he liked it...

SO HE PUT A RING ON IT!!!!



Why, thank you Beyonce! I don't believe I could have said it better myself...


This post is waaaay overdue, but I haven't had access to the pictures that I wanted until NOW!

My most precious friend, AKA my heart friend (I'm planning on devoting an entire blog to the explanation of this term, so just hold your horses) got engaged this summer on June 14th!!!

Jenny and I have been talking about and planning this time in our lives for years, and it is absolutely unfathomable to me that this time is NOW!

For the past couple of years, I have had some anxiety regarding Jenny's and Andy's engagement. Literally. Like, dreams about Jenny telling me that she's engaged and me not having a suitable reaction to the news. I would be lying if I said that this topic hasn't been a source of stress in my life. Through a few conversations with the A man, I learned that whenever he did decide to propose, it would be completely out of the blue and almost nobody would know about it. Not even ME! After a while, I began to respect this plan and accept the fact that I would not know until after he popped the question.

Andy is in medical school in Atlanta and Jenny is in pharmacy school at Auburn. To say that their schedules are crazy is an understatement. I think Jenny was convinced that it would be years before she and Andy tied the knot, simply for practical reasons. I kind of had a feeling that it would be before she expected it, and obviously, Andy had that feeling too!!

So this is how the day of June 14th went for me...

because the day of engagement for heart friend A is of equal importance to heart friend B.

you can find the story from the mouth of the actual engaged person here www.theknot.com/ourwedding/JennyPiazza&AndyBarranco

June 14th was a Monday and it just so happened to be the Monday that I interviewed for the job that I have now at Prattville Elementary School. I had taken off from work, (nannying the precious boys in my previous post) so my day was already a little unusual. After my interview, I had a migraine, so I decided to take to my bed. My mom was using my phone for internet access, so I was unavailable to the outside world. When I awoke from my stupor, Marti told me that Jenny had been calling and texting me and that I should be so proud of her for texting back. While I was very proud of her step towards technological efficiency, I was a little annoyed that I had missed some pretty significant communication efforts from my heart friend.

Background: For the past few months, Jenny and I have been texting back and forth names of people we knew that were getting engaged. Because she and I had both been with our significant others for A NUMBER of years, we were getting a little frustrated with these 6 month relationships turning into engagements. Our texts would look something like this...

Jenny: Jane Doe.

Rachel: damn.

So, as I was flipping through my missed communication, I saw a call from Andy, a few calls from my boo boo (that's Jenny), and a text that said something like, "I hate to do it this way, but you won't answer your phone...Jenny Piazza." I immediately started having heart palpitations!! I was freaking out like no other! I ran outside (with just a t-shirt on....don't ask) and began dialing Jenny's number frantically. When we finally got in touch with each other, I was running up and down my driveway with a limited amount of clothes on. I wish I could remember exactly what was said, but I just remember saying  "okay....okay....okay" a lot. I asked Jenny where she was and informed her that I was gonna need to see her-like real soon. She told me to come over and I told her that I had to put some clothes on and I would be right there. Apparently, the best option I had was a pair of bright magenta soffee shorts (the trash bag kind) and an XL t shirt that said "Chuck's BBQ" on the front and "Jesus is the Bread of Life" on the back. I made it over to 662 in about 3.5. Seriously, I don't know how I got there that fast, but it was like I sprouted wings or something. I had planned in my head to tell a police officer that might pull me over "I'm sorry, my best friend just got engaged. If you would like to give me a ticket or arrest me, you'll just have to follow me there." I'm pretty sure I pounced on both Jenny and Andy when I got there...I was soooo excited and I think maybe in a little bit of shock!

Andy proposed to his beloved in such a sweet and thoughtful way. She thought he was in ATL, but when she got home, he was there with roses and a timeline of their relationship.
The night was full of sweet family and friends and maybe a little over the top excitement from me. We went to Outback to celebrate and I really couldn't eat anything...this is not normal behavior for one such as me.


Anyway, I could NOT be more excited for Andy and my Boo Boo! She is one of my most favorite people in the world and is such a special friend to me! Jenny deserves much, much happiness and I know that God will richly bless this marriage!


P.S. For the record, Andy did try to call me before he proposed. This is an aspect of this occasion that seriously touches my heart.

P.P.S. Jenny and I are somewhat of a couple ourselves, but I have no intention of forgoing our special relationship. I just have to share her on a deeper level now. That's okay...I can deal with it.

Don't they look so happy? Sweet little engaged people...

THE BLING that A man picked out completely by himself! Didn't he do a good job?

Big Don was so happy and proud for his little girl!

Sweet sister/showing off the bling moment

Her first wedding magazine!! Let the planning begin!

I wish that I could say I made this face especially for this picture, but I'm pretty sure this is what I looked like the whole night.

i miss these little people

For those of you who haven't had a conversation with me in the past 3 years, I have nannied for a family for the past 3 summers. I realize that it's natural to bond with the people you babysit for, but these kids are literally like my second family. I love them like they're my own and I honestly can't imagine not having them in my life. Both parents work full time, but they take their parenting very seriously...and it shows. These boys are precious, smart, funny, polite, well-adjusted, and just overall pretty much my favorite kids around. Through the years we've gone to Monkey Park, mommy and me gymnastic classes (that's right...I was the mommy), Frog Legs, Chick Fil A, Concrete Park (aka Town Creek Park), the hospital to visit their new baby sister, the movies, Burger King, swimming lessons, Vacation Bible School, All American, and the Grove Hill pool (back AND front) just to name a few. I've had some pretty good "mommy practice" with my boys and I think I will probably thank them for the experience when handling tantrums and bathroom accidents is a piece of cake when I'm a real mommy. I visited them last weekend when I was in Auburn and I think it just made me miss them even more. I could go on and on with cute stories, but I'm just going to leave y'all with a few pictures for your viewing pleasure!

This is from our first summer together...they were (and still are) all about some ice pops. I'm not gonna lie, I kind of dig them myself :)

Also from the first year...2 YEARS OLD. Couldn't you just eat them up?

 This might be one of my favorite pictures ever. This boy is all about some goggles. This summer, he would wear them even if we were playing in the sprinkler...bless.

bahahahaha!!

As long as everybody is fed, napped, and potty-trained, Frog Legs is a pretty cool.

B read to the twins for 30 minutes every day this summer. Precious lambs...

This is often the position I would find Christian in, he loves to explore and dissect things.

We had chores this past summer, mostly just for symbolic purposes. But trust me, this is not how my sweet little friend looked most of the time when it came to picking up sticks. I could relate to him, however, because ONE of my punishments as a child was to pick up sticks...I now have an aversion to yard work for this very reason.

This boy loves him some strawberry milk. He's also very particular about not putting the spoon back in the powder once it's been in the milk. Miss Rachel had to get that straight real fast.

This was at Monkey Park after I took them to the dentist one day...see what I mean about mommy practice?

 

 

 

 Me and my boys at my Senior Recital. They brought me flowers...it was emotional.

Okay, so I could post a whole lot more pictures, but I'll spare you for now and maybe save the others for another post. It's okay, really. You can thank me later :)

P.S. does anybody know how to get pictures beside each other on this thing? I'm getting a little annoyed with this -one on top of the other- mess.

who will help me bake my bread?

Okay...this may not seem very "blog worthy" to any of you, but don't judge. For some reason I got really into a certain bread making situation. Maybe because I'm a fatty and love any kind of bread on this planet, or maybe I have no life outside of school and get a little over zealous about things I can devote some time to. Tyson and I went to Arkansas over Labor Day weekend (if you are keeping up with my blog and studying your notes, you should already know that). While we were visiting Eliz, she gave us a ziploc bag that I believe came straight from Jesus...

 In this bag was the "starter" for making Amish Friendship Bread. Tyson's Grandmother makes it a lot and he loves it, so I decided to see what all the fuss was about. With the ziploc bag, came some pretty intense instructions. As in, you had to tend to this bag for 10 days until the actual baking starts. Well, I took this care-taking role pretty seriously. As in, when I went to Mississippi for the weekend, I put the bag in the front seat and we made the 3 hour trip together. T poked fun of me the entire weekend because I kept going back to the bread and "mushing" it. I mean, I'm sorry...thats what the instructions said. I like to follow the rules. I marked off each day as I followed the instructions and Tuesday, September 14th was the day the actual baking would be begin. I put out all of my ingredients and utensils before I left for school on Tuesday morning and I commenced to baking as soon as I got home. The process wasn't hard at all, aaannnndd because I'm that girl, I helped myself to a good bit of the batter before I put it in the loaf pans. I realize that on most cooking blogs, people have these nice, organized, step-by-step pictures of the process, but I like to keep it real. Here's what my kitchen looked like while I was measuring, dumping, pouring, and mixing...



 After making myself sick with all the batter (it wasn't even that good, I don't know what my problem is), I finally made myself empty the bowl...

 Please notice the spatula in the above picture. It may look like a normal, regular, every day spatula, but indeed it is NOT! This precious kitchen tool of mine is called a mix and scrape and it's amazing. You can literally get every bit of batter out of the bowl. This is good when you have just one more cupcake to fill OR if you just want one more taste of that liquid goodness before it becomes bread, or cake, or whatever it is you happen to be concocting.

After an hour of baking and much anticipation, I finally pulled these puppies out of the oven...

yumm-o! It's like a mix between cake, cinnamon toast, and those school yeast rolls. Halleluiah and Thank You Jesus.

Remember, I baked these on Tuesday. Here's what's left of the first loaf today (Friday, September 17th)...

No...I did not have a party.

weekend of labor.

Tyson and I did some pretty serious traveling over Labor Day weekend. His parents and my sister and brother in law live in Arkansas, about 2 hours away from each other. We don't get to see either of them as much as we like, so we try to take advantage of what extra time we do have and squeeze in visits here and there. It is so nice to have both his family and mine in the same general area, but it also creates some pretty crazy schedules when we're there. I left Prattville right after school, and after some drowsy driving (I'm a sleepy driver) and good phone conversations (I know, I know...don't tell Oprah), I arrived in Starkville. Tyson was already all packed up and ready to go, so I ran into his trailer for a quick potty break and was back on the road in no time. A 7 hour trip was ahead of us and our little GPS friend told us that we should be arriving around 2:30. yipee. Tyson, being the gentleman that he is, drove the entire way! I swear I offered to drive on several occasions, but he wouldn't have it. I was able to sleep some, but the driving gave us some really good time to catch up since both of our schedules are kind of caddywhompus these days. We finally got to Tyson's parents' in Booneville, Arkansas at around 2:30 AM. Tyson's sweet parents and little brother were waiting on us when we drove up. Bless their hearts. We shared some quick hugs, but were asleep pretty soon after we got there. If you know me at all, you know I don't play about my sleep time. His parents are in the process of building a house, so they live in a little cabin where everybody sleeps in the same room. With an eleven and nine year old super excited to see their big brother, we were up and at 'em pretty early. We hung out at their house and on their BEAUTIFUL land for a little while, then headed to Fayetteville to see B-Money and Eliz...yay!

this is the view from their backyard...whoa mama.

Again, Tyson drove and we talked and maybe sang just a little bit too :) One of my most favorite moments from this ride was a particular older lady on a motorcycle. I begged Tyson to slow down so I could get a picture, but he doesn't like when I make a spectacle of myself. This might sound real ugly and un-Christian, but it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. There's a lot of motorcycle riding going on in these parts, so to see one on the road is no big deal. For some reason, I turned to look at a couple who was riding together, and the lady's cheeks (on her face) were just a flapping in the breeze! I swear, it looked just like the parachutes you used to play with in P.E. when everybody would shake it really fast. Bless. It was hi-lar-i-ous!! Okay, I guess you had to be there, but we laughed for a good ten minutes about that one. When we got to Fayetteville, we put our feet up and played with the puppies for a little while and then went on a hike at Devil's Den State Park. It was so nice to be outside and the weather was beautiful! I'm pretty sure the doggies had a real big time too.

this isn't a great picture of my Annie, but it's the only one I have and I didn't want her to be left out. She's real precious.

T-man and Riley

Eliz made a little backpack carrier for Oscar. His little legs get tired. Bless.

This was our destination. "Yellow Rock" I believe is what they call it. Ain't it purdy?

My eyes are squinty, but you get the idea.

Maybe I should put on some sun shades...oh well.

Aren't they cute?

Eliz was about to give me a heart attack, hanging over that edge like that. No ma'am.

I think she was getting ready to hawk a good one. Marti would be so proud...

Now y'all know that's sweet.

So, we stayed in Fayetteville on Saturday night and got up the next morning to head BACK to Booneville. We rode four wheelers, played with chickens, ate some delicious food, and drove around in Tyson's Dad's Scout to look at the stars.

Tyson's little brother, Carson, riding his four wheeler through the creek.

Tyson helping Carson up on the hay bale. It's the child in him...

They made it!

Isn't he a beautiful child?

Then they commenced to rolling the hay bales over. Lord.

I took this while laying the hammock...

Larissa LOVES rocking on the front porch!

Riley ready to go on a ride...

The next morning, we were up early again, and after a good breakfast, we were back on the road. I finally made it back to Prattville on Monday night and let me tell you, I was pooped! It was all worth it, though. It was great to see everybody, even if it was in a whirlwind!

i've got it covered.

Heller.

I'm going to try to be deep for a hot second. This doesn't happen very often, so get excited.

I am seriously loving my job. Seriously. I know that there will be days when I want to strangle a kid, pack my stuff, and hit the road, but so far, things have gone pretty stinkin' wonderfully. It feels so strange to have a big girl job and a big girl life, but singing with these babies is one of the most natural things that I have ever done. I know, without a doubt, that this is where God wants me right now and it really is a pretty great feeling.

Now...having said that, there is something that my kids have been doing lately that drives me up the wall!! After having it happen several times and thinking about it, I realized that there is a parallel between what's going on with me and the kids at school and what God is trying to teach me.

In almost every class, somebody comes in asking-"What are we going to do today?", "Can we do centers today?", "Are we going to sing "Shining Star" today?" I don't know why, but this irritates me to no end. Finally, we had to have church in a couple of classes. I said to my sweet children, "Boys and girls...when you walk in this classroom, I already have a plan for what we're going to do. I have had this plan for a long time and it's not going to change...I've got it covered. You be the student and let me be the teacher.Please do not start off our day with questions like that because it's not going to make a difference and it's a waste of our time."

I don't know when it came to me, but I realized that I do the exact same thing with God ALL THE TIME. I am constantly questioning  His plan...wanting answers about what's next in my life. I want to know what's going to happen, how it's going to happen, and when it's going to happen. And just like the church meeting I had to have with my students, God is wanting me to put my worries to rest and He's telling me "I've got it covered. I have a plan for you."

Just sayin...

 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 9:25-26

God even takes care of little ol' birds, so I've got to KNOW that He's taking care of me.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 9:34

Amen and thank you Jesus. Can I get a witness?

tracy yancey rogers

September 1st was my dear, dear friend Tracy's birthday. BUT since I didn't have a blog then, we're just gonna pretend like today is her birthday because I believe she deserves a proper tribute on this thing. Sound good? Okay, great. Thanks.

To sum it up, Tracy and I became friends through music history, complaining about school/teachers/classmates, and cupcakes.

Here's my TRACY TOP TEN (in no particular order)


1.  crazy curly hair (that she uses to dab the sweat off of her face)
2. cupcakes
3. slight obsession with 'Hello Kitty' and all things purple
4. best study partner ever (seriously...if/when I go to grad school without her, I don't know what I'm going to do)
5. Lord God
6. says things like "MAKE a picture of me", "I'm so proud for you", "This right here's my thing", "Can you CARRY me to Goodwin?", and "bless my heart".
7. adores her puppy, Stella
8. has an AMAZING voice and has such determination when it comes to pursuing her dreams
9. probably the MOST generous person I know
10. Trachel

Tracy sent these BEAUTIFUL flowers to my school on my birthday...

So, I knew I had some big shoes to fill when September 1st came. Since our friendship pretty much revolves around cupcakes, I decided to send her these from http://www.berries.com/...

She said they were pretty good and I'm not going to lie, I was pretty proud of my idea!



So...here's to you, TRACE!! I hope you had the best birthday ever!!