2017 has been a very busy year with lots of ups and downs! 

Every year I love spending time putting together a collection of memories that show my adventures in the day to day. 

Join me on the ride.

January

1. Rang in the new year with this awesome crew! 

     2.) Moving Day-Mom left her house of 64 years and we all moved her to her new abode near my            parents.

     3.) Aunt Melba went in for a routine hip replacement and things didn't go as planned. So thankful that God had many more plans for her. What a blessing! 

February

     4.) The fam went to see Garth Brooks in Memphis! Such an awesome concert. 

March

     5.) Michelle's big day! It's too fun to watch one of your best friends get married.

April

     6.) Linda and I went to see Tim and Faith in Tupelo! Another bucket list concert... 

May

      7.) Claire and I did a 9PM-6AM ride along with the Oxford Police Dept. 

It was an amazing experience! 

June

     8.) Got to spend my June/July keeping these sweet girls! 

     9.) Celebrated at my 10th year class reunion!

July

     10.) I got to meet sweet Dalton Lane

August

     

     11.) Sweet Emily came to Oxford for too short of a visit! We packed a lot of fun into one day! 

September 

     12.) Football season was in full bloom and I had a blast cheering on my Rebs! 

October

     13.) Had the ole gallbladder taken out. 

November

     14.) Sweet Claire and Jordan got engaged. It was such a fun night celebrating these two! 

     15.) I became an ESPN sensation! HAHAHAHA! JK.. 

             We won the Egg Bowl! 

December

   16.) Spent a day during Christmas Break passing out LovePacks to prisoners in MS! What a              blessing this was! 

     17.) Christmas 2017 was fun with family/friends! 

2018.. you have a lot to live up to! Let's do this! 

Small Steps Every Day

Yesterday, Day 6 in Kindergarten, in our new school year I had something happened that really shook me up! 

I had a racial comment said to another child by a FIVE year old. 

FIVE YEARS OLD, Y'ALL! 

It caught me completely off guard and made me sad to know that my babies have already had this told to them in their short, little lives. We are starting on Monday in our curriculum talking about their names and how important each name is. I can't wait to tie in how we are all at school to love each other and lift each other up! 

Words hurt and I will do my best in my classroom to teach all my Kinders to respect people no matter their color, size, economic status, etc.

"Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody."

Kid President 

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For the positive:

We have had a GREAT first week at school! This group is something special and I can't wait to see how much we learn together! 

Red, White and Burnt

Happy Monday! 

After a crazy busy week I wanted to recap my fourth of July. 

And now a picture of the dish that explains the title of the blog! 

Lord, please send me a man that can cook! 

This group is my lifeline! I adore doing life with them. If you aren't involved with a Small group at church, you are missing out! 

A few months ago a sweet friend gave me these scraps from her classroom and I found this DIY door hanger on Pinterest. I made it with a stick from my backyard and placed the scraps! SO CUTE! 

I found my brother at the fireworks. Yes he's a fireman but no, they weren't the ones shooting them. You can tell how hot it was! #Mississippihumidy

My mother's side of the family got together for a BBQ during the day! 

So thankful to celebrate with Aunt Melba (in purple!)

You can read her story, here!

Loved having this made to celebrate! 

There is nothing more fun than wearing my favorite colors and making memories with family and friends! 

So thankful for all the freedoms we have! 

iPhone Dump

I figured it was a great time to do a Summer iPhone dump. I know that my camera roll will thank me and you can see some of the memories that I've already made!

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This girl rocked her first year of being in the classroom! Can't wait to work with her again this year! 

Small Group 

"Taco" Bout a Party

This small group is amazing! 

We are soaking up our time together this summer because some are leaving for good! 

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Beach tradition continued this year! We had a really relaxing trip this year and with all the rain that the coast got, we made the most of our time. 

You wanna talk about a fun group? 

This is it! 

Taylor Grocery nights have been pretty frequent this summer! 

(if you have never been, call me next time you come to Oxford!)

Bought into the "eno life".

It's so relaxing! I just wish I could find time everyday to do it. 

We threw a precious baby shower for my cousin Bethany and Baby Dalton! 

Can't wait to meet him in a few days/weeks.

and last but not least...

I'm babysitting sweet Ann Frances and Margaret two days a week and we are having a ball. 

So far so good this summer! 

I feel like June has been CRAZY busy with VBS, Sports Camp, babysitting, vacation, Continuing Ed classes, etc. July will hopefully be a little less stressful! 

Let's do this. 

Season of Busyness

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Growing up, I remember my Mother always saying that we kept the roads hot and I didn't understand exactly what she meant. Oh, but now I do!

I am DEFINTELY in a "season of busyness"!


This summer, I joined a Bible story that is studying the book, Captivating. I find myself underlining almost every sentence because the words are all so relatable. We have been meeting once a week to talk about what the book means to us and how we can relate. I have realized that even when I don't mean to, I hide behind "busyness".

I feel that for the most part, I am an open book in my everyday living but sometimes I have those moments where I want people to think that I have it all together and everything is perfect. 

Well, of course, it's not always that way. I LOVE being busy. I love hanging out with friends, having events to go to and socialize, and being a part of the community/circles that I am involved with. Sometimes I catch myself not taking time to do the things that make me feel in control, (ex.) laundry, enough sleep, etc. 

While all the things that I am doing are not "bad" and should be done, I often feel exhausted because I haven't taken time to do important things for myself. Being busy is "fun" but it can also wear a person out and ultimately becomes an idol. I never want to be so busy that I can't find time for the things of God but man.. how many times have I let that happen?

I've decided that saying "yes" to things is a huge issue that I have. I want to be everywhere ALL the time and FOMO (fear of missing out) is something I struggle with as well. There are times that I should stay home, rest, go to bed early, read my Bible a few extra times or just take time to reflect but I am always on the go. 

I'm going to make a conscious effort to do better on this and I'm thankful that this study was helpful in showing me an idol in my life. I'm praying that God will fill me with the courage to say "no" when needed and to rely on him to make my paths straight. 

I saw this quote and these days, this is something I need to strive to be! 

Are you a yes girl? Do you like to stay busy? Let's find a happy medium together!

Reunited and it feels so good!

Hello again! 

This weekend, we celebrated our 10 year class reunion! We've been planning it for a couple of months and it finally came around. Let me feel you in on my graduating class.

North Pontotoc High School, Class of 2007

Our class was your typical, rural high school class in that we only graduated with around 75 people. We were involved in many different clubs and after school activities and most of us also had some kind of job that we went to occasionally. 

During our senior year, we didn't do a senior prank(we tried on graduation morning but that's another story), we didn't have a senior parade or any of those traditions BUT we did pull an awesome idea during our graduation ceremony.

We all placed a marble in our hands to give to our principal when we shook his hand. I mean, "What are you going to do with 75 marbles during a ceremony?" It was hilarious to see him all throughout the ceremony not know what to do with each marble that he was given! He finally started putting them inside a plant that was on the podium next to him.

I guess in a way this was our "senior prank"! 

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I went back to our high school last year and walked around seeing all the changes the years have brought. Our principal was walking around and showed me that he still had our marbles after all of these years! It was a really special moment. 

This reunion opened my eyes to see how we are much the same even though the years have brought lots of changes. It was great to see these people that I shared 13 years with and I can't wait for our next one!

Class of 2007

15.. here we come!

February Catch-Up

Here I go again not writing in a month! My life has seriously been SO crazy lately and I'm excited for this week to be slower and to hopefully get some things accomplished.

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I think it's a good time for a bulleted list of some things that have been going on:

- Ole Miss Basketball Games

-Garth Brooks Concert (Y'all.. it was amazing)

-The night the power went out in Oxford...

-Michelle's Bridal Showers

-I've become obsessed with LulaRoe..

-Family time

-Friends over at my house for the BIG Superbowl party 

-Garth Brooks Concert (Y'all.. it was amazing)

-The night the power went out in Oxford...

-Michelle's Bridal Showers

-I've become obsessed with LulaRoe..

-Family time

-Friends over at my house for the BIG Superbowl party 

It's been a great month and a half but I'm so tired. I realized last week that I really didn't give myself anytime for "rest" so I'm doing better this week! Hence, THIS blog. 

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My kiddos are really starting to get the hang of Kindergarten at school so that's making for some must easier days in the classroom. I'm praying that continues for the rest of the year. 

On a more serious note//

On January 23, 2017, my Aunt Melba underwent elective hip replacement surgery. During recovery, they were not able to wake her up and began running tests. They concluded that she had suffered ischemic strokes (caused by a blood clot) in the right and left side of her brain. We don't know how her story will end, but we know who will write it!

(taken from her Caringbridge site)

She has been a miracle ever since this day. She stayed in ICU for almost a week and made great strides. She has since been moved to Methodist Rehab in Jackson and is doing great. She has only mimicked a couple of words so that is our biggest prayer concern. I went to the hospital the day that she had the surgery and to say that I was scared is an understatement. I went to visit every other day that week and each day brought new hope! 

On Saturday, after her surgery on Monday, she woke up and found me in the room and smiled the biggest smile. I went over and hugged her and she just made my day! She grabbed my arm and wanted to look at my bracelets and I knew then that she would be fine! ;) 

We are so thankful that God has healed her so much already and pray for complete healing soon! 

If you want to follow, here's the link for her caring bridge.. 

https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/melbaheard

Hope y'all are having a great month so far! 

Back to School

 It's time for school again. The alarm is back on and I'm really ready to get back in a routine! I haven't been very excited to go back but then I read this article online and it gave me ALL the feels! 

https://countyourblessingsnotyourchins.com/2016/01/03/to-every-teacher-going-back-to-work-tomorrow/

I'm excited for a new start with my Kinders and ready to keep up our learning. This year has been a struggle for a lot of different reasons and I'm ready to put that in the past and encourage in the time that I have left with them. 

This break has been good for my soul and the new year has brought about new goals that I wish to accomplish in the classroom. I'm going to list some of those here to keep me accountable and to hopefully encourage someone else.

1.) Teach not only curriculum but show them that they are loved and wanted.

2.) Treat the students like I would want to be treated if I was 5 years old. 

3.) Have fun in learning! 

All you teacher friends, I hope the rest of your year is exactly what you need it to be! Hoping these kiddos come back ready to learn and that their energy levels are to a minimum! ;)

(Yeah, right!)

A New Start

January 1, 2017

2017 is here and I always love a fresh start! 

2016 brought with it some amazing moments but also some trials that I don't ever want to relive again. Let's recap:

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January: Rebs got a Sugar Bowl Win and I celebrated my 27th birthday with my sweet family and   friends. 

February:  Small Group Superbowl party was in full swing. I can't tell y'all how close we have all gotten this year! 

March: Baseball at Swayze was rocking. Love those warm, sunny days. 

April: Trent Harmon won American Idol and Mama, Carmen and I went to Amory to watch the night that he won. What a fun time! 

May: Lots of family time, finished my 5th year of teaching, and loved spending time with my Mom! 

June: Merle got MARRIED! We had a great time "bacheloretting" it up in Nashville and then getting her hitched. 

July: A few days in Virginia and D.C. with Emily and Josh was just what I needed. I love those too. #movebacktoOxford

August: Started my 6th year of teaching and SHELL got engaged. I got to help Clayton plan it all and it was the "craziest." 

September: The Vaught was our home on Saturdays. Football season was in full swing. 

October: Halloween wasn't crazy in Kindergarten at all and I might have even dressed up as a whoopee cushion. 

November: Adam scored some VIP Cole Swindle tickets for the Lyric and it was a great night. He is AMAZING in concert! 

December: Family time, Small group Christmas outings, school parties, oh man! December was full of gatherings and making memories with the ones that I hold closest to my heart! 

This is a VERY abbreviated version of my year. I use Facebook and Instagram to go back and look through my memories each year and man, I tear up every time. I am so blessed with people who are intentional and want to spend time with others. I often think of how blessed I am but when I go back and see all the events and fun times that I've had, I get excited. 

God is so good to me and gives me the desires of my heart. I can't even begin to tell you how great 2016 has been and I'm fully expecting 2017 to rock its' world. 

Let's do this. 

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Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil!  Proverbs 3:5-7 (The Message)