Hallelujah!

As of 10 minutes ago, my Christmas break offically started!! WHOOHOO!! I just finished recording and posting my last final grade for my last class. I got up early this morning, so I could go ahead and have them done, and for those of you who know how much I like my sleep, and for those who don't, I like my sleep A LOT, you know that was a great challenge. So my finals are all graded, and the grades are turned in. Now, I just sit back enjoy and wait for the emails to arrive.

Anniversary, My Not-So-Naked Tree, and Car!

Monday was our two year anniversary!! Whoohoo! I can't believe it's only been two years; it seems like much longer, in a good way. I still love thinking back to our wedding; I had the BEST time! It was so much fun, if I may say so myself, and of course, look what I got out of it :)Happy Anniversary Sweetie!! For our anniversary, we went out to eat, then we went riding around looking at all the Christmas lights in the "fancy" neighborhoods while listening to Christmas music on my new (working) radio! Then, we came home and clothed our naked Christmas tree! Yea! It was a very fitting thing to do on our anniversary because a lot of our ornaments we actually bought on our honeymoon in Pigeon Forge and Asheville, so it was revisting that whole time again! That's kinda been our thing, whenever we go some where we try to find a Christmas ornament from there to remember it. Here are some pictures of our now clothed Christmas tree and my newish car!!

Finals Have Arrived and My Christmas Tree is Naked!

It's finally that time of the year, and no, for us teachers that doesn't mean Christmas, it means FINALS!! Whether it's 9weeks test or college finals, it's the signal that the year is coming to a close and you get more work right before Christmas break, which I know I can't complain because I do get a break, and I LOVE that break!! For me, finals always bring about a hectic 2 weeks of playing catch up with grading and catch up with students. I haven't even gotten my Christmas tree fully decorated yet!! Isn't that sad? It's up with lights on it, but looking so sad with no ornaments! Alan asked last night if we were going to even put ornaments on this year. I hadn't realized it had been up naked THAT long. Anyhoo,this time of year is always the time when students suddenly become worried about their grades. Now, and not 2 months ago when I asked to meet with them or suggested that they get some outside help or when they failed to turn in that paper/homework/presentation. They all want to make up in one week what they didn't do for 4 months!! It only gets better once the finals are over, and I've posted their grades. I will then receive multiple emails that will cover the following topics:
1. Why/How did I receive this grade? I want to tell them it was all those homework assignments you didn't turn it or remember that paper you never did?
2. What can I do to bring up my grade/Is there any extra points I can make up? My response: If the final grade is in the computer, it's too late! Where was this concern 3 months ago?
3. The third type of email is always the most distressing for me because it always includes a family member's death or someone's college career hanging in the balance because of this class grade. There will always be varying accounts of sob stories also. I feel for them, I really do, but I didn't give you these grades in one day right before the end of class. You have earned them over 4 months! If you thought it was going bad, why didn't you do anything about it!!
And that's how my semesters usually end. Same types of questions, just different quantities. Hopefully, this semester will be different. Thanks for letting me vent!

Oh! another thing that helps make this more bearable: I'm getting a new car!! It's actually used, but it's new to me!! I've had my Galant for about 8 years now, which hasn't been too bad, but it's getting on up there in mileage (130,000) and the biggest concern- the radio doesn't work! It drives me nuts! But I, or technically my dad, have found a GMC Envoy, a maroon envoy. It means it was meant to be. You know the best part? The radio works!! It not only works, but has XM radio and a disc changer!! Love it!! I don't get it until Saturday, but it's help make finals more bearable :)

My Thanksgiving was Egg-cellent!

WARNING: Long post ahead. Sorry for the cheesiness of the title, but I can't help it. I also can't believe we won the Egg Bowl, but more on that in a minute. A quick rundown of the Thanksgiving break: Monday- went to work and picked up papers in all four of my classes (what was I thinking?) to grade over the break.
Tuesday- chilled at home grading papers. I was proud of myself since I got a whole class grade :)
Wednesday- beginning of Thanksgiving festivities. We went to Thanksgiving over at Alan's cousin's house in Millport,AL. Usually, this is held at his Uncle Richard's, but he has been in poor health since his stroke last year, so please keep him and his family in your thoughts. After Thanksgiving lunch, we came back home and chilled (I graded another set of papers) I also made supper, Mexican, what everyone should have to get over the overstuffed feeling from too much turkey. Pregnant April and Robert came by the house later that night! Yea!! I haven't seen them since last March, but the four of us haven't gotten together for a relaxin' night probably since our wedding. It was so good to see them and see how cute and pregnant April has gotten :)
Thursday- woke up a 4:00 AM, yes, that is AM. For all who know me, you know I don't do the AM. It is with heavy heart that I wake up at 5:50 am to go to work, but I was a nice wife this Thanksgiving (which should be remembered for Christmas hint,hint) and dropped my husband off at my dad's deer camp in Scooba, MS. Then, I drove on to Mom's and went back to bed for another 5 hrs. We had the Belvin family Christmas later that night, which was yummy as usually.
Friday- Left Collinsville early, and we drove up to Starkville for the battle for the golden egg! It was a beautiful day for football. Nice and cold, but not sleeting. The game itself was uneventful (I wanted to go to sleep by the 3rd quarter) until there was about 8 minutes left in the 4th, which was unfortunate for all those fans who left with 10 minutes left to go in the 4th. That's when our guys finally woke up and played like they have been all season! I woke up the next morning and my biceps were so sore from ringing Alan's cowbell the entire time! It was beautiful.

Saturday- Graded papers (big surprise) and went to go see Beowulf with Debbie and Tommy. I did my student teaching under Debbie at New Hope. As an English major, I thought Beowulf was interesting, more like what really happens versus the story that gets glorified and passed down orally through the ages. Having the whole movie in CGI is very interesting also. It looks so realistic in parts that you'd swear it was a real shot instead of CGI.
Sunday- John Austin was christened in Starkville, so we went over for that and came back to, yes, you guessed it, grading papers and hoping to avoid going back to work!
Sorry for the long post, but it's always easier just listing everything out. As you can tell by the amount of grading that took place during the week, I'm ready for this semster to be through. I haven't even put up my Christmas tree yet! Maybe Thrusday. Hope eveyone had a great Thanksgiving!

It's Raining Babies!!

Guess who's pregnant (and IT'S NOT ME!)? This is how many of my conversations with people have started in the past few weeks. Suddenly, everyone around is having a baby or has had a baby. Something must be in the water, and no, I'm not drinking from it yet. Now, don't misunderstand me; I love children, and I'm SO happy that many of my friends have them or are now pregnant, but that train has not stopped by the Leonard household yet, thank goodness. One day, but not today, God willing. But two of my bestest friends are pregnant: Amanda Williamson Posey and April Frazier Wallis!! Amanda is a little over 2 months along, too early to tell if it's a boy or a girl! I found out early on that I'm going to be an aunt! I found out last week that April is four months pregnant and having a boy!! I'm so happy for April and Robert because she was pregnant before, but had a miscarriage. So please my few but faithful readers, keep my friends in your prayers.

Also on the pregnant list is Alan's friends, The Clarks, who already have a 3 yr. old boy, and my cousin Robert and Ruby, who have a 3 yr. old girl and who swore that was going to be the last, famous last words :) Friends that have had babies recently: JD and Rachel with John Austin; Tori and Bo with Brayden; Haley and Patrick with Grayson (that goodness he's doing well); Morgan and Tart are joining soon with Ella; my cousin Tori and Dusty with Cade; and my officemate from grad school Sarah is due in January with Austen. I'm swimming in cute babies everywhere and couldn't be happier! So if anyone has any cute or helpful ideas for baby presents, please let me know!

Also, I didn't get to blog last week, but my niece Meredith turned 4 last Sunday!! I can't believe how big she has gotten. It seems like just last week, she was 2. She truly is a miracle. For those of you who might not know, my niece was born a little over a month early. Of course, she went into NICU, but her artery running from her heart to her lungs was not completely formed or closed yet, so she was flown to Ochsner's Hospital in New Orleans, where she was in NICU for a couple of weeks. To see her now, you would never know that little Miss Diva was a preemie. The Lord definitely answered our prayers for her and Jackson (her brother, who was also a preemie).

Let's Go Bowling!!

Who would have thought last year at this time that we would be sitting around discussing the Bulldogs going to a bowl game?!! Heck, I was just hoping for a season where we won more than 3! Well, in case you've been off the planet, the MSU Bulldogs beat the ranked Alabama Tide 17-12 and are now in the running for a bowl game!! You couldn't have set it up better with us playing Alabama because if there is a team that most Bulldogs can't stand more than Ole Miss (or at least equal to) it is Alabama, especially if you are like me and live in Lowndes county. There are SO many Alabama fans. That's all we've been hearing, the miraculous turn around of the Tide. Blah, blah. That's two in a row Bama!! Yesterday was a great day! I haven't been to such a nailbitter, especially at home, in a while! Dawgs won in both football and basketball. Ohio State lost! All is beautiful in the world. I thought I'd include a picture sent to me by our friend Brock. I thought it would sum up the day nicely. Go Dawgs!!

Nashville and Willie!

It has been too long since I've posted, but here's some catch up! Our weekend in Nashville for Alan's B-day was fabulous! He had a great time, and even if I do say so myself, it was the perfect gift. It's been the first time in a while that we've just gone somewhere by ourselves. We first went to Country Music Hall of Fame, which was so cool, especially since this was my first trip. And while we were in there we got the awesome news that our Dawgs had beat Kentucky!!! Which only made the trip that much more fun! After the Hall of Fame, we went walking downtown and then drove out to OpryMills for supper before going to the Grand Ole Opry. I LOVE OpryMills!! So much fun! The Grand Ole Opry was a lot of fun too, much different than I expected. I didn't realize you got to see SO many performers in one night! Some of the highlights were Little Jimmie Dickens, Rissi Palmer, Vince Gill (loved him!) and Josh Turner (HOTTIE!), who was being inducted into the Opry that night.




On Sunday, we went to the Parthenon in the park in Nashville and then downtown to the Ryman. Then, before we left we stopped by OpryMills for a little shopping time! We can't wait to go back; it was a blast!! Then, last Sunday night, my parents came up to Columbus and we all went to the Willie Nelson concert in Tupelo. So many singers in so many days! I'd heard a lot of different opinions on Willie's concerts, but I must say that I had a blast! It was a lot of fun and beautiful music. Alan can finally cross Willie's name off our list of people to see before they die! P.S. I even got to see the Honeysuckle Rose.