To my Faithful Readers

Hey, everyone! Well, I'm still here! I am still having internet booboos, though. Now that Katie is coming back from Hawaii, I'll go over to her house and update, probably on Sunday. I have a few things to catch up guys up on!! A faithful reader asked me if she should delete my blog! DON'T DELETE IT!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M STILL HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Madalyn!!!!

Happy 4th Birthday to My niece, Madalyn Joy!!! I can't wait till you guys come visit me next weekend!!!!

Floating in Papaw and Grandma Peggy's pool in Florida

Next to her Cinderella castle

A Princess needs her beauty sleep!!

Trying on Grandma Peggy's headphones

Madalyn with Papaw

Computer Woes

Well, my internet is down! DANG IT!!!! They told me wireless was supposed to be fast, and that it worked pretty well WRONG!!!!!! I am so frustrated! I can't blog, I can't check Facebook, and I can't do some other stuff either!

Anyway, I hope to be back blogging SOON!!! I HATE not having internet! I feel so disconnected! :(

Happy Birthday Dad!!!!!

I hope you have a great birthday, Dad! I'm glad you were in Arkansas to celebrate it!!

Here is a picture of me and Dad when he escorted me at arrival for Miss Arkansas 2004. I can't believe I got him to wear a pink tie!!!!

Happy Birthday, Thomas on April 4!!!!

I am a BAD aunt!!! My nephew, Thomas turned 12 on April 4. I did call him, though! But, he does deserve a "blogger" happy birthday!

Birthday Fun

Well, of course, I started the birthday festivities with the great Mississippi road trip!! What a great way to kick off my birthday!!!

Then, on Monday the 31st (my actual birthday), the staffing section of HR had a cake and a card for me.

While I was in Mississippi, my friend, Phil called me and told me he wanted to treat me to dinner for my birthday. Since I love food, and free food at that, I gladly accepted. He said he had a gift card to Ferneau in Little Rock, and I had always wanted to try that place, so I said that would be fine. He said he would take me out Tuesday night (April 1). He told me he was wearing his pink shirt (in honor of me!), so I said I'd wear pink, too so we could match. :) Well, he picked me up about 7:30, and we drove into Little Rock. But, we didn't stop at Ferneau, we stopped at Acadia instead. I just thought he got the restaurants mixed up, so I didn't think anything of it. Well, we got in the front, and the host said, "Are you the birthday people?" I was like, "What?!" Phil had told me he hadn't made reservations, so I thought that was kind of weird. We walked to the back, and they opened a door to the back dining room, and I GOT APRIL FOOLED!!!!! There were about ten of my friends from church there for a surprise party!!!! There was pink everywhere!. My friend Heather had done most of it since she used to work at Acadia. Unbeknownst to me, Meg and her mom had "stolen" some pictures of me throughout my life while we were in Jackson, and left them on the front porch for Phil to pick up and deliver to Heather. The pictures were scattered all over the table! My parents, sister, Meg, Julie, and all my other church friends all knew about this, and they kept it a secret from me the WHOLE TIME!

My wonderful friends!!

What a silly group!!

Reading my card from Heather. It played "Brick House!" That's kind of an inside joke between us. :)

The girls being really silly.

Me digging in to Acadia's AWESOME chocolate creme brulee'

We had GREAT food, and had a great time!!

Afterwards went to see The Other Boleyn Girl which was good.

The BIG 28!!!

On March 31, I turned the BIG 28!! It's hard to believe I'm almost 30! :) I thought I'd take my faithful readers on a short (picture) journey through my life so far...

Me at three months old

Me at three months old in my Mississippi State shirt. My dad went to college there, so I was born a fan.

My Christening picture at a year old

Me and my brother, Brian (or as I called him, Bubba) when I was a year old

Me and Katie taking a Christmas card picture

Carving pumpkins

Kindergarten Picture

Me at five

Me with my cat, Precious, who I got when I was seven. She lived to be 15!

Third-grade picture

My first "concert" at age seven. I was at my cousin's wedding

At age nine.

Katie and I playing in the snow. I was ten

Homecoming in tenth grade

High School graduation from North Little Rock High School!!

My Miss Arkansas 2004 picture. I was Miss Lakes of the Northwest and got top ten at Miss Arkansas and overall talent.

Graduation from my Master of Arts in Teaching in 2006

The Gray family at Disney World last May

Weekend Road Trip to Jackson

The weekend before my birthday(the 28-30th of March) I went with Megan (Harvey) Burgeis and her mom, Julie to visit my mom and dad in Jackson (well Madison), Mississippi. It was such a fun time! Not only did I get to see my parents and love on Tigger, Smoot, and Halo (the kitties), but I got to hang out with Meg and her mom!

Here's Tigger (or Tigga as Meg and I call him)!! He really wants a belly rub!

Smoot loves Dad's new recliner. I think she's testing it out for him.

My sweet kitty, Halo

Halo LOVES Daddy!!

Friday night, we went to Krystal to have "mini-burgers" as I call them. Meg, Julie, and I had never been, so we thought we'd try it. It was good!

Me and Julie endulging in our burgers

Mom and Meg doing the same. We are SO silly!

Saturday, the girls went shopping and out to lunch. I tried on some really cute clothes and also saw tons of cute stuff for my house. Did I buy it all? No!! Wish I could, though!!. Then, Dad treated us all to my birthday dinner at Bonefish Grill. It was GOOD!!!!! I had the lobster, and it was awesome!!

Me and the Harvey girls at Bone Fish

Mom and Dad at Bone Fish

Then, on Sunday, mom cooked red beans and rice (my favorite "Mom-cookin' food" and cornbread for lunch. Mmmm!!!! Then, I opened my presents for my birthday.

Me with some of my new Fiesta Wear dishes from Mom and Dad. I also got lime green

Me with my FIRST iPod from my parents!

The Harvey girls gave me a really cute plate and mug! Thanks girls!!

Then, Meg, Julie, and I headed back home. What a fun time! We DEFINITELY need to do this again SOON!!!

Me and my parents in front of the house.

I'm SO worn out from my long trip!!!!

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a great Easter with their families and friends. I actually didn't go to church because I woke up with a migraine, but decided to go hiking afterward with some friends at Caddo Bend Trail in Ouachita State Park (near Hot Springs). I have discovered one thing; I'm never doing that again!!! It's not that I got tired, but for a visually impaired person, climbing hills with big rocks in them is not my idea of fun. It was pretty scary!!!

On the positive side, I did get some great pictures of God's awesomeness on His special day!

A Murder Mystery in Them Thar Hills!!

Last Saturday night, the singles group at my church had a murder mystery dinner. It took place in the old west in Arizona. It was a "dinner" to honor Dusty Jones, who had discovered gold. But, someone had a different idea and...POISONED HIM!!!! One of the "characters" was the guilty person who poisoned Dusty Jones, and we had to figure out whodunnit. My table, along with several others, got it right!!

The citizens of Cactus Gulch at the "dinner" honoring Dusty Jones

Me, Mandy, and Crystal at the dinner

Us questioning the town banker (AKA Justin)

Us questioning the mayor of Cactus Gulch (AKA Richard

We also had a potluck, and man, we can turn out some food!!

Work Easter Party

On March 19th, Human Resources at the VA had an Easter celebration. Everyone was to bring finger foods. Needless to say, we didn't come up short! People in HR sure know how to cook!!!!

March Snow

Well, I've wanted snow ALL winter, and on March 7, we got it!! Here are some beautiful pictures of Ft Roots (where I live) in the snow.

Holly wanted to go out in the snow, too, but I thought it was too cold outside for kitties!

Mom and Dad are Mississippians!!!

As most of your know, my dad got transferred this fall to Jackson, Mississippi. He is now over all the VA hospitals and clinics in VISN 16 (which is all the VA's in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisianna, and also Houston). He's been there since October, but Mom and the four kitties finally got to meet him there in early February since she had to sell the house back in Florida.

They bought a BEAUTIFUL new house in Madison, Mississippi right outside of Jackson, and they live about five minutes from our lifelong friends, Mike and Linda Phillips. They are much happier in MS than in Florida. I think mostly because they are a lot closer to me, Katie, and Brian and his family.

Here is their new house!!! I am going to see them for my birthday at the end of this month, and the Harvey girls are going, too! I'm so excited!

Captain Ed Hill Reports for Duty- Overseas

My brother-in-law, Ed Hill, left Saturday for Kuwait. He will stay there for about two weeks, and then head to Baghdad for ten months. Please keep him in your prayers. Katie heard from him today, and he is there safe and sound. I also found out that his youngest brother, John (who just finished basic and AIT training) will join him there soon with the rest of the people in the 39th.

This is Katie and Ed about two weeks ago when Katie went down to Camp Shelby to see him. She had just given him a "high and tight" for the first time. She might need a little more practice so he won't be so bald! :)

Also, Ed got promoted to Captain on Valentine's Day!!!!

Trip To St. Louis

Last weekend, I took a trip to St. Louis with Heather, Crystal, Phil, Eric, and Jimmy, who are friends from church. We stayed with a friend of Heather's. Heather and Phil had the bright idea to give us Justice League names. Heather was Wonder Woman, Jimmy was Superman, I was Electra, Crystal was Cat Woman, Eric was Mr. Invisible, and Phil was the Hulk (A.K.A Green Lantern).

Heather decorating the cars

My window on Phil's truck

Crystal and me freezing outside while waiting for Heather to finish

We didn't get on the road till about 7, and we stopped at Walmart in Blytheville to decorate our cars with Justice League names. Security kept driving by because they thought we were vandalizing someone else's car, but we told them otherwise.

We got to Heather's friend, Tims' house at around 3:00. Heather, Crystal, Phil, and Jimmy decided to go to a dance club, but Eric and I decided that we were too tired to go. Hey, I'd been working all day, so I was ready for BED!

The next morning/afternoon, we got up and went to the Anheueser Busch Brewery. That was really neat! But, it smelled funny because of the Hops. I'm not a beer drinker, so I didn't partake of the free beer at the end of the tour. I thought I'd have to drive home! :)

On the tour at the brewery. L-R- Eric, Crystal, me, Phil, Heather, and Jimmy

Me, Heather, and Jimmy in front of the BIG machines

Me, Crystal, and Heather on the escalator on the tour

In front of the Clydesdales

That night, Heather and Crystal cooked dinner at Tim's, and after that, we got ready and went out to a casino/dance club. Phil, Eric, Crystal, and I got lost, so we got there late. It was a REALLY exclusive club and there was a line, so we decided that trying to get into the club was not worth it (although Heather and Jimmy got in and said it was incredible). So we hung out at the casino and the all-night diner. That was really fun!

Me in front of the fountain at the casino

The next day, we went to church with Tim, and then went to one of my favorite restaurants (The Cheesecake Factory) to eat. It was GOOD! Then, we shopped in the Galleria for awhile. After that, we went to the Arch. It was REALLY cool to see St. Louis from that high up! The only problem was that the Arch swayed, so some of us got a little woozy.

Good food was here!

With my arch ticket. I thought it was funny because it said my name!

Pointing at the Stadium from the Arch

The Capitol building from the Arch

Us up in the Arch

Then, we headed home. What a great trip!!!

What a silly crowd!!!