Merry Christmas Ya'll!!

Ok, so I mean to post this Christmas Day but I just never sat down to put it together. This Christmas was such a wonderful one. It is hard to think this time next year Adrian and I will be having our first MARRIED Christmas together.

On December 23rd, we loaded up and went to Adrian's parents house to have the Christmas there. We had a non traditional meal of chili for dinner and it was awesome. It was the perfect day for chili. After dinner we opened our presents and just enjoyed the company. I kept thinking next year, I'll be a Miles!

She's ready to ride!

Did someone say presents?

Family photo

On Christmas Eve, we had my family's Christmas. It is never a dull moment at my house. The best part was my momma got to come up for the night and spend it with us. Like I said, it is never a dull moment. 

I can't believe how much she has grown up. 

Merry Christmas from us!

Silly grand kid picture. Grandmomma will love this one.

Christmas Eve. There are not enough words to describe how much I love this man. I'll save the mushy stuff for another blog.

Her new favorite toy. It has peanut butter in the middle. She's in heaven!!

Happy Birthday Blog!

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to Scotti Says

Happy birthday to you!!!!!!

I can't believe I started "Scotti Says" one year ago!! So much has happened this year Let's recap shall we?

I bought a new car!!

The 1st car I've bought on my own! 2012 Altima!

I finally graduated college.

Graduation Ceremony in the Grove and the girls I that helped me through it.

I made a trip to the beach.

A & myself at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. 

I went to see one of my oldest friends, Whitney Beth, in Fayetteville,AR.

While in AR we saw Carrie Underwood, Chris Young,  Cheap Trick & Aerosmith!

 I got engaged!!!!!

The Rock!!!

Twenty twelve has been an awesome year!! I can't wait to see what twenty thirteen has in store for me. Only 5 more months and I will be a married woman!! 

Wedding Wednesday

Ok, so I have to admit that I stole the "wedding wednesday" from another blog I follow. I can't promise I will blog every Wednesday about the wedding but I can today because I have updates for you all. Try to conceal your excitement.

Today marks 5 months until we say our vows and say I do. I am getting more and more excited with each passing day.

Now for the updates!

1. My dress fits!!! Some of you may not know that after I got my dress altered, it didn't fit. It was too big. People told me that it wasn't a bad problem to have and I have plenty time to put some weight on. The other day I called my friend Emily and asked her to go shopping. Another problem I was having with my dress was finding a bra to fit where you didn't see it in the back. My other option was having a bra sewn in but I really didn't want that. Emily and I went to one of our favorite bargain stores, Dirt Cheap. If you have never been there, all I can say is come with an open mind and some time. Anyway we were doing what we do best, chat and shop. All of sudden I see this bra with a soft corset hanging there. I had to try it. What could it hurt and it was only 5 bucks! This made me want to go to Emily's house (that's where the dress is being stored) and try it on right then. That's what we did and BOOM. My dress fit perfect and so did the bra!! I did a little dance and then took pictures!

2. Our invitations came in! I am still in awe on how well they turned out. Megan Slaughter did an amazing job. If you or someone else is looking to get great graphic design work done you should look her up.

3. This is probably my favorite update for so far. I bought Adrian's wedding band!!! We went to Zales with another ring in mind and he saw this one and I have to admit, it looked great on him. After everything was said and done we both walked out glowing and talking about it. Then, we both remembered that we didn't take one single picture of it. So this picture is from the Zales website. It should be here in two to three weeks.

We are only 5 months away. That's 151 days! It's almost Christmas time and I can't help but this time next year we will be celebrating our first Christmas as a married couple! 

4. (Last one, I promise!) I am meeting with my flower lady after the first of the year! She isn't just any flower lady she is my cousin who rocks at floral design. I am excited to share my ideas with her and see what her magic mind can come up with. 

My blog will be one this year! Post to come! 

My prayers

I can't put this post off any longer. I've sat down and tried like hell  to wrap my head around what is going on in today's world. Unless you have been living under a rock, then I am sure you know what is going on. I can barely even type it.

*Insert lots of typing, and deleting here because I couldn't get the words to travel from my brain to my fingers. Like I said, still trying to wrap my head around it and it's not working.

On December 14, 2012, there was a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. A school shooting at an elementary school. Just typing this, words begin fail me and I start to tear up. I refuse to watch the news. Not because I don't care but because this hurts too much. Instead of dwelling on news channels to keep me informed, I pray.

I pray for the families who lost loved ones. I pray for the ones who sat in nearby classrooms hearing the sounds of echoing gunshots. I pray for the law enforcement officers and paramedics who arrived on scene not knowing what they walked into. I pray for the shooter's family. I am praying to the Lord to wrap these people in his arms to comfort them and hold them. I pray for our nation, because we all need it.

I will not go into political issues, gun control debates, or whether not the shooter had a disability. While these are important issues, they are not important right now. What is important is remembering those sweet babies and heroes who put their life in front of danger. And most importantly remembering that God is in control.

make over time

I felt like blog needed a major over haul. It needed to be redone from top to bottom. I finally figured it out, I think.

I always tell myself I can figure these things out and if I can't there is something on the world wide web that can help me out. In weird way blogger kind of reminds me of MySpace. Maybe it's all the HTML codes and the layout of it. Who knows! I know I can't sleep and it is frustrating! Thank you blogger app for letting me do this while laying in bed!

JAGS on 3

I wear many hats in this thing we called life but one that I enjoy a lot is coaching. I am the assistant coach to one awesome head coach and not to mention an amazing group of young ladies. This is my second year with the team and as always, it’s challenging. I listen to the senior girls talk about what they want to be when they grow up. What college they want to go. What dorm they should live in. It takes me back, even if it's just for a minute, to where I was when I was in high school. I enjoyed high school but I loved college. I loved the college town I moved to. I love the friends that I made. If it wasn't for that decision to go to that school, I wouldn't be where I am today.

Jen & I for our first home game last year against CH. 

Jen & I have this thing we do on game day. We don't have lucky socks or habits that we do before a game. We dress alike. The girls have dubbed this ritual, "the twin swag." It may sound silly but we have matching outfits the day of the game. I think it mentally prepares through out the day. 

Our classic "twin swag" get up. Black pants. Purple Shirt. DC Vest. 

First play off game last year.  Yes, we won.

"SEW excited!!!"

Today is Thanksgiving! I am beyond blessed in my life and even though I never posted my "today I am thankful for" status updates I am thankful for so many blessings I have in my life. I am thankful for a lot of things in my life but I will not bore you with that. (If you guessed God, Family, Adrian, friends & Pancho then you are correct.) Now for the exciting news...thanks to Amazon and my lovely "beyonce" Adrian one of my Christmas presents came early... 

**drum roll please**

A SEWING MACHINE!!! 

I have to admit, I was a bit over whelmed when it first got here. So I just sat it on the counter and took it all in.

It was ordered on Monday, so imagine my surprise when it showed up on my door step Wednesday afternoon.

After the initial, "oh my, I really have a sewing machine in my living room." I got to work. I skimmed my  little miss crafty board on Pinterest to see if I could find those pins that would eventually come in handy. 

Macbook, Starbucks, & a Sewing Machine.

After searching Pinterest and not really finding something that helped me. I went to another trusted source. YouTube. YouTube taught me how to thread my machine and my bobbin. 

Some super cute fabric I picked up from Joann's.
(FYI the give a teacher discount!)

After searching through a dozen or so videos I found the one that really helped. Then I had to visit from my best girl...

It was getting late and she wanted to know what I was doing.

Let the mess begin......

Here are my two finished products. Both of these are on the same towel. I did ok, for a  newbie!

1st attempt. Straight lines are semi easy when you have a straight line.

2nd Attempt. My lines on this one are TERRIBLE. 

I only have 2 mini projects under my belt but so far, I am loving it. I have a looooong way to go and I am looking forward to this new hobby of mine. I have a list of things I want to make, but I have to remember everything takes time and practice. 

I am on the search for naming my new beauty. Here is the list so far:

Betty

Martha

BeeBee

Thelma

Hopefully the name will come soon. I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving!

just call me sickly

I don't know what has happened to me this school year. It seems as if some time type of sickness was going around I got it. I had pink eye and missed 3 days of work because of it. It was my first time to ever have pink eye and let me tell you something about pink eye. IT. IS. TERRIBLE. I do not wish pink eye on anyone. There is only one other thing worse than pink eye and that is the stomach virus. Yup, you guessed it. I was struck with the terrible virus early Sunday morning. All day Sunday I was in bed going through every thing you go through while having "the virus." I went to work today (Monday) but I could only make it half the day. My hard headed self went to the doctor, got some medicine and I have been resting ever since.

On another note, I figured out to make my own header for the blog. This is an awesome tutorial and is pretty easy to do. You have to download Picasa to get to work. Picasa is pretty easy to use. My header isn't that great. Just give me some time and I will have it looking sharp!

A list of things

I can not believe NOVEMBER is here. This means life just got a tad bit busier. Here we go!

Soccer season is officially here! Games start next week and I am ready for the girls to hit the field!

I have never been more excited about Christmas! I already have bought 3 rolls of wrapping paper! (Thanks Dollar Tree!!) and I am working on a craft project soon as the blog is posted. Pictures soon.

Wedding planning is going steady. The venue is paid in full. I have FINALLY settled on an invitation design. They are gong to be beautiful. I also found out that David's Bridal is discontinuing the bridesmaid dresses I really liked. So instead of rushing to get my girls to buy them, I decided to wait until their new catalog comes out.

This month is also election month. I do care politics and where my country is headed but I will not discuss my views on here. I will say that students are off from school that day and most of the time I would complain about not being out with them but I am thankful for a day of work with no kiddos. Time to catch up on some work and clean the class top to bottom.

I would continue my list but I am ready to get this craft project going!

Happy Fall Ya'll!

might be a little early for this

Ok, so I know it's not even Halloween yet, but hey it's pretty close right? I have to admit that I have never just been one of those super joyous Christmas people who has a tree in every room. I don't know if it's because I am getting married and I feel all homey and festive but I definitely got in the Christmas Spirit. I had to resist the urge to go out and buy Christmas things! So I did always do when I want to shop but not buy anything...PINTREST! Here are some things that I saw and LOVED!

I love owls, how cute is this?

A for Adrian!

How festive is this?? 

I love this movie! Buddy the Elf what's your favorite color?

hey guess what

Only 6 months and 22 days until we get married!!!

bad day

Ever have one of those days where you just had enough? One of those days where something happens and everything goes down hill? Well that day hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday. It was a combo of things. About 90% of the time I am a happy go lucky, roll with the flow type of chick. I would even like to say I am pretty good in high pressure situations. I can deal with certain amounts of stress. I have my "go to" people that I vent to and most of the time, all is well.

Except yesterday.

I won't go into all the details but lets just say I was not the happy go lucky girl I normally am. I was not rolling with the flow. By bed time rolled around I was a complete wreck. I did things I normally would not do and said some things I normally wouldn't say. In between prayers, were tears. I just wanted to sleep. Soon as I feel asleep, I felt like it was time to wake up for work. I woke up with terrible nausea at 4:30 and it didn't get better. I immediately thought, great I can't even get myself together for work. So I did what I hate to do. I called in.

Tomorrow is a new day and I am ready to tackle it. (Plus it's Friday!) Once my head starts thinking clearly again, I feel like a sane person. I know everything happens in the Lord's time and I just need to give it all to Him.

The Lord is my strength and my song. Exodus 15:2

Losing Count

October 20, 2012 must have been the day of weddings. I knew three couples getting married this day. I hate I missed 2 of them but I am honored to be by my "wingman" as she says I do. The day started early at the salon where the girls got dolled up and ready for the big day ahead. Most of the time, I normally go with the never failing hair style of "half up, half down." I decided to do it a little different this time. You can never go wrong with a side pony. 

The ceremony and reception was at Torie's grandparents house. It was beautiful. We walked down to Jason Mraz's I won't give up and danced back up the aisle to AC/DC's Highway to Hell. Everything was super laid back. 

We all know I have the reputation for being the 27 dresses girl. I wear that badge with honor. Being up there with a good friend watching her open a new chapter in her life is something I will always treasure. 

You would think that I would be burnt out on weddings but I'm not. I love weddings. I love what they stand for. I love seeing two people and the way they look at each other. I love seeing the bride and groom's style through the details of the weddings.  

I am getting old. I seriously can't remember how many weddings I have been in. Silly huh? I know the count is up to 6 since 2010. Before that I was a flower girl and junior bridesmaid. So that makes 8. I was a bride proxy for my girl Emily in May but we won't count that. I am a bridesmaid in March 2013. Then I will be at 9!! But the 10th one, that one will be the best....

My 10th wedding will be MINE! It is still weird to say that. "My wedding." I can't wait to marry the man that God made for me. I am ready for it all. I am anxious to feel those emotions that I will feel. I'm ready for that first kiss as a wife. I am ready for the MRS. I am just ready.

a special month

I can not believe that October is already here! This year has FLOWN by and it's not slowing down either. I have so many happenings this month it may be hard to keep up. Let's start with October in general. October is breast cancer awareness and Down Syndrome awareness month. These two are completely different and both have two huge spaces in my heart. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999. I was in the 9th grade. I can remember what exactly what I was doing and where I was when she told me. Everything after that a blur. All I can remember from that day was me and mom hugging. Looking back I don't think I quite understood what cancer was and what it does to your body.   The doctor explained a few different options and my mom chose the best one for her. She kind of kept me out of the loop on the decision making and I am glad she did. She chose the chemo route and so it began. My mom was tough but she knew would need more help than what my grand parents could do. Our cousin, Linda, came to stay with us. I loved Linda, so it was a treat for me. My mom's chemo was pretty intense, as most chemo I am sure. Her rounds of chemo went like this: Day 1. Feeling ok, just kind of cold. Day 2. Extremely tired. Day 3. The bed was her best friend. I knew on the 3rd day I wouldn't be seeing her so it was always kind of sad because I always called my mom and told her how my day was when I would get home from school. After chemo was done and some surgery my mom was on the road to recovery. And as of today, she is 13 years cancer free. I am blessed to say my mom is a survivor.

October is also down syndrome awareness month. Another thing very close to my heart. I actually went to day care with a little boy who had DS and he just always had an impact on me. I also have a family member with DS. Not to mention I work 3 DS kiddos every day. They are awesome. I am in training with another teacher to be a down syndrome specialist for my school, we had our first meeting in September. It was great! I am looking forward to more. 

More October happenings:

One of my best girls is getting married! 20 days and counting!

This weekend is also her bachelorette party! Woo hoo! 

Fall break is next week. I love being a teacher! Who is 27 and still gets fall break, ME!

We also start after school practice for soccer. I am expecting great things out these girls!

Did I mention we have a soccer tournament too?? 

A good friend of mine has her baby's 1 year old birthday party, I can't believe he is one!

It's also a gender reveal party too...YAY!  I can't wait to see what the next baby will be :)

October, please be easy on me. This is going be quite a month. I might get some wedding planning done too.. :)

my happy place

This weekend I got to go to one my happy places. I consider a "happy place" to be a place that brings back memories and my makes my heart happy. Saturday I was lucky enough to go one of the best places in the US. STARKVILLE, MS! Home of the Mississippi State Bulldogs, who are presently 4-0 and ranked 21 in the nation. I love college football and fall. The weather was perfect. I love summer time but true fall weather is something that can't be beat. I rode with my good friends Emily & Brent. The happily married couple is also a house divided. Emily is a bulldog. Brent is a black bear rebel. He was a good sport and wore white to help the "white out" theme that STATE had going. As soon we got close I got giddy and couldn't wait to be in the Junction. The Junction is the spot where tailgate tents go up and grills get to grillin'. It's something everyone should experience. I saw some old friends and made some new ones.

I loved getting to visit one of my favorite places but I forgot how much it takes to keep up with such a fast pace environment, other than the SPED environment. I guess the drive ride down there and back it what wore me out. I went to sleep hearing the sounds of cowbells dancing in my head. I love that place. But I am glad that it's only a happy place and not an all the time place for me. Here are some pictures from our trip! 

Love this sign. It means we have arrived. 

Our seats. Thanks to the great Harlow's. 

My Marie, I love her! 

My new state tank. LOVE. Sorry for the silly face.

Me & Emily headed to the Junction. 

Finally, the Nissan got some personalization. 

Never say never...

Wedding update: In a very short post I announced the "official" wedding date. I have dress and a venue, we are slowly but surely boarding the wedding train!! All aboard!

College football is back and in full force. My bulldogs are 2-0! First time the Mississippi State Bulldogs have been 2-0 in a decade. You are probably thinking, that is just terrible. Most of the time we start having SEC play early in our schedule. For as long as I can remember Auburn is always our number two game. Well I am proud to say that we, the bulldogs beat the Auburn Tigers. It was a glorious day in college football! Did I mention that Adrian is an Auburn fan?? He was NOT happy! I was and I let him know it, hey it's college football!

Ok, so the reason for this post to be called "never say never." You know you've said it...I will never spend 30 dollars on a pair of running shorts. Well I did, and have like 6 pair of those shorts. Best shorts ever! I also said I would NEVER wear skinny jeans either.....I tried a few pair on and I LOVED them! I haven't bought a pair yet though. It's kind of silly to say "I will never....." Because you NEVER know what will happen. You will see the skinny jeans soon. Maybe in some engagement pictures? I will keep ya'll posted.

HAIL STATE!!!!