This is a long one...

Even though probably NO ONE reads my blog anymore, I still feel kinda bad about the fact that tomorrow will make ONE MONTH since I've posted anything on here! And the last thing I posted took about 2 minutes! AGH. There have been some super crazy changes here in the Golden household. I guess I'll just try & remember everything now... (insert dramatic dream sequence here)

The very first week of June consisted of going swimming with Sarah Robinson, Caitlyn Bunch & Nica Wijma (yes, she's foreign! lol) we had a blast even though the sun was TOTALLY not being cooperative. We ate Pizza Hut that evening, had quite an interesting trip to the Dollar Store (in which Nica ate her first giant pixie stick!!! They don't have them in Holland!!!) & I was so wore out by the time I got home, I went & got Mom & Dad some food & pretty much passed out. The next few days, I finally got the perfume I ordered from Harvey Prince called "Eau Flirt". That's right, it's like a love potion. No, I'm not a witch nor do I hold up for witchcraft. Anyhow, it's supposed to have the smells of pumpkin pie & lavender which makes men think of home & good memories...& attracts them to you. Now, I realize this makes me look a creepy, crazed, super gullible & desperate woman & I assure you, I am not. But seriously, it was on like EVERY show (Okay, maybe just The Doctors & Dr. Oz) & I had to see if it worked! Crazy enough, the Saturday after I got it, (on a "slow" day) I made over double the tips I have EVER made working a single day! Maybe it was a coincidence or maybe it was because MOST of my customers were men...we shall never know.

The next Monday me & Alexis decided that we were going swimming. So we called up Sis. Joyce Carrell & of course she said we could hijack her pool for the evening. Mom actually went with us & we had a lot of fun. That evening Alexis & Kristina came over & I tried out a recipe I came up with in my own mind based on the Arroz Loco at Lalitos. I bought spanish rice, shrimp & queso cheese & made it...it was DELICIOUS & me & Lex had fun making it. (: After we stuffed our faces we went out to our porch & sang while Blake played the guitar & Mom & Kris backed us up. haha. Sadly, my Daddy was sick from what we THOUGHT was galvanized poisoning (he welds that junk!)...it happens all the time so we gave him some milk & prayed he felt better. There wasn't much we could do in the situation though so we just went on with life. The next day Dad STILL didn't feel better & couldn't even go to work....but more on that later.

 Nica had to go back home the following Wednesday so we decided we would take her to Olive Garden as a kind of "Going Away Party" (they don't have an OLIVE GARDEN in Holland either!!! And she had never been so that's where she wanted to go...don't judge us! lol) The good was amazing of course & she loved it. Afterwards, we drove over to Starbucks & tried the new Mocha Cookie Crumble & it was wonderful of course. We said our goodbyes to Nica, who would be leaving at 5 a.m. the next morning, & signed her book of Americans. lol It was really sad & I definitely teared up...I just got to become friends with her a few months & now she's gone! ): We bonded a lot in that time & I just miss her. But I still get to talk to her on Facebook & she had BETTER come back to Alabama as soon as she can!!!

On to a much more serious note now. I went on to work Wednesday morning not knowing what my day would hold. About halfway through my morning, Mom text me saying they were taking Dad to the doctor...they thought he had congestive heart failure. I was tore up. There I was at work with no way to get to him. My brother was already in Chatt so he wasn't going to come get me in case something happened...my coworker told me to leave & go home...I was so upset but I knew if I went home I would just sit there alone & worry. So instead, I stayed until 8...it may have seemed a little overdramatic but there was a few times I had to go out to the porch & just cry. I didn't know what to do. Mom was really upset too but trying not to show it in front of Dad...& although he was holding it together, I know Dad was a little worried too. They finally got Dad back after FOUR hours at Memorial & he was admitted a little later. Blake had decided to go to Griffin that night before we really knew what was going on & Dad told him to go on...he left at altar call & when I got off work, I rushed to Trenton to meet him. We got to the hospital a little after 9. People had already came in to see him & had laid hands on him...we were so thankful. After hearing about that, I just felt calm. I felt like whatever happened, Dad would be okay. There was days of just tests & getting Dad's sugar under control, monitoring his heart & working on healing his foot which has been hurt for over a year. Dad lost 46 pounds of fluid in only 6 days. He looked better & felt better already! They decided to do an arteriogram on him on Friday morning, we got to the hospital just in time to hear the Doctor come in & say he would have to have open heart bypass. His heart was functioning at less than 20 percent & all 4 major arteries were blocked. When they told us the news, for just a moment I was worried. What if he didn't make it through? I started researching & most importantly texting & calling friends & family to pray for him. So many people touched our hearts by their caring...one person particularly touched me...& if they read this, they'll know who they are... the text I got back was "I'm getting down right now. If there's anything you need, please let me know." I just cried. I knew then that I had some fantastic people in my life...even when the Devil tried to tell me they didn't even want to be my friend. I guess he was totally proven wrong right then. There was such an overwhelming amount of support for us...people calling & texting & coming in to check on Dad every day. Tuesday evening they finally came in to tell us that his surgery would be Thurday morning, that when they said his heart was functioning at 20 percent, they were being generous & it was more like 15, that they would have to do at LEAST 4 bypasses but they wouldn't be sure until they got in there & took a look. Dad wasn't concerned at all. He had so many people come by & lay hands on him & annoint him & some would just pray. He told us even today that he just wasn't scared at all. Even if he had to go, he knew he'd be in a better place & would never know what happened. Of course we didn't want to think that way. They came in & got him around 7:30 & there were already people there. We prayed for him one last time before they took him back & he was on his way. They took us to one waiting room & then another where we finally settled. There were so many people we had to grab all the chairs from the little room next to us just to accommodate everyone. They said the surgery would begin at 10 & be over in around 4 hours. They called every hour to update saying he was doing really well. The mood was so light in our area.. it sounds bad I guess that we were cutting up & laughing but if you know my family at all, you know that isn't hard to believe. And with so many people, the time passed by quickly. Around 2 Dr. Reade came in & told us Dad did remarkable during surgery. "I don't know what to tell you," he said, "we got in there & only had to bypass 3 arteries. All I can say is I'm pleasantly.... pleased." The "Rockstar" of heart surgeries & he couldn't even find the words to say! They went in promising at LEAST 4 bypasses & came out doing only 3! I was honestly giddy! I knew that was something the Lord had done! My Aunt's husband had just went through this a few months ago & she had prepared us for the worst when we saw him in ICU. He would probably be grey looking & look awful. When we got in there, he looked like himself. Of course, he had a breathing tube in so that was odd but otherwise, he looked great to have just had open heart surgery! He would have to stay in CVICU for at least 2 days while they kept an eye on him. He had a few scary moments (like them telling us when he got up for the first time the next day, he passed out.) & he was in so much pain, not from the surgery but from his back & shoulders having to lay all the time that he would just cry. It was heart wrenching. My Dad is a big, strong man & he hardly EVER cries. I've seen it a handful of times in my 21 years so I knew it was bad. But we prayed for him & had others pray too & soon he felt better. He was doing so good that he had TWO doctors come in & tell him midways through his second day that he could go to a room. The nurse quickly stopped that, though, because he couldn't keep his blood pressure high enough without medicine. But by the end of the day she even said he could go to a room if they had one available! They didn't end up getting one though until Saturday though. By 2 o'clock on Saturday (after his surgery on Thursday) we were in a regular hospital room! They told Dad he would be in the regular room for 5 to 7 days....by Tuesday evening, he was HOME! Isn't God great? The nurses told Dad that he surprised so many doctors & nurses with how great he was doing...they've NEVER seen anyone do so good after such a huge surgery! We proudly told them all that it was GOD'S doing & that he had MANY prayers going up for him in that time...all they could do was smile & agree. (: I'm so proud of how the Lord helped my Dad & I want everyone to know it! Dad's still on the road to recovery but he's getting better & better every day...it's just absolutely amazing! We thank EVERYONE who said a prayer for him & who still are. He has a long way to go but I have no doubt he will be just fine!

There is something I would like ya'll to pray for, though. While Dad was in the ICU we got the chance to meet a wonderful family...the Thomas family. Their husband & father had been in ICU for a week when Dad was there...he has strokes & much more going on. They are a very church oriented family & SO very sweet...the Mother asked about us & kept watch on me & Mom the whole time we were in her presence. Such wonderful people...with all they were going through Mrs. Thomas would just say "Ain't God good?" We tried to pray for him & before we left he was sitting up & talking...doing much better! Well, when we got to leave the hospital, we wondered how they were doing & today Mom found out. They had to go back to Memorial for some paperwork & she ran into Mrs. Thomas. Her husband had finally been  put into a room but not long after had been sent right back to the ICU doing just as bad as ever. Mom & I have been trying to pray for them but I would really appreciate if you could send up a prayer for them too. I know if anyone can get a hold of the Lord for him, my friends & family can.

We appreciate all the thoughts & prayers sent up for Dad & for us!
We love ya'll!!!

Congratulations Class of 2012!!!

Last night my best friend in the whole entire world, Alexis, graduated from high school!!! I can't believe it....for one, this means I've been out for THREE years! And for another, it means my little Lex is all grown up! ): I love that girl for real. She's like the little sister I've never had & I am SO proud of her & what she has become!!! She's been through a whole lot but she's so much better now! So congrats Alexis! May all your dreams come true...this is only the beginning for what God has in store for you!!! (:

It's been way too long!

So the past month & a little over has been SO super duper crazy busy!!!

The last time I blogged it was like April 2nd...now it's May 13th...where has the time gone!?

In that time I've been thrown a surprise party at Coolidge Park...yeah, about that. Brett comes to my house to pick me up (I think I'm going furniture shopping with my parents...) & BLINDFOLDS ME. Yes. True story. I get in her jeep (that I technically still haven't even seen the inside of) & she takes me to Chattanooga. She walks me down to the park where a bunch of my friends are standing there with signs in the middle of the field, screaming SURPRISE...I was definitely shocked. I thought at best it would be like Bail, Brett, Hil & Shelby. But it was sooo much more. Brett had packed me lunch (which then things began to click when I realize THAT was why she had been talking about turkey & honey mustard sandwiches the whole ride there) & my parents had came behind us with extra clothes! They had it all planned out & it was amazing. Brett made me a DVD of the whole thing & messages from some of the people there...her & Shelby made me this HUGE Pinterest frame thing & it's adorable & later I got my personalized banjo strap with my middle name, Abrielle, on it. (: I was super happy! I mean, you only turn 21 once!!!

Also since all that has happened, I've gotten a job! Yep, I'm officially a working woman. lol I'm waitressing at my sweet cousin Cassie's restaurant on Tues, Wed, & Thursdays til 3 est...so come see me! (:

There have been birthday parties, Graduation parties & just "let's hang out" parties & between that, my finals & working, I have been SUPER busy!!!

Oh, & I made another 4.0 semester at NACC!!! Only one more class & I'll be on my way to getting a Medical Assisting job! Whoo!!! (: I'm kinda nervous but excited too! I've never had a real deal 9 to 5 job so I hope it works out for me! Lots of praying going on here!!! (:

Soon my best friend in the whole world, Alexis, will be graduating from NSM! I'm so very excited for her...I took her lunch at school the other day just to spend some time with her (& of course what high schooler doesn't want the break from that usually nasty lunchroom food?!) She asked for Subway & I got her that & a TON of chocolate! BEST FRIEND EVER. RIGHT? lol  I have some big plans for her actual graduation present so I'm hoping that all works out too...I can't wait!!! :D

Well I don't really know what else to say to update ya'll...I don't wanna bore ya'll to death...but actually, I do want to tell ya'll that we're running our Summer revival second weekend in June! Only at night! I know a lot of people will be out at Huntsville but maybe some of ya'll can come see us a little...Bro. Joe & Bro. Chad from Gurley are running it & it should be awesome...maybe, just maybe, ya'll will get to see something good happen! (:

Welp, I guess I'm out! Til next time (:

Just a quick update (:

Can you guys believe that it is ALREADY APRIL!??!!

Time has seriously just FLOWN by & it's killing me! The other day I was thinking "Man, I can't wait til this weekend..." then I thought "WAIT! Everytime I do that, I'm just wishing my life away!" So I have seriously been trying to just live life, do what I have to do & NOT wish away my life anymore!!! Ha! But then I think...YAY! MY BIRTHDAY IS IN 8 DAYS!!! hahaha I have zero plans for my birthday but I'm still very excited. And another thing, I have no reason to be. I'll be turning the big 2-1 but it really means absolutely nothing to me to be officially "legal" for anything like that...one of the perks of being from a Holiness family (: Wouldn't have it any other way! (:

Btw, yesterday was first Sunday, so our regular & church. was. AMAZING. It was literally a total shoutdown & we're pretty sure Sis. Sandy Sanford was healed! AWESOME!!! I was down in the basement  helping them get things together for dinner & I just kept hearing bang, bang, bang..shouting! haha. It was a great service though & food was the BEST, as always. (:

This morning Uncle Larry came to put up the saloon doors to our kitchen they he built. They're really pretty! I've always wanted saloon doors & I'm stoked to finally have them to separate our kitchen from the living room!

We've been playing tennis in the evenings lately so I'm thinking the rest of the week will consist of rest tonight (hopefully helping this pulled side muscle!!!) while Blake is either at practice for the group or if they don't have it, church at Rising Fawn. Tuesday night, probably tennis or some other fat reducer. (: Wednesday, church. Thursday, more exercise. Friday, HOPEFULLY going to listen to some music with Casey & Shana at their Uncle's house! They get together every Friday night just about & play gospel music so Casey asked if we'd want to go with him & Shana. I'm hoping it will work out...I really miss them. (:

Well I just wanted to give a quick update with things around here although I did just post the other day also. Oh well. (: I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week!!! :D

Busy, busy, gal!

That's what I am!!!

These past few weeks have been so awesome & so much fun!

I guess I'll start with 3 Friday nights ago! We went out to Nila for their singing...we had nothing else to do & we hadn't been out there in...well...FOREVER. Literally. I think it was my first time unless I went when I was younger. Anyways, I went out there & my friend Mitchell met me after first half. It was his first time in a Holiness church so I think he was pretty interested. And he said he really enjoyed it so that was good (: That night I laughed so hard I literally think I pulled a muscle in my side. And now, 2 weeks later, it STILL hurts! May have to get that checked out... Anyways, After going out there & hanging with the PG folks for a bit we headed home. Saturday morning was St. Patrick's day & even though I had PLANNED to have a shindig, it just didn't work out. St. Patrick's day is one of my favorite holidays...not that it does much for me. But my family is Irish & I just kinda get into it (; We went car shopping with Blake & that night at church I went sporting my green on & I think I still ended up pinched...what the mess? Sunday morning we went to Ider for church & instead of going home we just stayed there with Jarad & Tonya & chilled. It wasn't too long until our church time anyways. We went to church, it didn't last too long & went to hang with Jarad, Tonya, Whitney, & Pat...maybe Bro.Doyle too but I can't remember. Anyways, we played some games & ate some grilled chicken & shrimp (yum!!!) & of course we had a wonderful time (:

Thursday FINALLY got here & my family & I were packed & ready to head to the Smokies!!! It was our cousin retreat thing & it was a blast. Every time I go I meet new family members or really get to talk to them for the first time & this year my 2 favorite people had to be Deanna & Rodney! (Not married. lol) Deanna is my cousin by blood & Rodney is my cousin Andrea's husband. We love them! We had so much fun going to the Titanic museum, shopping, Gooney Golfing & eating froyo! haha It was great. I love my family so much! Yes, they're crazy, but I think we're about the only family who (with only like 1/3rd of the family) can live together with 30 other people for 4 days! We got along so well & it was just an amazing trip! And what trip to the Smokies would be complete without a visit to the good ol' Apple Barn on your way out?! We got sooo much there & I ate their apple dumpling & ice cream...oh my Lord. AWESOME!!! Definitely can't wait til we go out there again!!! (: When we got back Sunday evening, it was too late to go to church so we waited for Tonya & Jarad to get out of church & headed over to Ider park with them, Pat & Doyle! We started playing Tennis a little but I had flip flops on so it was pretty challenging. We had a great time though & before we headed home we planned to meet back out there the following night! So me & Blake went to Wal-Mart on Monday & got some good tennis shoes (Hey, I didn't realize that's what they were for...TENNIS!!! hahaha Oh I'm blonde.) Monday we got out there & kicked some tail! It was so much fun & Doyle started teaching us how to actually play Tennis. It's pretty interesting! So we did that every night this week but Wednesday (we had church!) & Friday night...we were SO wore out by Friday night the mention of Tennis was just like...BLAH. lol So we decided we'd hang out with Jarad & Tonya again! They got some barbecue & we got some buns & chips & headed out to the Brown's cabin with Seth too! We ate, played games & fished in the dark (well, I watched) & OF COURSE we laughed like maniacs! We have way too much fun sometimes (: Today we just sat around the house all day, went to church & came home. It's been a chill day instead of all the running around we've been doing! And tomorrow is our regular at Brown's Chapel! So everyone should come see us (: Church starts at 11 est (:

Well I'm getting outta here. I'm wore out but I think I may try my new banjo capo my brother got me in the Smokies (: See ya'll!!!

Surprises, Gaithers & Laughs!

So the other day my friend Morgan text me & said she wanted to hang out Friday night. I love her to death so I was totally up for it! We decided to meet at Rosie's in Huntsville to eat & just see where the night led us! Well, a couple days later I was thinking about how we didn't get to do anything for Blake's birthday since he was in North Carolina (March 1st) on a job. So I decided to make our hang out night Blake's surprise dinner. It was kind of perfect because I didn't have to somehow get him down there since he already knew we were going to go, he just didn't know what was about to happen! (: (P.S. Blake HATES surprises & he HATES birthday parties!!!) (P.P.S. He turned 23!) So I text a few of his closest friends like Brett, Bailey, Ben, Seth, JK & Jarad, Tonya & Whitney to come. JK & Brett had prior engagements which was okay because it WAS very last minute... (I text them about 1 a.m. Thursday morning...HA!) We went to pick up Seth & was on our way. There were SO many times the surprise could have been ruined (Seth kept asking who was coming, Ben called me, Blake called JK...) I was SO scared someone would give it away but thankfully it all worked out!!! We got to Rosie's where somehow Ben, Mason, Jordan, Mallory, Raeven & Morgan had already been seated & Blake STILL didn't get it. He was like "Wow, April invited more people than I thought..." once Bailey, Olivia & Preslie got there, we only had Jarad, Tonya & Whitney to go. They were the biggest surprise since they drove just as far as us to be there...so people keep asking who else is coming & I'm like "It's a surprise...", Morgan ended up telling but it was okay cause they came in right after & Blake was still surprised to see them! Finally we were all there & we ordered. The food was as good as always & our final surprise came out... a DELICIOUS red velvet cake that Bailey had made! Ben had been trying to sing "Happy Birthday" to Blake for like 5 minutes & Blake was BEGGING him not to (he gets mortified when people sing to him for some reason...lol) but once our waiter came out with the cake he was like "READY?! HAPPY BIRTHDAY..." and the ENTIRE (and if you've ever been to Rosie's you know what I mean) GINORMOUS RESTAURANT SANG TO BLAKE!!! He just sat there with his head down & his hand over his face saying "Oh Lord, Oh Lord..." it was SO funny!!! I wish someone would have recorded it but no one did. ): After they were done, everyone yelled, whooped & clapped for Blake & he sat there shocked for probably a good minute before I got him to cut the cake. Once we got done eating we paid our tickets & headed out to Bridgestreet! We just hung out around there laughing like crazy & going to Starbucks til almost 12 our time. We finally got to our house around 1:30!!!

A mere 5 & a half hours later my sweet mother (who was sooo excited about our fun filled Saturday) woke me up. SEVEN. A. M. I could have died. I laid around for a longggg time before finally getting up to get a shower & after taking my own sweet time we were all ready at around 11:30! We headed to eat & as we waited for Jarad & Tonya Blake & Dad went to Barnes & Noble so Blake could show dad the Nook tablet he had found the night before at Bridgestreet. Next thing we knew, Blake came out of the store the proud owner of a Nook tablet. lol It was part of his birthday present from Dad so he's been sooo excited about it! lol We finally head over to PF Changs & after a little bit of a wait, got seated. We all got something different & passed it around for everyone to try! It was really fun because I've never been there when people actually done it (even though it's recommended). We were there until almost 4 just chatting it up & chilling. After all was done we headed over to UTC McKenzie Arena to get a good parking spot (Mom's idea) for the show!  They let us go in around 4:45 so we just walked around the booths & took pictures with some of the performers before...& soon the show started! I believe this was our 4th Gaither concert so we're becoming kinda like pro's. lol jk But we love them! This show was actually a little different from the others & of course they kept us rolling...and then bawling...the entire time! Love that emotional rollercoaster! (; We had a blast & all too soon, it was over. ): Goodbye, Gaithers...at least for another few months!!!

After the past 2 super late nights I was SO close to just going to Brown's Chapel so I could get home at a decent time & take the World's Longest Nap, But instead I sucked it up & went to a place I have owed a visit to for a VERY long time...Old Sardis. I went there partially because Jordan Pace has came to BC for like 2 months in a row or something lol So I got to see her today...but church lasted SO long & we were SO exhausted that we ended up leaving about 2 hours in to the service. I know, I know, that's terrible but it's been a crazy weekend you guys!!! So we left, went to Katy's Katfish after a VERY interesting "In Sardis Parking Lot" moment when Dad HONKED THE HORN AS CHURCH WAS STILL GOING ON!!! lol Oh Lord. I love him. Anyways, we got to be home for a whole 20 minutes before going back to church tonight. Thankfully Uncle Larry kept it pretty short & sweet & we were out in an hour & a half. I would have been okay with just going home but Blake had hardly ate all day & he wanted to go to Trenton. We were supposed to meet some friends but no one showed up so we ate our food & headed home...THEN we get a text saying our friends were down there (it wasn't their fault...they had just got out of church). Oh well. We came home & have been hanging out every since. I tell you guys I have laughed SO hard today & really this whole weekend that my throat is sore...or I'm getting sick...but I don't think so. (:

Anyhow, I love my friends, I love my family, I love the Gaithers & I love my bed...so that's where I'm about to head. Goodnight you guys! Love, love (:

I'm glad you came.. (:

Well, it is yet another weekend post. lol

Friday night we had decided we were going to go over to Pat's house again with Jarad, Tonya, Whitney & Doyle & play cards. For food I suggested Tonya make her famous stir fry & I would make egg rolls. Instead of making the egg rolls as I usually do (awesomely), I baked them. They didn't turn out too hot. So that was pretty embarrassing. lol Oh well. Next time shall be better. Tonya's stir fry was AMAZING & my cupcakes were pretty good (Dad said they were the best I'd ever made....like store bought) so I guess I redeemed myself there. lol We stayed there til around midnight & headed home...

Saturday morning I got up & got ready to meet Morgan at Stevenson so I could go to church at Pleasant Grove Saturday night & Sunday morning. So we met her & we were on our way! She took me over to Raeven's house (where I'd be staying) & she got ready at her house. We left soon after & picked up Mallory & Morgan & went shopping in Huntsville. We flirted with the hotties at Alabama Outdoors & then went to eat at Mandarin. It was really good & Raeven super freaked out the waitress by not asking for a drink. lol After we ate we went to the mall & hung out for a while. Finally we headed back to Raeven's to get ready for church! Church was a total shoutdown with TONS of visitors..I've never been there on a Saturday night with SO many people. It was crazy. Afterwards, Raeven had young kids over so we ate tacos & hung out for a LONG time. It was fun (: After that everyone dispersed, we took Nathan & Triston home then came back to Raeven's where Morgan, Breanna & Mallory soon joined us & we all stayed up forever. It was almost 4 my time when we went to bed. But I had the ring test thing done to me for the first time! It was so cool! I have always wanted twin boys & when they did the test, the only thing that came up was boys over & over & over for like a minute straight. And then it stopped. I was like woahhh & got SO excited. It totally made my night! (: The next night when I got home I done it again, this time with my Mom's ring & it did the same thing! When I did hers, it came up boy, girl, girl...she had a miscarriage between me & Blake! It's crazy!  Have you ever heard of the ring test? If so, & it was done to you, was it right? I really want to know...so feel free to comment below! (:

Sunday morning we got up, got ready for church & it was packed out again! Church was pretty good, we ate afterwards & too soon, Mallory & Raeven took me to meet my parents at Stevenson church. We had our church service that ended up being like 3.4 hours long & really good... so good that we had church again Monday night! Tuesday night I went to school & I had actually gotten caught up on everything through Monday & Tuesday so I was excited to go! We had a really good class...it was actually fun. And even got home decently early! Yay me (:

Anyhow, I don't know what plans are for this weekend...maybe Trenton's singing Friday night? We'll see.
Hope ya'll have had a great week & have an even better next few days! (:

Love, love, April (:

Valentine's Day, Banjos, & Trains!

Okay, so a week ago was Valentine's day. No, I had no "hot date"...I actually spent it at the Berryhill Funeral Home in Huntsville seeing Bro. Hoyt. But something did happen at that time that made me feel a wholeee lot better about my (lack of) love life. haha. We'll see how things go later! Maybe one of these days I'll have some good news for you guys!


Friday night we went to Chuck-E-Cheese with Jarad, Tonya & Whitney to celebrate Tonya's birthday! (That's where Whitney wanted to take her! lol) So we ended up having a blast with them out there for a few hours! Around 10 we headed home so we could be there when Bailey, Olivia, Brett, JK & Ben got there. The girls stayed with me over at Grandmother's house & the boys stayed at our house. When JK got there, HE HAD MY BANJO!!! Yes, I am now the proud owner of a Johnson Banjo (: I am so stinkin excited! It's a lot more difficult than I thought it would be but I know it'll be AWESOME when I finally learn how to play! Anywho, us girls ended up in bed around 2 a.m. when apparently Bailey & Brett got their second wind. They were being sooo retarded. And that is why they're 2 of my best friends. (:

Saturday around 8:30 me & Brett got up to get ready to go with JK, Brit, Aly, Ben & Blake since the Aquarium deal didn't work out for us. So we went to Cracker Barrell to eat & then to the train museum. We actually got to ride on a train which was pretty cool...not cool was that the old Santa looking man kept droning on & on about train facts that we DID NOT care about. And we had to act like we were listening since we accidentally sat RIGHT in front of him. lol But it was still fun to me. Afterwards we took pictures around all the trains & on them. Everyone but me, Aly & Ben actually climbed on top of the train...too scary for me. lol After that we went to Guitar Center to see if they could string & tune my banjo. The only way they could was to keep it til Tuesday...No way! So I took it on home. That night Ben went to church with us. Afterwards we had our Valentine's party! We were supposed to have it the Sunday night before but because of Bro. Hoyt passing away, we didn't have church. So we made up for it. Aunt Carolyn had decided she wanted to do something for all the young kids so with the help of Aunt Ellene, Aunt Mary & Aunt Tamara (or Sis. Piana as Ben likes to call her) they had hotdogs, chili, nachos & cheese, taco soup & brownies with hot fudge & ice cream! Not counting the TON of candy & other Valentine cuteness they gave us! It was so sweet!!! They had the basement decorated & everything. Us & all the little ones LOVED it! Afterwards we went to McDonald's to hang with the rest of the crew! At about 1 a.m. Andrew texted me asking if he could stay the night. His plans had fell through & he had nowhere to go! So of course we said yes & he stayed the night.

Sunday morning we got up & got ready to go to Ider. We didn't even begin to get ready until 10:05 but somehow me & Blake got our showers, got ready & made it to Ider 15 minutes before church started! lol It was amazing! After church we hung out for a while then we headed home & took naps. lol We went to church that night, had leftovers from the night before's big Valentine bash & met Ider peeps at Wendy's to hang out. lol We didn't eat again. We did get ice cream though! Does that count as eating? Oh well. Soon we were home & in our nice, warm beds!

Since then I guess life's been pretty boring. lol The past 3 days. I'm hoping & wishing & praying that Mom & Dad will let me go out to PG this weekend! Maybe even Saturday night & stay with Raeven for Sunday's meeting! I don't know yet though...help me pray! lol

Love, love!
April (:

25 Random Things About Me

I did this for Facebook, but decided I'd bring it over here to the old blog,.. so here is 25 VERY random things about me. If any of it doesn't make sense, forgive me, I am very exhausted. (:

1. Okay, this is pretty well known but I'm going to put it anyways. My name is April. My middle name is Abrielle...a form of the Spanish Abril...which means...April. Hence the nickname by most, "April April".

2. My birthday is also, in April. April 10th to be exact. I will be 21 years old! Yay me..it does absolutely nothing for me. Just another year older. But I'm still gonna be happy about it, & have a "party" (non-alcoholic of course) with my pals. (:

3. When I was younger, I always assumed I would be married by now. No joke. Maybe even a child? Who knows. But, life doesn't (apparently) go as planned. 

4. I have been at Northeast for 2 of the last 3 years. And even when I'm done, I still won't have a degree. Darn you, indecision. (Although I will have a Medical Assistant Certificate...whoo!)

5. Hm...I currently have a 3.7 GPA...I guess that proves that not ALL blondes are dumb...but I have to admit...a lot are.

6. I spend a TON of time on Facebook, but I am also an avid Tweeter. Yes. I am. I love it. Don't hate. My phone helps out with these Social Networking obsessions.

7. I am still a total kid at heart. Case in point, I am currently getting a large group of 14 + year old people to go to the Tennesse Aquarium with me. And we WILL have fun.

8. I can be silly, & I usually am, but I also can get serious. I try to be there for my friends when they need me, in whatever way. Whether they need someone to just listen to them, they need some advice, or if they DO need someone to cheer them up...I do my best.

9. I want to be the kind of person that when my name is brought up in a conversation, people aren't ashamed to say that I am their friend. I try to be the best person that I can be, all the time.

10. My brother & I are more or less always together. He's 2 years older than me, drives me CRAZY & drives me most places (although I DO have my license now)...but you know what...he's one of my best friends. He's super judgemental & times & always very blunt, but I know if I need to ask someone something & get a totally honest opinion (unafraid to hurt my feelings as well) I can go to him. I truely know that I look "beautiful" when my brother says it. 

11. I am obsessed with pictures & picture frames. I love them so much. I currently do not have enough wall space to hang all of them up, so they're just chillin randomely around the room. Yep.

12. I'm looking for a guy to come into my life (or make himself known if he's already here) that can make me laugh, has the kind of personality that everyone loves to be around & to make me feel loved. Honestly, that's about it. Of course, everyone has to have that initial attraction..but in the end, beauty won't keep you guys together. You need someone you can joke with & be totally dumb & at the end of the day they'll kiss you goodnight & tell you they love you. That's what matters. That's all I want.

13. I love, & I mean LOVE, the banjo. I'm actually going to be getting one soon, which I'm TOTALLY stoked about. I can't wait to learn how to play something on it. I have a strumstick already...it's a lot of fun to play around on but since it's kind of a rare & up-and-coming instrument, there aren't many choices on what to play. I still love it very much though...it's so cute. (:

14. My brother & I listen to a LOT of "chill" music & have recently been buying CD's of random people. Amos Lee, Adele (not so random, but we have all her cds now), Mumford & Sons...it's been pretty awesome, I must say...gotta love hearing new songs that aren't played all over the radio!

15. I feel totally lost without....my cell phone. I know, it's sad that these days we're mostly all so addicted to our phones but I am. I left it at home the other day on accident & kept thinking "Oh, I need to text so & so about such & such..." would reach for my phone & it wasn't there. I was so sad. 

16. If I ever get married, I want super cute, very funny pictures to be taken by EVERYONE throught the whole shindig & I want them to be sent to us! 

17. I can't keep the same game apps on my phone for a long time. I get bored & when I'm bored, they don't stay. They're OUT. 

18. I am absolutely & totally addicted to CARMEX. Any kind. I love it. My lips feel dry without it within like 5 minutes & that is NO exaggeration.

19. I have a basket devoted to hair products. I never though I would be that girl.

20. At night, I sleep with water by my bed. Sometimes that ends up with an accumulation of a LOT of empty bottles, just because I'm too lazy to throw them away.

21. I have 2 pairs of glasses but I hardly ever wear them unless I'm at home. I feel uglier with them on even though I think they are so very cute. I was smart enough to get a brown pair & a black pair too. I know, I rock.

22. I have SO much jewelry (a jewelry box full) but I only wear like 5 different necklaces & pretty much one bracelet. I need to clear that out.

23. I have an Uncle that I've never met, but I feel a connection with him anyways. I think he would have been awesome.

24. I am addicted to Pinterest. But like most people, will pin things that I am NEVER going to get or have time or money to do. Oh well, a girl can dream.

25. My friends & family make my life. If it weren't for them my world would be such a very boring place. My best friends are those people that I can go to that never judge me or mistreat me. They aren't 2 faced & they love me even though I am a tee-total idiot at times. I love them so & I don't know what I would do without them. They came into my life just when I needed them the most.

Guess what?

Yep, it's another weekend post.

I know you all soooo enjoy hearing about my weekends..lol Just kidding. They're probably annoying. Oh well. The weekends are what I live for. (:

Friday night we went to Huntsville. Earlier in the week Britney Lohenitz had text us asking if we wanted to hang out so that's what we did! We went to eat at 5 Guys in Jones Valley & then me & Bailey went to Marshall's & Ross (where I found a ribbon board AND a 5 picture, up & down frame! FINALLY! I've been looking since my LAST birthday!) Then we went over to Yogurt Mountain (no joke, that's the name) & I had RED VELVET CUPCAKE YOGURT! It was amazing!!! We stayed there a WHILE before we decided to go to Target. Well, me & Bailey were walking to Shoe Carnival when a car stops in front of us & yells my name...I walk over & I see Miss Jasmine Coronado & Miss Casey Manning...my Scottsboro peeps! (: I tell them to come into the shoe store so they do & we stand around & talk to them for a few minutes. I love them...they're sweethearts (: Anywho, afterwards I get a call & Blake says it's about time to head home..it was already 10 our time & an hour & a half drive home is pretty rough. So we say our goodbyes & head home.

Saturday was a really chill day. We just hung out at home. Dad got mom Breaking Dawn Part 1 so we watched that (I've already seen it, so I fell asleep). Then we got ready to go to church. After church we went to McDonald's with Mom, Dad, & Grandmother & headed home. The best part of the night was winning Rock, Paper, Scissors & making BLAKE have to go out in the freezing cold to feed our outside dog, Bella. Mwahaha. He was sooo sure he had one...the look of utter shock on his face, was priceless. (:

Sunday morning we got up & went to Scottsboro for church! Bro. Shirley wasn't there since Bro. Charles's funeral was that day, so there wasn't a whollllleee lot of people there. But still a good crowd. After church we ate dinner in the kitchen & hung out in there with Robin, Alyssa, Mallory, Mason, Tonya & Jarad forEVER. Mom text me & told me we weren't having church since Uncle Larry was so close to Bro. Hoyt & he had passed away. So we planned a game night with Tonya & Jarad. We went to their friend Pat's house & Bro. Doyle came over too. We ate "fa-jeetas" & played a 2 & a half hour long Phase 10 game (That Tonya ultimately won...pshh. I call rematch! (:) while watching the Grammys. Oh man. We laughed SOOO hard. Having Jarad & Blake in the same room is BOUND to be hilarious. They're way too much alike! lol We left after Phase 10 was over & headed home listening to Adele (who was a BEAST at the Grammys!) & got home around 12.

Well, this weekend should be muchhh fun. Saturday we're going to the Chattanooga Aquarium with a TON of people & 5 Guys (again!) for lunch...should be awesome (: I'll blog about that later!

Love, love!
April (:

Never take a nap at 6 p.m...

The Basics and Some Personals

Name: 
April

Age:
20...will be 21 in 2 months! (Why do I keep wishing my life away!?)

Shoe Size:
10

Height:
5'7" (or as some have realized, I don't really know.)

Weight:
Too much. Working on that. (:

Pants Size:
18 if I wore pants. lol

Shirt Size:
18

Innie or Outie?
Innie...that's such a weird question.

Love Questions

Are you in Love?
Can't say that I am...

Are you single or taken?
Single as of right now.. ( I know, I ALWAYS say that...I'm hoping one day someone will change it!)

If single, for how long?
Hopefully not much longer (;

If taken, for how long?
--

If taken, by whom?
--

Do you like guys or girls?
GUYS. Completely. 

What do you think about Sporty guys?
They're okay I guess. ahaha
Smart?
VERY sexy. Just...not "know it all" smart.
Dorky?
Adorable (:
Popular?
Don't care.

Your Favorites 

Kind of Food:
Chinese/Mexican!

Color:
Brown

Song:
I like a lot of songs! 
But my favorite at the moment may be "All Your Life" by The Band Perry... (:
Band:
Lady Antebellum is by far the best country group.
Mumford & Sons are my go-to rock group atm (:
Singer:
Gotta love Adele!
CD:
Well, since I recently got it, it's been in the cd player for the past 6 days...
"Sigh No More"-Mumford & Sons

Kind of Music:
Chill music is my fave. 
I literally have a list of "chill" songs on my Spotify. lol
Animal:
I like puppies. (: haha

Place to be?
With my pals,...THE BEACH.

Vacation spot:
BEACH!!!

Actor:
Johnny Depp is the fave (:

Actress:
I love Emma Stone!

Comedian:
Mark Lowry. lol

Soap Opera:
I don't care for them too much.
I used to LOVE them though.
Day Time Talk Show:
ELLEN!
Game Show:
Let's Make a Deal

All Around Favorite Show:
Glee/The Voice/How I Met Your Mother

Drink:
Sweet Tea or Water (trying to cut out the soda!)

Restaurant:
P.F. Changs, Genghis, Red Lobster...
Number:
21 (;

Letter:
A!

Word:
Haha I don't really know!
Your Short Opinion on..
George W. Bush:
He's kinda dumb. lol
Gay Marriage:I do NOT agree with it. BUT, I am not going to get in a fight with someone over it either. It's their choice, we can't change them...so whatever.


Rocketing Gas Prices:
Wish it would stop!

Minimum Wage ($6.75):
I think it's $7.25, actually.Currently not my problem though.

Drunk Driving:
IS DUMB. Why risk someone else's life because you want to 
drink!? Seriously? GROW UP.


Legal Driving Age:
Some countries think we're crazy for letting people drive at 16. And I agree at times.
But I don't think you should be able to serve your country & not be able to drive. lol So, I guess 16 is good.

Anorexia:
Terrible.

Young Marriages:
I think it's okay, if you truly believe they're "the one". 
But if you have a lot of people coming up to you, telling you
that you may want to reconsider...just humor them. You may 
find out something that will really help you out in the future. Just saying.

Young Parents:
If you're married, sure.

Pregnancy without a Marriage:I think it's kind of risky bringing a child into this
world without a steady mother & father figure in his/her life. I'm not 
dissing teen moms, I'm just saying...consider things...don't just jump into it.

Telemarketers:
They get a lot of mess don't they? 
Pop Quizzes:
Are AWESOME when the question is like "what's your name?" & it's 
worth 100 points. lol (No, really, I had a teacher who would do that when a lot
of people didn't show up for class. lol)

This Survey:
Is passing time for me...

Label Your Friends!


Loudest:
Well, besides myself, 
I think I'll go with... Brett.

Quietest:
Hilly G

Nicest:
They're all nice to me. (:

Person who doesn't think before they speak:
Shelby.

Outspoken:
Brett.

Annoying:
I think everyone can be at some point.

Best Dressed:
Macy

Worst Dressed:
None!

Sweetest:
Ashley!

Giving:
JK. He'd do anything for anyone within reason.

Selfish:
...

Ungrateful:
I think they're all grateful for what they have!

Social Butterfly:
Mallory!

Will be crowned Most Likely to Succeed by their class:
Probably Mal! lol 
This or That


Soda/Punch:
Punch

Sour/Sweet:
Sweet.

Summer/Winter :
Summer...crazy to think that I used to would
have said Winter!
Christmas/Thanksgiving :
Christmas!
Easy/Challenging:
Depends.
Light/Dark :
I'm going with dark.

Sun/Moon :
Sunnnn

TV/Movies:
I like both...
I watch a TON of Movies though!

Out with Friends/Out with Family:
BOTH, TOGETHER!

Cat/Dog:
Dog...
I'm not a cat fan.
Penguin/Dolphin:
Dolphin!

Book/Magazine:
Both, in different situations.
I'm a magazine junkie.

And Garrett Shull would like for me to inform everyone that at 2:00 a.m. (est) and 1:00 a.m. (cst) we are texting about our retardation of taking late naps & the fact that he is watching The Today Show from YESTERDAY. And we want to go to the Bahamas. Like, now. Thank you. (:

My absolutely AMAZING weekend!!!

Well, let's start with good ol' Friday night!

Well last Sunday night we went to eat at Krystal's with Ider peeps & Brett & a few others. At that time, the Ider people asked us to come to their singing Friday night...so that's what we did! Some of the Pleasant Grove people were supposed to come but it didn't work out for any of them to be able to come except Morgan & her friend Emily. But that was okay! (: The singing was pretty good & we had a blast sitting back there talking & eating 2 bags of Life Saver Gummies (fave.candy.EVER!) We had a really good time, and Blake got to see his old friend Tyler Hughes! I know he was very excited. (: After the singing we stood outside freezing, talking forEVER with Jesse, Justin, Kacy, Alicia, Dolan & Jen...then after that, we went to the car & talked for ANOTHER forever with Alicia! Then we realized that there were still people there at the church...it was upwards of 12 a.m. We go up to be nosey & see who it is, and it's Jarad, Tonya & Kayla! Imagine that. (: So we ended up sitting there & talking to Jarad & Tonya for a while. As I was attacked by Miss Whitney every 5 minutes. That child's a mess, but you can't help but love her. (: We FINALLY got home after 1 a.m. & I fell into bed to pass out.

Saturday morning we got up...well... I got up, & spent 45 minutes trying to get BLAKE up, because we had planned to go to Chattanooga with Alicia. So we got up, got ready (FINALLY) and was at her house around 12 ish. Blake helped Jenni (Say it in a Forrest Gump voice... "Jenn-ayyy") put together a rabbit cage & we were on our way...at around 1. We went to Tiftonia to get food (we hadn't ate yet) at Hardee's (Blake's choice.) & then on to Rick's Music Room (or something like that). We were there for quite a while just looking at all the guitars & crazy instruments & talking to Rick... (Btw, I'm looking for a reasonably priced banjo...if you know anyone wanting to sell one, let me know!) after what felt like FOREVER we finally got out of there...but the Rick dude was very nice. (: We then decided to go to Wal-Mart so I could pick up a new pack of hot sticks & the Mumford & Sons CD! (Rock-ish music, sang by Irish men, with BANJOS!!! haha) I love them! So I ended up getting their CD "Sigh No More" AND a "Very Best of Johnny Cash" CD. I was very happy. (: By that time, Alicia was kinda hungry (she hadn't ate at Hardee's) so we took her to Taco Bell & got some more food. Haha. We love to eat. Bad, I know. I have to stop. Anyways, after being there for a while just hanging out, we headed back home so that we could drop Alicia off in Ider & head home to get ready for church. When we got to Alicia's, her mom had people over there giving her bunnies! So we played with the bunnies for a while in the barn as it POURED down rain...we smelled TERRIBLE, I'm sure. We eventually HAD to leave so we could be decent for church. Church was good, Bro. Mark & Sis. Tammy Cantrell was there. We were supposed to have communion but it didn't really go that way, so we didn't have it. After church, we actually went HOME (I KNOW!!!) & and ate. It was nice to be home. ha.

Sunday morning we got up & got ready for church. I had been told we were going to have some visitors & stuff but I had no clue how many! We ran a little late so we came in when Uncle Larry was welcoming everyone. I looked up & there was like a bajillion visitors! I was soooo happy! lol Just on the bench in front of me was Jarrod, Mallory, Alicia & Allison... there was a TON of our friends with the holy holy there! I still can't get over how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends. (: Church was AMAZING...and I'm not just saying that. There were so many wonderful testimonies! Anyways, after church we went down to the basement to eat our AMAZING food (everyone says it's the best...so you should come check it out sometime! (:) and we couldn't even fit all the young people to 4 tables! It was awesome! I sat down at the end with Raeven, Jarrod & Logan (Mal jumping in every once in a while (;) & we laughed a LOT. It was fun! We got home in time to take a nap even...lol Well I was laying down to take a nap when my Aunt Ellene called asking if I wanted to go with her to take Madyson & Michael home. So of course, I said yes. We took them down to Rainsville & got into the church right at the first song. I'm not used to making so many fashionably late entrances, it's strange. This was apparently my weekend to be late every service! After church we had a men's meeting on one side of the church & a women's meeting on the other, discussing our next singing! And as far as I know, it will be March 16th! We don't know who is going to be singing, but I'll definitely let you guys know so you can come! (: After that, we went to Pizza Hut to meet our Ider friends! We got there before them so we already (thankfully) had our pizza when the ENTIRE IDER CHURCH CAME IN! lol Pizza Hut hates us. No, really. They do. lol We stayed there until they closed & then went out into the parking lot & ended up talking to Tonya & Jarad for like 40 minutes. I laughed so hard I was crying & I had a terrrible headache when I got home. AND they made me miss The Voice! RAWR! (; (I got to watch it last night online, so it was okay.) It was great...we LOVE hanging out with them! When I got home I got an IM from Tonya saying to call her. When I did, they asked us to go to Toney with them Monday night...of course, we said yes!

Pretty much as soon as I woke up I had to clean foreverrrr. Then went to Lowe's with Dad to get a pump for our bathroom. Then more cleaning. Yay. lol That evening I got ready & we met the peeps over at Ashley & Macy's house. They had borrowed a van to go to Toney in so we could all ride together...I was thinking it was gonna be one of those creepy kidnapper vans. But it. was. AWESOME. lol It was totally old school, but when you got in it, it was HUGE! We had SO much fun riding in there together. We cracked up the whole time, of course! We got to church about right on time, I knew Raeven & Mallory were going so I looked for Mal when I went in. I sat down & was pretty much immediately spotted by a very shocked Bailey & Garrett! I think Bailey was very happy to see us! lol After hugging them & Lindz, I looked over, and there was Jarrod & Nathan! lol Church lasted a little while (but not near as long as a normal Toney service!) and they didn't even have altar call! Bro. David dismissed and everyone was just like :O lol After church, we hung around a while & then we went to McDonald's to eat with Raeven, Mallory, Tristan, Nathan & Jarrod. (And apparently we almost ran over them in the ginormous van we were in. lol) They didn't get to stay long but we got to talk a little bit at the worst McDonald's EVER. haha (Shield's Road!) Our food was sitting right there and they didn't even tell us! Man. lol Oh well. After we got done eating, we headed home, and stopped at a gas station where I got Blake to get out and get me some Carmex. (I've lose 2 tubes in the last 2 days! lol) I left my last silver tube at Toney! Ughh. Anyways, after a SUPERRR long ride home (but fun again, nonetheless!)  we got home around 1 a.m.!

The weekend was really, really awesome. I had a blast hanging out with everyone! (Especially Jarad & Tonya!) There was a LOT of laughter...that's my favorite. (:

Well, until next time!
Love, love!
-April

The jury's out, but my choice is you (:

So my weekend pretty much went exactly as planned...

and I loved every minute of it. (:

No disappointment at all this weekend! Scoree. lol

Friday night I went to Huntsville's singing. Blake dropped me off as he went to eat & hang with our other friends & I met Hannah & Shelby outside so I wouldn't have to walk into the singing alone like a loser. (; So we went in & immediately it was a lot of fun! Soon we were surrounded by friends & acquaintances & it was just great. We laughed. A lot. A little TOO much & a little TOO loudly at times. We sang. A little crazy. haha. It was a blast! The only bummer was that I was sooo hungry but couldn't quite bring myself to go down to the kitchen & eat. So I pretty much stole any gum or candy that anyone had within a one mile radius & drank water. lol Whoo! (I was pretty much told I was stupid by Shelby & she said she would go down there with me but I chose not too. So my friends are pretty nice. lol) I did good until the singing was over & Blake & JK came to get me...I complained for soooo long about being hungry that FINALLY Blake stopped at Sonic to get a drink & I could get some food! YAY! lol I got my food, we started to drive off, Blake slams on the brake for some dumb reason, my sweet tea falls to the floorboard, straw stabbed through it, leaking EVERYWHERE. I yelled for Blake to stop so I could pick it up & I tried to find a garbage can but there was not one ANYWHERE. So I got back in the car & we went over to Kroger's. Once there, JK went in to get something & get me another drink. I didn't think much about it until I was swigging good ol' Coca Cola, but I had went ALL day without drinking soda of ANY kind. Diet or regular. All because Dr. Oz said you could lose weight doing that. And that one bottle of Coke totally ruined my whole day. But by that time it was about 1 a.m. my time, I was eating a burger & I didn't really think it could get much worse than that. lol The guys dropped me off at Bailey's house & went on to JK's to stay. I got in the house & me & Bailey got to talking about alllll the stuff that had went on that night...the good things for me & the bad for her... (flat tires & messed up plans...boooo) we stayed up until almost 4 my time talking about everything and a lot with Sis. Tammy. (: We finally got into bed since we had a big day planned for Saturday!

Saturday we got up at around 11, got ready and met Brett at PF Changs at Bridgestreet at 12. The food was (as always) SO good & we had a good time just hanging out. Then they gave us these little red envelopes to celebrate the Chinese New Year: Year of the Dragon & told us we couldn't open them...SERIOUSLY? lol That's like BEGGING it to be steamed open or something. lol But anyways, they said we could get either 10-50% off our next meal, a free appetizer or a free dessert....if you open the envelope, whatever you won is null & void! So I guess we'll deal. lol But we're definitely planning another trip to PF Changs before March 4th! lol After eating, we walked to a few different stores around Bridgestreet...stared at TOMS for a while & spent what seemed like a whole lifetime in Papaya. Then we left & went to TJ Maxx & finally Coldstone Creamery...I got a Cherry Cheesecake Milkshake & although I had the SLOWEST worker there, he sure made a good milkshake (: Right after that, me & Brett went to Taylor's (her sister) house to get ready for church at Pleasant Grove. Church was good, Bro. Jimmy preached & it we were out right at 9 their time. After that, we went to Jarrod & Nathan's house to eat some pizza since we couldn't decide where to go. lol Me & Brett stayed there til 12:30 our time & we just HAD to leave. I got home around 1:30 & pretty much immediately passed out. lol

This morning I got up & cooked breakfast like every Sunday morning. We ate, went to Brown's Chapel for church, went to eat Chinese food (that I have been BEGGING for, for months!) & I got home in time to take about an hour 20 minute nap. Scoreee! lol We went back to BC tonight & then to Krystal's to eat with Brett, Alex, Joey, Seth & the Ider crew (Macy, Ashley, Cheyenne, Jesse)...it was HILARIOUS. And we were graced with the presence of Tonya & Jarad Brown again! lol 2 times in 2 weeks! ahaha It was seriously awesome though!

Now I'm home & pretty wore out...so I think I'll head to bed here in a minute.

Oh, by the way, our regular is next weekend (first!) so you guys should DEFINITELY come see us! We'd love to have you! (:

Love love!
-April

Singing's are hereeeee

YAY! It's singing season again!!! WHOO!

Okay, real quickly lemme mention last weekend. It was pretty awesome. We met up with Morgan, Mallory, Raeven, Jarrod, Brett, Bailey, Shelby, Ross, Mallory (Gaines) & Alicia in Scottsboro to eat at Zaxby's..delish. Then afterwards we just hung out...laughed like CRAZY. Saw Jared & Tonya & Whitney (shout out! (:) & after standing outside of Zaxby's (not wanting to leave but we didn't know where to go!) FOREVER Us, Alicia & the PG folks (the others had went to Wal-Mart)  decided to go to Dairy Queen. We hung out there for a while & too soon, it was time to head home.

Saturday morning it was storming as it did all day so we didn't go anywhere. That night we went to church & afterwards, got food at Rafael's & went to Alicia's house.

Sunday morning we went to Bryant & that evening we went to Brown's Chapel. Mom & Dad were at the hospital with Grandmother because apparently she fell off her porch, landed like 8 feet away, and broke a bone in her neck. They said there wasn't anything they could do so she came home & she's doing much better now. (: We went to eat at Rafael's again. lol Yeah. CRAZYYY weekend.

Tonight I'm going to Huntsville's singing & then staying the night with Bailey (: Tomorrow we're all gonna hang out & I believe go to PF Changs. Then tomorrow night, I'm going to Pleasant Grove with Brett! YAY! lol Should be lots of fun (:

See ya'll soon! (:

4 restaurants, 6 hours (you know you're curious!)

This weekend was the BEST weekend I've had in a while!

We'll start at Friday night. Friday night our plans got allllll flipped upside down but it ended up being great! We were supposed to hang out with Alicia & her roommate Courtney & go out to eat in Chatt & do whatever. Well I text my high school friend, Casey, to see if he would want to go with us since I have been begging him to hang out with us for like the past 3 years. Something was alllllways up. Well this time, he didn't text me back that night so I just assumed it was no for some other reason & made plans to go see Mal at her homecoming. I got the ride, was about to get ready & realized I didn't really have time after cleaning to make it to the top of the mountain by 5. About THAT time I get a text from Casey asking what's up? So I text him back saying I was going to ask him to come hang out but figured he wouldn't want to & by the end of our convo & a call to his cousins, I convinced him to go! So the plan was to go to BWW in Chatt with Alicia, Courtney, Shelby, Austin, Blake, Shana & Casey. Well I get a text from Alicia that ended up being we aren't gonna go, meet us afterwards. So that was the plan. Well we decided to go to Logan's in Tiftonia instead. It was closer to all of us & just as good really so that's what we did. We met them there & after a few minutes were laughing & cutting up like old times. It was kinda weird finally getting to see someone you knew since you were 3, but haven't got to see but twice (only for a few minutes) in the past 3 years. But it was awesome. After the initial awkwardness, Shana invited us to come over to hang out at their house which I was all too excited to oblige to, considering I didn't know if they'd ever want to hang out with us again seeing how retarded we are now, & it was already going on 9:30...I knew if we went all the way to Ider & had to make it back around 12 for Mom's sake, we wouldn't get to spend much time AT ALL with Alicia. So I text her, told her our plans & we went over to Casey & Shana's to hang out. We got there around 10 & since they lived only 5 minutes away, we left around 12:50...Shelby & myself kinda helped Shana set up her Twitter on her Kindle Fire while the boys serenaded us with their guitars. lol It was really chill...just the kind of night I love. So anyways, soon we headed home & after winding down, I finally got in the bed.

The next day, our Mom's step brother & wife decided they were gonna come over & bring some cousins since we didn't get to have Christmas with them. They brought some pizza & we made a couple of our homemade pizzas & we ate & hung out with them for a while. After all that stuff, I went home to take a nap because I suddenly got soooo tired after working on Grandmother's brand new sewing machine we got her for Christmas (supposed to be simple...soooo not. lol).  Around 6:30 Dad's waking me up for church so I hurry & get some decent church clothes on & we head over. Church lasted about an hour because Uncle Larry wasn't there so we got home, I ate leftover pizza & watched the show Being Human on Netflix with Mom. (Blake had left earlier in the day to spend the night & Sunday with JK & the Riverton folk...I was too wore out) Around 1 I got to sleep & slept sooooo good...

Until around 8:30 when Mom woke me up to cook breakfast. JOY. I don't even LIKE breakfast but on Sunday mornings, I'm the cooker (which I usually am anyways) & Mom's the kitchen cleaner. lol Muchhh rather cook than clean up the mess I end up making! (: Anyhow, biscuits, sausage, gravy, eggs & bacon later, we get our showers & head to church. Hardly anyone was there because a lot were at Riverton & Uncle Larry was still gone...so our service again, lasted around an hour. But it was sweet. After church Alexis came up to me & asked if I could come with her to see her grandpa (who is sick with cancer...) with her & her mom. So I loaded up with them & we took off. We FINALLY (after much debate) decided to eat at some Italian restaurant on East Ridge called Portofino's. It was pretty decent but we didn't eat much. We grabbed To-Go plates & were out of there & over to Mrs. Shirley & Mr.Gerald's. We got there & just spent some time with them. You could tell they loved the company...we brought them some food over & Mr. Gerald could actually eat some of his cheeseburger so that was good. Around 6 or so we headed out to go grab some stuff & get home. Well we decided we were kinda hungry again...really wanting a burger since seeing how good there burger looked! lol But somehow we ended up at Las Margaritas V in Tiftonia. Not a good choice. lol It wasn't that good...& after we got done eating Blake called me about meeting him at Lalito's in Trenton (MUCH better food!) so we headed to Rafael's to pick up Evan's food we had called in, then over to Lalito's to hang out with Blake & them & not eat again. lol (And that is the story of how I ended up at 4 restaurants in 6 hours. lol) After they got done eating, we had a text from Alicia saying to come to her house for a bit since we didn't get to Friday night, so we did! (What can I say, we're popular people! lol)  We were there for a while & around 11:30 (& after our "shout down" lol) we headed home & that's where I am now, in my room, SO sleepy (eyes about to close) at almost 1:30 a.m.....I think I'm gonna head to bed! (;

Goodnight guys! Sleep tight (: Love, love!

Is anyone even out there?

Okay, I realize it has been FOR-EVERRR since I have posted a blog! Eh, make that about 2 weeks.

Since my last blog, I spent New Year's Eve with a few of my BEST FRIENDS! It was awesome. I had thought I was going to hang out with Mitchell but I kinda prayed about it & asked the Lord if it wasn't right for me to go, that he would just never text me to tell me what we were doing...lo & behold, I never got a text & I never text him! Who knows about down the road, but I definitely felt like I was NOT supposed to be with him that night! So instead, we went to church & then met Brett, Bailey, Olivia & Garrett at Cracker Barrel in South Pittsburgh (where just a couple weeks later, Zac Brown from the Zac Brown Band would be! AHH!) we laughed sooo hard that night & talked about a little bit of everything. By the time we got done eating & got back to Brett's house it was almost 11 o'clock! So we started a quick game of Phase 10 with Brett's ANCIENT cards & played a few phases before the ball dropped. For the last minute of 2011, Garrett & Bailey LITERALLY sat there & screamed at each other as I recorded it (and accidentally deleted it later...oops) & then a couple minutes after our HAPPY NEW YEAR! yells we "danced" in 2012. haha. Funny stuff...I love my friends. (: We quickly headed home since we new Bro. Jimmy & Sis. Towana wanted to go to bed!

Sunday morning we went to our church where we had our 2nd regular service in our brand stinkin' new church! It still doesn't seem real since a lot of December services were cancelled due to holidays & deaths... ): Bro. James Carl from Pleasant Grove & Bro. James McLain came to be with us so that was nice... & we had a few more visitors which was really more than I expected with it being the first day of the New Year! It was a good service & our first "real" food (I'm talking the mac & cheese, chicken, green beans, potatoes, etc...) dinner in the church so we were super excited to be off the "soups & sandwiches" kick of December. The food was OF COURSE delicious (just about everyone says Brown's Chapel has the best food in Holiness land...& I may be a tad bit impartial, but I believe it!) & we had a blast on our "young adults" table messing around with the "old people" table... (the old people are Kris & Evan, Aunt Lisa & Uncle Jamie & Mom & Dad I think. lol) After church, Me & Blake went over to Lex's where they played the guitar & I pretended I knew how to play my strumstick (; It was a blast! And that night, after church we went over to Aunt Connie & Uncle Larry's & we played around some more, but this time me & Lex sang while Blake played! We had a blast screaming at the top of their lungs & we discovered that Lex & me actually harmonize very well together! I guess it's the best friend thing (: Since my room was actually decent & Lex hadn't spent the night in a long time, she came over that night! We sat up til FOREVER talking about EVERYTHING & it was great! I've really missed her!

Monday morning we got up, had some breakfast & watched How I Met Your Mother until Lex had to go home to get ready for our "New Years Dinner" at Aunt Francis & Uncle George's house. She ended up getting sick so she didn't come over but we had our dinner & played Just Dance with Erika until she had to leave. Then me & Blake played dominoes (actually a LOT of fun) with our Grandmother & Great Aunts! lol We ended up playing until like almost 10 that night. haha. We really get into it!

The next day I had to work so that's what I did, & then on Wednesday evening after working again, we left to meet Aunt Norma Jean at Cracker Barrel (I know, what's with me & Cracker Barrel!?) so I could go to stay in Atlanta with her & the cousins for a few days! We ended up in McDonough (about an hour past ATL) around midnight or so & I had a GREAT time all week. I met one of Dylan's friends, Mason & he was pretty awesome too. We played Phase 10, 3 kajillion times & watched ghost shows & I Am Number 4...it was like a week of lazy days. Friday night they took me to The Varsity for the very first time! It was an awesome experience! Saturday morning we finally convinced Uncle Jerry to go to the doctor about his leg (which was like solid black, blue & purple from a surgery a couple weeks earlier!) & he ended up having to have surgery! So Saturday evening Mom, Dad, Blake, Grandmother & Aunt Marie came down to help Aunt NJ out & to come pick me up...Sunday morning we went to the hospital & stayed there all day until we went to eat at the Varsity and that afternoon we went home;. We pulled in the driveway about 5:10!

Monday morning I talked to Kim (my boss woman!) about my new schedule for classes. By the end of it, I had to give up one of my days of keeping Ally. I couldn't quit cold turkey...I love that girl way too much! But now I can focus a little more on school since I have 2 classes at the school & one online.

So I worked Tuesday & Tuesday night went to my orientation for my first class...Medical Office Practice. Superrr easy stuff. And I love it! So if anyone knows of an office needing a medical assistant, please let me know! I need a good job!!! I was super excited when I got in class & realized that I had not 1, not 2 but THREE people I knew in there! (Much better than NO ONE which I had last semester!) Theresa (my friend Ariel's mom who is like a mom to me!, Kaitlin (who I graduated with!) and her cousin Lacey (whom I've just been acquainted with)...but I was so happy to see them!

Wednesday night we went to church & I talked to the people at Curves & ended my membership (it'll be official when I pay the out fee tomorrow)...I was sad but it costs WAY too much money when it's SO hard to get there through the winter! So I'm going to do my best working out here at home & maybe I'll do some good!

Thursday morning I got up & went to class for Pharmacology Orientation which I have with Miss Morgan Cain & I'm super stoked!!! I think it'll be a pretty easy class & I can't wait (:

Tomorrow I go to officially get out of Curves & tomorrow night I think we're going to hang out with Alicia, Courtney & a few others that I hope can make it out! I guess we'll see & maybe I'll blog about that soon! (:

Love, love you guys! (: