Secret Confession

I had been looking forward to last weekend for a while - not because it was suppose to snow or because it was any ol weekend but because the Miss America pagaent was going to be on TV. I have watched the Miss America pagaent every year since I can remember.

I can remember different years that I have watched it - in elementary school when we all dressed up like pageant girls, in high school with some friends and we all wore tiaras and more recenlty with my Aunt Janie. There for a while, the pagaent was a special time for me and Aunt Janie to get together and watch it.

We had a system for watching the pageant. When the girls first announced themselves we would write down our favorites and then cross the girls out as they were eliminated. We would cheer or boo at the TV when the judges made their decisions. We would then pick who we "just knew" was going to be crowned.


We always cheered for Miss Arkansas of course. I can remember weird things about the Arkansas girls. Like both this year and last year Miss Arkansas got eliminated after the swimsuit round.

Also, since in college, I knew a lot of the girls who were competing in the Miss Arkansas pageant so most of those years I knew who was competing for our state at the national pageant.

Ok here it goes,....my secret confession: I always wished I was a pageant girl.

I didn't want to be one because of the compeition or anything like that. I just wanted an excuse to get dolled up, put on a pretty dress and wear a crown. When I was younger I was secretly mad at my parents for not putting me in pageants. All that time wasted when I could have been in training to be the next Miss America.

I do think pageant girls do a lot of good for their communities and help make as big of a difference as they can. Some compete just to compete but some compete to change the world (world peace duh!).

These days I see the drama around the world of pageants....beauty queens getting stripped of their crowns because of nude photos and drugs and moms putting fake teeth on and spray tanning their 3 year olds.

Last year when Miss California USA got harrassed because she stated her belieft that gay marriage is wrong on stage at the Miss USA pageant, I felt sorry for her. Since when has a person's free speech and own beliefs been criticized in this country. Hello...it's the First Amendment in our constitution!!! I guess either way she would have answered that question she would have gotten crap thrown at her from one side or the other.

Today, in light of all the drama, you couldn't pay me to enter a pageant but probaby 10 years ago, maybe even 5 years ago, I would have done it in a heart beat.

Ok you can now start making fun of me....

The Best Snow Day Ever

Today I finally got some human interaction when Ryan decided to get out of his house and come see me. When he got here, we decided to get out and play in the snow. First we made a "SnowWoman." We both were laughing at ourselves because we didn't remember how difficult and how long it took to make a snow person. After about an hour of trying to make all the pieces we got tired and decided we were going to make a mini "snowwomen."

Me, Tackle and our SnowWoman

He refused to get a picture with our SnowWoman so I made him take one with me instead
Isn't he cute?!?! :)

After we completed our masterpiece we got invovled in a snowball fight. The snow ball fight then turned into a wresteling match which then resulted in Ryan hurting his hip and me hurting my back. Tonight we are still walking around like a couple of old people. Man it's sad when you realize you are too old for snowball fights.

After we finished the "SnowWoman" and our snowball fight I decided I wanted to go find some deer tracks. It didn't take long. We walked right outside my back yard and at the edge of the woods we found all sorts of tracks. Ryan, being the Eagle Scout he is, was able to show me how many deer there were, which direction they were going and even how old the deer were. We also found squirrel tracks and wild cat tracks (the small kind, not the big kind). The woods were so beautiful with the snow covering all the trees.

Once we came inside and got warm I decided to make a new cupcake recipe out of my new cupcake cook book mom got me for Christmas. Tonight's cupcake special was Peaches and Creme cupcakes and they were delicious!

Overall it was a great way to spend a snow day.

Ice Storm Coverage

Here are a couple of vidoes I took of the ice storm with my new Flip camera I got for Christmas. I'll share more later.

North Carolina Here I Come!

Last week I did something very uncharacteristic and sooo not like me. I got an idea that I was really excited about it, didn't over analyze said idea and just went with it. The result? I am flying out to Fayetteville, NC in February to stay with one of my besties, Stacia, for a long weekend. I was thinking a lot about Stacia recently since Chris just deployed and really wanted to see her. I texted her on Tuesday asked her what she thought of the idea and then booked my flight on Wednesday. Words can't express how excited I am to have to quality time with one of my dearest friends. Things get a little crazy when the two of us are together - but that's when the best memories are made of course! Here are some pics of us from throughout the years
Sippin on our favorite drink-Mojitos- at Kelsey' Bach party

Stacia's wedding day

Partying it up in Vegas

The Threesome at Kendall's wedding

Old School - Collin's 21st

And here is our whole group senior year. I love you guys!

You have GOT to be kidding me!

Exactly one year ago today the worst ice storm in the history of NWA hit covering everything outside in 2 inches of ice and knocking out power for a week to most of area. The majority of the trees were damanaged beyond repair and even 9 people died due to the storm. My apartment had no power for seven days and it was MISERABLE!

Now on the 1-year anniversary of that horrible storm they are telling us it is coming again and just as bad.

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDIDNG ME!

Come on man, give us a break. There are still trees down all around the area because of the last storm. We aren't ready for another. I guess, since we have all have experienced this once, we know what to expect. Tonight I am going to the grocery store (along with the rest of the town I'm sure) to get some food, a huge cooler so I can store the stuff in my refrig when the power goes out and more batteries for the flash lights.

The storm is suppose to hit tomorrow so this might be the last communication I have with the outside world for a week. So I say to the rest of the world with their warm tempatures and nice electricty - feel lucky, feel very lucky!

Sleep Talking

Yes, I am a sleep talker. I have been talking in my sleep since I was young. I have been told by many people that I talk in my sleep and even have conversations with them while I'm asleep - conversations that I never remember.

I have also been told that I get violent and bossy in my sleep. For instance, while in college, I was always living in a room with at least 4 other girls, therefore, I slept with a sleep mask so their lights wouldn't bother me. One morning I woke up and the girls asked me why I was mad last night. I asked them what they were talking about and they said after I had fallen asleep, I sat directly up in my bed, still wearing my sleeping mask, and yelled at them "Turn those damn lights off."

Another instance of me sleep talking was when I was in elementary school. My room was next door to my parents and one night I scared them to death. After I had fallen asleep they said they heard me screaming "Help, Daddy Help" at the top of my lungs. They ran into my room and of course I was still sleeping.

One of the most recent instances was when I had fallen asleep watching TV with Ryan. He said he got off the couch to start to wake me up and I said "Touch me one more time and I will punch you in your face twice." Again - no recelection of that one.

Sometimes I talk to loudly in my sleep that I wake myself up. I lay there trying to remember what I was just dreaming about and what I was trying to say.

Today, I found a soul like me. He is a sleep talker and talks in his sleep almost every night. The things he was saying were so crazy and funny that his wife started to record him every night and then she started a blog. Each day she writes what he said the night before. This is the FUNNIEST thing I have ever read. You will laugh out loud when you read this blog.

http://SleepTalkinMan.blogspot.com

Some people think this is fake and that the couple fabricates what he is saying but I swear, you can't make that kind of stuff up.

My Hero Chris

I just read the email that I had been dreading for the last year. Stacia wrote us all last night to tell us Chris has been deployed. But, he wasn't going to Afghanistan or Iraq like we thought.

They sent him to Haiti to help with the relief efforts. Stacia and Chris got word at 8:30 p.m. last night that he would be going and at 9:30 p.m. he was gone. He will be in Haiti until April.

Chris is a graduate from the West Point academy and has been stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. He is now an officer in the US Army and we are all so proud of him!

Stacia graduated from PA school in December and her and Chris were living in the same town for the first time in their ENTIRE relationship (and yes, they have been married for a year). She got one week with him before he was deployed.

Please send prayers to Chris for safety, to the people of Haiti for comfort and to Stacia for strength.

Me with Chris at their wedding in December 2008

Chris the Soldier Boy (I took this pic from his Facebook)

What I am looking forward to in 2010

Instead of doing a recap of 2009, 9 days in 2010 I am going to let yall know what I am looking forward to in the new year

• Celebrating a 2 year anniversary with my love
• Our girls' trip to Destin in July
• Signing another year's lease for my country cottage - I love this house!
• Family beach trip this summer
• Baby Hopper's arrival in June
• developing my career further and learning even more
• the 2010 football season
• Collin and Zach moving to Fayetteville - hopefully :)
• All the weddings this summer - Scott & Alli, Melissa & Brent, Lindsay & Ryan, Reece & Brooke and many others
• Jon David's graduation in May and Spencer's graduation in December (holy crap my brothers are graduating from college!)
• getting back to scrapbooking
• reading many, many more books than I did in 2009
• getting more involved with the church Ryan and I attend
• perfecting my yoga techniques

Happy 2010 to all!

BIG News for Mitchell Communications Group

Last month, Mitchell Communications Group was notified that we have been named a top 5 finalist for the NATIONAL Public Relations Boutique Agency of the Year award by PRWeek. For those of you unfamiliar with the PR world, PRWeek is the national publication for Public Relations. See the list of the other 4 finalists in our category and other categories here.

Members of our agency will be traveling to New York City in March to attend the awards ceremony. At that time, we will find out if we have won the prestigous award. To even be named a finalists is HUGE. Even if we don't win, we are one of the TOP 5 boutique PR agencies in the country.

When I intered with Mitchell Communications Group in college, I knew it was a very special agency and I knew that some day I would want to return to work full time. I have been very blessed to be offered a position with the ageny and I am even more blessed that I love my job so much. This honor is proof of how hard we work and the passion we have for our clients.

Elise announced our honor on the MCG blog this week. See what she has to say and keep your fingers crossed. I will let you know the outcome in March. Stay tuned....

Snow Days

Well I am on Day 2 of being at home sick. I caught all the crap that eveybody else has had over the past month. Good news is that I think I am getting better. Hopefully I can return to work tomorrow. With my job, I have been able to work from home so I am not falling too far behind. Now I am taking a break to do a little blogging.

I can't remember the last time, if ever, when it snowed 3 times in December. Well it did in 2009 and we even had a white Christmas. It snowed on Christmas Eve and we woke up to a winter wonderland. They are saying this has been the coldest December in a decade!

The last time it snowed, Tackle and I got out and played in it. Let me tell ya, that dog LOVES snow. He was running around and rolling all in it. We had a good time. Below are some pics from our day.

The side of my house

Tackle having fun.

A picture of my back yard. The woods looked beautiful with the snow.

Hopefully there is more snow to come.