Where did my little girl go??

Sarah turned 20 years old on March 26th. I can not accurately describe how this makes me feel. Old comes to mind, but mostly proud. Proud of the beautiful young woman that Sarah has become, inside and out. I have loved watching her grow from a little girl to a teenager, and now to a responsible adult.  She is intelligent, fun, and so witty! Love you to the moon and back, Sarah!

Sarah - 2014 In Review

What is home?

Sarah chose to go to the University of North Georgia to get away from Carrollton, meet new people, and gain a fresh start.  Not to mention, the integrity and respect the school had.  She craved a small, close-knit school.  She wanted to be surrounded by a beautiful campus.  While UNG was a great school with GORGEOUS surroundings, she came to learn that it wasn't for her. She missed running into people that she knew. She missed her family. She missed the backroads of Carrollton. She missed "home". She learned all sorts of academic lessons while there, but the most important lesson I believe she learned was what "home" really is. It had more to do with the surroundings and people in it than the roof over your head.

At the end of her Freshman Spring sememster, she moved back into her old bedroom and took summer classes at the University of West Georgia, the local college that she grew up around - the one she said she would never go to because "that's where everyone in Carrollton goes".  She ended up enjoying the familiarity of it.  She loved that she was stopped on the streets by people that she knew and she liked being close to family. It's funny how the tables turned!  Sometimes, it just takes stepping away from something to see just how good it is.

This chapter of her life reminds me of a poem that she once wrote for an assignment her 9th grade year. It's heartwarming to read this again.

In the Fall of her Sophmore year, she moved into a gated apartment with one of her friends and 2 other random roomates.  The apartment is right outside of the West Georgia campus.  It's a four bedroom, fully furnished, apartment that shares the kitchen and living room space. She loves the freedom that she has, but also security in knowing that Daddy is only half an hour away when her car has a dead battery or runs out of gas (yes, that happened!).

A few months into her new living arangements, she adopted the cutest, most energetic little 5 week old golden labrador mix puppy. She named him Tucker. While he is a lot of work and requires much of Sarah's time (as she quickly discovered!), he has also stolen a huge part of her heart. Sarah has done such an amazing job at house training and teaching him manners. So far, he knows sit, shake, high five, "watch me", stay, come, and down.  It's been fun watching him grow.  She is in denial that he is getting too big to carry.  I think the pictures speak for themselves!

She's a Kappa Delta girl!

Sarah partook in the nerve-racking Rush week and was so excited to receive a bid from her top choice - Kappa Delta!  She has made so many friends through KD and had many opportunities afforded to her through the sorority that she may have never had otherwise. She was recently voted into a new member position and is looking forward to fullfilling that leadership role. Kappa Delta's philanthropy is Girl Scouts, which is close to her heart since she was a Girl Scout herself for several years.  Her old Girl Scout leader even appeared at one of the philanthropical events that Sarah was participating in! Being in a sorority has given her a sense of belonging, helped her tremendously with grades, built responsibility and personal development, and she has formed lifelong friendships.

A REAL job!

With sororities and puppies, come member dues and vet bills!  Sarah walked into Chic-Fil-A to drop off an application and was given and interview and hired all in the same day!  She works the evening shifts part-time so that it doesn't interfere with her classes.  Until now, Sarah has earned money babysitting neighborhood children.  This is her first REAL job, as she says!! She takes pleasure (no pun intended) in her job (and the paycheck) :)

So proud!

Sarah has done an outstanding job at balancing college classes, a job, sorority meetings and events, family, a boyfriend, and a puppy.  She is maintaining a B average in school in order to retain the HOPE scholarship.  Somehow, she still finds time to come home and have dinner with us; or pick the boys up from school and take them for an ice cream.  She is really a remarkable girl with a great head on her shoulders. We couldn't be more proud of the beautful young lady that she has become!

Sarah with Tucker and her boyfriend, Dillan.

2014 Atlanta Snowmageddon

So, it's been a year since I've written in the journal!  Thinking about covering the past year STRESS. ME. OUT., so I'm going to take baby steps and just start with...

A year ago today...

...it was predecited that Atlanta would be getting snow and freezing temperatures.  No one imagined it would get as bad as it did.  I mean, it IS Georgia! Everyone in Atlanta thought it would be best to leave work early and get home before the storm hit.

Bo, on the other hand, was working on a frozen pipe inside of an elevator shaft. This was his view from the building.  It's hard to see, but the bridges are the interstates full of gridlocked cars.

He received an entrapment call around 3:00 pm.  A man was stuck in a hotel elevator a half mile away.  With the traffic backing up, the only way to get there was by foot. Once he freed the gentleman from the elevator, he headed back to the original job and was able to leave work around 8:40 pm.

Headed to the truck

The view on his walk to the hotel

Since I-20 was total gridlock at this point, Bo made the decision to take the backroads.  They weren't any better. The streets were covered in ice and snow and it took HOURS to drive a mile.  As he watched wreck after wreck form, he slowly and carefully maneuvered a F250 with bald tires through the mess.  It looked like a scene from the Walking Dead.  Cars were spinning their wheels and wrecks were abandoned in the middle of the roads for miles.  By midnight, he was exausted and pulled over in a parking lot.  He stayed in touch with us as best he could, but his phone battery was depleting, so he turned it off and we lost contact with him from that point. It was too cold to sleep and hunger was setting in, so he began the commute again.  It was like an icy maze trying to make it home.  He had many near accidents and several scary, slippery moments.  There were several times that he had to get out of the truck and walk the streets to see how he would be able to pass.  By 5 am, he was still 18 miles from home and had made it to a point that he knew he couldn't pass safely.  At the bottom of the hill was a car on the edge of the road with a cliff below.  He knew that the car would topple off if he bumped it.  So he parked his truck, along with many other abandoned vehicles, and began walking.  Since everyone else had left work early, these cars were abandoned earlier in the day, leaving noone to be seen anywhere.

This is a road full of nothing but hills and trees.  No businesses. Very few homes.  Sliding down icy hills, he ended up walking 9 miles in the cold before finally reaching a convenient store at 9 am the next morning.  There, he was blessed to meet a man that was able to drive him the remaining 9 miles home. Since his phone was off, the kids and I had no idea how he was holding up, or that he was even walking! We were worried sick all night and were elated when he walked through the front door at 9:30 am! I made him a warm breakfast and put him to bed with a heated blanket to thaw out!

 The roads were beginning to thaw by 4 pm, so we ventrured out to get the truck.  We weren't sure what to expect when we arrived.  Bo knew that if anyone had attempted to drive through the area, his truck could be damaged.  Every newstation was covering the story of how Atlanta had been shut down. I watched the coverage on TV for nearly a 24 hours, but on the short drive to get his truck, I was still astonished to see the scene of abandoned cars and icy roads in every direction that I looked.  When we arrived at the truck, we were so glad to see that it had not been touched.  While there were still several abandoned cars, enough people had come to collect their vehicles that he was able to get the truck out with the help of a very kind couple that was driving around with pull chains and helping people out of sticky situations.  They were able to pull Bo's truck out of the position it was in and we made it home quickly.

4 pm!!

This is where he abandoned his truck.

Backing into the driveway.  Finally home!!

So thankful for these people!

Needless to say, he did not go to work the next day.  Instead he stayed home with the kids and enjoyed playing in the snow with them on their snow day off from school (see video below).  We are very fortunate for a happy ending!

Maybe today will be better...

First thing yesterday morning I learned of the passing of my oldest cousin, Rod.  He was only 46 years old, not much older than me.  Certainly, too young to leave this earth.  I will always remember the place he had in his heart for Tyler.  He only met Ty twice, but always asked about him (and all the kids, but he knew Ty best).  He and Tyler went on a turtle search once in Florida.  They found rabbits instead, but Ty has talked many times about how much fun they had.  RIP Rod.

Shortly after the news, Bo sends me a text to come to the urgent care center.  He has cut his finger with a band saw (again!). The first time, a few years ago, it was a laceration that went straight to the bone and required stitches.  This time, imagine taking a knife and running it down the side of your finger against the bone, from your middle knuckle to the finger tip, taking all the meat with it. For those with weak stomachs, I will spare you the graphic photographs.

Before I arrived at urgent care, he was advised to go to the emergency room because it was more than they could handle. But, does he listen??  NO!  He came home instead.  Hoping to get more information than Bo was indulging, I called the doctor that saw him at the urgent care center and was told that if the wound became infected that he could lose his finger because the cut was so close to the bone.  They feared that simply cleaning it would expose his bone which would require an orthopedic surgeon to be present.  After a lot of pleading and 2 hours later, he finally acquiesced.  Once at the ER, they numbed his finger with two needles.  I've never seen him in so much pain.  It was hard to watch.  Once he was completely numb, they cleaned the wound out and dressed it.  X-rays were taken and the bone is fine, luckily.  The prognosis is good.  He will be missing a large chunk, but he will have full function of his finger.

As a reward for going to the ER (lol), we had pizza in bed.  Of course, everyone had to give me their funny faces for the picture, but the funniest part of this photo to me is in the bottom left....Baylee wants pizza, too! She blends in with the quilt, so look hard...she is staring the pizza box down!

This morning was difficult.  He had to change the dressing and as soon as the air hit the wound, he was literally falling to the floor in pain.  The next few weeks will be hard on him while he heals, but I reminded him this morning that it could be worse!  He could be missing his finger entirely.

Once at work this morning, he revisited the saw and found the other part of his finger.  He sent me these pictures:

My prayer for today is for Rod and Bo.  I pray that Rod knew Jesus Christ and is in Heaven with him now.  I pray for miraculous healing of Bo's finger and minimal pain as he heals.

The grades are in ...

Ty-Guy struggled a little (well ok, a lot!) last semester with turning his work in. The work would usually be completed, but somehow it never made it to the teacher's desk; and ultimately to the grade book. This resulted in many failing grades. He worked hard the last few weeks before Christmas break and was able to get all of the work turned in. His report card came home today with all A's!  What a turn around! 

Being in 3rd grade, Connor's academic grades come in the form of 1's, 2's, & 3's. A 3 is excellent, with a 1 being needs improvement. There were NO 1's and he received a few 2's, but got several 3's as well. His conduct was excellent this go around. Although, he has never been "bad", he typically doesn't stay on task, which results in a lower behavior grade most of the time. 

Sarah completed her first college semester at UNG with 2 A's, 2 B's, and 1 C. This kept her at a B average, so she was able to keep the HOPE Scholarship for spring semester.  She only made one C her entire high school career, so she was bummed about receiving a C in Art Appreciation her first semester in college.  I, on the other hand, am very proud of her considering how hard I know college can be.  

This spring she is taking English, World Geography, Psychology, Philosophy, and First Year Seminar. Currently, she is planning on enrolling in classes at the University of West Georgia this summer. 

Bo and I are so proud of all 3 of them!  They have done so well in school!   

The Birthday Gift

My neighbor just came to my door and handed me $20.  His son, Watson's, birthday was last week.  Tyler and Watson are buds.  Unbeknownst to me, Tyler took $20 of his own money and gave it to Watson for his birthday.  Knowing that I wasn't aware of Tyler's gift, his dad wouldn't let Watson accept it, so he returned the money.  When I returned the money to Ty, he said that Watson was saving money for an xbox and Ty wanted to help him. I think we will make a trip to Target tomorrow to find a birthday card for Mr. Watson and maybe slip a twenty in it ;)

Will the real Tyler Richardson please stand up?

If you know Ty, you know he is a spaz.  I mean that in the kindest of ways.  He is constantly jumping, bouncing, and climbing the walls.  I have actually received a phone call from his teacher saying that Tyler is literally climbing the walls in the cafeteria, AGAIN! His brain runs at 90 MPH and so does his mouth...lol.   He is extremely compulsive and does so many things without thinking them through, which causes people to misunderstand him.

Something happened the other day that has had him on my heart and I never want to forget it. I started not to blog about it because I figure not everyone would be interested, but then I remembered what I created this blog for.  I want to share the moments of our family with others that care for us, but most importantly, I want a record of the little moments that are always forgotten as time passes and life happens.

Tyler received this text the other day from 2 different friends:


He came to me and said, "Mom, I don't know what to do about this.  I only have seven people in my contact list."  Bo and I discussed it with him and explained that it was just a chain letter/text and could be ignored...blah, blah, blah. Nothing bad was going to happen if he didn't send it, nor did it change his relationship with God.  God loves you anyway, we told him. He had tears in his eyes and said, "But, I feel like I'm letting my friends down.  They must have thought of me as a friend if they sent it to me and it makes me think that they care about me.  If I don't send this back to them, they will think that I don't care about them and I love my friends."  He felt the message must be true since he has been struggling with some things lately and his struggles ceased around the time of receiving it. Obviously, we had a deep conversation with him, and he came to an understanding, but what a heart!

Tyler's compassion gets overlooked at times due to his daily struggles, but this is the real Tyler. He is misunderstood by many. Ty may be a spaz, but he's my spaz, and I love him dearly.

Thank you for allowing me to monopolize your inbox so that I can treasure this memory!