Lately...and Easter!!

As a brief update, since traveling to Hattiesburg I've been doing a lot of little things that are leading to the big things. Those big things are graduation (and party), moving, and simply living a good life. And it has certainly been good lately. :)

We're now just 15 days from graduation and 14 days from the party. To get ready for these the main things, what I've been doing, besides collecting vases and ordering obscene amounts of candy (more on that to come later), is pictures!! See, this beyond wonderful person named Emily did my graduation photos and they are AWESOME! I won't post them all, even though I want to because she did an amazing job, but here's my favorite.

Back in Phenix City though, it has been a busy couple of weeks. Last weekend we put up a new big boy bed for Davis, which is very exciting!

And although he loves his bed, he didn't take to it so quickly, which led to this.

Isn't he precious? Sorry I just had to post this. :)

So this weekend has been Easter! And let me tell you that my favorite part about Easter, apart from the fact that it is the best reminder of how great our God is, is getting back together with friends when they come home for the holiday. This weekend in particular I mean Reed (and a number of other random high school friends we ran into). But I always know that with Reed I am guaranteed a good time, and again he did not disappoint. I'll leave it at that, it's just always fun to get to hang out with my old buddy.

Other than getting to see my long lost other half, Davis got a new play-set this weekend, which we have named 'Davis Park'. And he hasn't left it all weekend!

He's been giving "speeches" from this hole to his loyal followers, much like the Pope.

When we were able to drag him away from it, we dyed eggs.

And then, of course, we stole and hid them from him. But the hunt was fun (for him), because apparently 22 is too old to hunt.

Please take note of the boots he insisted on wearing.

Anyway, like I said the last couple of weeks have just been livin' the simple life, and it has been good. Hopefully I'll be able to update more often, or at the very least I'll try.

Happy Easter!!

Slipping through My Fingers

Coming up in 29 days (May 9th) is Auburn's commencment ceremony, and as hopefully anyone reading this knows I am a graduating senior this year!! I could not be more excited and we all know I love a good countdown so I've been trying to get one together over the past two weeks in order to lead up to this monumental event! I have, however, not been able to get it off the ground. So I ask myself, why? Well today I think I got a lead to that question, allow me to explain.

Some of you may also be aware that this fall I will be attending the University of Southern Mississippi's Graduate School for Marriage and Family Therapy. Also, very exciting!! So yesterday I set off with my parents to Hattiesburg, MS to find an apartment...good news, I found one! But on the way home, my mom said the most heart breaking thing, "the next time we make this trip back from Mississippi, we'll be leaving you there." Now to some of you who are already hours from home, this may seem like no big deal, but for a person who has only ever lived 30 minutes up the road from home, it is.

When she said that though, it really hit me how bittersweet these next 4 months will be for me. I've been so excited counting down to graduation and party planning that I didn't realize in 2 months I'll no longer be a resident of Auburn and in 29 short days, I'll no longer be a student here! Wow, this is a time in my life I never thought would end and here it is, coming in less than a month! I still can't wait to graduate and finally have a Bachelor's degree, but I wish I could have called a stop time in the last couple of years and really savored my time at Auburn.

In my attempts to create a countdown to graduation I was going to countdown my favorite memories of Auburn as a student, but couldn't find any huge, pinpoint moments for this list (other than winning a national championship). I've decided though, that is how it's supposed to work. There were no grand occasions that made me fall in love with Auburn and the people I've met here, just a million little things with extrodinary friends and an amazing Auburn family that I could never in my life explain. Like learning to do the soulja boy in the sorority dorm, or stalking the US Band for a month straight, or the creation of Isabella, or the inception of wing night! These small reasons are the big reason I can't possibly create a countdown, and don't really want to try. My time here has been absolutely unforgettable and I'm glad I get to finish it off with that glory walk across Pat Dye Field.

Lastly, I remember as a freshman that my pi chi leader gave me a list of '150 things to do at Auburn' and I thought I had all the time in the world to complete these. I have done 80 in the last 5 years because I kept telling myself that I had plenty of time. Well it is now abundantly clear that I have NO time left! If anyone is interested in helping me complete any of the remaining 70, I would love to try my best to finish it!

"Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
...
Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture
And save it from the funny tricks of time
Slipping through my fingers..."

Slow Cookin'

As some of you may know, I consider myself quite the baker but not so much an actual cook. Well this is no longer the case! I have learned to use my crock pot and you would not believe the difference. It is so easy!! I will share with you the new recipe I made today and make this post brief. (Sorry I didn't get the chance to take pictures of it)

Salsa Chicken (but tastes strangely like country captain)

4 boneless chicken breasts
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 cup of salsa
1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup of sour cream

Directions: Cover chicken breasts in taco seasoning. Place chicken breasts in crock pot. Pour in cup of salsa and can of cream of mushroom soup. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove from heat and mix in sour cream. Serve over rice. Enjoy and thank me later :)

I give thanks to slowandsimple.com (all slow cooker recipes!)

I'm so looking forward to sharing this with my coworkers tomorrow and my new buffalo chicken dip with celery. That recipe will be coming soon enough!

For now, Happy Monday!