This Gives Pain a Whole New Meaning.

I wasn't looking forward to getting my wisdom teeth all week because I knew that I was gonna be in some extreme pain. And what do you know? Here I am in extreme pain two days after my surgery and I still feel like crap.  I kinda chose a bad time to get all of this done but when I look back on it, I probably did it in the best time.  I was supposed to sing in church today, but I didn't so that sucks.  This coming Sunday is our Annual Missions Conference and I have to sing in that service so I have to get better by then.  I only gave myself 3 days off from work which I could probably use a whole lot more than that but I can't afford to take it.  I also move into my new apartment on Monday.  So everything is kinda right around the corner for me so I'm hoping this pain goes away.  All I do is sit around and watch tv or sleep, granted it's a nice break from my recent busy as hell schedule but all I want to do is get back up and get going again.  I took a shower today for the first time since Friday (I know that's gross but I really didn't care what I looked like haha) and it felt amazing but still didn't really make me feel that much better. :/ Khris wants to take me to the river tomorrow so I'm hoping that getting out of the house and into some sun will get my blood flowing again and I'll regain some energy.  But until then, I'm living off my painkillers, taking it easy in my recliner while surviving off of mashed potatoes, yogurt, and ice cream. :)

Say Hello To My Beautiful Niece...Charlotte Paige Culpepper.

Charlotte was born on July 18, 2011 at 9:17am.  She weighed 8lbs and 3oz and is 21 1/4 inches long.  She's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen and I love her so much.  When I held her for the first time she stuck her tongue out at me so I know she's got some of her Auntie in their somewhere. :P The mommy, my sister Jamie, is doing great and is loving being a mom. The daddy, my brother-in-law Ryne, is such an awesome dad! I'm so proud of them :)  I'm so excited because my apartment that I'm getting is literally 5 mins from their place so I'll be able to see her and love on her more often than if I was living in Powhatan.  She's healthy and squirmy and just a cuddle bug.  Her eyes right now are a dark blue but I think they're going to turn to brown ;) What a blessing it is to have such a wonderful and beautiful baby in my life.  I can't wait to be the best Aunt I can be! :)

It's Amazing.

Can you see? Its amazing what you do to me. You took my heart and made me feel things that I never felt before. Its changing me, which direction so certainly. You shook me up and threw me around, and helped me learn to breathe it all in.

When You're Happy Life A Fool....Let It Take You Over.

Day turns to night, night turns to whatever we want
We're young enough to say

Oh this has gotta be a good life
This has gotta be a good life
This could really be a good life, good life
Say oh, got this feeling that you can't fight
Like this city is on fire 'night
This could really be a good life
A good, good life

'Cuz hopelessly, hopelessly
I have so much to feel good about. 

<3 

Learn to Lean.

When the cloud in the sky, starts to pour and your life is just a storm you're braving 

Well don't tell yourself you can't lean on someone else because we all need saving sometimes. 

And I don't know why it has it to be this way 

And I don't know the cure, 

But please believe, someone else has felt this before. 

So when the cloud in the sky, starts to pour and your life is just a storm you're braving

 Well don't tell yourself you can't lean on someone else because we all need saving sometimes.

<3

Patiently Waiting...

Well this post is coming from the inside of a hospital waiting room...my niece Charlotte is almost here!! :)  It's been quite a day with false contractions and early and late hours.  I've been able to go back and see my sister (Jamie) a few times and its such a surreal experience for me because I honestly don't think its hit me yet.  When I hold her in my arms it'll definitely hit me for sure haha.  Our family has made bets on the time when Charlotte will be born and so far my guess of 3:29am is still possible!! We experienced an interesting breakfast this morning in the cafeteria in the hospital...powdered eggs = gross.  We've seen baby after baby come into the nursery but we're just waiting on one little precious soul.  I have to be at work at 11:30am so I'm hoping she comes before then (which I'm 90% positive will happen lol) but in the meantime I'm listening to Adele Pandora radio and trying to stay awake....I'll post more when little baby Charlotte has entered the world!! :)

That Look.

Tonight I was playing hide and seek with Alyssa with her blankie and she was giggling and just loving it so much when all of the sudden Khris came from behind me grabbed my face and gave me the sweetest kiss.  Later on, I was chasing Alyssa and Jayden around the house and I happened to look over at Khris before taking off towards the kids and he just had this look on this face on pure admiration and I smiled.  As we were watching tv later, he leaned over and grabbed my face the exact same way as before and kissed me again and said, "You're so great with kids that I'll never have to worry about our kids being happy." I couldn't help but smile... :) I know that having children with Khris is a long ways away, even getting married is awhile off but I can't help but to think how awesome our lives will be as a married couple and then eventually having children after that.  I have no doubts, I have no fears.  When I'm with him I'm happier than I could ever be and I can't wait to have that for forever.

So Perfect.

Today Khris and I finally made it to the beach :) we got there around noon and stayed until about 8pm. It was a perfect day, full of sun, with the perfect amount of breeze.  I read my book while he laid out in the sun then we both went for a splash in the surprisingly freezing water, we then had lunch on the beach from food that we had packed and soaked up a little bit more sun together.  Around 5ish we decided to pack up and go change our clothes and find a nice seafood place to eat.  We called around to a few places and finally decided on Bone Fish Grill.  Khris was so excited because it was a buffet that included crab legs haha we had a feast. After dinner, we decided to go back out on the beach and watch the sunset together while we were embraced in each others arms.  Khris asked me, "What do you think people see when they see us together like this?" I said, "I hope that they can see and feel the amount of love that I can see and feel in this very moment."  It was just perfect.  Our summers have both been so extremely hectic with class schedules and work schedules that we really haven't had time to relax just us.  Spending the day on the beach was something I needed so badly and I just felt overwhelming safe and comfortable wrapped up in his arms. Who knows if we'll get another day like today but even if we don't, today was enough to make my entire summer.

To This Odd Feeling.

There are some things in life you don't know how to describe. You feel a certain way, and you don't know where that feeling came from or why you feel the way you do.  Its frustrating and very irritating for me, but when I get in moods like this, I just don't want to do anything.  Any and everyone irritates me and I just want to be alone.  When in reality, that's not what I really want at all.

Just What I Needed.

Khris and I had plans to go to the beach today for weeks in advance and I never thought once to look at the weather for some strange reason...until this morning when the forecast for VA Beach was severe thunderstorms all day. I thought great, the one day that I'm off and that's supposed to be the best day of my summer so far has just been ruined. But to my dismay, even though we didn't go to the beach today I still had an awesome day with Khris.  A whole day with Khris, I haven't had that all summer.  We decided to go to Chick-fil-a for breakfast, then we saw the new Transformers 3 movie which was AWESOME :) then we came back to my house, worked on a puzzle we bought a few days ago, then got super tired and ending up napping on my couch.  Then we went to dinner at Red Robin, where my mom tagged along with us and then we went back to his place and played the new Donkey Kong Country Returns game on the Wii (brought back A LOT of memories from my childhood playing it on the Original Nintendo!!) I know our day seems like any other day to someone else, but today was super special to us.  We spent some true quality time together and really just enjoyed being in each other's company and soaking up each others love <3 we plan to go to the beach on Monday because its supposed to be sunny and 84! :) i'm so white its not even funny...I have no tan AT ALL...its ridiculous :/

I have to work one short 5 hour shift tomorrow and then I'm off all next week...my sister is closer and closer to having baby Charlotte and I'm so excited! I'm so happy that I have next week off so if Charlotte comes I'll be free to go to the hospital with my sister :) I found the cutest onesies at Target today, I couldn't resist buying them haha I just can't wait to babysit her now!!

I can't even begin to explain the amount of fun I had today...it was just what I needed :)

For the Love of Life.

You never know who is watching your life, you never know who looks up to you, and you never know who admires your character so always make it a point to be as happy as you can be, have your arms wide open to new possibilities, and never be afraid to be there for someone 100% of the time no matter the situation.

Put On the Four Inch Pumps.

Don't be afraid to be bold.  Don't be afraid to stand out. Don't be afraid to be different. Don't be afraid to be loud and to tell people how it is...

...because being shy, being plain, being like everyone else, and being quiet will get you nowhere in this world.