Time Goes By...

It's official. I'm terrible at this whole blogging thing. I've even cut down on my blog reading. I guess having a real job that requires you to do things during the day will do that to you. Here are some of the biggies that have happened since I last recapped...

• Mallory & Chip got married! After spending an entire day setting up for an outdoor wedding, we wound up taking it all down and setting it back up (20 miles away) in half the time due to rain. She still had one of the prettiest weddings I've ever seen...and she was gorgeous!
• I got glasses. I officially feel old. They're really cute though and have an adorable hot pink case (of course) and only have to wear them at the computer and while I read.
• I took an amazing vacation as the Kerbys' nanny to St. George Island, FL. It was a lot of fun to get to spend a week with my 2 favorite boys (and then some!). I tried lots of new food and William got to touch a shark, so the trip was a success. :)
• I got to spend a nice, long weekend at home on the 4th and got to catch up with a very good friend that I don't see nearly often enough.
• CP had the second Serving Saturday of the year. We volunteered one morning to help work on some people's houses in the CP neighborhood. Our team did a bunch of landscaping, painted parts of the house, completely took out the back porch & installed a new one... it didn't even look like the same house when the day was over.
• Linds and I joined the Y! I never in a million years would have seen me actually making use of a gym membership (aside from using the pool...), much less loving it. But I do! We go pretty regularly 3-4 times a week. Nothing too strenuous, but I can feel a difference in myself just by feeling healthy.
• We went on our annual boat trip to Florence, AL this past weekend. I didn't get to go last year, and was very happy to make it this year. We had a wonderful time!
• I just had my 25th birthday this week. It feels weird to even think I can be "mid-twenties" at all, but other than that it was no biggie. All of my "others" and their kids came out to celebrate at the park with pizza, cornhole and cake the night of my birthday, and I had lunch with some work-friends the next day. It was lots of fun! I got some really great, timeless gifts that I'm bound and determined to do a separate post on...so maybe in the next few months it'll be up. :)

Easter time!

I spent my first holiday on my on this Easter. It was pretty strange to even think about at first, but I was scheduled to sing in KidStuff, and I really wanted to attend Cross Point's Easter service. It was really a great day and weekend...now I just need to get my family to come to me next time! :)

On Good Friday, after all the storms finally passed, Linds and I headed to Murfreesboro because Will & Beth were going to be in town for the weekend. We got to spend some time with them and precious baby Maddie and watched a bunch of the storm coverage. We found out that our old roommate's parents' house is totally gone,  Lindsey's old house had a lot of damage, and another good friend of hers is completely out of his apartment. It's such a scary and devastating thing...On our way home the next day we instinctively got back on the road the way we normally do, only to be totally re-routed because of all the damage.

On a brighter note..It was great to see little Maddie and love on her! She's already changed so much! Saturday morning we dyed Easter eggs and Maddie chipped in. :) I had the Disney Princess kit (of course I did) and it came with princess bracelets...so we put them on Maddie as a crown!

Sunday, after an amazing Easter service at church, Linds and I headed home and gave the puppies their Easter baskets. We had taken them to PetSmart a few weeks before and let them "pick out" their new prizes, and while we were there of course we had to put the bunny ears on Rocket (Paisley would have none of it!)! It's so much fun to spoil them! :)

This picture cracks me up because Paisley looks so vicious as she was trying to get her new toy! 

Oh Yes, It's Ladies Night...

Still playing catch up a little bit...but these pictures are too priceless not to post. :)

Mallory & Chip's wedding is getting sooooo close, which means bachelorette party time! Their wedding is on the lake, so it has somewhat of a nautical theme (white, yellow, navy...you get the picture). For the bachelorette party, Mallory continued the theme. It was so adorable and we definitely got lots of comments all night long. We started the evening with dinner at the Flying Saucer, then headed over to their hotel for the lingerie shower and Sugar & Spice party. We ended the night downtown. If you can just imagine about 20 girls walking down Broadway in sailor hats, then you get the picture. :)

The maid of honor and me (get it? 1st Mate..Maid of Honor?)!

Our Captain for the night, Laurie and me

Laurie and I had super cute red shoes. Pretty sure this is before Laurie used a random guy's shirt to clean up the drink that was spilled behind us. :)

My BFF

Sweet Mallory had a very long night...but she was a blast!

All Things New...

I can't say enough how much I love my new job. I've now been here over a month & have gotten to learn and experience so many new things already.

When things started looking not-so-great at my last job, I started to think about what it was that I actually wanted to do longterm, and what jobs best suited my abilities, because radio promotions (where I had been) was not it. I'm clearly a little OCD on the organization side of things, and I love to see and learn about the different aspects of an artists' career, and management is at the hub of that. This is how I came to decide that I wanted the focus of my job search to be geared toward management.

I also knew that I wanted my next position to be something that felt confident in the direction I was headed. I actually took my last job with the understanding that it wasn't the best of situations, but I felt like I needed to take that risk in order to have some growth professionally. I did learn quite a bit, had some really nice opportunities, and made great relationships with a few people, but I didn't want to feel like I was walking into potentially bad conditions again. That was why I wasn't sold on the last interview I went on.

I sent my resume to a different management company on a Saturday night but then didn't hear anything, so I wasn't even sure the position that was open was going to be filled. However, in a very quick turn of events, I got an interview on a Tuesday morning, was called back in to meet the GM on Thursday night, and started Friday morning!

In my interview, they weren't sure how quickly a decision could be made and didn't give me a timeline for hiring someone, so my mom had made plans on spending a long weekend with me if I hadn't heard anything from them by Thursday. I hadn't, so she headed East to my house. I spent the entire morning cleaning & went to the grocery store to buy food (there were about to be 6 adults, 2 teenage boys & 3 dogs in my house!!). While I was checking out, the GM called to ask me to come in...right then! "Don't worry about getting fixed up, I can tell you're checking out somewhere, (um, yeah...I was at the self checkout and couldn't get the thing to work, so of course it was yelling at me) so just come on in the next hour in what you have on. It's not another interview, they just want me to meet you." Riiiight. I'm going to come in for what seems to be a second interview with my unwashed hair in a messy bun on top of my head, no make up, a gigantic hoodie sweatshirt & yoga pants? Not happening. So I literally flew home and called my mom to give her the news...as she was pulling into my neighborhood. I got cleaned up and dressed in 10 minutes and we were back out the door! Bless her heart, she drove 3 hours just to get back in the car with me! The "meeting" went really well (obviously), but the words "we'd like to hire you" or "the position is yours" were never uttered, so I was quite confused, but still felt like the job was mine to lose. Sure enough, I got the call about 45 minutes later (after some quick retail therapy and buying a new outfit to wear the next day...just in case) and started my first day the next morning!

I am so blessed to be in a position I love, working with people that are nice and appreciative, and for artists that genuinely love what they do. It is such an amazing feeling to not dread Monday rolling back around (with that said, of course I'm still human and am not ecstatic about the weekend being over...) and to feel like I'm doing something worthwhile! The managers I'm assisting are also very good at their jobs and very business-savvy women, so there's a great deal to be learned from them. I'm a lucky, lucky girl!

MIA

Holy cow I haven't blogged in almost 2 months. Ahhhhh, I hate that. So sorry for all 10 of you reading (and yes, I'm well aware 2 of the 10 are you, Mom & Daddy!). :) So in effort to get back into the swing of things, here's a little recap on what's been going on in the lovely, tickled pink land of Whitney.

January

• I'm not one to really make New Year's Resolutions, because I think generally mine are pretty cliche. This year I mostly just decided to try to refocus on a variety of things, mainly praying and being healthy. See? Cliche, but I felt I really needed to make more of a conscious effort. Now that I'm 3 full months in, the healthy thing is going pretty well - not dieting, just watching what I eat, but I haven't used my WiiFit in probably a month! I'm trying hard to be more intentional about praying as well, and "praying without ceasing." To be totally honest, that's very hit and miss...some days are great, some days not so much.
• This month's TPAC performance was "Wizard of Oz," and my dear sweet friend Bree and her best friend Abbie got to go with us. Linds & I also met up with The Mix to go ice skating! It was fun for about .5 seconds. I'm not big on cold...or the feeling of not being balanced.
  
  
  
  
• The rest of the month was baby-filled. My precious iCal was filled with blue (yes, it's all color-coded and b-b-blue is for b-b-babysitting). :) On top of nannying for my 2 favorite boys nearly, if not every day, Angie and Brandi also wanted to help and kept me busy as well. And I loved every second of it!
  
  

  I LOVE my boys! :)
  

  

February

• February started off with William's 2nd birthday and it was a blast! All he had asked for was a "hehmet," (helmet) and once he opened it, he wouldn't take it off! He's definitely a fan of hats! The kid's got style (and so does Hudson in his precious "Little Brother" monkey outfit I got him!)!
  
  
  
  
  
• Mom was in Murfreesboro for a conference, and it was so nice to have her nearby and actually have the opportunity to see her since I wasn't in the office!
• Lindsey and Bree each got another tattoo, and I totally felt like a mom lugging my new camera in to take pictures, but I'm so glad I did. And I love the last shot of Lindsey's after it healed, if I do say so myself. :)
  
  
  
  
  
• Linds and I went to a benefit concert with Natalie Grant, Brandon Heath and 10th Avenue North. It was a-maz-ing! 10th Avenue North played my current power song, "By Your Side," too! The very next week, we got to go see Selah play, and it was incredible as well. It's so interesting to really only know Todd as Todd, or Angie's Todd or Abby, Ellie & Kate's dad, but then to see him get up and sing for everyone! We were official nannies for the night, and it was so much fun to watch the girls listen (and dance!) to their dad sing.
  
  

  Precious Kate & Ellie
  

  
  
• I had an interview with a management company, which I was thinking was the direction I wanted to head professionally. It sounded great, and got me excited, and about 20 minutes after I sent them my resume, I got a call requesting an interview the next day. The first interview went wonderfully and I was even more excited, but when I got home I learned a few details that weren't deal breakers, but had me disappointed in the position. I got a second interview 2 days later, and after I left there, I felt pretty confident that it wasn't what I wanted, and I was ready to risk negotiating specifics if they offered it to me. They didn't, and I was ok with that, because honestly, if they had, I think I would have been too scared to turn it down. Just another example of God providing just the way He knew I needed!
• The month ended with "The Pajama Game" at TPAC (which was really cute), volunteering Saturday morning for Cross Point's first Serving Saturday of the year, and a (snowy) trip to Murfreesboro to see our Chi Omega girls compete in Step Show.

March

• My mom came in for a long weekend (more specific details on her arrival ;) on the next post, which is soon, I promise!), and my dad, brother, and some more sweet friends came on Saturday to hang out and visit Cross Point. It was the perfect time, too, because it was my first Sunday to sing in KidStuff too!
• Will & Beth were due to have Baby Maddie on March 17th, but when Linds and I were babysitting late March 9th and her mom called, we knew without answering what the call was about! Little Madison Anne got here early Tuesday morning and Lindsey made a flying trip there and back to see her. That weekend, we went back to visit so I could meet the precious little one! She is, of course, beautiful and tiny and so stinking cute! The pictures absolutely don't do her justice. Now we're just ready to see her again!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The TPAC show this month was "Jersey Boys." It was SO great! It ends this weekend, and we've tried to work it out to go again (yes, it was that great), but unfortunately, don't think it's gonna work out.
  
  
• Last, but certainly not least, I got a new job!!! Yayyyyy! :) I will save the details on it for the next post (it goes along with when Mom came to visit), but I am a management assistant to two artist managers and I started March 6. I'm so blessed, and since I started I've already gotten to experience so many new things! It makes a world of difference to actually love going into work every day, and I couldn't be happier!

Well, I think that catches us up for the most part. As you can clearly see, I've been MIA, but missing, in action. Hopefully now that I have a little bit more of a regular schedule, I can get back into the swing of things in blogging!

Blue Jean Baby...

In the midst of the nannying gig, I'm also babysitting a ton. On Tuesdays I get to watch some adorable girls (and usually just one lone cute boy/dog) ;) while their moms are in small group. I love getting to keep these kids, & getting to chat with the moms before/after group. This week, Angie told me about a great deal on jeans at TJMaxx. Now I must confess, I just can't tolerate that store for long. I don't shop there unless my mom drags me with her, and even then the clutter of it all stresses me out. There's no denying that there are great deals to be found, but I'm just not blessed with the patience to find them most times. However, I've been dying for a good pair of jeans but knew I couldn't exactly afford the designer price. I am, in fact, unemployed. So when I left Angie's Tuesday, I figured if I knew what I was looking for it wouldn't be a stressful trip...and I had a gift cards too! Lori is a great gift card-giver for birthdays and Christmases, but I'm typically a terrible gift card-user because I always leave them at home or just plain ole forget to use them. Recently I've put all my gift cards in a separate ID holder in my purse so I won't have that issue again. Perfect timing, huh?

So off I go to TJMaxx and grab a few pairs of great jeans and tried them all on. And then it happened... I fell in love. I may be spoiled. This pair of True Religion jeans had my name written all over them and they fit like a glove. I wasn't about to walk out of the store without them, no matter what. I walked up to the register, gift cards in hand and handed them off to the sweet girl working. I watched as the price dropped more and more and I fished out my credit card to pay the rest of the balance as she scanned the last gift card. When the total amount appeared, my jaw literally dropped open. I put my credit card back in my purse and instead pulled out a five dollar bill...and I got change back!!! I paid $4.23 for a pair of True Religion jeans. Are you kidding me?? I was ecstatic and immediately called Angie, Lindsey & my mom to brag about my bargain. Who knew a good pair of jeans could make a day so wonderful? :) 

These Things Will Change...

Here are some of the things that I've been hearing on a daily basis lately (in no particular order)...usually an exponential number of times. :)

• "Dah-be" - Thank you
• "Eeebeetrain" - Airplane
• "Uh draw!" - I wanna draw!
• "Yuv ewe" - Love you
• "Dumbo eyes...hat own" - (pointing out Dumbo's eyes and that he has a hat on) 
• "NoYES!" - not really sure if this one really means "no" or "yes" :)
• "Boo Red" - either "blue" or "red," depending on what marker he's using! :)
• "Uh Mic Mouse, Goosey, Dahnuh" - I wanna watch Mickey Mouse, Goofy & Donald
• "Whittie, pay me!" - Whittie, come play with me!
• "Oh TAY!" - OK
• "One, two, see, soar, sigh, six, seben, eight, nine, ten!" - yes, he's 23 months and can count to 10 on his own...most times. :)
• "Set Doe!" - Set, go (followed by a tackle)
• "Seebah, dame, hehmet!" - Football, game, helmet!
• "Peas" - Please
• "NO!" - no
• "Uh paaaaaaaci" - I want paci (and drawn out like a cow!)
• "Uh Baz sock own" - I want Buzz socks on! (I ended up buying him 2 extra pairs after he wouldn't take them off...even for his bath!)
• "Weh Baaman doe?" - Where'd Batman go?
• "Psspss, hat own!" - (referring to the Spiderman gloves and fireman hat on from school at church that he plays with every time he goes)
• "Baby Husson dink mach" - Baby Hudson drinks milk
• "Oh Tito! Mouse, eye, hat own" - Oh Mr. Potato Head! (and then put in his mouth, eyes & hat)
• "Juicy, eat snack! Meemo" - Juice and eat snack, Nemo! (Nemo fruit snacks)
• "Ahuh yike ____" - I don't like (fill in the blank with anything that he typically does like, like snacks, juice, paci, outside, etc.)
• "Uh bach bach" - I want chicken (typically Chic-Fil-A) :)

As you can tell, I'm not having the typical daily conversations of "chart analysis" or "up/down in spins" or "adds" or "please oh please play my record even though you know it won't even chart" or even where to order lunch. Before I left for Christmas, I found out the the label I worked for was closing its doors at the end of the year. We saw it coming, and truth be told, it really is a good thing. I'm a very fortunate girl. I know that's a bizarre thing to say after being laid off recently, especially considering the state of the economy, but I really am. I have the very unique opportunity to step away from a job I wasn't exactly happy in while maintaining very good business relationships, but also staying very busy and saving money by babysitting (and yes, nannying for the 2 most adorable boys ever) when there are ultimately zero jobs on the market at the time (and more people laid off every day). If I didn't have those kids to look forward to every single day, I'd for sure be super-stressed and worried about what is next (and when is it gonna come??). God has been good about working things out for me until the next great thing comes along, so that is why I'm fortunate...and also so busy lately! So along with the change of conversation is also a change of scenery...the sweetest perk of them all!