So tonight I had a surprise visitor come to the apartment. I was sitting around waiting for Chris to come home when I got a phone call from our long lost friend Brian Schilling. He was outside of our apartment, but wasn't sure if anyone was home ( I had all the lights off....you know conserving energy). I haven't seen Brian since February when the group of us went out for dinner ( see that blog here). Chris has seen him a few times since then at work and such, but we definitely had not seen (nor heard) from him in FOREVER.
I guess it wasn't a total surprise since we had been texting Brian last night and some today. He got himself a new puppy and sent us some pictures! Too CUTE!!!
Well anyway.... Just wanted to share!! Come visit again soon Brian!!
This past weekend Christopher and I drove to Knoxville to meet up with his brother and parents. We had been talking about getting up to Knoxville to visit Matt since we moved in October, but we just had not made it up there yet. Friday night we went to Soccer Taco for dinner. It was super yummy! We also went by and saw Matt's room. We were quite impressed with the way him and his roommate had the room set up and it was so nice and clean! Matt lives in a building where my friend Nick is an RD. So Chris and I went down and met up with Nick. I hadn't seen him in so long!! It was great to get to catch up a little bit, but we must go visit again so we can hang out with Nick some more!
Saturday Matt's fraternity had a parents/family breakfast. We all got to eat breakfast with Matt and meet some of his fraternity brothers. Matt also gave us a tour of the house. Neither Chris nor I had ever been in fraternity house (Yeah I know we must have been SUPER cool in college), so it was nice to see the "inside" and Matt has really enjoyed his time with his new "brothers" so it was nice to meet some of them too. That afternoon I went out with my Mother In Law (who I love dearly) shopping. It was really nice to get to spend some time with Mom E. and chit chat. The boys went to UT's Orange and White game. The weather was not really cooperating with us and it was super chilly so they only stayed until after the alumni halftime game. Me and Mom E. met up with the boys back at the fraternity house for a grill out before heading back to the hotel.
Since we were in Knoxville I called up my cousin Kristen and we were able to meet up for dinner Saturday night. Chris and I met her and Micah for dinner at Texas Roadhouse.
Me and Kristen after dinner.
It was really good to get to see her (it had been a really long time) and get to meet Micah. Dinner wasn't too bad either.
Micah, Kristen, Me and Chris at Texas Roadhouse.
On Sunday we got up and met up with Matt to hang out with him before we left. We went down to the river walk to hang out and enjoy the sunshine that had finally decided to come out.
Matt, Chris, and I at the river walk.
Brothers.
Dad E., Matt, and Mom E. at the river walk.
After we left the river walk, Mom and Dad E. headed back to Memphis and Chris and I went to McKays with Matt. It was AMAZING! Chris and I cant wait to go back! If you have never been are in visiting or in the Knoxville area you must go.Check out their website: http://www.mckaybooks.com/ . Chris and I are already making our lists of movies we want to look for when we go back. We found "Waking Ned Devine" while we were there and we were super thrilled. I think this is one of our favorite "just kicked back" movies. After we left McKays we went and picked up Kaitlyn and headed downtown to Cafe 4. I have heard they have some AMAZING mac and cheese.....and if you know anything about me I LOVE LOVE LOVE mac and cheese. Unfortunately on Sundays they have a brunch menu with NO MAC AND CHEESE! So Cafe 4 is still on our list of places to try. Chris got their lobster and bacon flatbread and it was DELICIOUS!
After lunch Chris and I (and Opus too) headed back to Huntsville. It was a great weekend trip! We can't wait to get back to Knoxville again. Hopefully next time we will be able to see Jonathan and Megan when we are there next.
We now leave you with a picture of Opus chilling in the backseat of the car with his MSU hat! He felt he needed to represent while we were in Volunteer Country.
Well its been about three weeks since I last updated the blog! SORRY!! Unfortunately I haven't been doing anything too exciting with my time so I really don't have a reason for not blogging. Since our busy spring break we took a few weekends of just rest and enjoyed just being around each other and being in our apartment. Here is some of our updates.
I learned how to effectively use our scanner and managed to upload several "old school" pictures onto my facebook page. I loved getting relive some of those times. I am very lucky to have had such a wonderful childhood and teenage years! Here are a few:
Playing at my grandparents house with all of my cousins!
Me and my cousin Jonny playing with a baby squirrel we found.
Got to love the curlers in the hair.
One of MANY dance pictures. This one is of me and my friend Hollie!
Me and Christopher at his Sr. Prom!
Also during that time our dear sweet family dog, Tootsie, passed away. She was getting old and just passed away in her sleep one afternoon. She was the sweetest dog I have ever met, and it was weird being home and not hearing her bark when we came up to the door. She was a very very sweet dog and will be missed.
Sweet Tootsie!
So last Monday I went to Memphis. I was going to be working downtown for that weekend, and I went to Memphis early to spend some time with the family. On Tuesday my daddy was off work so I got to spend the whole day with him. Then on Wednesday my mom, who was heading to Indiana to visit her sweet friend Iris, stayed in Memphis to attend a funeral for her boss' mother. This means I got to spend the day with my momma and hang out with my Nonna and Memaw. Along with Jennifer and her little girls and miss Chloe.
Here is a picture of me with the three little girls!
Girls Left to Right:
Amelia, Ellie, and Chloe
Sweet little Ellie really wants to come to "Chris' house". When she thought that I was getting ready to head to "Chris' house" she got up really quickly and asked my Nonna to get her dressed so she could come with me! Ellie also had an accident while I was over there and managed to pee in my flip flop. She got so upset when I got ready to leave and was getting ready to put my shoes on. She kept saying " I pee in your flop Lissy! I pee in your flop!". While I didnt care to much for the pee in my flop! I love that little girl! She is so sweet!!
Really I love all three of those little girls! Ellie is just the more animated one so she is the one I get the stories from! I also got to go by and see my Nanny and my aunt Judie and Uncle Bobby. It was really good to spend some time with them, since I dont get to see them very often. I also was able to go have dinner with my friend Hollie (in the dance picture above) with her sweet son Mathis, and the next little one on the way!! It was a great time to catch and spend some sweet time with an old friend.
Chris got to come into Memphis on Friday and we got to spend some time with his family too! His brother Matthew came into town late Friday and we got to visit with him some on Saturday. Also his cousins Jonathan and Megan came into town from Knoxville so we got to spend two evenings hanging out with them as well! It is always so much fun getting to visit with family!
On Friday night/ Saturday morning my allergies decided to act up and at this point I believe they may have flared into the workings of a sinus infection! YUCK! I havent not been feeling well the past few days and my head is so congested I dont feel like doing much of anything! Hopefully this will past soon since we have plans to visit Knoxville this weekend!
On Tuesday morning we had my great uncle Charles funeral. He was great man and will be truly missed. It was amazing to see the number of people that came to the funeral. I was also able to see family that I hadn't seen in awhile. Such a bittersweet time.
Well tonight we have BOOTCAMP! It was great to be back on Tuesday since I miss an entire week last week! After bootcamp tonight we may try to go to the Huntsville Stars baseball game!! That is if I am feeling up to it....fingers crossed!!
This past weekend one of my great uncles went to be with Jesus. In the last 10 or so years I have come to know Charles and I have learned to realize how great a man he was. He will be terribly missed.
While reading his obituary( http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Charles-Heinz&lc=2230&pid=150122161&mid=4627997&locale=en-US ) I learned that Charles was the 2nd artist to record with Stax Records. Pretty cool huh? I thought so! Its crazy how much you can learn about someone once they have moved on. I found this song of his on YouTube.
I couldnt believe that was Charles! I mean Charles was known for his voice and that man could sing his heart out, but I didnt realize that he had recorded a "pop" song in the late 50s early 60s. It was just a really cool thing for me to find.
If you had ever heard Charles sing in church, than you may be familar with the song "The Anchor Holds" I remember riding in the car with my mom and listening to him sing this song on cassette tape over and over. Even at a young age I thought this song was very special. However the song that will always remind me of Charles and that I will always get goosebumps listening to is "I Bowed On My Knees and Cried Holy". The last few nights I have heard him singing that song over and over in my head. They choose to let Charles do the music at his own funeral and they ended the funeral with that song. As I sat there and listened to him singing those words about entering Heaven I just kept thinking that is what he is doing at this moment. Needless to say I got chills and goosebumps through the entire song.
If you have never heard song I have put the lyrics below. I am working on getting a copy of Charles singing the song and once I get it I will post it as well.
"I dreamed of a city called Glory,
So bright and so fair.
When I entered that gate I cried, "Holy"
The angels all met me there:
They carried me from mansion to mansion,
And oh what sights I saw.
But I said, " I want to see Jesus,
He's the One who died for all."
Then I bowed on my knees and cried,
"Holy, Holy, Holy."
Then I clapped my hands and sang, "Glory,
Glory to the Son of God."
I sang Glory to the Son of God.
I thought as I entered that city,
My loved ones all knew me well.
They showed me the streets of Heaven;
Each scenes to numerous to tell.
I saw Abraham, Issac, and Jacob,
Mark, Luke, and Timothy.
But I said, " I want to see Jesus,
For He's the One who died for me."
Then I bowed on my knees and cried,
"Holy, Holy, Holy."
Then I clapped my hands and sang, "Glory,
Glory, Glory"
Then I clapped my hands and sang, "Glory,
Glory to the Son of God."
I sang "Glory to the Son of God".
If you have never heard the song it is amazing! And it was the perfect song to end Charles' funeral since he was in Heaven singing "Glory" to his Lord.
