May 27th

     Unofficially, Memorial day is signifies the changing from spring to summer. It means the pool will open, the schools will let out and it is one more day to enjoy with family and friends. The Federal Government gives the holiday to remember those we lost in the line of duty. I am from a military family (my dad served in the Gulf War and my grandfather fought in World War ll) so patriotism is something that runs through my veins.  Please take time today to reflect on those who died for your freedom.  A moment of remembrance occurs at 3:00pm local time and flags should be at half staff at noon.  They gave all they had to serve and protect our great country. The home of free because of the brave.  

My grandfather when he enlisted at age 17 

My dad and his parents the day he signed his commission

A Very Downton Day

        My entire family is hooked on PBS's Downton Abbey! If you have not watched it I highly suggest you start. As an Amazon Prime member you can watch now the first two season. I began watching it between the first and second seasons. Even the preview gives me the chills! 

      Being home on spring break now and my birthday in April, my Aunts, sister and mom come up with a wonderful idea of a surprise downton abbey tea party to celebrate. I was told we were going boutique'ing in their town and we were stopping by my aunts house to condense cars. My only tip off was how slow my mom was driving and her texting and driving (both are something she hardly does). Anyway we arrived and all four of them plus my grandma were all dressed up ready to greet us. After piecing it all together I was led into the house to change into the outfit they bought for me- of course it included a crown. We than condensed cars and were off to a tea room. We had a three course low tea which included a chi tea, african tea and finally my favorite a strawberry kiwi tea.

Lady Van Thompson and the Dowager 

(mom and grandma) 

                                  

Picking our tea cups. My aunt to the left was coming straight from the hunt! 

 

The aunts and me after tea. 

my birthday tea cake! 

Lady Van Thompson and her daughters 

(my mom,me and my sister)

      The owner of the tea room came to our table to briefly give us some history of tea. It is so interesting how different countries serve tea and what they serve with tea. (The more I learn about the European culture the more I wish to travel abroad.) It was only fitting the I received the first pieces of a tea set for my birthday! The design is Prince Albert Country Roses and I love it! Hopefully I will slowly develop it to become a full set and pass it down to a child of mine in the far future. 

Lady of Glass and myself 

(my aunt who gave me a tea set and myself) 

All in all it was such a downton day!

Color is Magic at The Greenbrier

        The girls went for a spa weekend at The Greenbrier- which is a resort in White Sulfer Springs, West Virginia. The hotel served as a hot spot for railroad owners and other notable families around 1910. During WWII it served as a army hospital and a relocation center for Axis diplomats.After the war Chesapeake &Ohio railway bought back the property from the government and reopened the resort.  Dorothy Draper redecorated and its open attracted many luminaries such as the Duke of Windsor and the Kennedy family. Recently the resort has hosted Presidents, Vice Presidents and foreign dignitaries.  A total of 26 presidents have visited The Greenbrier. The Resort houses a PGA tour golf course, wonderful spa and even a Cold War bunker. 
       

"Color is Magic" - Dorothy Draper 

Main Ballroom- how wonderful would that be for a wedding?! 

                                          

Headed down to the spa! 

Enjoying the relaxation room before treatments! 

    We had a blast! Drove in Friday night and hit the sack. Saturday we explored in the morning and hit the spa for a good portion of the day. I went from a hike in the late afternoon before tea time. After getting cleaned up for dinner we had happy hour and a great dinner at one of the restaurants in the resort. Sunday came too quick! After a quick hike and breakfast sandwiches we hit the road to come back home.

Happy Hour! 

 To have your own girls weekend find more information here!

a little preoccupied

        Busy does not even begin to describe the end of my spring semester. Between classes, sorority obligations, finding a job and the sudden death of my granddaddy I hardly had time to myself. Some days I was lucky if I had time to check my email. Things went from manageable to "ahhh" in the blink of an eye. I found a summer job as a nanny, sorority obligations were filled, finals came and went and I said an extremely hard goodbye. 

   Granddaddy was the closed thing I had to home while down at school. Matt & I went to visit him often, I loved listening to them swap old war stories. His door was always open to me and several times he jokingly asked for rent - I stored so much of my stuff there. Before I came to Ole Miss, he and my grandma would visit every Christmas. Besides being such a help around the house he always read The Night Before Christmas to us. And while growing up they would make a second appearance around summer time as they made their trip up to Lewiston. He will be missed by all who knew him. 

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Momma Moses!

Hope you have a wonderful day, you deserve it! 

What a weekend!

Mom and Dad came for the weekend!

On friday night Matt&I drove up to Collierville to have dinner 

We also popped into my cousins football game... 

we cheered for our lil cheerleader

On Saturday they drove down for the game!

What a game! 

I was so proud of my Rebels for it to be a game and not a slaughtering. 

We tailgated with my dad's ROTC buddies, the Theta's and my extended family

That night my parents treated Matt & I to dinner, 

with it being an SEC weekend the square was packed

so instead I chose a small restaurant off the square 

Honey Bee.

 Matt and I had our first date. 

It was a lot of fun.

Me and the parents!

true blue Ole Miss rebels

Mom and me in front of the Theta house!

the ole miss rebels! 

Dinner at Honey Bee! 

Oh Lily Planner Why?

Thanks to my great planning I am already stressed about next week! 

My Beowulf paper is written-it is in the editing, revising stage

Nutrition and Sociology tests are tuesday

A&P exam is wednesday 

Stats test is thursday 

BUT

to finish off next week my rents are coming!!

I am so excited I haven't seen them since August.

My mom is so cute today she tried to skype with me this morning

She is so excited, it makes me EVEN more excited. 

Ole Miss takes on Bama this weekend... and I will be studying. 

I feel like all I do is talk about school, but it has literally consumed my life. 

Oh the joys of being a nursing student 

Thanks Mom!

    Just a quick shout out to my Momma! She is awesome and my rock. This week I received 3 pieces of mail from home! Getting mail automatically brightness my day and I have to admit with everything going on I was a tad home sick. One of the pieces was a card which made me feel super special, and two were packages, one included some clothes which I left at home (btw I finally finished unpacking... I don't wanta talk about it!) and the second a little care package from "the boys" which was complete with an adorable Micheal Kors wristlet and chocolates! I can't tell you how much I needed this. It has been a rough week and her little signs of encouragement is what I truly needed to get through it.(Saying it is one thing but showing it is a whole other) Between my new role in the sorority plus recruitment along with classes plus homework and finally volunteering in the ER, I have had little down time. What time I do get to relax I am worthless as all I want to do is sleep which is why it has been a week since my last post. Sorry for the one big rant.
XOXO 

Game Day!

I know its about four days late but hang with me while I get my stuff together. 

      The saying we many not win every game but we never lose a tailgate was proven true last weekend. 

I tent hooped pretty much all afternoon, my sorority invested a small fortune on a new tent so it was really exciting to see it! Also we re-did our set up, new stickers, table piece and cups, call me crazy but I love this kind of thing. Matt however didn't understand it so in return we popped over to his fraternity tent. About 100 Hotty Toddy chants and watching the players walk down the Walk of Champions we began the search for my Aunt's set up. It took a little to get their (it is nearly impossible to find anyone in such a mass amount of people) but it is well worth it. Not only did she have the Auburn game on a flatscreen but she had an adorable spread.  

Naturally we took some family pictures! John, my cousin just joined me at Ole Miss this fall. Give it three years his sister Caroline will be an Ole Miss rebel too. I love seeing my family practically every weekend, it really makes Ole Miss my home away from home! 

Not one word about the actual game... I simply don't want to face the fact we lost to BYU 

Beach Bound!!

 Warning: My family needs its own reality TV show! 

      21 people, ranging from my granny to a four year old cousin, in the mix is a bunch of college kids ranging from just starting to just about to finish and my 4 crazy aunts who know how to have a good time. With that said we will be at the beach for the week (Watch Out Corolla) . Most are staying in the "main house" which is the beach house that my parents just bought in April, but this year we have another smaller house because we could not all fit. Just picture the amount of food,(alcohol), clothes and other items the week requires.... it's alot more then 6 cars full.    

      This is a family traditional we start about 5 or 6 years ago and the week has turned into something we all look forward to. I haven't seen some of my cousins since Christmas so it's the perfect time to catch up! We all pretty much grew up together, from toddlers hunting for easter eggs at the Moose to sleepovers at Granny's & more recently watching each other graduate. Most of my childhood memories come from being with this crazy bunch I call my family.

      

So if you don't hear from me for the week it is because my toes are in the sand and I am getting my tan on. 

Super Powers

(Last summer on our trip to Italy) 

I hope that one day (in the distant future) I can hold the same super powers as my mother.

She seems to have it all on lock, she is in tune to everything and can read us (my sister+dad+me) like a book.

Even over the phone, she is in tune to how my sister is doing in Italy, she claims it's the sound of her voice, but secretly I think it is her motherly sixth sense. 

She has this super power that detects when we need her the most

and the scariest "I know you are up to no good" face I have ever seen

But most of all her presents seems to bring comfort and support 

She is a hard ass, a ball of energy, a piece of work
not to mention 

my biggest critic and biggest supporter

Yes, she stresses me out, but that's only because my biggest fear

is to disappoint her. 

  

A Special Place in my Heart

“Don’t forget I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” 

Isla loves her daddy! 

Yes, she is spoiled with love & attention

First time meeting my parents...

his smile says it all! 

First time traveling together and we survived! 

"Be yourself and no one can take your place."

We have been together for more then 6 months,

 so I figured it was time to dedicate a post to the guy responsible for 

making me smile everyday. 

Meeting in the most odd way,

he was literally my knight in shining armor.

I thank God everyday for giving me 

such an amazing boyfriend. 

Gone like a Freak Train

    Gone like yesterday! I am off for a summer at Ole Miss! I don't know what is in store, most likely a lot of studying and heat. While away, Matt picked up another puppy from the human society. Her name is Isla (it is Irish) and I cannot wait to meet her, the pictures of her are adorable. 
   Also this summer I am living in my first apartment! I am super excited and am just might get used to the larger closet. I don't know my roommates all the well, one is a sorority sister and the other is a random. Hopefully, it works out. It is going to be so odd being on campus but not living in a dorm or going to the sorority house. Ahhhh I forgot to mention, I have to cook all my meals, so prepare for me to be sharing my new recipes!       
    

So much is changing so fast, it is so crazy! 

I am Sorry!

       Its been forever since I really wrote, and I am forever sorry. Life is pretty crazy while at home. Visiting friends from high school and catching up, it is so awesome to catch up with people again. It is rare that I am home for such a long period of time so I have seem almost everyone. In the middle of my two week summer, the girls (Kelly, Mom & Me) went to the beach house. We worked on the house in the morning, caught some rays during the days & had happy hour on the beach. It was just what the doctor had ordered. Everything is just so much better at the beach! I have three more days until I depart for Oxford  for two months!
    Putt Putt with Derek, my cousins t-ball game with the Leib Five & my Grammy tomorrow, Sleepover with my bestie &  a Nationals Game with the girls+ dad are going to fill my last days at home. It's amazing how time flies when you are having fun! 
    I will return to Oxford with two days to move into my new apartment and get ready for the June semester. It feels like I am moving in fastfoward yet I don't want to stop! 

Finished!

So I took my last final today! The weight was slowly lifted off my shoulders while I turned in the exam, I like to think I am has relaxed as Audrey...

It is crazy to think how fast this year went by. While packing, I can't help but remember when I first moved in. Ohhh how college changed me! I am so excited for a break to be able to go home. Some of momma's home-cooking and my boys are exactly what I need before coming back for summer school. 

RIP Lily

     I know I have neglected y'all but a sweet little puppy entered my life last Monday. Long story short she was not planned and chose Matt when we went to just look at puppy's. He stole my name of Lily but that is okay because she included me in her heart. It didn't take long before she was house broken and learning how to go up and down the stairs. 
    The title is RIP because this morning we lost our sweet Lily. She wasn't feeling well and when Matt took her out this morning she collapsed. After numerous phone calls we found a vet who would see her. After fluids and being on oxygen we lost her at 8:39. The vet said it was a viral infection that we couldn't detect or treat she most likely caught while at the animal shelter. 

     Today we morn Lily,she will be missed and was greatly loved.   

A little...

Sunburnt! No big deal, considering the rest of the weekend was more then I could have ever asked for.


 Matt and I spent Thursday afternoon in the airport due to delays so we didn't make it to the beach house until 2am. Mom and Kelly excitedly greeted us at the Norfolk airport, tons of screams and hugs! Friday was a slow day, just hung around the house playing games and just enjoying being together. Dad drove down, bringing.... my boys Fred and Barney! I was soo happy to see them, it's odd how much you miss the little things when so far from home! Saturday was my birthday so naturally I spent the entire day on the beach, it was ideal! That's were the sun burn comes in, I went there white has casper and came back with a nice red tint. Matt has it worse, poor irish boy is so red and swollen he barely made it across campus to class! 

Sunday came bringing out weekend to an end. Easter was a blast. We went to the closet church to the house, some Chapel. Our first clue should have been the pro life slide show before the service, second one was the prayer for our Nation's leader's sins. Needless to say I felt like I was at a political rally then Easter service. Anyway the Easter Bunny came leaving a pair of Tory Burch sandals along with Country Strong & a J Crew gift card! 

Manly bonding! Dad and Matt grilled and had a cigar outside.

Sisterly Love! 

It's my...

Weekend!

 Today was a rough day, I had a HUGE speech presentation this morning, 

followed by a history exam (I walked across campus in heels and a pencil skirt during a downpour )
and the my last biology class before the exam on monday!

Slightly stressful day topping it off a three hour rush workshop (Love my sisters!). 

But it's all over and all I have to do now is

 pack and get myself and Matt on the plane! 

Words can't describe my excitement for this weekend! 

So now I sign off until Monday

Hope y'all have a fabulous Easter weekend! 
I am officially Beach Bound! 

Short Week!

 Bad News, it's only monday, good news... it is a long weekend!! I couldn't be more excited to have Good Friday off, it allows me to spend Easter AND my Birthday with my loved ones at the Beach!!  Mom and dad just bought a new house in Corolla, North Carolina. Kelly, my older sister is flying up from Clemson thursday morning while Matt & I join the party later on that night! It truly means the world to me that I am able to spend such a special weekend surround by those I truly care about. Any other big plans for the big weekend?? 

Flights are book!

    Even while down with mono I manage to get something productive done, just call me Ms. Travel Agent!
Matt and I will be joining the rest of my family for the first weekend at our new beach house, it just so happen to match the dates with my birthday, Easter and the week before my dad's birthday (Mom has excellent planning) About a month and we'll be packing bags again! 

 xoxo

Side Note- Vera Bradley Spacer bag is perfect for long weekend. Easy to get through the airport with 

 wheels and the short arm handles, best piece of luggage!