With a little touch of photoshop, all things are possible.

kelli, you forgot i was at the beach with yall, didn't you!!




i never get bored :]

thank ya, thank ya very much.

Since this is the first post of Summer '08, i thought i'd give a small recap of what all has been going on with me and my fam. this summer. (minus pics because i dont have enough time to put them all on here right now)

As most of you know, (well, i mean the only two ppl that read my blog.. haha) we started our summer off with a family vacation to tennessee! The first day, we left early in the morning and headed to memphis. We stopped in graceland and we got to see Elvis's house, i learned aLOT about him... considering the fact i didnt know much in the first place. It was awesome to walk through his house and think that he and his family walked in the exact place we were walking.. and then getting to see his grave was pretty cool, just thinking that you're practically standing on top of "the King" along with his mom and dad, and did you know he had a twin brother!?! i forgot his name, but he died at birth.

After Graceland, we headed on to Nashville, we made a quick stop at casey jone's railroad thing... we went inside the old country store and it was pretty cool. The hours and hours of being stuck in the car consisted of movies, reading, listening to music, being on the computer, and for some of us sleeping, and just spending quality time together. So, our first night in Nashville, we went to the Grand Ole' Opry House for a concert. It was awesome!! The only bad part about the whole thing was the drunk guys sitting behind us, they were extremely obnoxious!! But we got to see Carrie Underwood, Mongomery Gentry, Luke Bryan (my mom's became obsessed lol), and then like 7 other people i didn't really know. But we had a great time.

The rest of that vacation was spent shopping and hanging out at the hotel and we also went to former president Andrew Jackson's house, it was pretty neat learning abot the history there. Pretty much the only thing we remembered from that pit stop was our tour guide on the horse ride. Her english needed a bit up to date.. she kept using double negatives we found it hilarious. She would be like, "then they learned that they was literate" haha that's just one example. One day, when my mom and dad went to the mall there, me and emma stayed at the hotel. We went swimming and then we went back up to the hotel room and got ready for lunch. There were a lot of resturants inside the hotel and emma and i searched for a kid-friendly one and finally found "stax" a build-your-own-burger resturant. It wasn't as exciting as it sounds, you go, and they give you buns with meat and cheese and a box with tomatoes and lettuce. So then we took our food to the table and then in a few minutes a guy about my age and his 8-year old bro. came and set at the table right next to us. and i guess it was the older boy's way of flirting, but he threw a piece of ice at our table. so then emma rips a chunk of her hamburger off and throws it back at them. haha! so we ran outta there.. lol. suprisingly, emma and i did not fight at all! the whole vacation!! and emma only almost threw one fit... and that's the whole vacation, not one fit a day.. so that's good! :] we had a good time.

G.N.O!

GNO-Girls Night Out! This weekend we had the long overdue sleepover at claire's with claire, dayna, leslie, alyssa, and me. First we kicked it off by going to the movies. We decided that we should have a "theme" and dress up. So... we decided to dress like nerds for the movies. We thought it would be funny to tell Claire that we were dressing differently... so we made her think we were going to wear our halloween costume to the movies. Dayna and Leslie REALLY got into the whole nerd thing.... i wasn't sure how anyone would dress... so i decided collar shirt, hair in pigtails, and plaid shorts would be enough. If i had time, i probably would've worn something better... but me and alyssa had the bright idea of going to goodwill to buy some clothes to wear, and when we got there, there was NOTHING there. so i had to go home, take a bath, plan what to wear and get ready for the movie all within a 20-30 minute time span. So by the time i got everything ready... i had no clue what to wear so i just pulled on some quick clothes. Claire on the other hand, pulled up to my house to pick me up.... and OMG, she was WAYYY into the halloween thing! She was dressed like a devil/vampire thing.. lol here's a picture......

i'm sure you're seeing this picture thinking, oh NO she didn't. But yes, she did.

And here's dayna and claire
Leslie didn't have to dress like a dork to look like one in this next pic! haha!

And this is the nerdy-ist i could get...

The sleepover was fun and the movie was good. We saw What Happens in Vegas which was funny and we also watched 27 dresses which was such a cute movie!

That's about it for this weekend. Emma has a game tonight.. we went and ate subway earlier, and i drove :] haha i actually like to drive now! i think i do alot better when im by myself!

Photo Update

Since that last post was mainly about my birthday, I haven't really posted about anything going on in my life other than sweet sixteen! Which, if you saw the pictures on MK's blog, then you will know how much fun we had over our weekend! We went to dallas and the spa and shopping and that life's a beach resturant, and if you didn't read her blog you need to now.. because that pretty much explains it all. It was really a fun time tho!!

Well, to start off with... i'm gonna post some pictures that we took one day that we spent at the cabin that were specifically for my blog.. but i never got around to posting any of them. So here's a few from a fun family day with madison and garrett! (i promised you guys i'd put these on here :] )

I'll start with some photography.

<-i really liked this picture..

Here's some snaps of us throughout the day.. We had boat rides and picnics... classic.

And speaking of G-man and Maddie.... I wanna tell you both THANKS for thinking of me on my bday and getting me the keychain, and of course the mini scrapbook madison made for me... i loved it! i caught the key chain in this pic... it says "clear the road, im 16!" lol it made me laugh because, it's the truth! (note: this picture was taken after a softball game and i had no makeup on and as you can tell, i was very tired. haha) But speaking of key chains, I actually got to drive by myself.. to mcdonalds! haha, i know that might not seem like a very large accomplishment.. but it was for me! (even tho i took all the back roads lol) but then I got to drive emma to mcdonalds, and apparently i am old enough to be driving her around because the lady in the drive thru asked me if she was my daughter!! haha, I was like, "No! That's my sister!" A sixteen year old teen with an 8 year old kid? idk if that's possible!

And here's just a pic of me and maddie!

And, on a different note, tonight was the kickoff to softball play-offs! my team ended up finishing first in district and we only lost one district game (but we won't discuss that game... it was terrible!) But, here's a picture of our team playoff shirt.... idk why the colors are pink and blue.. but for some reason, that's what the seniors picked out. and they ended up cuter than i thought! My friend Manda did the drawing on it and they put it on the shirt... each one of our personalities are somewhat portrayed in the drawing.. haha..

I'm the smallest one on the bottom right with the cell phone! lol it's kind of an insider between the team because i got in trouble for being on my phone instead of focusing on softball a few times. Claire is the one at the top left with the headband and alyssa is beside her listening to her music and singing..

The moms of the team also got some shirts... i had to get me one like it they were cute!! heres a pic...

The first one's the front and the second pic is of the back.

I don't know if you caught on as fast as others did... but it says diamonds are a girls best friend because a softball field is in the shape of a diamond! and i just figured that out.. lol. The shirts also have a little softball with my number in it.. (well i mean mine and my mom's do..) they're really cute.

But anyways, today was our first playoff game, and we won! We are playing best two out of three so we play at C.H. tmro at 3.. and if we win, we advance to the next round in the playoffs. Today was a very nerve-racking game!! (is that a word?) But anyways, we started off in the lead but in the 5th inning they came back and were leading by two points and then we caught up in the last inning and went into extra innings and we ended up winning by one point! Idk if i've ever been that nervous! I made a double play tho, my first ever! haha so other than one strike out, i did well.

And, here's my final pictures for this post.. just some of me and my two best friends at softball practice :]

Liscensed to Drive

Listen to the song, it explains it ALL.


Today is the start of my driving years, big ole' sweet SIXTEEN! That is so weird the way time flies, it really does! I mean, it feels like just yesterday i was jumping on the trampoline talking about how excited i was about turning thirteen, oh how times have changed since then!



I had to create a whole playlist just so i could put this song on here today, because i remember countless hours spent with Claire in her "shop" listening to this song and saying how we could not wait to drive and that when we did, we were gonna play this song.. and that was like five years ago, that is SO hard to believe!


Sure, im a year older but it does not feel like it! Today was such a great birthday!! I could hardly sleep last night.. i was excited and nervous about actually being old. But then today, we hardly did anything at school.. and then, i thought we were going to laura's cheesecake for lunch.. but when i went to my mom's classroom, i was greeted by "SUPRISE!" and flashing of cameras... i had no clue what was going on! my mom and dad planned a little suprise lunch-party for me with the help of alyssa. Then i got a new phone!! :]


Then i left school and got my liscense!!! YESS!! Even though i still am not allowed to drive by myself... i'm not quite that good enough just yett.... but oh well, i still have my liscense (and my CAR) and im ready to hit the road! Then mimi, papa, and mama came to town and we ate at el chicos!! and not to mention, SATURDAY MK is taking (and brandon of course is helpin out with the pay :] thank you :]) me and alyssa to dallas for a girls day at the spa and this really cool resturant... i'll blog more about it after. im excitedddd:]


I remember back in the day when i was about three years old.. and i was very tired, i would cry myself to sleep thinking about how bad i didn't want to grow up. I wanted to be young FOREVER. It is kinda sad that time has gone by so fast... but i love living life as it's thrown at me. Everything is going so great, and i am so thankful each day to be so very blessed!!


I wanna take this post to THANK the people that have been there for me all of these short 16 years. My friends and family are so good to me, and i couldn't ask for anything more!! I'll grow old, and times will change, but please remember that i will love each and every one of you for EVER. and, even if i dont show it on the outside, i will always be the happy little curly-headed kid that i once was and always have been.

Home

Here's my latest english paper. i thought anyone who knew me and knew the old house i lived in might like it. [and this gives me something to write about]

Home
The comfy house on the corner of Walnut Street was where I had lived for seven and a half years of my life. That house did not contain just furniture, but it also held memories. Every birthday party, every Christmas, every play date and family get-together had taken place in this house. As far back as my memories take me this house had been a part of my life. My eyes filled with tears as I took one last journey through the back yard. An array of emotions overflowed my head as I reminisced through my small, fenced-in magical world. I looked around at the swing set and remembered the numerous hours spent playing on those very swings. The old shed/playhouse made me smile through my tears and as I walked to the back of it, I saw the gravesite of my once-living rabbit, Snuggles. I said my goodbyes to all of my other memories on my play grounds and I walked over to a special spot in the yard. In this spot, there was a tree, it was called the “Raegan Tree” and it was planted when I was only a small baby. The tree started out as just a little stick and it was growing to be big and strong. As I looked at the plant and saw its growth over time, it reminded me of my own growth; the tree encouraged me to stand tall and firm just as it does and it actually gave me strength.
It saddened me to have to think about leaving this place. I had spent my whole life in this home, and I knew nothing other than the safety of Walnut Street. It’s where I learned to ride my bike with and without training wheels, and I remember sitting on the curb of this street in the mornings, waving to people as they drove by on their way to work. Every room and every corner of the inside of the house contained some type of thought or memory that I would hold in my heart forever. My room reminded me of the countless tea parties I had shared with neighbors, and the constant imagining always taking place in my play in this room. On the wall was a measure of how tall I had grown each year of my life. And being only 4 feet tall, I still loved watching how much I grew. I cried in knowing that within less than a few days that memory would be carelessly painted over by the people who were coming to fix the house up to be rented. Although I was young, I realized the value in my memories and how special they were to me. It wasn’t fair and it made no sense to me that I had to leave my home.
My parents told me that our new house would be bigger and have more room for the new baby that was soon to come. They said it would have a pool and an even a larger back yard, but I didn’t care. They took me to see the new house that had just been built and as soon as I got there, I went inside and looked around and saw nothing. It was just as I had expected. Empty. How could they make me live here? This was not a home, it was a house. It was only an empty space for us to keep our stuff in and to sleep in; it contained absolutely no memories and nothing that was of any interest to me. This sudden change that was taking place in my life felt like it was destroying me. Day by day our furniture and other things from the home on Walnut Street began occupying the empty house on Silver Lake Circle. We were completely moved into our new house within two weeks.
The first night in my new room was lonely, the feeling of emptiness haunted me in my sleep, and I felt so out of place. As I laid sleepless in bed, I thought about everything that was to come. The birth of a baby brother or sister is what I had always wanted, but with all the recent change, I was nervous about my new sibling. I hadn’t been coping well with the move from the other house and the thought of another major change began to scare me. About four months had passed and it was getting closer to the due date of the baby’s delivery. On the morning of April 3rd, 2000, I was going about a normal day of second grade when my grandmother arrived and picked me up early from school. I was smart for a second grader and I had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen, she then explained to me that my mother was going into labor. After nine long months of waiting, feelings of excitement, anticipation and nervousness rushed in all at once. It was the best feeling of my life and although I was still scared, I knew that this was going to be probably bigger and better than any other change that had ever taken place in my almost eight years of life.
Hours passed as I waited with my family in the waiting room of the hospital. I could hardly hold myself together and I can remember constantly repeating the question “When is mommy gonna have her?” I spent what seemed like hours in the gift shop trying to make time pass quicker, I picked out matching “I’m the Big Sis” and “I’m the Little Sis” t-shirts and I was able to get some candy and teddy bears for the new member of the family. (But because of the unfortunate lack of teeth in the baby, I was able to eat the candy) FINALLY, after three and a half hours, my baby sister was born. I sprinted through the halls to the room my mom was in and when I walked in, I caught sight of the cutest baby I had ever seen in my entire life. I was the first to hold her and I hardly allowed anyone else to take her from me. This little baby was MY sister, and this was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I have to admit that no other big sister could be prouder than I was that day.
Three days later, we were able to take baby Emma Katherine and my mom back to our house. Still, in the back of my mind I wished we could’ve taken her to our home on Walnut Street, and lived happily ever after there. But when we got to Silver Lake Circle, everything fell perfectly into place. My dad said to me, “Raegan, you are always going to remember this day, when we brought your little sister to our home.” As he said this I thought to myself, this really is going to be a memory I’m going to hold with me forever, and it was my first favorite memory of this new house, and I understood that this house could also be made into a home. All of a sudden, I began to think about the “Raegan Tree”, I wondered if it had grown as I felt I had grown over this short period of time. And sometimes today, when I pass the small house on the corner of Walnut Street, I keep an eye out for the tree; and indeed the “Raegan Tree” is there, and it is bigger than ever, it’s so big that the first time a few years ago when I saw it, I hardly recognized it. Today, I think back when my mom, dad, sister and I were together in our new home for the first time as a family, and I realize that home is not where the house is. No, home is where the heart is.

Tagged!

Well, I was tagged by MK to write 7 random things about myself.. i don't know how random I can be but i'll give it a try.

1. I have two shirts that are my favorite to sleep in. One is a shirt that Mama Newman gave me to wear one day at her house because i was cold. I ALWAYS wear it when im sick and sometimes when i just feel like bein comfy. The other one is a shirt that MK gave me that was brandon's frat. shirt haha i like it because it's big and comfy!

2. The celebrity I would most like to meet is Oprah Winfrey, and although I'm Oprah-deprived because of practice every day after school, I record her show every day and I watch it sometimes on the weekends. She also kinda helped out in inspiring my dream job, which is something like a child psychiatrist or liscensed counselor.. something in that area.

3. When I was younger, I always dreamed of being a child's poetry writer, like Shel Silverstein, i love him! I still think it would be so cool to actually write a book like that and get it published one day.

4. I like alot of music, but my LEAST favorite type is screamo. I can't stand to hear it... and it really gets on my nerves. Most of all, it's just flat out scary!!

5. [I'm running out of randomness!] I like eating cracker-stackers.. those little lunchable things? lol, random?

6. My favorite drink is sprite and I don't go a day without it. I don't drink water much even though i know i should!

7. I get olsars in my mouth aLOT. and they are extremely painful. I once lost 5 pounds because I couldn't eat because of a huge olsar. And when I get one, i have to get other ones. And i hate putting that medicine that feels like wax on it because it makes me drool everywhere. haha

that's it for now,
anyone who is reading this-- you've just been tagged!