Christmas Gift Idea #1

I love greeting cards. One of my favorite activities is to go to card hunting.

Card Hunting---looking through all of the cards and picking out the perfect one for every situation.

Often when I go in looking for just one, I leave with enough to get the average card sender through the year. It's an addiction.

Most card lovers have a favorite brand of cards....my favorite is Hallmark. I especially love the Connections line and the Snapshots line they put out. If you don't know what I'm talking about, spend some time this holiday season in your local Hallmark store! While you're at it, be sure to check out the cute little gifts they have as well. I can always find gifts for the hard to buy for person at Hallmark. Some of my favorites are in the Simply Inspiring line. I actually bought a few of the pieces last weekend...and then noticed that a fellow blogger was the creator. So exciting!

Check out the cards...check out the gifts. Happy Hallmarking!!

Famous in a Small Town

Gotta love the small town paper. Yes, I admit to often referring to it as The Brewton Substandard...but nonetheless, they do a great job of covering all of the hometown happenings. The big event of this past week was a holiday party at a local business. Being the community oriented family that we are, my parents, sister and niece attended the event. Isn't my niece the cutest ever?!

A November filled with remember..

I don't plan on posting about the past years of my life ever again! Well, at least not in succession. It was hard work...especially when things got hectic and I wasn't able to post. I found myself scrambling around to SCAN in photos about many days at once. Towards the end, I was a few years behind with the deadline of November 21 looming over my head. To say that I felt the stress of a student cramming for a semester exam would be a bit exaggerated, but not by much.

However, I did LOVE looking through all of the pictures. I was reminded of friends I hadn't talked to in years...and memories that had been brushed to the back of my mind. It was such a treat to get reacquainted with the friends and the memories.

One quick word of thanks to my Mom and sister who helped me out tremendously by looking through all of the photo albums at home. I didn't really have any pictures with me before high school. They sent more than I could post, but I don't want their hard work to be for nothing. So sometime later this week I'll post an album with some more photos that I didn't use for the yearly blog update.


Also in the works for this week is the long awaited verse and quote for my 24 year of life. I finally decided on them after weeks of searching. Looking forward to a great year...so excited to share it with all of my bloggy friends.

All Work and No Play Makes Lindsey a Dull Girl

Year: 2008
Age: 23
Working World: Year 1

I don't want to ever equate my life with the word DULL....so, though work is important, play is just as important!

When I moved over to Atlanta a little over a year ago, I was scared out of my mind. I'm from a small town, folks. I didn't know a SOUL in Atlanta. So, when I walked into work the first day and many of my fellow interns were from the area, it was a relief. I don't think any of us realized on that first day just how close we would become, but we hit off and remained friends even though our lives have taken different directions. Ashleigh, Ansley and Sara...thanks for such a warm welcome into YOUR city!

Soon after I met Christen, I knew that we would be fast friends. She is way wise beyond her years. I'm so glad that it worked out for us to be roomies. It's fun to come home to this sweet friend!

Finally, I think I am posting a picture that all of us will approve of. One of my sisters was not too thrilled about some of the pictures posted during my pre college days. I told her to start her own blog, but she has yet to do that. Too bad...it would be a good one I'm sure!


The Lord has really blessed me with some great girlfriends in Atlanta. The five of us all work together, so usually we hang out sitting around a table at lunch, but this particular night we got out of the office and did something a little crazier...Braves game and Guitar Hero.


The theme of last summer was FRIENDS GET HITCHED. It was tiring driving all over the creation each weekend, but I loved the chance to get reaqquainted with friends. I loved getting to play with some of my favorite college friends. Aren't my friends just BEAUTIMOUS?!?!

Many of the weddings took me either TO or THROUGH Birmingham. So, that meant LOTS of time with my bestest friend, Natalie. Her friendship is so special to me. In my experience, so often when life happens and friends no longer live closer to each other the friendship changes. This was true for Natalie and me as well. However, unlike those other friendships, ours FLOURISHED. As much as I had grown to love Natalie during college, life has taken that love to a whole new level. I pray each of you has a Natalie in your life. A friend that you can be 100% yourself with all the time. A friend that you can laugh with and cry with. A friend that will speak Truth into your life. A friend that will love you through all the rough spots. If she ever decides to ditch me, I'm in deep trouble!


Sara moved to Boston....so I visited her. I skipped the summer vacation and took one at the beginning of October instead. It was, HANDS DOWN, the BEST "visit your friend in a place you've never been before" vacation ever! I can't wait for it to get a litle warmer so that I can go back! To all of you at googs....take care of my friend this winter. She doesn't deal well with the cold weather!

The Best Days of My Life

Year: 2007
Age: 22
College: Senior

I am a self-professed awful dancer, but that doesn't meant that I don't dance. I have quite a few classic dance moves including, but not limited to...The Pizza, The Dinosaur and The Elephant. Oh, the memories...

In the last post, I told you what a great roomie Sarah was. Well, she was also a great road trip partner. During our senior year, many of our road trips centered around one of our favorite things...Alabama Football. We trekked to Baton Rouge, Knoxville and Gainesville. Fun times were had by all at each stop, especially Knoxville!

Who are the people in your life that you look up to? When I think about that question, most of the people that come to mind are older than me. Some by a few months...others by many years. However, some people are wise beyond their years, and even those they are younger than me, I still look up to them. Patty Ann Green is one of those people. She is a remarkable leader with the ability to take on a lot of different things without dropping the ball or getting stressed out. It was such a joy to have her a sorority sister. I only wish that I was a few years younger so I would have had the privelage of watching her lead as President.

When I saw this precious smile at my sorority house, I knew we had to have her. I must say that my intuition was right on with Sarah Beth...in just a few months Patty Ann will turn over her president's gavel to her. SB and I only really had one year together in school, but we made the most of it. Some of my favorite memories:

• City Cafe Fridays...even though she always got that disgusting english pea salad
• Sunday night computer...she discovered quickly that I loved helping girls with their computer homework. She signed up for two compuer classes during the spring semester and kept me busy each Sunday :)
• Sporting events...football, basketball, gymnastics...whatever the season, she was a dedicated fan. I loved watching with someone who actually knew what they were talking about.

My Mom was in a sorority when she was in college, so growing up I heard lots of stories about her college life. Some of those stories involved a friend named Beth. Imagine my delight during my freshman year I met Miss Anna Smith...daughter of the infamous Beth. Our friendship grew over trips to TCBY, Wednesday lunches and walks around campus. We didn't do a really good job documenting the years in pictures until our senior year though....

Hard to believe that at the time this picture was taken, I had only known Miss Lauren for 4 years. I'm so thankful that our friendship only strengthened with each year. Our senior year, we were pretty much attached at the hip...taking all but 2 of the same classes. During the last three years, Lauren proved to be much more than just a great roomie...she was a dedicated group partner, a BEAUTIFUL Homecoming Queen and a much loved friend.

All Smiles for the Junior Year

Year: 2006
Age: 21
College: Junior

As much as I loved the sorority, I did not enjoy the whole Rush process. Junior year was different though. I traded in my sorority letters to be a Rho Chi instead. I loved being able to help girls through the process of finding a sorority. Don't get me wrong, there were tears, but it was rewarding to feel like I had an impact. There were 80 girls in my group and I was personally responsible for about 25...one of my little charges was Miss Rachel Fowler. I love this girl!

During finals week, it seems like everybody wants to do anything but study, so we took a break to make a tasty study snack. Looks like we created more of a mess than a snack!

I ran into somebody the other day that said they don't like Waffle House. I don't understand how this is possible. I mean, where else can you get good hot food at 3AM? I made many a late night trip to Waffle House during my college career, but the trip to the Gadsden WH after Jessie's debutante ball is one that I will never forget. These girls are the same ones that I had breakfast with at The Waysider that last morning of freshman year.

Confidential to Natalie...Been to any hotels lately?

Sarah Sarah Sarah. She was the perfect roommate for me. When we signed up to live together our sophomore year, we didn't really know each other, but we quickly found that we were very similar. She is one of the few people that got my sense of humor and was the best secret keeper! I don't know what I would have done if she found somebody else to live with those last two years. Thanks for everything, Schmell!

My XXXI initiation was even more special because I had a friend to support me. One of my favorite pictures with my bestest friend. The big smiles are in response to hearing that we would be having the Almond Ball dessert!

Junior year was filled with wonderful times with great friends, but none of those times compare to the birth of my precious niece, Emma Kate. To date, January 19, 2006 is one of the happiest days of my life. The older she gets, the more that day means to me. It's funny to think how such a small baby can change your life forever, but that is exactly what she did and continues to do.

Getting A Hang of the College Life

Year: 2005
Age: 20
College: Sophomore



Hands down, I had THE BEST sorority family! If I was able to re-pick my family, I would pick Julie and Lana every single time. They were, and sill are, so welcoming. What I appreciated even more was the way that they lived out their faith even when it may not have been the most popular thing to do.


I lived in the sorority house the last three years of college, but much of my sophmore year was spent with Trinity, Jessie and April. The little brick house was my home away from home. One of my favorite memories from that year was the Survivan Ivan party....we survived, some of our friends cars were not so lucky. I don't know who lives in that house now, but I can guarantee they aren't anywhere close to being as fun as these three.

The picture that I posted of Lauren and me from last year was a little rough..thankfully we remained friends after freshman year and had many more opportunities to redeem some of those first pictures. Even though we are white as ghosts, this is one of my faves.

All time highlight of the year...D'Nied. What is D'Nied you may ask. Only the best rap group ever to grace the halls of the Delta Zeta sorority house. Yes, we were a one-hit-wonder, at least we had a hit! The five of us were quite a group...Emily, Jenny, Sarah, Laura and Lindsey. It gets me laughing just typing about it. In case you're wondering about our hit...it was written for my best friend, Natalie. She turned 21 and we wrote a rap to celebrate her. Friends, it was a real winner.

We invited Natalie over to the DZ house to listen watch the rap video the morning of her birthday. As you can see from the picture below, she was still so happy she could barely contain herself at her party later that night.

The Start of Four Fabulous Years

Year: 2004

Age: 19

College: Freshman

As a child, I always dreamed of going to The University of Alabama. When it came time to apply for colleges, I applied to UA and only UA. Thankfully, I got in...and so began a wonderful college career. If you started reading this blog before November, then you know that I have a niece that I absolutely ADORE. It seems like every time I see her, she's learned 500 new things. Kids change so much over the course of those first 4 years. The same was true for me when I was in college.

Greek Life isn't for everybody, but without a doubt, it is one of the things that I most thankful that I had the opportunity to participate in. I won't go so far to say that I loved every minute of it. At first, it was a bit of a culture shock. I was used to a class of 72....I joined a sorority with just under 200 girls. I knew I wanted to make a difference, but in order to do that, I was stretched to the limit both personally and spiritually. I'm so thankful for the girls that poured into me that first year. As I watched them lead with care and confidence, I was encouraged to do the same.

Most of the girls lived in Tutwiler...a dorm 13 stories high that houses about 1000 girls. I'm sure it was a great place to live, but I am mighty thankful that I didn't have to call Tut home. With just 3 stories and about 200 people, New Hall was much more my style. I loved the older style and my roomie and I lucked out (for the most part, I'd say we lucked out) and got a suite. The dorm had such a family feel. Sometimes I wish I had stayed there for more than just one year. Here are a few pictures with some of my favorite NH friends. The first is with my roomie, Lauren. I won't go into how we ended up rooming together...Lauren's version is much better...but I couldn't have asked for a better roomie. The next photo is with Jessie and Katie. If I wasn't in my room, you could usually find me with these two...somebody had to make sure their beds got made and their dishes got washed!

Freshman year was really special. I loved meeting new people and developing relationships with them. I can't list all of the relationships that began that year because I know I would miss too many of them. Since I love to play pretend, let's just pretend that I did make such a list. If I did, Beth, Natalie and Jessie would definitely be one it. The four of us lived in the same dorm that first year and just had fun doing life together. Before we headed home for the summer, we went out for breakfast at The Waysider...a special time that I hope I'll always remember.

0-3

Year: 2003
Age: 18
Grade: 12th

It's hard to sum up one of my favorite years of life in one quick blog post. I have so many happy memories from high school, and my senior year probably had more than the other three combined. I don't have time to talk about everything, but here's a snipit...

Volleyball: We may have not been really good, but we had a lot of fun. Besides, we weren't expected to be good...it was our first year. There was something special about being on the first volleyball team for a school that I loved. Volleyball also brought about the beginnings of a great friendship. Love ya, Bek!


6th period physics...oh the memories. Everything from the tiger stamp to the egg drop. The class may have been small, but there was never a dull moment...NEVER. Hard to believe that we're already half way to our 10 year reunion. I remember a day our senior year when we talked about what life would be like for us in 10 years...I wonder how many of those predictions will come true.

The youth group at First Baptist Church hasn't been the same since we graduated. I may be a little biased, but we were a great little group. The guys weren't afraid to be leaders and the girls were always there for each other. It was such a blessing to be able "do life" with them.

After four years of the "friends" picture, we finally look like we like each other in this one!

The fun continues...Junior year

Year: 2002
Age: 17
Grade: 11th

As a kid, I grew up going to my county's Junior Miss Program each year. I even went to the State competition a few times, my favorite of which was to watch my sister. Though I'm far from the "pagent girl" type, I absolutely loved participating in the program. For all of you out there that know someone that is in their Junior year of high school, make sure to tell them to look into Junior Miss!!
Just in case I haven't made a strong enough case for everyone to love my hometown, I'll give you another reason...Todd's Bake Shop. In high school, I absolutely HATED driving. Thank goodness for friends that enjoyed it. Lauren picked me up every Friday morning during football season and we joined about 30 of our closest friends for doughnuts. Nothing like having a doughnut for breakfast and then taking a ride in the Honda, listening to some game day music. This picture was taken one Friday morning, and it's one of my favorite pictures ever. Nothing like blue eyes and beautiful smiles!

The photographer made $180 on this picture. Ridiculous!

Movin on up...sophomore year

Year: 2001
Age: 16
Grade: 10th


One of the things I loved most about being from a small town is that everything centers around the schools. My school had a great athletic program, so the town was especially interested in the sports aspect of the school. As I've mentioned before, we have won quite a few state championships in football. I was in school for two of those...the first of which occured my sophomore year. Here we are in my first period class the day after the victory. Though some of my friends were a little upset that the Superintendent didn't cancel school that day, I thought it was fun to spend the day at the school reveling in the excitement together.

The Smith girls took a trip to NYC over Christmas. We hit all the sights and wanted to finish off the trip with a visit to the Today Show. We made really cute signs out of some of our shopping bags and just knew we would be selected for a quick crowd interview. Imagine our excitement when we arrived around 5:00 Christmas morning and NOBODY was there. We had our pick of where to stand. We debated for about 15 minutes, thinking back to the "usual" crowd shots and trying to find those places. Oddily enough, we were still the only people there at 5:45. We found out why when a friendly police officer stopped by to say hello and informed us that the Today Show was pre-recorded on Christmas. It may not have the national reach that the Today Show does, but I figured if I posted the pic on the blog, at least a few people would be able to see our crative handiwork!

Growing up, I was pretty much a rule follower. I broke out of the mold...slightly...my sophomore year. Here's the proof. Do you see the huge smile on my face?!?! At the time, I thought climbing on the bus and taking a picture was so rebellious.

I will NEVER forget dying my friend Josh's hair during a church retreat. When you grow up in a small town, you learn to have fun in creative ways. Usually that consisted of wandering the halls of Wal-Mart, eating with friends at the local Mexican restaurant or hanging out in parking lots. However, this particular time we decided if would be fun to color Josh's hair red. The only problem was the bottle said it was not for blondes. He was a great sport and didn't even get too angry when we revealed his carrot red hair. It's still up for debate if his mother has ever forgiven us for ruining her son's hair. Since that fateful episode, his hair has never really been the same.

Don't worry...looks like we're still friends.

9th grade...the start of 4 wonderful years

Year: 2000
Age: 15
Grade: 9th

How long did you spend trying to decide what to wear on the first day back to school? Thinking back, it sounds trivial, but I remember looking for the "perfect shirt" the entire summer before I started high school. Why did I spend so much time on that one outfit? I can pretty much guarantee that nobody remembers what I wore on my first day of highschool...besides me! So, here' s the first day photo. I started high school and my younger sister started middle school. This was also the first year that Maggie was around to be in the picture.

High school is the start of many things. Growing up, I always enjoyed my high school's homecoming...the bonfire, floats, the homecoming court all dressed up and a parade with candy. When 9th grade came around and I was finally able to work on a float with my class, I was thrilled. I wasn't the most creative or handy person, but my classmates were, and we ended up placing first in the competition. We weren't so lucky the remaining three years, but we can say that we were the first class in years (maybe even ever) to sweep the standings, as we got 2nd, 3rd and 4th places the following years.


I'm usually a pretty good at saving my money. After all, you never know when you may need it. But every now and then, I find myself spending it on something that is totally not necessary. In high school, I paid $12 a year for these crazy "friends" pictures. I never really liked any of them...and I still have every picture. I mean, who are you supposed to give a "friends" picture to when all your friends already got them?!?! It was a waste of money that the photographers knew we would fall for every year. Everyone knows that if you don't pay the money to be in the picture than you're not popular...so it meant a waste of $48 for me. In order try to make the expense count for something, I'll finish off the next few years with the yearly "friend" picture.

8th Grade Looking Back...So Much To Say

Year: 1999

Age: 14

Grade: 8th

Finally, after three years of waiting, eighth grade was no longer in my future...it was my life. I was finally getting used to being a teenager and the year was pretty fun. So many good memories from that year...it's really too bad that I don't have the brain cells to really talk about them!

I had a great lunch table in 8th grade. Never before or since has my lunch group ever thrown me a birthday party. These folks went all out for my Blue's Clues birthday. Looking back, I don't know why I was such a huge fan of the show...maybe all that baby-sitting. I'll never forget that birthday...a great day of celebration...Blue's Clues style! Don't we look like a fun group??

I've always been an Icee fan. When I was little, we used to always stop at the Tom Thumb to get an Icee before going on trips. So, when my teacher asked a group of us if we would take a photo with some Icee cups so we could win a big Icee bear, I was all for it. The others happily joined when Mrs. Brittain offered extra points.

Anybody want to be a teenager again?? I didn't think so!

Year: 1998
Age: 13
Grade: 7th

Do you remember 7th grade? I do. Academically, it was probably the easiest year, but I did learn a few things...

• Math--Volunteer to answer the ODD questions, because from 7th grade on, the answers are in the back of the book!
• Science--BILL NYE is not just for PBS kids
• English--We started each class with the "Quote of the Day." So, for all of you that have been on the receiving end of the daily quote, this is where it got its start.

Being a teenager was hard. I wouldn't go back to that time of life for anything...ANYTHING! Girls can be so ruthless at that age. I'm so thankful that I had some fabulous friends to get me through to the other side.

Nothing like watching football with a few of your closest friends!

I actually began baby-sitting when I was in 6th grade, but I fell in love with it when I was in 7th grade...and haven't stopped since. I absolutely LOVED taking care of the Tucker girls! They were the most precious kids with the wildest imaginations. I'm pretty sure that one summer they pretended to be kitty cats EVERY time I was there! The Tuckers have added two other beautiful girls to their family, and these two are old enough to do their own baby-sitting, but whenever I see them, these are the faces that pop into my mind.