life list. the thing is, i'm serious. who's ready to go because i want to make some flight reservations!

*High school was something that...i absolutely loved.

*When I'm nervous...my heart beats a million times a minute and my face gets flushed.

*Take my advice...try a hazelnut java chiller from sonic.

*Making my bed is...a rare occasion, unfortunately.

*I'm almost always...analyzing something.

*I'm addicted to...the Hills.

*I want someone...to marry.

I TAG Meredith and Haley.

Leona Lewis

This CD is really, really good! Usually there's only two or three songs on a CD that I listen to regularly, but I actually enjoy almost all of the ones on her's. Most of you have heard "Bleeding Love," which is my favorite! If you get a chance, listen to some of the others. I think you'll like them!

What's on your Life List?

"One rainy afternoon an inspired 15-year old boy named John Goddard sat down at his kitchen table in Los Angeles and wrote three words at the top of a yellow pad, "My Life List." Under that heading he wrote down 127 goals. These were not simple or easy goals. They included climbing the world's major mountains, exploring from source to mouth the longest rivers of the world, piloting the world's fastest aircraft, running a mile in five minutes and reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. Now, a generation later, he has accomplished 109 of these quests, and has logged an impressive list of records in achieving them."

What's on your Life List (or Bucket List as it's come to be known lately)? Have you ever thought about it? I thought I would begin one of my own. I'm sure it'll grow as time progresses, so check back if you wish. There may be new goals to come!

My Life List: (in random order)

1. Visit Los Angeles/Hollywood/Laguna Beach
2. Visit New York City
3 Travel to (or at least through) all states in the U.S.
4. Ride a gondola in Italy
5. Take a cooking class
6. Go to Paris
7. See Gavin DeGraw in concert
8. Go on a mission trip
9. Get married
10. Have children
11. Buy a house (by myself or with my husband- preferably the later)
12. Be debt-free
13. Attend a taping of a daytime talk show (Oprah, the View, Regis
and Kelly, etc.)
14. Learn how to drive a stick shift
15. Go camping
16. Go to the Mall of America
17. Visit Washington D.C. again, and this time appreciate what's
there

There will be more to come............. Now, I'm ready to check some of these off!

Another funny story from the classroom....

Everyone remember the sugar buns boy??? Here's another story....

We were sitting in the kindergarten class as my students were reading with their book buddies. The "sugar bun boy" was sitting near me. I thought I heard him say my name but I didn't want to look at him because I knew if I did he probably wouldn't repeat what he said. Since it came from his mouth, I knew it would be funny and definitely worth hearing. I kept listening, and he said it again. "Ms. Browning is my true love." As if that weren't funny enough, he proceeded to tell me that the girl he was reading with (as she was reading a book about insects) was comparing me to a butterfly. "Sugar bun boy" said, "You're much prettier than a butterfly. You're as gorgeous as a pretty bird." As he said it, he was waving his hands in the air pretending to fly...like that pretty bird.

We come back to the classroom and I was told there was a note waiting for me on my door. I went to look and a little piece of paper had been folded up to fit inside a ribbon holding up a sign on my door. Here's what he said (and how he spelled it):

"Oh baby, if only I wasn't ingaged you and me would be together baby. Oh I love you. Sorry I'm ingaged." Signed: Sugar bun boy.

Now, this is getting borderline inappropriate. He's definitely a ladies man and there's at least one or two other teachers that he behaves this way with. I think I'll go show the note to the principal. It may be time for sugar bun boy to pick on girls his own age!

If only he was 20 years older............

The Bachelor- what else?

Is anyone watching this season? If so, are you as disappointed as I am? Until last night, I searched and searched to find even one girl that I thought was decent. Was there just one that didn't play the clarinet or break out into some operatic mess? I think I've found one I want to like, friends. Holly.....

Why do I like Holly, you ask? First of all, I think her career is awesome -she writes children's books. Second, her personality seems real and she doesn't seem materialistic or fake. Third, she certainly doesn't seem to be there for the media attention and acts as if she's truly there to find love (that sounds so funny). I think her feelings for Matt are genuine.

I don't just love Matt, either. I guess I still have time to become attached but I'm not expecting it. All two of my regular readers know I have tendencies to fall in love with these silly guys on the show myself. Not gonna happen this time I'm afraid.

So, what are your predictions? Have you found anyone to like? Who will he pick?