Is this thing on?!?

Things have been quiet on the ol' blog lately. I've officially been MIA for over a year. It happens and I'm not gonna act like it doesn't. I'm not sure that anyone is out there left to read this but why don't recap the last year, shall we? (Things last spring are a little sparse - that was a long time ago!)

Spring 2014 

Old Friends!

We met up with Aaron, Andrew and his wife Amanda in Knoxville. These 3 guys spent their childhood years together in Athens so it was fun to see how life has changed since then!

Narco

After being referred to a sleep doctor, I had to go through a sleep study. Diagnosis?  Severe Narcolepsy. Yep. I know you are thinking - "Oh my gosh are you going to fall asleep like right now?" No! What you didn't know is that I have had it for years and been functioning just fine. 1 in 2,000 people have it. There is nothing you can do to cure it and I will always have it. What am I doing about it? Making the best of it! I no longer feel bad about falling asleep watching TV or a movie. I currently use it in the "Tell an interesting Fact about Yourself" icebreaker games and bask in the fact that I can fall asleep in 2 1/2 minutes no matter the time of day!

Community Service
I was appointed to serve on the Girl Scouts Board of Southern Appalachians and went to my first meeting.  I concluded my 3 year term on the UTAA Women's Council and concluded my 5 year term on the UTC GOLD Council. Tyler graduated from the Protege program with the Chamber of Commerce. He is also serving a term on the UTAA Board of Governors and the Partnership for Families, Children & Adults.

Summer 2014

"Kneeding" a Break
I slipped in some water before an event at work and fell pretty hard on my left knee. I slapped a band-aid on it and finished the event. I realized the next day I still couldn't really move it. Long story short - I ended up in a full leg immobilizing brace and crutches. Verdict: Cracked Femur. We were leaving for our British Isles Cruise in 1 week. Panic set in. Luckily after getting a second opinion - nothing was broken! The previous doctor can't read x-rays! Brace came off and slowly start to heal. Nasty scar to show for it!

British Isles Cruise
I slipped this in the last story but it was definitely the highlight of 2014. BRITISH ISLES CRUISE!!! We spent 2 weeks exploring the British Isles. We started in England and ventured to France, Ireland, North Ireland, and Scotland. We traveled 12,500 miles and took 1,000 pictures.

We walked over the London Bridge, trekked to Stonehenge in the pouring rain, ate lunch in the Eiffel Tower, drove through the tunnel where Princess Diana died, fought to see a glimpse of the Mona Lisa, looked for the Loch Ness monster, visited The Cavern where the Beatles played, toured a castle from Downton Abby and St. Patrick's Cathedral, and kissed the Blarney Stone.The list goes on and on.

I ate sheep bladder without realizing it, tried Irish coffee but wasn't impressed, and ate mushy peas with fish and chips. We had a wonderful time but were glad to be back in the good ol' US of A!

4th Anniversary
We celebrated our 4th anniversary! What a wonderful 4 years it has been!

Clingman's Dome 
For years we have wanted to visit Clingman's Dome, the highest point in Tennessee. We took a hiking trip with the Shells on July 4th weekend. We also took another hiking trail to Laurel Falls. Let's just say that if you go hiking in Cade's Cove on a pretty weekend, expect a crowd!

Alvin York Home
We traveled to meet Sarah and Craig to tour Alvin York's Home. It was a fun trip and very hot! Tyler and I got stuck in the World's Longest Yard Sale which made the trip a little longer than we had anticipated!

Nanny
July and August were hard. We lost our sweet Nanny in August. She fought hard until the end. She was such a special lady and meant so much to us. It still seems unreal she is gone. She loved me like I was her own grandchild and loved Tyler more than words can describe. I am lucky that I was able to know her and have no shortage of Nanny stories!

Fall 2014

Sunday School Class
We were asked to start a Sunday School class at our church for Young Professionals. We were so blessed to have such a large class it has already split! We have thoroughly enjoyed getting serve in this way. Obviously, I am more of the social aspect and Tyler teaches but it makes for a great combination! Tyler has a gift for teaching and I have loved getting to learn from him!

Garth!
As a surprise, I bought Tyler tickets to see Garth Brooks in Atlanta. We drove down for the concert that didn't even start until 10:00 PM, watched the concert and drove home the next morning in time to be at church! It was the latest we had stayed out probably ever. He can say he enjoyed every minute!

UTC vs. UTK
We traveled to watch the Mocs take on the Vols. Even though we were all expecting a loss, it was still fun to see. We even got to sit in the President's skybox. It was fun to visit the same place as our first date!

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
As many of you were a part of, the Ice Bucket challenge was everywhere for a solid month on social media. Needless to say, we were not spared from the challenge. (That's me in the middle!)

TEDxUTChattanooga
I helped plan the first ever TED event in Chattanooga. It was a lot of work but resulted in a wonderful highlight for the campus. Plans for the 2016 event are already underway!

2015

Mt. Airy - Mayberry
As crazy as it sounds, back in June 2014, I made reservations for January 2015 to stay in the house that Andy Griffith grew up in. I decided this would be the perfect birthday present for Tyler! We had a great weekend. We toured the Andy Griffith museum, visited Wally's service station, rode in the squad cars and visited the jail, visited Floyd the barber, ate a fried pork chop sandwich, and hiked Mount Pilot. The house was even furnished with retro furniture and all! I'm not sure that I will ever top this birthday present!

New Job!
In January I started a new job at UTC. 3 years, 3 Chancellors, and 158 events later it was time to move on to other things! I am now in the Development Office at the Associate Director of Stewardship & Advancement Services and absolutely loving it! I love learning new things and I continue to expand my knowledge. This is the perfect job for any people person so I am in heaven!

97 Years Young
My grandmother, Ruby Young, turned 97! She moved retirement homes of the summer so this was a new place to have the annual party. Jon & Malia weren't able to attend since they had just had their first child. We tried to help Grandmother Skype with them but she didn't quiet get the technology!

Engaged Teacher of the Year!
My sister, Sarah got engaged and was named Teacher of Year all in the same day! Tyler and I traveled to Nashville to surprise her once she said yes! The whole family (his & hers) waited in the lobby of Frist Museum where he proposed. The wedding has been set for June 20th! Wedding plans have been in full swing ever since with a bridal shower soon!

Valentine's Surprise
Tyler surprised me with a trip to Atlanta for Valentine's day. We toured CNN, the Margaret Mitchell house, the Swan house and finished the day with dinner at Capital Grille. Chattanooga is conveniently close to Atlanta and it was great for a quick day date!

Community Service & Leadership
Tyler spent a week at the UT Leadership Institute. I have never been so lonely! I take for granted how great it is to live together! He was glad to be back home and I was glad to have him back! (To keep myself occupied I took a calligraphy class!) He also was selected to be one of the newest members of Rotaract which is the Young Professionals Rotary group in town. Tyler is the current President of the UT Alumni Chattanooga Network and yours truly is the President Elect. I also was recently named secretary of the Girl Scouts board.

Harry T. Burn Grave Dedication
It wouldn't be in true Tyler fashion to update you if it didn't involve a grave yard! Tyler was asked to speak at the SAR (Sons of the American Revolution) Grave Dedication for Harry T. Burn. He is related to the famous 19th Amendment vote politician and was honored to be included in the ceremony.


I guess you see why I had little time left for blogging. Until next time... whenever that is!

It all began with football....

September 13, 2008 - Our first official date - UT vs. UAB football game

September 25, 2008- We were official over a wonderful Mexican meal!

May 2, 2009 - He popped the question!

And now, in one month we will be....

31 days until I am Mrs. Tyler Forrest! I can't hardly wait!

- ECM(F)

Tis the Season!

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is NEXT week! As most of you know, Thanksgiving is Tyler's favorite holiday. I am especially excited about it this year too! I am looking forward to not only bring Tyler home to share it with my family but also going to share it with Tyler's family. I will be contributing a Leaf Wreath to the Priest Thanksgiving breakfast this year. And, to the Martin Thanksgiving Feast a traditional pumpkin pie and... something else. (I have yet to decide!) I am also looking forward to leftover turkey sandwiches. This is the only reason that my mom would ever buy me white bread. I LOVED white bread as a kid however, my mom would never buy it for me except at Thanksgiving. (Don't worry Mom, I'm not holding it against you.)

I have something I must confess: I have listened to Christmas music on the way to to work EVERYDAY this week. You see, it all started on Monday morning, I just couldn't listen to this one song that I had just heard one too many times. So that's when I innocently hit the scan button. The next thing I know the radio was singing those sweet Christmas tunes and I couldn't resist the urge. I stopped the scan and before I knew it I was belting out the words of "Where are you Christmas?" as if I were Faith Hill herself. I will say, I am TOTALLY in the Christmas mood now. =)

Speaking of Christmas: We have already started to get Christmas party invitations! I love a good Christmas party! Most of which are the annual Chancellor's Holiday parties. I am excited to get to see all my old friends on the University staff! I really do miss them. Also, Tyler and I have gotten the word that our Save The Dates/Christmas Cards are ready! I am anxious to see them!They will be in the mail December 1!

Tomorrow is the Vandy/UT game.......I can already tell you, it is going to be a rough day for Tyler and I. Seeing as how I am a Vandy fan and Tyler is a UT fan..there could be problems. I have informed Tyler that this would be the only time I would not wear orange in the skybox. I know this could be dangerous to my health but this is one thing I am willing to risk. When you are born and raised a Vandy fan, no boyfriend/fiance/soon-to-be husband can make you change this especially not to a UT fan. (Sorry babe!) I will let you know if I make it out alive! (only half kidding there!)

-ECM(F)

What happened to October?

Some of our "fans" have requested that we update the blog. I am going to try hard to make post more frequently. We have to give the people what they want!

First, a wedding update:

As Tyler said in the previous post, we did book a DJ for the reception. We also did find a person to make the cake! She is a sweet little lady and I am thrilled!

This weekend Amie joined us to go pick out tuxes for the wedding. To my surprise, guy's don't try on tuxes....who knew? (Having a guy in my life has totally opened up a whole new world that I have been missing. For example, neck size measurements? I am clueless!) None the less, we have those picked out and of course they are matching down to the cuff links!

We are also going to take session 2 of the engagement pictures on Nov 4th. I will make sure to post some when we get them back. (Pray for no rain this time!)

We also went to register for our wedding gifts. This was more overwhelming that I could have ever imagine. We started out at Belk. Here is a cute picture of Tyler:

Then we went on to Target! My home away from home! Target was a little less stressful. We had gotten more a handle on the situation. As the day went on, Tyler aka "the gun handler" began to really enjoy his duty.(Classic! You can't tell in the picture but he was making a "gun noise" too!)

Then there I was... List in hand to make sure we didn't forget anything!

We have also gotten our proof back from Daniel for our Save the Dates! They look amazing! Now the daunting task of finding addresses for everyone! Thanks to my wonderful fiance, we are going to be able to get the Save the Dates printed for FREE! (Love him!)

Now for the other activities we do:

To get into the Halloween/Fall season Tyler and I carved a pumpkin. I realized when we got done that every pumpkin in my life that I can remember has looked like this... haha, oh well. Here is a picture of our first pumpkin:

Tyler is off to Knoxville on Friday for the Board of Governor's meeting. I will be joining him when I get off work for a dinner that night. Then we will be staying for the UT/SC game on Saturday. Our time left in the skybox is coming to an end soon. After this game only the Vandy game is left. Here is a picture from the last football game:

We talked earlier in some other posts about buying a house. Well, after much consideration, we have decided to wait a while. We are going to look for a nice little apartment to rent for a while until we have a better handle on what life has in store for us. However, Tyler's roommate, Zach, did buy a house and is moving in November. Tyler has decided to move in with Zach into his house until we get married as opposed to staying in "the dump" as we like to call it. This is great all except for the fact that Tyler will no longer live 5 minutes away from me but almost 25 minutes away which is a major bummer. I know things will work out just fine though.

I am happy to say that I am officially an employee at RiverCity Company now! I have been asked to stay now that my 3 month trial period is over! This also comes with the wonderful gift of insurance! I will also be taking on more HR things at the first of the year! This truly has turned out to be the perfect job! Now we just have to find Tyler a job for after graduation! (I am still working at UTC some too in the afternoons after I get off work at RiverCity.) ECM(F)

WOW! We Have Been Busy

I'm a little ashamed to say that this is the first blog that I have ever written . . . Thank you Emily for getting me started. I really think it is such a neat idea for us to keep everyone up on all the great happenings that have been going on.

Emily and I both have been so busy! We have been busy together, by ourselves and every which way you can possibly be busy. I do tend to complain about it sometime, but really way down deep, I love every minute of it (I kinda think Em does as well). The fall has been filled with football games, wedding planning, new jobs, old jobs, school, no school and everything else you can think of.

Last week, I was in Knoxville for the UT Board of Trustees meeting. I came back to Chattanooga on Friday and then Emily and I went back to Knoxville the next morning for the Legislative Tailgate and then the UT vs. Georgia game (Go Vols)! I actually watched the game this time because it was so good (Emily makes fun of me, because I usually don't know what is going on). The Mocs also won last weekend in Samford. We are both so proud of them! They are currently 4-1!!! Go Mocs!

This week, has been one of those "test weeks" for me! They all seem to come at once! Last night, though, we attended a Legislative Reception at Chancellor Roger Brown's home on Lookout Mountain. We were back off the mountain in time for Grey's Anatomy! If you missed it and need to know what happened, ask Emily. She follows it much better than I do! We have been having Grey's Anatomy date nights for a while. They are pretty important to us (almost as much as Sunday nights)!

We are having a shopping date night tonight! I refuse to buy clothes, but Emily is in need of some news one, so I have decided to tag along and give my best opinion, even though, I am not sure how good it is! We also might meet with a potential cake baker, but I am not sure about that. We did decide on the DJ the other day. We are going to be using DJ Gene Lovin, who is spectacular and we both highly recommend! If you have not heard him, he is on Sunny 92.3 in the mornings.

All is well in Chattanooga and I hope it is with you! TSF

The First One!

Ok... I know what you are thinking... Emily isn't a Forrest yet... BUT for the purpose of not changing this later, I have set it up with my future name! YAY!



This is officially the first entry in our blog! Tyler and I decided that it would be nice to keep one to update everyone on the events of our life as we plan the wedding and also after. Let's hope that we are able to keep it up and update on a regular basis.


This weekend we are supposed to take engagement pictures! We are hoping that the rain holds off long enough for it to happen. But, Tyler and I have done everything else in the rain so why not take engagement pictures in the rain? My money is that it rains on our wedding day to. Let's pray it doesn't for my sanity's sake! I will update later with some of the pictures for you all to see from the session this weekend--that is.. if it takes place!

Tyler and I are in the process of trying to purchase a house! We have found this cute little un-finished house out in East Brainerd area almost into Georgia.

We are in the process of offering, counter offering, etc. Tyler knows more about it than I do. Haha.... no surprise there! We are praying that it all works out. Zach, Tyler's current rommmate, is trying to buy the one across the sidewalk from it. It will be nice to already know a neighbor!


Since football season has officially started, I will leave you with a picture of Tyler and I at UT's season opener against Western Kentucky! (I think it is an adorable picture!) -ECM(F)