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!

Babies Babies!

 Don't drink the water! Baby fever has officially taken over. 

While this post is a little late since these kiddos are several months old now, I can't help but discuss what cute kids I have been able to meet lately!

First up - Raylen James Stone

Born: September 20, 2013

This little guy is about as mellow as they come. We have enjoyed some time hanging out together. Mostly he sleeps but that is ok by me!

I also had the privilege of taking some family photos for them for their Christmas cards!

Next Up: Elena Regas

Born: November 4, 2013

Elena has more hair than any baby I have ever seen. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten to see her again yet. I am hoping to change that soon!

I also have two more friends that are pregnant due this summer. The cat isn't quite out of the bag yet though so I will have to share those later. I can honestly say that this is such a fun time in my life to see my friends become parents. Who knew we were old enough to do all this?! I feel like we should still be in college!

My 25th Birthday

Even though we had already celebrated my birthday in New York City we still wanted to celebrate on my actual birthday too.

Only a few times in my life so far has my birthday been the day of or the day before Easter. This year it was the day before Easter. So, I had a whole weekend of celebrating!

Tyler and I celebrated small but it was perfect.

I think it has finally hit me that I am 25. I remember when I thought 25 was old.. now it isn't looking so old after all!

My 25th Birthday Surprise - NYC!!

I've told you all several times that I have the best husband ever. And, my 25th birthday was no different. He surprised me with a trip to New York City! He knew that I had wanted to go for some time now. He did end up telling me with a little advance so I was able to tell him all the things I wanted to see. 

Lesson #1 of the NYC trip-

We left really early on Thursday morning. Once we got to the NYC airport there were two options to get to the hotel. A taxi - $30ish or the public transit route by bus then subway - $10ish. Being the typical tight-wads that we are, we choose public transit. BAD IDEA!!! They told us to get off at this one stop which turned out to be right in the middle of Harlem. This sweet lady who happened to be a teacher saw the big mistake we were about to make and told us not to get off. (Keep in mind we are rolling our luggage everywhere!) We eventually made it to the hotel 2 hours later. It was terrible. Lesson - always take the taxi and don't try to save money in NYC, it isn't worth it.

We had a very tight schedule to try and see everything in the amount of time we had. There was a lot of walking and very little sleep! And, we happened upon other things on our way to the main attractions!

Enjoy the pictures!

St. Patrick's Cathedral

American Pride!

This was in the visitor's center. This was the Broadway Play we were headed to see too!

 Times Square

At least the man was honest!

NYPD

 Bryant Park

M&M Store

Hershey Store

Double-Decker Bus Tour - my favorite!

Can you see how close to the street light she was?!?!

Flat Iron Building

 Manhattan Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge

I can't help it - I love graffiti!!

Elementary School with a dragon made out of recycles!

Radio City Hall

Good Morning America

Lesson #2

We were told by a previous GMA visitor that you had to get to the studio REALLY early to be able to go in  and view the show. As in 4:00 AM early. We left our hotel at 3:30 AM to start walking to Times Square. We got there but no one else was there but the setup crew. No one else even showed up until 6:30. So we stood in Times Square for 2 hours and watched all the drunk people from the night before try to make their way home. It was quiet hilarious. But we ended up getting to know the crew pretty well. (Have you met my husband? He will talk to anyone!) The crew felt bad for us and made sure that we were able to meet Robin Roberts!!!! Lesson - do your own research about GMA.

This is outside the studio when Robin started waving at us!

Meeting Robin Roberts!

She's my favorite!

Then Robin Roberts tweeted me happy birthday!!

 The sun finally started to come up!

We also got to watch the segment outside since it was Friday.

 Josh Elliott

 Behind the scenes!

Ginger Zee & Bianna Golodryga

Empire State Building

Grand Central Station

 Time & Life Building

Rockefeller Center

Broadway Play

We went to see How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. It was GREAT! And, as it turns out my great aunt was in the original cast in 1961! 

 Statue of Liberty

 Wall Street

Trump Building

World Trade Center Memorial

Central Park

5th Avenue Shopping!

Trump Tower

Grand Central Station at night!

The last night in our hotel room. 

 The Benjamin - our hotel!

 The Magnolia Bakery
Lesson 3 - We had heard that the Magnolia Bakery was famous for starting the cupcake craze. We had also heard they had wonderful banana pudding. So, we went to check it out and took it back to our hotel. The cupcake was terrible. Probably the driest cupcake I have ever had. And, the banana pudding wasn't any better than Nanny's. And, I found a HUGE piece of plastic in that I almost choked on. When I called the bakery their reply - "Sometimes it happens." Lesson - Stick to cheesecake in NYC!

 United Nations Building 

And, here are some other lessons we learned on the trip!

Lesson 4 - Always wear good shoes and take naps. We walked SO much in 4 days it was crazy.

Lesson 5 - No one could understand Tyler's accent nor could he understand theirs. Bring in interpreter - which was me! And, all New Yorkers thought Tyler was from Texas not Tennessee. 

Lesson 6 - They don't update the internet when the famous hot dog joint goes out of business. If you can't find it and nether can the nice police officer then just eat somewhere else.

Lesson 7 - Every one drinks coffee no matter where or what time of the day. I shouldn't try this. This just means I have to pee and there are NO public restrooms except nasty ones. Carry your empty Starbucks cup with you so you can always use their bathroom!

Lesson 8 - Learn to use the subway early on. It makes it SO much easier and saves you from blisters.

Overall it was a great trip! I could not have asked for a better 25th birthday!

And, in case you were wondering.. we took a taxi back to the airport. It took us 20 minutes to get there.