Good Ole Rocky Top!!!

December 11, 2009 has been a date that I never thought would get here! In fact, I've had this date in my head for 2 years now! It is the day I would graduate with my Masters degree from UT and finally become a Family Nurse Practitioner! After being accepted into the program in 2006, I was set to graduate in the fall of 2007. However, getting pregnant with twins forced me to sit out a semester for bedrest. Then having babies made me realize that staying at home for a year was much more important than going to school, after all, I could finish whenever I wanted! Finally, the boys were 18 months old & I was ready to push through! One whole year of class & clinicals- even going in the summer! (Who does that?!?) But I'm proud to say that I'm finished. If you know me well at all, you know that I'm not one to brag on myself. Sure, I'm quick to brag on my babies, my husband, my mother, my sister, and my daddy- just not myself. Well, I'm here to tell you that this is one time that I'm going to brag on myself! I have gone nonstop for a year now, writing papers, studying for test, and cramming hours & hours of clinicals in every week. That doesn't sound that bad though...until you add in the fact that I put my family & home first which means those papers & test were all started after 9pm and lasted way into the early morning hours to get finished. So I'm very proud to say that I have now have my FNP while having twin toddlers to take care of, a husband to please (who was more than understanding when I fell short), a home to keep up (and yes, there were definitely days when it was a wreck), and a family to be involved in all while keeping my own sanity! And I managed to do it all and graduate with a 3.85 GPA. Ok, thats about all I can say without starting to feel boastful :) I could not have done this without my mom, who spent countless hours teaching me the ropes, whose wisdom is far greater than I could have ever imagined, and whose support was never less than 110%. She was the first one to call me every Tuesday morning at 7:15 to make sure I made it to class, the first one to tell me good luck on every test, and the first one to congratulate me when I got my grades. She truly is my number 1 fan! To my husband who has been amazing every step of the way- he has entertained the boys so I could study, fixed countless dinners so I could eat hot food after a long clinical day, and has understood when I had to cancel our weekend plans because I needed to work on school work more than spend time with him. He has been my rock when I didn't think I could do it & the one person who always met me at the door to give me a high five & tell me how proud he was of me! That man truly loves me with all his heart! My dad & Barb have kept the boys day after day so I could go to class/clinicals and never once said no. They are more than willing to put their plans on hold to help us out. My dad always told me he knew I could do it & that I don't give myself enough credit- and he's always right. To my sister who could possibly be the most amazing person I know. Cindy has kept the boys while I was in class, sent me cards, and is always there to cheer me up! She'll never know how much I love her. And to my mother-in-law who has put in countless hours watching my boys during the week so I could finish this past year, I couldn't have done this without her. I am humbled at the support from everyone & I'm proud to say that I couldn't have done it without everyone's help!

Graduation was on a Friday afternoon. I was down that I had finally made it & my sister wasn't going to be able to fly in for it! So my best friend, Amie, came in Thursday night to stay with us & attend graduation. She's always been more like a sister than a friend anyways & I told her she was just going to have to take Cindy's place for the day. Thursday night after dinner, Chris told me that he wanted to take me, Amie, and the boys to Cracker Barrel for breakfast the next morning before we headed up to Knoxville. This didn't hit me as strange because my husband is a huge believer in breakfast! Friday morning, we got to Cracker Barrel and I noticed my dad, Barb, & mamaw were all sitting at very long table! I knew that Chris had cooked something up. Soon, my mom and Greg joined us. Mom got up to take pictures and I started the "mom, its just breakfast, wait til we get to UT to take pictures" speech. Little did I know, she was videoing. Within seconds, my sister hugged my neck. I turned around to see who it was and yelled "SHUT UP!!" pretty loudly! Then the tears started pouring. I couldn't believe she came!! Then she told me that Chris had pretty much called daily to beg and ended up helping her with her plane ticket. I'm telling you, my husband is amazing! So we all enjoyed breakfast before heading to UT. Afterwards, we all went to Raffertys for lunch! We had a huge announcement to make (more on that later) and enjoyed everyones company! Here are the pictures from my special day!!


The infamous "Shut Up!!" picture

Crying after I realized Cindy had flown in from Seattle for my graduation!

Cindy helping run out some of the boys energy before graduation starts!

Walking in

Nolan watching the band

My family...1 proud husband!

My number 1 fan :)

3 Generations of UT grad

My proud daddy

The inlaws

Me & my best friend Amie

Me & my beautiful sister

Cindy's idea

"It's snowing, Mommy!!"

Saturday morning, we woke up to SNOW!! Jonas & Nolan have never seen snow laying on the ground so they were soooo excited! They kept saying "I wanna go outside" over & over! So finally after breakfast, I bundled them up in 4 layers (they looked a little like Ralphy on A Christmas Story) and we all headed out! Daddy immediately taught them how to make snowballs! Their target- mommy!! They giggled and stomped around for 45 minutes until I told them we had to go in and warm up! I might have considered letting them stay longer, but Nolan refused to wear gloves and his hands were red! So in we went... Daddy turned on the fire place and taught the boys how to "thaw out" Jonas wasn't convinced at first- he said "No, Daddy! Fire will burn you!" I guess we have taught them well about being around the fireplace when its on! Daddy explained that we weren't touching the fire, just getting close enough to feel the warmth! Nolan & Jonas were ok with that! We spent the rest of the day being lazy, watching movies, and cooking goodies! I'm convinced that this day is what life is all about!



The boys throwing snowballs at mommy!

Just look at those smiles!

Jonas having fun!

Nolan having a blast in the snow!

My 3 boys!

The boys carrying the big snowball daddy made them!

Nolan eating the snow!

Jonas saying...."NO, fire will burn you!"

Daddy teaching the boys how to thaw out :O)

My 3 boys warming up by the fire!

Jonas & Nolan's 1st Christmas Parade!!

The Harriman Christmas parade was on Thursday night, but Chris & I started telling the boys about it on Monday. We told them about the candy, the floats, and Santa! They were so excited! Thursday morning I said "Boys, where are we going tonight?" Both of them clapped and yelled "to see SANTA CLAUS!!!" This brought me so much joy! I can remember my parents taking me as a kid & how much I LOVED to watch everything! I can remember my dad having a float in it & how excited Cindy & I were to ride in it & wave to everyone watching! I can remember being a cheerleader & being in it for years! So I was very excited to start the tradition with my boys! We got to Roane St about 45 minutes early so we could go in the diner & see Santa Claus! The boys, who were all talk about Santa, wouldn't go near him! They just wanted to watch the other kids! So we got some hot chocolate to share & went outside just in time for the parade. Jonas & Nolan were excited to watch the parade from Poppy & Daddy's shoulders! At least until the candy started coming their direction, then they wanted down! They were so cute! A bear was walking in the parade & Jonas ran out in the street to give the bear a hug! I wished I'd of taken a picture but I wasn't expecting that at all! The boys had such a good time! I'm not sure who had a better time, the boys or Poppy! Poppy LOVES Jonas & Nolan so much! He kept saying how much he was enjoying watching the boys experience the parade & how it was worth more than a million dollars! The boys are so blessed to have Mimi & Poppy, who go out of their way all the time to experience everything with the boys. The boys definitely come 1st in everything & they have no idea how much it means to me & Chris that they always want to be there! I had a set of grandparents like that... My mamaw & papaw meant the world to me & I was so close to both of them (still am to my mamaw) & I'm more than grateful that my boys will have the same! Thanks Mimi & Poppy for going with us! Enjoy the pictures!


Before leaving the house...Nolan asking "Where Santa go?"

Time to watch the parade!

Mimi & Poppy with the boys

Mimi & Nolan

Me & my mom... so thankful for a mom who is so involved in my life & my boys life :)

Mommy & Jonas

Daddy & Jonas

Nolan & Poppy laughing

The boys waiting for more candy to be thrown their way...

Mommy with her big boys!

Where did November go??

It feels like November passed in 1 day! I guess things were just busy at our house! For starters, I finished grad school! Yay! Graduation is coming up on December 11th! Chris has also finished another semester of college! He is getting closer & closer to his degree & I am so proud of him! We decorated for Christmas a week before Thanksgiving! The boys had a blast helping with the tree! They put a lot of ornaments on and LOVE turning on the lights! The rest of our time has been spent playing & listening to their stories...boy do they talk a lot! This morning, Jonas fell backwards and hit his head on a toy golf cart. Jonas started crying immediately. Nolan came running over yelling "NO GOLF CART!!" Then he picked the golf cart up, took it across the room, and put it in the chair saying "Golf cart, you're in time out!" Then he came over to Jonas & hugged him! They are just too precious for words! Also this morning, Nolan tripped over daddy's boots that were in the kitchen. When Chris came downstairs, Jonas said "Daddy, take your boots upstairs!" All I could do was laugh! Here are a few updated pictures... Thanksgiving was so hectic trying to get 4 different places for 4 different dinners & cooking a dish or two for each dinner, I completely forgot to take pictures! But we enjoyed spending time with everyone & the boys ate like kings!


The boys helping with the Christmas decorations

I LOVE coming to bed & finding this picture- makes my heart smile :)

Jonas in his "Farmin hat"

Nolan in his "Farm hat"

Halloween 2009

Halloween is definitely one of my favorite times of year & always has been! I love the colors, the weather, and the CANDY! I knew this year would be a lot of fun as the boys are finally old enough to get excited about pumpkins, dressing up, and candy! This year, our routine was no different...we spent the day with Mimi & Poppy! Mimi & Poppy live in the perfect neighborhood for trick-or-treating. I don't remember a year where we had less than 250 kids! Its always so much fun to see my old friends with their kids as well as getting to show off my babies! We got to Mimi & Poppys in time for the boys to take their 3 hour nap! During this time, mom & I got the candy ready and baked cookies! Moms neighbors, The Monks, were kind enough to invite us over for hot dogs, chili, taco soup, and all the desserts we could think of! The boys were excited because they knew Anna Grace would be there! They also LOVE Troy! They did great eating, chasing Anna Grace, and socializing with everyone. We headed back to Mimi's to get their costumes on. Mom & I took the boys on the golf cart trick or treating while Poppy & Daddy stayed behind to hand out candy! We only went to houses of our good friends & still the boys came home with their bags filled! Since it was a holiday, I let them dive right in and eat whatever they wanted! We got back to Mimi's in time to relieve the guys (UT was playing!) and we handed out candy until we ran out! Then it was time to join the guys & watch some football! The boys were on a sugar high and didn't go to bed until 12:30am! That was fine with us cause we knew they would sleep late- and they did! They didn't get up until 10am! Chris decided that they all needed to go ride the tractor on the farm for a while & mommy got a nice break to rest! It was another wonderful Halloween & I'm already looking forward to next year! The boys have already said they want to be spiderman next year :)


Eating at Troy & Vickies

Nolan the frog & Jonas the monster

I love watching the boys hold hands!

A frog & a monster giving daddy hugs!

Anna Grace is here...but all Jonas can focus on is the candy in her bucket!

Time to go trick-or-treating!

Another family picture

Mommy & her frog (Nolan)

Mom & I finishing out the night with the boys handing out candy!

My boys are off to the farm!

Jonas climbing in

Nolan climbing in