snapshots of our life.

I’m taking a break from studying.  I’m probably going to make a B in my Management in Organizations class and I can’t make myself study much more for it.  It is what it is.  I guess it is good that I’m getting a B (hopefully) this semester so I don’t feel the need to be such an overachiever.  But I was really trying to get all A’s again this semester. 

Anyways, two more finals tomorrow and then I have a nice two week break before Fall semester starts back up.  I’ll have nine classes completed (not bad for 8 months) and 13 more to go.  If I stay on my track I’ll have another year before I have the Accounting degree.  Some days it flies by, other times I don’t feel like it will ever get here. 

Still loving it though, besides this dreaded Management class.  I’m loving Accounting.  Bracing myself because next semester I start my intermediate level classes, but I feel ready for it.  I’ll feel even more ready for it after this two break I’m about to have.

Craig left this morning at four to go to work.  I wasn’t able to go back to sleep right away, so I was up looking through my scrapbooks.  I noticed a certain theme throughout the pictures was this kid.

And I just had to blog about her.  Just to have to remember when we both get older.  I share a really special bond with my cousins Steve and Kim.  They are both a good bit older than I am since my mom was the youngest of four and their mother was the oldest.  For three birthdays in a row (seven, eight, and nine), Kim took me to Six Flags to celebrate.  They spent time with me at family functions.  They picked the hell out of me when I was little (and still do), which I wasn’t used to on a regular basis because I didn’t have siblings (my half brother lived with his mom).  My skin thickened up a good bit because of their double teaming, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.  If they didn’t pick on me now, I’d think something was wrong.  I’ve grown up with them and I have always looked up to them.   Now I get to share that bond with their kids. 

We laugh because every holiday or family gathering I always get stuck at the “kid’s table”.  It never fails.  I can sit down with full intent of being mixed in with other adults at the table, but by the time places have been set and some things moved around, I’m sitting in the kid’s section.  And to be honest I wouldn’t want it any other way. 

I love this kid.   I think we relate to each other so well because some of our family have said that she is a lot like me when I was that age.  Shy at times, mischevious at others, always up to something. 

Last weekend when we were helping my aunt pack up her house, every now and then I’d feel Celia sneak up behind me and put her arms around my waist.  I made a comment to my mom when she walked away about what a cool kid she is.  And my mom said it probably has a lot to do with how much loves me.  But the feeling is mutual.  I think everyone should have a Celia in their life. 

I just feel really lucky to watch my second cousins, nieces, and nephews grow up.  To be even a small part of their life.  And I’m sure that’s what it feels like to have kids but on a much larger scale because they are your own. 

Just something that has been on my mind lately.  My Uncle Hank recently passed away and I think when something like that happens it just makes you appreciate what you have.  He was a strong presence in our family get togethers and now that he is gone I can’t imagine how different the next holiday meal is going to be.  But it has also made me appreciate the relationships I have with my family memebers even more.  I know a lot of people out there aren’t necessarily close with their extended family.  When something happens with ours we all pull together and rally around each other.  And I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of a family like that.

We had so much fun last weekend.  Unfortunely I’m a loser and left both cameras at home.  So we are relying on other to get some pictures from the weekend.  Which is so hard on a camera around my neck wearing, picture taking freak. 

We spent the weekend in Clanton, Alabama.  I would not be surprised if you have not heard of it.  It was out in the middle of no where.  But it was out in the middle of a gorgeous no where with a gorgeous lake and really fun people.  Our friend Donna has a friend with a lake house there (that is also his everyday house which makes me incredibly jealous).  Her friends were really chill and fun.  And we felt like we came away from the weekend with a new set of friends, too.  Duke did, too. 

Craig got extremely lucky.  And when I say extremely, that is the understatement of the season.  We went tubing on Friday.  He and I both.  We got tossed around pretty bad on the back of the boat.  He got in another boat at some point.  When we got back to the dock one of the girls picks up a ring from the back dive platform on the boat and asks whose ring it was.  I don’t know how the heck it stayed there the whole ride back to the house and how that ring did not end up on the bottom of Lake Mitchell.  He was on ring restriction for the rest of the weekend and was given it back on Sunday morning before we left.  His poor face dropped in between the time I took his hand and asked where his ring was and pulled it out of my pocket to show him I had it. 

He took the entry level test of the Firefighter exam today and he passed.  He said about a third of the people didn’t.  I’m so proud of him.  Next he has a background check and then hopefully an oral interview.  We spent the afternoon getting documents together, military separation papers, high school diplomas, etc.  We found a notebook that had months of printed e-mails in it.  I got to reading them and realized that it was our e-mails back and forth to each other before we ever met in person.  So instead of studying for my two tests tomorrow, I was reading e-mails outloud to Craig while he gathered necessary documents for the Fire Department.  It was a really good afternoon. 

Now I’m off to study somemore.  Only more 6 more class meetings before the semester is over.  I can’t wait. to get these three classes behind me. 

And because I hating posting without a picture and don’t have the pictures yet from this weekend, here is one of Craig and I inflight in our bi-plane ride.  Another highlight to today, we finally got our pictures in the mail.