The One With Appalachian Service Project.

I LOVE APPALACHIA.
I LOVE THE MOUNTAINS.
& I LOVE MY FAMILY.

ASP is a mission trip I enjoy going on each year, It is usually the first full week in July. For the past two years just Daddy and I have gone but this year Anne went as well.

The center our group of 71 youth and adults from Bartlett TN stayed at was in Jeff KY this year. This was my favorite tear so far. The people of Jeff are just so sweet and humble. We loved them.

My Work crew was AWESOME. Eddie and Marshall were the group leaders and I was the young adult. Brianna, Clinton, and Alyssa were the youth. We loved our family. Our task for the week was to replace the floors in the bathroom, Kitchen, and laundry room in their trailer that had rotted due to molding. We also needed to install insulation to help keep them warmer in the winter. They had over 20 snow days this winter! CRAZY! Joann, Donny and their two boys Z, and I, were so loving. Joann is a social worker and Donny is a stay at home dad. They were such wonderful parents, and such wonderful people. Donny suffered from depression and Joann said through ASP volunteers working on their home the past two weeks he had been improving, but the week we were there he really came out of his shell. He opened up to Marshall and Eddie especially after we took out their floors. We had to out on masks as to not inhale the mold, and he was so embarrassed. This was the air his children had been breathing! He was so greatful for us to put in new floors, he was so appreciative. He kept telling us that once all the work was done he was going to clean the trailer from top to bottom and hopefully paint!

The best part of the week was when he told us that God has been answering so many of their prayers lately. He really wants to start going to church, and getting his kids really involved in a church. He says he wants his family to be methodist like us! :] I love that. They are absolutely incredible.

They needed a new toilet too and although it was not in ASPs budget Eddie bought it for the family, and Joann said she is going to think of us every time she flushes.

Since most of the week we are working really hard we always have a picnic at a local park that we invite the families to on thursday. Donny was sick and stayed home with I, but Joann came and brought Z. There was a pool and Z had SOOOO much fun with Clinton and I. It was 8 feet, and hes not a strong swimmer so we cought him on the slide probably about 20 times each. We were EXHAUSTED but had SO much fun! He is 8 years old and really bonded with Clinton. He wanted to be just like him. On Friday all of the workcrews were given a cross to give the family, and a blanket for each child. Clinton gave Z his blanket and he was SOO excited. He squeeled and said he loved it and it is his new favorite thing. He snuggled with it IN JULY for the rest of the day. He went in the bedroom the whole family shares and took off the comforter and sheets and put on his own blanket. He was soooo pumped about it. I was a little shy and spent most of the time we were there at the grandparents house up the hill, but we loved him too. It was sad to tell them goodbye but we know they will be so much happier, safer, and warmer.

Following tradition we left the center Saturday morning and went rafting on the Ocoee which is always a treat. It was Annes first time rafting and her and I sat in the front of our raft. We had a blast. Dad sat in the back, and always loves it too.

We got home Sunday and mom picked us up. :] She had missed us so much. We love her. She took us to eat at our favortie restaurant El Patron. She had picked up our rooms and put presents on our beds. Vera Bradley gift cards, Cute skirts from Banana Republic and 20 dollars from our Grandma. YEA! Thanks mom!

The week was great, I had a wonderful time with my family, My wonderful Boyfriend, and some great new and old friends. What a wonderful week I had serving the people of Appalachia and My God. :]
I love me some Stephanie McDonald and her CRAZY work outfits.

My Sweet Family.

He makes the week even better. :]

My fabulous work crew!

Jeff Mart. This place had it all. Soft serve, Tanning, Slush Puppies, Fried food, and all the other gas station essentials. They made some BIG BUCKS from our church. Such an awesome family owned buisness. We LOVED them.

Me, Daddy, and sister at the picnic.

Alyssa and I in the floor of the laundry room.

Marshall and Clinton workin' hard.

Me and the multi tool. I used this everyday taking out the floor.

Anne and Jake. :]


Again, The best crew ever.

I just love him. :]

Our Family and our crew in their living room.

Joann and Z with their cross and his own new blanket! He was soooo proud! Its going to make me smile on cold days this winter knowing that he is warm and snuggly!

Clinton, Z, and I happy to be at the pool!

LOVE.

The One With Summertime

SUMMERTIME

This summer is really flying by.

Cracker Barrel is great, I really enjoy working there. Hillary and I are asked everyday if we are sisters. We basically are so maybe instead of saying, no we've been BFF since second grade, we should just say "Why yes, Yes we are".
A few things I have learned about waitressing:
* Old people do not tip well. They tip a dollar per person. (2 old people, two dollars etc.) However I had one table of SIX annoying old people whos bill was a measly 28 dollars because they all ordered a kids meal which happens to come with a free drink. Tip? 4 dollars. Come on old people!!
*Some people come in only to see how much free stuff they can get out of you. They do this by switching what they order after you've already placed the order. When their food arrives, they say i didnt have this I had that, but want to keep their plate... so I come back with the new item, and they of course have eaten "the mistake".
*Some people are just crazy. NO shrimp is not a side.. No we realllly dont serve wine, and I dont need to check, because i know for a FACT we dont.
*BREAD FIXES EVERYTHING. It can distract children,and can be offered while waiting to distract from long ticket times. What person isnt a little happier with a sweet little warm biscuit? I think this is why Mexican places are so awesome. Chips probably work the same way.
*Campfire Chicken is the best thing we serve. No, I havent tried it, and no I dont reallly like baked chicken, but it comes out SOO fast because its all ready to order and it has ALL the sides perfectly nestled directly inside the cute little foil bag.



*Even though waitressing is HARD work, I love it. I make such good tips, I love the people I work for and with, I love the cracker barrel store and management, AND even though some customers can be absolutely impossible, the really pleasant ones make work so much more worthwile.

IN OTHER NON CRACKERBARREL NEWS..

Vernon graduated from the police academy. Its been a long time coming and hes worked so hard. We are all very proud of him. :]







Finally,.. Daddy, Anne, and I will be leaving for Jeff County Kentucky this coming Saturday for Appalachian Service Project, ASP, with out church. We spend an entire work spilt into work crews of about 3 adults (IM AN ADULT NOW!!) building, repairing, and making families homes/trailers safer and better. This will be Annes first year but Daddy and I's third. Mom will be home working and spending quality time with Romona. :]
I love ASP, I am not an outdoorsy, hardworking, type of girl. I hate being hot, sweaty, outside, and dirty. Needless to say between ASP and work I have had to adjust my high standards. But you better believe when Im not at work my hair is down, I have on a dress and sandles (unless swimming).

Anyways, thats all for now. I cant wait for ASP and what it has in store for me this year. Each year God finds a way to let me have a wonderful experience and to have a chance to help a family, firsthand, who is really in need. I also so enjoy being able to catch up and spend the whole week with my Dad.

The one with the waitresses.

So Monday Hillary and I went out job hunting. We filled out applications everyyywhere. Since the economy is so bad it is exhausting finding a job. I know for a fact I at least applied 15-20 places. Its crazy! I've only had a year and a half job experience at glitz n' glam the party boutique and a month at santa plus assisting the Easter bunny. Both were great jobs, but are not well known companies and therefore not terribly great references. Anyways I read cracker barrel was hiring so after a week of stress and a ton of time spent on applications all over memphis Hillary and I drove to Croacker Barrel. The people were WONDERFUL. The manager immediately gave us interveiws on the spot and called us both that evening to set up interveiws for Thursday. Today we went kind of hesitantly, still not sure if we were going to get the job. I went first and the other manager asked me a few quick questions before talking about dress code and orientation! I mentioned I had already promised to babysit for this M TH and F and she said that was fine and that me and Hillary would be able to come in for training Tuesday and Wednesday together! So yayyy that means Hillary got the job too i suppose. I was so excited and when i walked passed Hillary I gave her a big smile, and she knew we got the jobs. I waited in her car and she came out with employment papers in about 30 minutes. We are so excited. Only one downfall... we must wear our hair in ponytails. Everyone knows Claire does not do pontails,... but a job is a job. So Hillary and I went to forever 21 and I got some pretty flower studs with big pearl middles that will look precious with either my pastel blue, pink, yellow, or white short sleeve button downs. Sexyyyy. :]] Heres a picture of Hillary and I excited about our "Welcome to the Cracker Barrel Family Papers."


Tonight Im spending the night at her house. We had yummy pot roast her momma made for dinner and we just now finished Hes just not that into you. :] LOVE THAT MOVIE, LOVE MY BEST FRIEND, AND LOVEEEE MY NEW JOB. (hopefully!!)

The one with the Flood. :[

May 1st and 2nd was insane. The rain poured and poured causing the river to rise 65 feet at its greatest point. It covered countless buisnesses just a mile away from campus. Its hard to believe that Sunday night at 10:00 pm we got a sweet tea at McDonalds and by the next morning it was covered. Our exams for monday and tuesday were cancelled and are now scheduled for Saturday. Kevin and I went down and walked by the river yesterday. Its absolutely devastating to look at.

The one where I catch up on almost 9 months.

Well, I kept thinking, I'll start blogging again tomorrow, or the next day, or the next. Needless to say, that never happened and here I am 8 and a half months later with so much to post about. I want to remember my college years, One day I want to have enough entrys to get one of those blog/books printed to look back on all my fun times! I want to be able to look back at big events like birthdays and anniversaries as well as silly days spent with friends. So I'll try this again.

August 2009

I moved into my dorm room August 27th at Austin Peay State. This is my super cute dormroom. Mom and Dad drove up and Grandma and Grandpa met us in Clarksville. My roomates in Meachem 101 are Megan, Lukita, and Bridgette. Im living with Bridgette next year and can't wait.



Also on this day Kevin and I had been dating for 3 years. :]
So excited about that.

September 2009.

I cant think of anything particularly exciting about September... I pretty much stayed busy going to classes. I took English, Biology and Bio Lab, Apsu 1000, American History I, and Statistics.

Family Day was September 26th. Mine and Kevin's families came up to watch an APSU football game, and stay the weekend.





October 2009

Halloween 2009 Kevin and I dressed as a doctor and nurse. :]



I loved our outfits and was excited about the Halloween Party we were going to with our friends. Luckilly, we drove seperately because after about 15 minutes, and 2 idiots spilling drinks on me, I was ready to GO. We went through McDonald's and got a redbox. Oh Well!

November 2009
No excitement in November.

December 2009

I LOVE CHRISTMASTIME! :]]

We decorated our dormroom and had a Christmas Secret Santa Party before midterms started.

And hung our stockings..:]



At home, Kevin and I went to our churches college biblestudy called NextStep. We had our annual Tacky Christmas Sweater Party. Our sweaters won us some Itunes Gift Cards! :]



Although I dont have any pictures, I had a wonderful Christmas break home with my family. Its soooo nice to wake up in my own bed! I got a GPS system that I ADORE. I was sad to go back to college and miss my family more, but excited to go back and see all the people i missed at college too.

January 2010
January is always good month. Im still in the Christmasy spirit, I love New Years (which Lauren Pesce had a a New Years party and thats always super fun), and Anne's birthday is in January. She turned 16 years old and got her liscence. Go Anne! She passed the drivers test on the first time. I, on the other hand did not. I got stuck with a black guy who had no teeth and mumbled. Mumbler + Hearing Impared Claire= Disaster. I though he said left lane, but he had said turn lane, and he screamed at me, which made me pannick and swerve almost hitting a truck. I cried and cried and cried. In 30 days, I went back and passed the test.

The only pictures I have from January are from January 18th. Kevin and I went to the zoo. I had forgotten it was January when we went to the zoo! It was such a beautiful day!!
I absolutely loved their exhibit called "critter encounters." They had Brushes for you to brush the animals. SO CUTE! At the bird house this bird would NOT get off Kevin's head. We think he liked his own reflection in Kev's sunglasses.




Feburuary 2010

February was a pretty eventful month.

We had a super big snow on the 8th. It caused school to be closed for I think 3 days. Kevin, Bridgette, and I went out and played and made this huge snowwoman and snow ice cream. :]




Valentines Day!! We went to Nashville. Our plans were to shop at the green hills mall, see the movie Valentines Day, and go to the cheesecake factory. We saw the movie, it was completely full. I sat next to a man who was by himself other than his Subway sandwhich he pulled out of his pocket as soon as the movie started. The movie was awesome though. SOOO good. The restauraunt had a 5 hour wait. Obviously, we left, and ate at macaroni grill. Still good. :] Kevin got me flowers, I made him chocolate covered strawberrys.

*** ALSO I wore my new Christmas boots, and I love them Oh SO MUCH.





March 2010
Hillary came up to visit me in March and we had a blast. It was her spring break. She stayed at my dorm 3 or 4 nights. I LOVED it. Unfortunately she has not posted pictures of her visit.. SOOOO.. yes. Get on that Hillary.

I got a JOB! :] I was searching Craigslist for local jobs and saw that they needed people to help with the Easter Bunny at the Governor's Square Mall here. I called the lady and she set up an interview. We chatted and she was awesome. She needed one more girl so I suggested my lovely roomate Bridgette. We both got hired and had the BEST time. We greeted the families, walked the kids to the bunny, set them on his lap, took their pictures, went over prices and packages, and printed them from the computer. SO FUN. I wish they needed me to do this all year round.

*** the fan was on the bunny (Jwuan) when the picture was taken, blowing up my dress making me look about 893 pounds heavier. But, here is the bunny! :], Kinda creepy, I know.



Also, some time in February or March my family and best friend Kathy, came up for the day. We went to the mall, the blackhorse, the riverwalk, and the thai house. It was such a good day, I am so blessed.






April 2010

Easter was April 4th. This was also the day we had to put our Callie cat to sleep last year.
We still Miss her so much.
I had to work the day before Easter until 9 o clock. My mom drove up so that way i wouldnt have to come home late by myself. We got home at 2 am, went to sunrise service, had our usual Easter breakfast and pictures, and went to Nanas for lunch. I rode back with Kevin to school around 4 and napped in the truck. Easter is always one of my favorite days, and Im so glad i didnt have to miss being with my family.







The following weekend was Kevin's fraternity formal. I totally did'nt like the idea of him being in a fraternity at first, but I'm okay with it now. The Alpha Tau Omega Brother's are good guys. :]



The next weekend was my birthday. :]
i LOVE my birthday. Sunday was my actual birthday, but we celebrated the whole weekend.
On friday. Bridgette arranged for all my friends and I to go to Casa Blanca mexican resturaunt for dinner together. My friend Kathy came up for the weekend. They had bought me a cute cake, and the waiters sang to me.

Then on Saturday we went to Nashville to meet Kathy's boyfriend, Chris. We shopped, ate and we bowled at Dave and Buster's. We ate at Macaroni Grill. MMM.





SOOO its been a great two semesters and im ready to take my exams and have fun this summer, that is IF we ever get to take them because of the FLOOD OF MAY 1st 2010. Im going to post about that seperately.