no longer a teenager

My younger brother isn’t a teenager anymore, since Sunday…this is sorta hard for me to grasp.

Like seriously yesterday we were…

playing cowboys and Indians together

arguing as we hauled maple sap back from the woods together

gleaning corn for the cows together

cleaning his room together, more like I was cleaning and he was watching and talking 

hunting white-tail deer together

swimming in flat rock river together

running all those roads around our old place together

And now that all over and he’s grown living in Tennessee six hours away. We text weekly and call some. I miss him but know this is the way life is indented to go.

 

And this weekend I went to visit him in TN with Christina…enjoy the few photos I remembered to take=) I had all these glamorous ideas of actually writing this post up during our drive home on Sunday. But I regretfully didn’t get to it and so it’s here a day later than I planned but oh well=/

The only picture of me…I know I know…without a schedule and a structured life, I can’t even remember to take a photo!Home at last!!! To lots and lots of snow and sub-below zero weather…just wonderful…

So here’s a quick recap of our trip…

Friday –

Christina came home from work saying her car was acting up.

I test drove it and moved the rattling pens in the console. Moral of the tale the car was fine…really fine!

Started on our six hour drive at 7:00 a.m.

Stopped to buy a sleeping mask for my tired “shot gun” rider. (so yeah it was a quiet and a very boring drive)

Met Samuel in Loblesville, TN. (Think a perfect redneck haven and you will have just begun to imagine what it’s like) TN had just suffered an ice storm and we all know what ice does to southern drivers, so Samuel led us in a less hilly way to his home.

Crashed at Sam’s house. (It’s so small and adorable)

Dinner at the Stoll’s house. We couldn’t drive up the hill due to the ice and snow so we walked up their mountain…I developed a head ache, which made my night miserable. Plus they served pasta and I had cuts in my mouth from a accident driving horses a few nights before. I’ll just stop there. (we were suppose to actually stay with these people for the duration of our stay but it was canceled due to their pipes freezing, poor people were without water for days. Which equaled no showers for them either)

Saturday -

Woke up at 4 and my siblings didn’t start stirring until 10:00 a.m.….I was starving!!!!

All the restaurants around opened late due to the weather….so no breakfast just shrimp alfredo

It was dumping buckets of rain all day long. And that on top of the ice made the road conditions worse.

Shopping…the only thing left to do. Christina and I got some wonderful deals at Goody’s.

Ate frozen pizza and cake at Sam’s house while watching his favorite you-tube singing clips=)

Then back Stoll’s house to watch “The Good Lie” btw: a very very good movie! The ice was still bad so we again parked and trudged to the very top of that pathetic hill.

About ten, after running to a friends house to shower the parents came in saying we were flooded in. GREAT! All the rain and temperature rise had creation yet another problem. Did I mention how much I love Indiana?!?!?

This bad new called for something chocolaty…freshly baked black bean brownies soaked in chocolate syrup did just the trick to cheer us all up.

Slept on their couches, and watched movies all night long. Needless to say we became very good friends with ALL the Stolls,

Sunday – Samuel’s 20th Birthday!!!!!!

Again, I woke up before everyone else.

Christina agreed to walk down and see if we were still flooded in.The water had all gone back down and the roads were clear. Also the hill was melted enough to drive up (so glad we didn’t have to walk that again!!!)

Ate a late but wonderful brunch – they made Belgian waffle with blue berry topping…so good!!!!!!

Everyone hurried back to their places of running water to clean up, then meet at the bowling alley in Dickson.

Samuel opened all his gifts from home that we brought with us=) while Christina and I hurried with our showers and makeup.

Samuel won the only game Christina and I had time to play with them. They continued to bowl long after we left.

Homeward bound by 4;30 p.m. (difficult leaving that sad face, of Samuel, behind us…but thankfully his friends were staying with him the rest of the day…..to help him celebrate his day=)

Home by 11:30 (They last hour I slept…but it was more like a series of a million nightmares. Seriously all the stuff I had to do this week kept playing through my mind)

12:30 p.m I sat in a daze on my bed thinking…inwardly vowing to never leave for a weekend again. even though I know I will…and I’ll regret it then too. Mainly because of ALL the work before I leave and after I get back is so stressful.

All and all it was a wonderful trip. Getting to see the wonderful smile of Samuel and celebrate his day, actually, with him was oh so worth it. All of it.

It was such a memorable weekend=)

 

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BTW: here’s a few pictures from the making of my first cake, frosting and all=) sadly I only took some on my phone…it was late at night, so I’m giving myself a break. Samuel loved it!!!

Isaac's first dunk=)

Excuse me as I brag on my brother for a moment....

He's in his junior in high school and his parents couldn't be more proud 

He's a fabulous basketball player note the video of his first dunk on JV

He's so dedicated spent long hours working out these muscles to actually be able to dunk at his height

He's so considerate...and this is when I decided he will make a fabulous husband one day. He woke Christina up last Sunday evening to ask if she wanted to go to church with him and the parents. She did and he looks at her face and says. "Good your makeup didn't smear, hurry touch it up and change..."

He's thoughtful and kind haha he will even cover me up at night sometimes when I have just painted my nails. Also this kid will watch any chic flick with Christina and me=) 

Someone please tell me if any other guy who knows these sort of things (girl makeup will smear if they sleep with it on, even for a few hours) I HAVE to meet him=) haha

And seriously he's genuinely a good kid...most youngest are spoiled but not this kid. He's parents do love him, but all of this attention is well deserved. Can't wait to see where life takes him. and hopefully he'll never loose his sweetness=)

besides all that he's so dang cute=)

Hope your week is going great!!!! =) 

One Republic/ Come Home cover Sammy Atherton

Here's a little treat for you=) My brother just put this up last night. I am his older sister, but I totally view him as being older...

I'm so proud of him=)

Hope you enjoyed! 

and please feel free to leave a comment on his video so he can see it=)

my 21st birthday

I turn 21 today. yikes I can’t believe it=)

This is the 21st birthday on the 21st of August…this will only happen once. thus the reason for this post=)

The picture is of me and my brother Jonathan. His birthday is on the 19th of August. He’s 10 years older than me and for this reason we’ve always been favorite siblings=) He’s amazing and I could go on and on about all the things he’s taught me in life. Growing up he loved green beans…so I learned to love them as well. He’s the reason I do 50-100 crunches every day. He’s the reason I ran the mini marathon (check it out). Okay I’ll stop=) But let me add, he’s the best brother any girl could have =)

I’m 21 now…hard to believe. As a kid this seemed so far away and old. I still feel like the same person I was, but I know I’ve changed (my family reminds me that I have) 

My life seems so full already. But I can’t wait to see what this next year has in store for me. Honestly looking back I don’t see a lot of  “I wish I had done that differently” moments. But I do see mistakes,  I wouldn’t change any of those because I learned so much about life and myself going through them. They’ve made me into the person I am. Since my high school graduation I’ve learned so much. Here are three of the most important things.

1st:  Family is most important. They are the only people who will always have your best interest at heart.

2nd:  Learn to love yourself no matter your insecurities. Don't let them define how you feel about yourself.

3rd:  Stay true to your beliefs. People will admire you for choosing to do what’s right and what makes you happy, and not just following along with what people and your friends think is cool.

I've come to realize that both success and loss make you the person you are, but it's not so much who you used to be, but who you want to become. I would love for this next year of my life to be one of mostly success, but I know that I will be able to overcome the difficulties it has to offer as well. And how do I know this? I've survived 20 years filled with ups and downs and twist and turns. And I’ve had a fabulous time doing it=)  21 better be ready for me!

I’m starting off my 21st year with a trip to North Carolina. First trip by myself…flying and all! I can’t wait.

Father’s Day…the pancake feast=) Part 1/2

This weekend was so relaxing…I’m just going to share the meal pictures, the party pictures will come later=) I took a lot=)

I made pancakes and nothing I cook makes me happier…and oh I got to make a ton of different kinds including a new recipe – PEANUT BUTTER PANCAKES=) – so much fun! On top of that my parents and siblings loved them!!! Which made making them just that much more rewarding=)

Sunday was Father’s Day. Well our dad (typical guy) loves breakfast and he has said time and time again how he could eat breakfast three times a day=) So I got this random idea why not actually do it, why not have breakfast for lunch?  And that’s just what we did=) I ran the idea past him just to make sure he wasn’t rudely surprised, (I’d rather be safe than sorry) so it wasn’t a surprise. But just seeing his face while he looked over the pancakes before the meal was priceless.

I started Friday night by making apple and pumpkin pancakes. I also made a batch of gluten free coconut flour pancakes for myself…they weren’t the greatest, I still need to work on perfecting that recipe. And on Sunday I made the peanut butter and loads of the just regular pancakes=) (which are dad’s favorite).

Happy Father’s Day to my wonderful dad, such a hard working godly man. His selflessness never ceases to amaze me. Also happy Father’s Day to my oldest brother…so many good times together, also he’s a great dad!

So here’s pictures of the day! Enjoy=)

look at that face=)

my gluten free pancakes…

So that was our lunch on Father’s Day=) Looked fun and it was fun=) Everyone laughing talking and eating…

….it was a perfect day!