{this moment}.

Snow Day!!

I woke up today to the world outside my window covered in a glistening blanket of snow. 

When it snows in Knoxville, the entire town stops so it was much to my delight that Kara + Creed were home + able to enjoy the day, too.

We bundled up Reese and headed down to the hill (pronounced "he-eel" here in the South!). 

We used a pool raft as our sled so Creed could catch "sick air" and I could lounge in the snow... 

Then the neighbour came out decked out in a lovely camo/bright orange combo with a quad, rope and an inner tube... you want me to do what??

Before I could even process what was happening (in which case I would have politely declined), I was inhaling exhaust + doing donuts...

Afterwards, he informed me that earlier that morning he had his five-year-old granddaughter going twice as fast. Extreme sports never were my thang. 
What with the weather and all, Creed + I were able to indulge in a very seasonal tasty treat! 

I'm excited to post my very first blog tutorial tomorrow on how to make the delicious snack that is in our cups!!

M.F.T. #17: My Sister, Kara.

Saturday, my sister had her graduation ceremony from her Physician Assistant Program at South College here in Knoxville, TN. My entire family was here for the celebration and it was a lovely weekend commemorating Kara's HUGE accomplishment. Master Kara, as I now refer to her since she holds a masters degree that gives her a bunch of fancy letters behind her name, has worked incredibly hard the last 2+ years and all the stress and sleep-deprivation has finally paid off now that she has walked across this stage!

Kara {and all her accomplishments!} are my favorite thing #17. Kara is only a year and a half older than me and while we spent a good portion of our childhood with a line of duct tape down the middle of the room we shared, teenage years with a lock on her closet so I "wouldn't steal her clothes!" and college years not on speaking terms (sad but true.) she has been my rock and the one thing consistent in my life from the time I was born. If I had to compile a list of all the things I needed to thank her for, I would start by thanking her for teaching me how to read. Thank you for holding my hand on the first day of school when Mom sent me to kindergarten at the age of 4. Thank you for cooking Mac 'n Cheese for me after school + thank you for paving a shiny, yellow brick road for me to follow down.

It was because of Kara I joined leadership and Interact, a committee for community service, in high school. It was because of Kara I joined the medical academy that led me to my wonderful career. It was because of Kara I applied for every scholarship my senior year... and won them all. Just like she did the year before!

Kara kept herself incredibly busy in university juggling a full-time job, a full course load and an insanely busy social life but she managed to allot the hours she would normally reserve for studying/sleeping to get involved! She spent her weekends at Camp Boggy Creek, helping kids with special needs! She spearheaded a campaign to get more students to become organ donors and she helped out with the March of Dimes, too!

Getting in to a PA program is incredibly competitive and I was sooo proud of her when she got accepted 2 summers ago! Obtaining a degree at a graduate level is soo hard. It's very demanding and very stressful how quickly they move through the material. Once she survived the didactic portion of her program with flying colors, she excelled in her clinical portion this last year wowing the faculty with her superb skills!

Combining school with pregnancy and then with a newborn is something only Kara would be organized enough to handle + I'm soo proud of all of her accomplishments!!! I never thought after high school that we would ever get the chance to be roommates again but I'm so excited to stay with her (and Creed and Reese!) these next couple of months.  I couldn't be prouder of who she has become and I'm lucky to have her as my first friend. my best friend. my sister!          

M.F.T. #2: 10301 Autumn Valley Lane

I was rather overwhelmed with the list I started to compile after I blogged about Reesey P. yesterday. Apparently, there are waaay more than twenty-five fabulous things in my life and I am having an incredibly hard time deciding how I am going to narrow down my brainstorm. One thing that I know for sure would be included on my list is M.F.T. #2: 10301 Autumn Valley Lane  

This is the Williams residence. Just the street name alone warms my soul! It is in a very quaint neighborhood that rivals Wisteria Lane in picture perfect-ness, except it's on a Rocky Top... this is Tennessee, after all. Every house along their street has a seasonal wreath on the front door and a minivan in their driveway (except the Williams - they prefer a Jeep!)  My sister, Kara and her husband, Creed, bought the house in April and in this short 7-ish months, they have certainly made it into a home. If you close your eyes really tight and imagine what your dream home would look/feel like, 10301 Autumn Valley Lane would be beyond your wildest dreams. It is one of those homes where you walk in and you wonder what's baking in the oven that smells so good (Fooled ya! It's a Butter Cream Cookies Scented Candle!) Everything is engraved with a "W" and everything has a place.  Here the towels (actually) retain the scent of fresh, crisp linen (Kara prefers Gain's Apple Mango Tango) and every room is full of framed pictures of all their memories together. It is the perfect foundation to a family; Reese and her modern forest nursery fit right in! Kara and Creed have graciously allowed me to join them in their little utopia while I figure out what direction my life will lead me in next. I'm hoping that bedazzled, glittery, pink life compass that led me to one spectacular year in Los Angeles has something super stellar lined up in this next chapter, something that's beyond my wildest dreams. 

little bit of childhood.

A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.

JUST MARRIED.

Congratulations to Creed & Kara.

Kara's in-laws had a fabulous wedding reception for them this past weekend. I'm sure Kara will blog about the details but I couldn't resist posting this super sweet picture of the two of the them at the "Honey Do" Shower.

Omaha, Nebraska

I'm not much for sporting events if it's not the Gators playing and even then, I have an incredibly hard time paying attention. I normally manage to redirect my focus on the people in the crowd or cheer for the team with the cuter uniforms completely clueless as to what is actually going on in the game. but... Kara is (apparently) Fresno State's #1 fan so after an incredible night out and morning shopping in Kansas City, we headed to Omaha, Nebraska to catch Game #14 of the College World Series. There were tons of people tailgating outside the stadium I forget the name of...just like Gameday at UF. I would have thrown down my delicious ice cream swirl and joined in if I would have known they were not going to serve beer inside. The only sporting events I have attended this year have been soothed with a $10 Bud Light to take my eyes off my watch (if I wore one) and my mind off the fact that underneath all those pads is a handsome man whose teeth are currently all intact. I wasn't aware that people survived sporting events without the consumption of alcohol but somehow I made it through 9 entire innings and 4 whole hours watching men in tight pants run in circles. I even consumed my first hotdog in 4 years...

out of gas

When Kara and I recently cruised across the country (vertically), we saw lots of fabulous places! We enjoyed a breathtaking sunset over Birmingham, AL. We were pleasantly surprised in Metropolis, IL where we happened upon the birthplace of Superman. We traveled to the top of the St. Louis Arch. She... I mean we... enjoyed a college world series game in Omaha, Nebraska. We made a lot of great memories but quite possibly the happiest place we came to along the way was Christine, South Dakota. While cruising for 700 miles on a straight shot north from Omaha to Canada, Kara forgot to pay attention to the gas gauge and with nothing but fields and tractors for as long as we could see, we came incredibly close to running out of gas. With no other option but to drive until we ran out of gas and me practically having an anxiety attack in the passenger seat, I noticed a sign for a gas pump (NOT STATION!) so we turned off. That's where we came to a place called Christine where we stopped at the mall for a tank of gas. This was no ordinary mall. It came complete with a kitchen, a grocery store, a post office, a bathroom, a hair cutting place, a taxes office and most importantly, a single gas pump. Across the street was a fire department, a liquor store and a park. That pretty much accounts for the entire municipal of Christine...

Final Destination: Los Angeles, California

When I arrived in Tallahassee to pick up Kara, my navigator for my big trip across the country, I arrived with so much excitement I could hardly contain myself. This was my big move. I was really doing this. I had loaded my life into my car and was leaving Florida and the majority of my old life (minus a nursing degree, a roommate, about a thousand pictures and a few boxes of clothes) behind. I'm taking a 2 month break to hang out with Grams in the woods for a bit before completing the last part of the drive to my final destination: Los Angeles, California. I am moving across the country to a place I have never been, trusting that Carly knows me so well and trusting her opinion that I will absolutely love it! My 12-hour day (the first of five long, but fantastic, days of driving) warranted me a lot of time to think and drive half scared, half beaming with excitement. How liberating to be brave enough to embrace such a huge change with not a single apprehension. No ties. Nothing to hold me back. ... except 3 needles and a scare with skin cancer. Before getting on the road, I went in for a routine skin check by the dermatologist Kara is working for and got a real taste of what her internship entails when next thing I know, I'm lying on a cold table in a gown getting injected with lidacaine before three suspicious spots were removed for biopsying... still recovering from the traumatizing experience, I left the office and returned to my thinking chair (the driver's seat of my car) wondering what the hell just happened? I've been seat-belted in for 2 days straight ultra-analyzing every aspect of my life.. how each part was going to dramatically change with me relocating to a new place. Even the time was going to change 3 hours back in my new city. Little did I know the biggest change would be the 3 new scars that grace my skin.

Gateway to the West...

The Gateway Arch

Metropolis, Illinois: Home of Superman

tumbleweed.

tumbleweed.

corn fields of Kentucky

Paint Me a Birmingham

Location: Birmingham, Alabama

April Birthdays

I'm glad we could celebrate the two of your April birthdays together! =)

Hitch Your Wagon to a Star!

Congratulations, Kara! My sister is now an official FSU alumni. Kara graduated with a degree in exercise physiology with minors in psychology and biology. She is entering the real world this January working as a medical assistant at a dermatology office in Tallahassee. Kara has a year-long internship and then plans to attend graduate school to become a physician's assistant.