Recent Updates....Warning: Long Blog Ahead!

Since it might be several days before I can make another post due to going out of town for the weekend, I figured I would go ahead and share on some recent updates that have happened in my life. Many of my friends can tell what's going on in my life simply by looking at my myspace or facebook profiles, but I rarely sit down to explain some things in full detail. My complete boredom at work may also have something to do with it....

One of the main things that I can't stop thinking about and can't wait for is the birth of my niece Lydia Adelane Smith. My sister Lindsey and her husband Jeff are such wonderful parents and at times it is definitely still odd to see my sister (who use to pay me to do her chores) raise a child! But she's a wonderful mother and has raised such an amazing little boy. Anderson was born when I was still in graduate school at the University of Alabama so I was privileged enough to be able to see him pretty frequently when he was a little baby. I moved to Nashville when Anderson was about 6 months old. I was very afraid that he wouldn't know my name or recognize me since I wasn't around much anymore. Luckily, that is not the case. Lindsey and Jeff and my mother tell me all the time that he's asking for his "Auntie M" (he actually says Marcie instead of Auntie M...well he more of says "Maaaacie" since he hasn't quite mastered the "r" yet). I look at Lindsey's blog on a daily basis and see how much he has grown since the last time I've seen him.

This is Anderson after taking swimming lessons with his daddy. Isn't he the most adorable thing ever? OK OK....so I'm a little bias...sue me!

Anyway, we found out at Christmas last year that Lindsey and Jeff were expecting another little bundle of joy. The way they chose to tell us was definitely interesting. Keep in mind, we come from a VERY creative family. Lindsey and Jeff told us about her first pregnancy by giving my dad a picture frame of Anderson's ultra sound in a frame that says "I love my Grandpa" or something similar to that. When Jennifer, my middle sister who lives in Tampa, got engaged, she surprised us by coming home for Thanksgiving when we didn't think she was going to be able to. So when Lindsey was ready to tell us about the 2nd pregnancy, she did it by bringing little man over to my mom's house in a shirt that was bright blue that said "Big Brother". It was a TOTAL shock for all of us! We all were hoping so badly that it was a girl but Lindsey and Jeff seemed to be sticking to their guns about not finding out the sex of the baby until the birth, which naturally, WAS KILLING THE REST OF US!!! However, Lindsey couldn't hold it when she found out that it was a little girl. She got me to set up a conference call with the three sisters to tell us that she was having a girl. I cannot wait until little Lydia arrives! I'm so ready to spoil a little girl :)

This is the most recent pic that we have of little Lydia. That face....I can't wait to see what she looks like. Lindsey has already asked me to film her birth, if possible. If she comes on time on 8-8-08, I will go to Tuscaloosa and spend the night with them on the 7th and go to the hospital with them in the morning to film her birth.

Moving on to the relationship department....(Writing all of this is actually making the time fly by at work before my flight, so sorry for the length of this blog)

As all of my close friends and family know, I started dating Justin a couple of months ago. Actually, 2 months ago TODAY! Justin and I actually have a very interesting story about us. Justin is my sister's age, he graduated from Hoover High school in 2000 while I was a year younger and graduated from the same high school in 2001. We had pretty much all of the same friends and hung out all the time in high school. First off, he dated my sister Jennifer when they were in middle school. If that's not weird enough, he also dated one of my best friend's Katie our freshman year in high school. At the time, Justin and I both lived in Trace Crossings so we frequently walked home together from school. We never actually dated in high school, but we hung out all the time, most of which including going off roading with our friends in his red jeep that I LOVED! In the summer time, I would wake up in the morning and go downstairs and Justin would be in my living room eating food from my parent's pantry and watching TV in the living room. We both liked each other in high school and to this day we can't figure out why we didn't actually date. We even looked each other up in our high school yearbooks and in my yearbook (as embarrassing as this is going to sound) there is a bright purple heart around his yearbook picture dated 5/27/98. Crazy high school days...that's all I can say. Needless to say, Justin and I hung out all through high school even though we dated other people. After Justin graduated, I never spoke to him again. (I have to put a disclaimer here because there was one time that he called when I was in college and asked me to go on a cruise with him....it was the most random thing ever and he doesn't even remember doing it). Anyway, he recently got on myspace and found my profile on there. He and I started talking about what we had been up to and what we remembered about our "glory high school days" and how we've changed. One thing somehow led to another and BAM....we're dating now. After 10 years....we finally got it right. I've never been so happy in my entire life and love every minute I get to spend with him. Here's some of my favorite pics of us so far:

This is a picture of Justin and I at Do-Dah-Day 2008 in Birmingham, AL. It was also the week after Mother's Day and my mom's birthday, so it was one very celebratory weekend.

This is the two of us at Second Fiddle, a very "honky tonk" bar on Broadway in Nashville. Lillian, one of my best Nashville friends, often makes me go to bars like this just to irritate me since I don't like country music.

In Gatlinburg, TN with Mount LeConte in the background. We hiked up that mountain the day before. It was pretty amazing!

Taken in the process of hiking up Mt. LeConte...

And this one is at the highest point in the state of Tennessee, Clingman's Dome. Amazing views!

Sorry for the long blog :) A girl has to do something to keep her busy when she's counting down the hours before getting to see the 2 most important men in her life: her babe and her little man!