Happy New Year everyone! What better way to kick off a new year than with lots of football and good food? Nothing better comes to my mind! There's something so amazing about being able to wake up on January 1st and have a clean slate. Our family always spends this day together watching lots of football (especially our Vols) and follow it up with a home cooked meal from our Mamaw. You just can't beat her cooking. Lots of love and laughter to start the year off right! We're praying for health and happiness in 2016 and I wish you all the same!

Jax kicked back while we watch our Vols win :)

New Years dinner at Mamaw's

Here you can look at our "2015 in Review"

Hi everyone! I hope that this blog gives you a little insight into my daily life! I have wanted to do this for years, so why not wait until the craziest time of my life to start, right?! Here you will find me attempting to have a life in nursing school, loving on my family and friends, and of course growing in my relationship with Jesus. Numerous blogs that I follow have done a "year in review,"so what better way to start New Years Eve than reviewing my last year.. (a great year might I add!)

2015 in Review

Whew! Another year has come and (almost) gone, and it seemed to have taken approximately .2 seconds. This year has been one of the most incredible, eventful years with only a few hiccups along the way. Our family has been blessed beyond belief!

We started off this year jumping right into baseball season (our favorite)! After traveling from coast to coast, year to year, Tyler's baseball career came to an end after four years of collegiate ball at three different colleges. We have been everywhere from Daytona Beach, Florida, all the way to Lewiston, Idaho (and we actually visited both within about two weeks!) to watch our favorite guy play. Baseball is all I have ever known. There are few things that I love more than this sport! Last year, Tyler and his team at Southern Polytechnic out of Marietta, Georgia earned their spot at the World Series where we were able to travel to Lewiston, Idaho. This made me happier than most things in life could! This year, his team was stopped at the regional tournament in Daytona Beach, but we still enjoyed every last second (plus, an extra beach trip!). This was an adjustment for our entire family, seeing what consumed the last 15+ years of Tyler's life, as well as our family's, coming to an abrupt halt. Thankfully for the guys in the family, golf picked up right where baseball left off.

Tyler and I in Montgomery, Al

Senior Day in Montgomery, Al

Winning Conference Tournament (year two!) Dog piles are my favorite pictures!

Mom and I enjoying our extra beach trip at the Regional Tournament in Daytona Beach, Fl. Dad spoils us :)

In between all of the baseball, I went on my first trip alone (with a friend of course, who happens to be Tyler's girlfriend). Spring break had me headed south to Destin! What a trip. We only had four days, and well.. the first few weren't so great. Not so great as in we couldn't see off of our balcony due to the fog. But the last day was incredible! So incredible that we both came back with sun poisoning because we wanted to soak up every last second of that sun! I guess having your mom on you about reapplying your sunscreen isn't so bad after all. It sure beats sun poison. Even with the unfortunate weather, we made sure to eat well and relax a lot. And that made it a successful trip in my book!

Look at that view...

Headed to Harbor Walk for dinner and shopping

A beautiful last day!!!

Sunny and 75.. perfect beach weather!

A beautiful day to end our girls trip!

Next, came summer! Oh how I love a good break. Our summer took a quick turn when our beloved Golden Retriever Peyton passed away. If you know anything about our family, you know our pets are our family. We loved that sweet boy immensely and know he is keeping watch over us today.

6 / 4 / 15

A few short days later, my entire life changed and pointed me in one direction. A direction that I hoped and prayed my life would some day point. I was accepted into the Nursing program at UTC. I worked so incredibly hard to get to this point, but little did I know that was the easy part. Add in a few concerts, numerous pool days, birthdays, a family reunion, and our annual 4th of July party and now it's time for our family beach trip. Talk about an incredible trip! It was probably one of the best we've ever had. Incredible weather, incredible food, and incredible memories. We got back and two days later started fall classes! What a summer.

Nashville to celebrate getting into Nursing school!

Mom and I at Kenny Chesney in Nashville

Sky lanterns to end a great birthday celebration!

Brenley and I at Cole Swindell at Riverbend

Kenny Chesney (round 2) in Atlanta, Ga

Bren and I have loved Kenny from the beginning! Our concert obsession continues..

Brenley, Katy Beth, and I at Kenny

Mom and I at Little Big Town

Our annual 4th of July party

Savannah and I melting away at Luke Bryan in Nashville

July 16, 2015 - The Chattanooga shootings. Mom, Kerri, and I went down to the overpass to wave flags and support Randall Smith as his funeral procession passed through. A day I will never forget. Even in a downpour, not a person moved.

Brenley and I at our family reunion in Athens, Ga. Tons of love, laughter, and sports!

Mackenzie, Brenley, and I at the reunion

Early mornings fishing with dad and sunrises on the beach... can't beat it!

Talk about some CLEAR water!

We wore sunscreen this time :)

We had a lot of fun with the GoPro! We loved being able to capture these memories in the ocean.

Family beach pictures.

You can't really tell it from these pictures, but that wind was insane!

Fall classes started, and my social life quickly ended. I snuck in a few concerts here and there, an occasional Tennessee football game, and even a weekend family getaway.. but nursing school was the real deal. I could go on for days about my first semester officially in the program, but nobody wants to hear that! Let's just say it was... stressful. Very, very stressful. I never knew I could learn so much material in less than four short months or learn so much about myself. I completely lost my confidence, and with a lot of help from my mother, began to find it again. It has truly been a learning experience. If I tried to count the number of times my mom has brought me back down to earth and calmed me down, I would run out of fingers and toes real quick! She is truly a saving grace and I am so thankful for her. It doesn't hurt that she went through the same program not so many years ago!

White Coat Ceremony. The day things became very real.

My Level I clinical group

Nina and I headed to Nashville to see Jon Langston and Cole Taylor

Nina and I at Luke Bryan in Knoxville. He even sang Rocky Top :)

Dad and I ready for the Tennessee game

Annual vacation to Vogel State Park

You can't go to Vogel and not go down to the waterfall..

Christmas break arrived, and I was truly the happiest lady on the planet! I didn't know what to do with myself for about the first week. I didn't know what it was like to wake up at a normal time and not immediately start stressing about my next exam, care plan, check off, etc. But I know that's enough about nursing school! Christmas break brought so much relaxation, after all it is my favorite holiday! I never wanted it to end. We welcomed our new puppy Jax on December 18th, and he hasn't slowed down for a second since he walked into our house. He is the most loving, sweet, precious, wild pup to grace this planet. Bella isn't so thrilled, but we're hoping she'll come around. Christmas 2015 was truly one of the best. It was the most relaxed holiday we've had in a while. There was so much love and laughter among the family and I am so incredibly blessed. These last few days have been spent relaxing, organizing, and preparing for the next few months of chaos! Happy New Year!

Everyone, meet Jax!

Christmas Eve at Mamaw's house

Needless to say, Christmas morning was fun

Bren and I at Christmas dinner

This year for Christmas, I wanted to surprise my parents big! I managed to drag Tyler to Lookout Mountain where we had pictures taken and put this one in particular on a 20"x30" canvas! Needless to say, I think they were surprised. The rest of the pictures were displayed in a book.

New Years Resolutions!

I'm normally not one that makes New Year's Resolutions, but this year I've had so many come to mind that I can't help but try and stick to them!

1. Treat myself better: mentally, physically, emotionally
       Between the months of August and November, I treated myself horribly. I tore myself apart mentally and emotionally. I stayed in a book 24/7, never giving myself an outlet for my stress. This year I want to take care of myself. It's not realistic for me to go into a hospital each day taking care of others, when I am failing to take care of myself.

2. Get back in church regularly / Set aside time for daily journaling and time with God
       Like I said, the last few months have been rough. I often woke up early on Sunday mornings to study, or was catching up on sleep from the all-nighters pulled during the week. No excuse I know, this is why it's a resolution. I need to get back to the one place I need to be most. Also, I am aiming to wake up early and spend my time with God with a cup of coffee before classes even start! If you know me, you know I'm the furthest thing from a morning person, so this is big. Not saying the morning will always be the time, but I think it would be great to start my day off with scripture.

3. Save Save Save money!
       I've always loved saving money. It brings me great joy (weird I know). I haven't decided on my method just yet for this year, but I know I'm saving somehow! A little incentive never hurt, and I think this summer just might bring that ;)


These are the highlights from my 2015. I hope to make many many more memories in 2016 and share them with you all on here! See you next year! ;)