All about ALI

Our First House

2010-11-01T13:56:00.000-07:00

Well folks it's been a while since I have blogged, sorry been a busy lady trying to plan a wedding and buy a house!!! WE finally found a house together that we love! Well we will love it once we make it our own and get everything just the way we want it!!! Got LOTS AND LOTS of work to do but it will so be worth every minute of it when we are done!!! I took pictures of the house as it looked when we bought it and I am going to take pictures of it as we remodel. Here are a few pictures of it for now!!!

This is the front of the house, love the front porch!!

This is the living room with a wood burning fireplace!!

The large eat in kitchen!!

Master bedroom

Master Bathroom

Bedroom #2

Bedroom #3

Bathroom #2

The unfinished upstairs in the bonus room looking toward the craft room!!

The unfinished up stairs looking toward the guest room and the bathroom will be in the area behind that door!

Me with the pile of carpet from all the bedrooms, that was a hard job!!!!

I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!

2010-04-07T12:13:00.000-07:00

April 2nd - April 5th

I love this picture of us!!!

Donny and I met in Arkadelphia AR for a long weekend since he was not going to be able to make it here in May. He was off for Good Friday thru Monday so we decided this would be a good time to meet in the middle!!! My sister, Linds, and her boyfriend, Wendell, went with me so would could all just hang out and have a fun weekend.

We met around 3 at the Comfort Inn hotel and got checked in and got all of stuff into the room. We just hung out for a while then went to El Mariachi for dinner and then headed to Hot Springs AR for a late movie. We went to see Alice in Wonderland, not my choice but it was a really good movie!!!!! We got back to the hotel and played some games and stayed up late or should I say early, ha-ha.

Saturday morning we slept in for a little while and then went to lunch at Cracker Barrel then headed to Hot Springs. We went to a mall for a little bit then headed up to the Mountain Tower. In the Mountain Tower you go up 1256 feet above sea level and can see out 140 miles, it is so pretty and peaceful up there with all the beauty God has created!!! After we hung out up there for a while we walked around downtown Hot Springs and had a little mini photo shot. Donny was not feeling very well, he was queasy to his stomach (Little did I know it was because he was nervous) but we got some cute pictures from that day!! We went to dinner at Chili’s then headed back to the hotel for a movie/nap, I was tired and fell asleep for a little while, HA-HA.

In downtown Hot Springs next to a little spring!

Right outside the Mountain Tower

We got up Sunday morning and got ready for church, we went to Aaron and Rachel Ward’s church, then went to lunch with them to Little Italy, a really good little authentic Italian place in Arkadelphia, AR!! We had a good time visiting with them. Then we headed back to the hotel for more pictures in our cute outfits and to change clothes. We all changed and headed to the Crater of Diamonds in Murfreesboro, AR for a little fun digging in the dirt!!! Well little did I know this is the place where I would become the happiest girl in the world, speechless, shocked, blessed, and so much more!!! How the proposal happened: Well I was standing up looking at a rock while Wendell was taking a picture of me! Donny was behind me on his knees holding the ring and so Wendell snapped a picture of him too. They all started giggling and I had no clue why so when I turned around he hid the ring and I asked why they were laughing and Donny just told me he found a big rock. So I asked to see the picture but Donny said no let me just show you the rock. Then he pulled out the ring!!! I was so SHOCKED!!!! I asked him if he was serious!!!!!! He said of course I am, will you be my wife and spend the rest of your life with me!!!! It took me a minute to get the word YES out because I was so speechless!!! I had no clue whatsoever that it was going to happen!!!! They had it all planned out, even the sound to make (cocka-cocka) to let everyone know it was time. Linds videotaped it while Wendell took pictures!!! I couldn't stop smiling and still can’t!!!!! We went back to the hotel and all changed and went to dinner at Outback to celebrate. After dinner we went to another late movie to see Clash of the Titians, another good movie. We got back to the hotel and just hung out for awhile before bed.

After Lunch on Sunday

I was shocked and still have the little shovel in my hand!!

Smiling like crazy!!!

Monday morning we got up and cleaned the messy room showered and checked out. We went to lunch at Chicken Express and went out for a little Geocaching!!! We headed back to the hotel to pick up the car and say our goodbyes. It is so hard to say good bye, it sucks!!!!! But soon it will no longer have to happen cause WE ARE GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!! OMG I am still trying to get use to saying that I am getting married!!!

The happy couple right afterwards!!

The "ROCK"

Line Dancing

2010-03-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

SO last night I went to a line dancing class that one of our offices at work is offering on Monday nights. It has been over 12 years since I have line danced but it was so much fun!!!! I am going to try to go as much as I can. Even if I never go to bar and line dance it is still fun and it is a workout too!!!! HAHA I am sure it was a sight to see but I finally got most of the dances!!!

Donny and I

2010-01-08T07:38:00.000-08:00

It is getting harder and harder every time to say goodbye!! I never thought when we started talking in Sept 2008 that it would lead to where we are now. I love him with all my heart and miss him like crazy when we are apart. We get along great and have an awesome time while we are together. He is so good to me and treats me so special and I love him for that.

He drove all day Christmas Day to come visit and we got to have OUR Christmas on Christmas night, which was wonderful!!! He headed back home on Monday Jan 4th, which was so hard for me. I got so use to him being there and now I am back to my lonely little house, so sad. I am going to TX on Feb 12th so that we can spend our first Valentine's Day together. I am so excited!!!!!!

This is a picture of the first time we met in person in April 2009.

This is from the weekend we started dating in July 2009.

This is from his first trip here to TN to meet the family in Aug 2009.

I have more pictures from his trip here but do not have them uploaded yet, sorry!!

My Man!!

2009-12-12T22:44:00.000-08:00

I LOVE THIS MAN!!!!!!!!!!!

Ali-B and Donny-B

2009-08-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

So here are a few pictures of me and my man from his visit to TN last week!! We had the best time while he was here and it was SO VERY HARD to say goodbye!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to head back to TX in Oct!! It is going to be a long 6 weeks. I never imaged saying goodbye would truly hurt like it did on Sunday night!!! I do not think I have cried that much in forever. My little eyes were so swollen from all the crying. Being 12 hours away sucks but he is so worth all the pain I have to go through!!!

Blog Hop - Favorite Photo

2009-07-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Jadyn, she is now 5 and loves to be outside. I love this picture of her swinging!!! I went to visit my best friend Janna and took this picture in July of 08'!!

YEAH SO EXCITED!!!!!

2009-06-11T09:38:00.001-07:00

Yes as most of you know I am heading back to TX on July 4th!!!! Woo-hoo 23 days!!! I am so excited!!!

I am going to spend some time with Donny on the weekends and Janna during the week. I am flying this time and I am excited because I will be there in 2 hours verses 12 hours driving and I got my plane ticket at a good price!! It is going to be way cheaper for me to fly than to drive this go around!!!

I am also excited because Donny is going to be meeting Janna this trip. I know she can not wait to meet him and she is going to ask him questions. Although she said she will be nice!! We are going to all go to dinner Sunday night and then hangout for a while before he heads back home!! I am excited for her to finally get to meet him!!!

I promise this trip to have much more pictures!!!!! I have my handy dandy little camera to keep in my purse at all times!!! :-) YEAH SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!

TX Pictures

2009-04-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

Well here are few pictures from my trip!! I did not take many pictures at all this trip. I was to busy having fun!!

My best friend in the world, Janna!! We had a great time together as always!!

This is Donny-B, he is tall and I cut off part of his head, sorry.

This picture is better, I had to stand on the step to take this one. We had a great time hanging out for the weekend. Lots of good memories!! Can't wait to go back!!

TX

2009-04-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

I am in Texas and having a blast!!!!!!!!!!!! It is going to be so hard to leave!!!!!!!!!!!

Painting Pottery

2009-03-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

So Friday we had a little surprise party for Crystal and went and painted pottery. It was the first time I have ever painted pottery and I love it, it was so much fun!!!! I will go back sometime soon!!! Here is a picture of me holding my before frame and I will add the picture of the finished product when I pick it up Tuesday night.

Vacation Time!!!!

2009-03-25T09:15:00.001-07:00

Well I am finally going on vacation in 11 days!!!! I am so excited!! I am going to visit my best friend in the whole wide world and going to meet a new friend that I have been talking to for about 6 months now!!! I am leaving on Sat the 4^th and coming home either Sunday the 12^th or Monday the 13^th, still not sure on all my plans! I am driving to TX by myself, I will be fine, I have done this 3 other times so far. Just say a little prayer for nice weather while I drive. I am in the process of adding a lot of new music to my IPOD (thanks Joy for my new playlist) so that I will not get bored with trying to find radio stations or changing CD's. I will blog about my trip when I return!! I will have a lot of new pictures too, taking an 8G memory card!!

Ladies and dressing rooms!!

2009-01-09T09:15:00.001-08:00

Please be careful what you say in the dressing room to yourself!!! There is always someone near that can hear if you talk out loud. Last night I was trying on clothes and this lady was talking to herself in the dressing room next to me. Oh my gosh I could barely keep from busting out laughing!!! I had to walk away when I saw her in the store so I would not laugh in her face!! Some things you should just keep to your self when trying on under garments!!!!!! :~)

Hair!!!

2008-11-24T19:54:00.000-08:00

Well I had to do something with my hair, it was getting bad!! So I went to get it colored and cut!! I love it!!!

The Answer is.....

2008-10-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

62 pairs of shoes

SHOES!!! A guessing game!!

2008-09-17T12:24:00.001-07:00

Ok so most of you know I LOVE shoes now!! Well I usually just throw my shoes in the bottom of one of my closets because I could never find shoe racks that would work for my closet that were not just crazy expensive. Well when mom and dad moved they did not need the nice little shoes racks they had because they have built in ones (I really like their closets). So I got the old ones!! YEAH!! Well I say all this because last night I pulled ALL my shoes out of the closet and put my new shoe racks in and then put up ALL my shoes. It is so pretty and organized now. Imagine this I CAN FIND MY SHOES NOW!!! Well I did not realize how many pairs of shoes I really had until I counted them last night. I threw away 7 pairs, put up 3 pairs for a yard sale, and still have…..

This is the pile after I pulled them all out of the closet!!

Wait for it.....

This is the after I put them all up!!

Can you guess the how many???
I am not going to tell you how many for a few days to see if anyone can guess the number!!

Have fun!!

Tip for everyone to remember!

2008-08-23T08:06:00.000-07:00

Ladies (and those others that might use lipstick) NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use your deposit slip to blot you lips!! Yes I had a lady give me a deposit slip in the drive thru with fresh lipstick on it, GROSS!!! It looks as if she had used it earlier then right before she pulled up used it again!! Below is a picture:

In the Heat of the Day!!

2008-08-07T09:20:00.000-07:00

So you hear all these stories of it getting really hot in your car during the day (you can bake cookies on your dashboard and things like that). Well just a little FYI, NEVER leave a can of coke in your car when it is going to be HOT because it will EXPLODE!!!!!! YES, YES I do know this from experience!!! I got in my car yesterday after work and it smelled funny, so I looked at my passenger side seat and there was red everywhere!! It was a can of Chocolate Cherry Diet Dr Pepper (they do not offer this in TN but don't worry you are not missing anything) which is a deep red color and it went everywhere. All I could do was laugh!!!! I think I laughed all the way back to Murfreesboro (I was in Smyrna working). I could not find a car wash that was open with a carpet cleaner so I just went to K-Mart, picked up some carpet cleaner and a towel. I got alot of it up but I am going to have to get them cleaned and still not sure that it will all come out!!! My car still smells like chocolate cherry. So hope you enjoy the pictures and get a good laugh out of it like I did. I still crack up at the pictures.

NICE!!!!!!

This is the can that exploded!!

This is what my front seat looks like now!! It is going to be hard to get out!!

This is my tags that I had sitting in the seat!!

Notice the red little spots everywhere! It was all over the window and all down the door. Oh by the way this is the drivers side door. It shot that far!! I am telling you it was everywhere!

Weekend Get-Away

2008-08-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

So we went to a cabin out near Center Hill Lake for the weekend just to get away and relax. We did not go down to the lake but had a great time hanging out at the house playin some pool, watching movies, and playin some games. Here are some shots of the guys playin pool:

John playin pool

Jackie playin pool

Well on Saturday morning I took a walk and started taking pictures, here are some of my favorites.

I love this picture!! It looks as if I took it at night but it was mid morning.

some random vine hanging down from the trees.

On Saturday night we shot fireworks off. I got some cool pictures because it was so dark out there.

Fun Pictures

2008-07-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you hang out with the kidos all evening!!

4th of July Party!!

2008-07-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

We had a our 4th of July party at John's house this year! We had a blast. I got off the plane from TX and went straight to the party. It was a long but very fun day!! Ricky made this sparkler bomb with lots of sparklers and some firecrackers taped to the outside. If you would like to see the awesome video of the night visit http://rickystyx.blogspot.com/.
So here are some pictures from the night:

The sky was amazing!!

A blue smoke bomb, it was a pretty color!

The sparkler bomb!!!

John on stand-by with the water hose just in case!!

Ricky lighting the sparkler bomb!!

It takes a minute to burn down to the excitement!

This is all you can see once the fuse hit the other sparklers!!!

It happened so fast and this was what was left!!

Trip to TX!!

2008-07-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

So I went to TX to visit Janna, Jeremy, and the kids last week. I flew there on June 28th and came back on July 4th. I had not flown in like 11 years so I was kinda nervous but all was good!! On the way there we did have to fly down into Mississippi around Memphis and Arkansas because there were bad storms that day. It was a rather bumpy flight for about the first hour but I put my IPOD on and watched out the window!! Let me tell you, God's creation is amazing!!! Clouds are so cool, but all so different!! On the way back we had to fly back down into Mississippi because of a bad storm in Arkansas and we ended up having to fly through some storm clouds. The pilot had us look out the window so we could see the huge storm cloud over AR, it was amazing!! I love flying!! My neck was sore because I had my head turned looking out the window the whole trip!

I had the best time in TX!! Janna and I had a great time talking and just hanging out!! I had a great time taking action shots of Jadyn playing soccer. She is so good!! Little Cameron is getting so big, he is so funny!! Here are some pictures from the week!! Hope you enjoy!!

Best Friends Forever - Janna and me!!!

Jadyn and Cameron, we had to do some fun ones to get this picture!

Cameron and Ali

Jadyn at soccer practice. She is good and loves it!!

Here is one of the funny pictures!!

Sweet little Cameron with his tongue out!!

I love this picture of Jadyn swinging!

Fun times on the farm!!

2008-06-26T13:09:00.000-07:00

Well last Saturday after work I drove to Lawrenceburg for my great Aunts 80th birthday party and to get a few things from my grandma's house that I wanted. We had a good time but it was very hard to see my Nanny's house all in an uproar and things missing. I got a few things like: a quilt rack, a cool shelf from the room I always stayed in, some vases, a old Polaroid camera from the early 70's (really cool) and a few other nic-nacks. After the birthday party we all went back to the farm and just hung out. We were all outside with the kids so I decided to pull out the camera. Here are some pictures from the day!

From the left (Birthday Girl) Aunt Jimmie, Aunt Helen (standing), and Aunt Easy. (little Nanny in heaven watching down on all her sisters)

Little Miss Elizabeth, nasty from playing in the dirt but I love this picture!

A picture of my cousins horses and tractors. I like this scenic picture!

Brayden and E-Beth

Random ax in the bushes! In L-burg you never know when you might need to grab that ax from the bushes and use it! :~)

The clouds were so fluffy looking that day, had fun with these shots.

The sunset in between the trees! I love this picture!

Putt-Putt

2008-06-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

So after Ricky and Erica's wedding a few of us went to dinner then to play putt-putt. We will have to go back when Ricky and Erica can join us, I think they had better things to do that night [you know, pack for the honeymoon and open gifts LOL ;~) ]!!!! We had a blast!! We played putt-putt and then hung out in the game room. We found this new game called Bazooka Ball. You get to shoot each other with foam balls!!! It was great!!! Here are some pictures from that night.

I love this picture of me!!

The guys posing with their golf clubs!

All the ladies of the night!!!

The girls team for Bazooka-Ball!! We kicked butt!!

The guys team in Bazooka-Ball!!!

2008-06-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

So here are some pictures from The Crabtree-Stem wedding on June 14th. It was a very beautiful wedding!!!!

Erica waiting patiently to get married!!!

Ali and Erica, I love this picture!!

Ricky getting ready before pictures!!

Erica and her mom (Donna) right after her pictures!

Ricky and Erica after the wedding!! Look at the smile on both their faces!!! How cute!!

Abigail blowing bubbles! She had so much fun with this!!!!

Group shot!

3BC Picnic Pictures

2008-06-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

Fun times at the 3BC Picnic!! Here are some cutes pictures from the picnic that I took!! Hope you enjoy!!

Jackson and John

Anna Grace and Addison being mermaids!

Jackson climbing the rock wall!!

I love this sweet little picture!!!

Blake on his island he made. He dug all the way to the bottom of the sand!

Glasses

2008-06-05T15:33:00.000-07:00

So here is a picture of me in the new specs!! I like them but I have to get use to wearing them.

Glasses

2008-06-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

Ok so I finally broke down and went to the eye doctor today. I have been getting headaches in the afternoons for quite some time now and my eyes get very tired by the end of the day so it was time. I do have to get glasses but only for the computer, reading, playing video games/puzzles, and when I drive long distances. It took me forever to pick out the right frames (that is so hard because they have alot of cute ones out there) but I finally got the one that I liked the best. I can't wait to show you all!!! I will post a picture of me in them as soon as I get them. I should go pick them up Thursday or Friday.

Memorial Day Weekend!!

2008-06-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

Ok instead of me writing the same things everyone else did about the weekend I am just going to give you the other blogs to go read! Please visit Aaron's http://www.pursuingpineapple.blogspot.com/ Joy's http://www.melindaj80.blogspot.com/ Rachel's http://www.rachelbabyrn.blogspot.com/ and Andrea's http://www.rubyreddesign.blogspot.com/ blogs! Hope you enjoy!! I will post a group picture from the weekend soon!!

So here is the pictures of the group right before we set on our way home!!

Think before you speak!!!!!!!

2008-04-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

So have you ever opened your mouth before you thought of what you were saying?

Well I sure did this weekend!!!!

Here is the scenario:
I have a lamp in the corner in the living room that is on an automatic timer. The lamp has not turned on in over five months now. I thought I needed a new light bulb but just keep forgetting to get them. I took the lamp shade off so I could dust it on Friday night (it was bad) and I tired to turn it on but no luck. SO……

Here is the story:
I had people over the house on Saturday night to just hang out and play games. One of my friends had someone visiting from TX and they came over so he could meet the group and hang out. Well right after he walked in the door the lamp turned on. I opened my big mouth and said “WOW you turned my light on!”! I did not mean for it to sound like it did. Everyone got a big kick out of it!! I was SO embarrassed!! I think my face turned four shades of red!!

I am sure he will go back to TX and tell that story. Hey the first time I met this Ali girl she told me I turned her light on. O-well I am okay with people getting a good laugh out of it because I am still laughing about it!!

So be sure you think about what you are going to say and how it is going to sound before you speak (especially when you met someone for the first time)!!!

Things to know!!!!

2008-04-22T14:47:00.000-07:00

THINGS TO KNOW

1. Budweiser beer conditions the hair
2. Pam cooking spray will dry finger nail polish
3. Cool whip will condition your hair in 15 minutes
4. Mayonnaise will KILL LICE, it will also condition your hair
5. Elmer's Glue - paint on your face, allow it to dry, peel off and see the dead skin and blackheads if any
6. Shiny Hair - use brewed Lipton Tea
7. Sunburn - empty a large jar of Nestea into your bath water
8. Minor burn - Colgate or Crest toothpaste
9. Burn your tongue? Put sugar on it!
10. Arthritis? WD-40 Spray and rub in, kill insect stings too
11 Bee stings - meat tenderizer
12. Chigger bite - Preparation H
13. Puffy eyes - Preparation H
14. Paper cut - crazy glue or chap stick (glue is used instead of sutures at most hospitals)
15. Stinky feet - Jello!
16. Athletes feet - cornstarch
17. Fungus on toenails or fingernails - Vicks vapor rub
18. Kool aid to clean dishwasher pipes. Just put in the detergent section and run a cycle, it will also clean a toilet. (Wow, and we drink this stuff)
19. Kool Aid can be used as a dye in paint also Kool Aid in Dannon plain yogurt as a finger paint, your kids will love it and it won't hurt them if they eat it!
20. Peanut butter - will get scratches out of CD's! Wipe off with a coffee filter paper
21. Sticking bicycle chain - Pam no-stick cooking spray
22. Pam will also remove paint, and grease from your hands! Keep a can in your garage for your hubby
23. Peanut butter will remove ink from the face of dolls
24. When the doll clothes are hard to put on, sprinkle with corn starch and watch them slide on
25. Heavy dandruff - pour on the vinegar!
26. Body paint - Crisco mixed with food coloring. Heat the Crisco in the microwave, pour in to an empty film container and mix with the food color of your choice!
27 Tie Dye T-shirt - mix a solution of Kool Aid in a container, tie a rubber band around a section of the T-shirt and soak
28. Preserving a newspaper clipping - large bottle of club soda and cup of milk of magnesia, soak for 20 min. and let dry, will last for many years!
29. A Slinky will hold toast and CD's!
30. To keep goggles and glasses from fogging, coat with Colgate toothpaste
31. Wine stains, pour on the Morton salt and watch it absorb into the salt.
32. To remove wax - Take a paper towel and iron it over the wax stain, it will absorb into the towel.
33. Remove labels off glassware etc. rub with Peanut butter!
34. Baked on food - fill container with water, get a Bounce paper softener and the static from the Bounce towel will cause the baked on food to adhere to it. Soak overnight. Also; you can use 2 Efferdent tablets, soak overnight!
35. Crayon on the wall - Colgate toothpaste and brush it!
36. Dirty grout - Listerine
37. Stains on clothes - Colgate
38. Grass stains - Karo Syrup
39. Grease Stains - Coca Cola, it will also remove grease stains from the driveway overnight. We know it will take corrosion from car batteries!
40. Fleas in your carpet? 20 Mule Team Borax- sprinkle and let stand for 24 hours. Maybe this will work if you get them back again.
41. To keep FRESH FLOWERS longer Add a little Clorox, or 2 Bayer aspirin, or just use 7-up instead of water.
42. When you go to buy bread in the grocery store, have you ever wondered which is the freshest, so you "squeeze" for freshness or softness? Did you know that bread is delivered fresh to the stores five days a week? Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Each day has a different color twist tie. They are: Monday = Blue, Tuesday = Gr een, Thursday = Red Friday = White and Saturday = Yellow. So if today was Thursday, you would want red twist tie; not white which is Fridays (almost a week old)! The colors go alphabetically by color Blue- Green - Red - White - Yellow, Monday through Saturday. Very easy to remember. I thought this was interesting. I looked in the grocery store and the bread wrappers DO have different twist ties, and even the ones with the plastic clips have different colors. You learn something new everyday! Enjoy fresh bread when you buy bread with the right color on the day you are shopping.

Mastercard commercial

2008-04-21T15:19:00.000-07:00

When I stopped to get gas the other day.....

I pick up the nozzle and the whole hose fell to the ground!! The guy next to laughed so hard I think he almost peed his pants. He told me that he wished he have a video camera because the look on my face was priceless. When I went it to tell the cashier he just looked at me very puzzled and said "Thanks for letting me know".

New Mastercard Commercial:

Gas: $41.00
New Gas Hose: $900.00 (I am guessing here)
Look on Ali's face: Priceless

My traveling buddy is GONE!!!!

2008-04-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

Well you know how I THOUGHT the mouse was gone, boy was I wrong!!!

So here is the story....

On Sunday morning I got in my car to go to church, I put my purse and bible in the passenger side seat when I saw a french fry that had been nibbled on which was not there on Saturday night. I was so mad because I thought he was gone. So as I was backing out of driveway I noticed that the trap I set was gone, but then I saw a tail! I slammed on the brakes and jumped out of the car screaming!!!

I have been dreading this day for a long time now!!! There was no one I could call. My dad was at work, brother at his new church, John and Ricky at church, so I had to do this all on my own!! I finally convinced myself that I could do this, Ali just pick it up by the trap and throw it away. After about ten minutes of convincing I finally had the courage to do it. So I got a bag to throw it into and went to pick it up and IT MOVED!!!!!!! I jumped back and screamed, I am sure my neighbors thought it was funny. Everytime it would stop moving, I would go to get it and it would move and I would scream!!

By this point I am shaking, about to throw up, and just plain mad! I grabbed a stick, put the bag in the floor, and shoved it in the bag. I go to pick up the bag and it flips out of the freakin bag!! By now it has been about 20 minutes and I am really mad. All I want is to get it out of the car so I could go to church. I did not want to leave it in there because I was afraid it would get under the seat where I could not see it. So I finally get it in the bag, tie it up, then put that bag in another bag and tie it up. I threw the trap and all in the trash can (lucky my trash pick up is Monday morning).

By the time I got to church I was still shaking and very nausea. A girl should never have to deal with this on her own!! It was so bad but I did it!!

I think my mouse was not a he but a she, it was small little mouse but very very fat. I think it was about to have some babies! Good thing I caught it before it had babies in my car. That would not be good at all!!

I cleaned out my car on Monday, I do not think I have ever cleaned my car so well. I spent three full hours on cleaning. I even cleaned the floor mats!!!

I hope that no one ever has to deal with a mouse in their car. It has been a month long progress, but it is over!!! I may have to go buy me a stuffed mouse because I think my friends are going to miss the little guy but they never had to deal with everything.

Now that it is over, it is a funny story!! Hope everyone gets a kick out of story.

Photography

2008-04-05T07:45:00.000-07:00

Well I have my first photography class Thursday night, I loved it!!!! I got free camera classes with my camera from Christmas. I was the youngest person in the room by about 10 to 15 years, with one of the nicest cameras. This class was an Introduction to Digital, alot of older people with their 1st (point-and-shoot) digital camera. It was cute watching all of those older people learn to use a digital camera.

I learned alot about:
* Primary Applications
* Sharing Electronically - there is another class about this that I am going to attend.
* Editing and Printing
* Using Images in Documents
* Archiving and Cataloging
* Photo Albums and Scrapbooking - different photo sizes.
* Operational Basics - I will learn more about my camera in the Nikon DSLR class on the 22nd.
* Understanding Aspect Ratios - more to come in Digital 1 & 2
* The image size - measuring pixels
* Understanding Resolution - more to come in Digital 1 & 2.
* JPeg - The "Compressible" Format
* Tiff - The "Uncompressible" Format
* Raw - The "Expert" Format - I would love to be able to shoot in Raw one day!!

I can't wait until my next class on the 17th of April, his classes are full but he told me I could bring a chair and join in. I am so excited!! I think I might go to some courses in Nashville sometime soon to learn more!! I really want to learn how to develop my own pictures in a dark room!! Here are just some pictures I have randomly taken:

My side yard the day it snowed!!

I love this picture of Anna Grace!

Jackson is really working with the blocks!!

A pic I took of myself and changed to black and white!!!

Mouse is out (I think)!!

2008-04-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

Well I think my little friend is gone. He got off the first trap I set twice, so I got a better trap, but he has not showed up lately!! I hope he just got out because the other option is the trap and we all know what that will mean!!!

How did it get in my car????

2008-03-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I have two questions; First off how does a mouse get in your car and secondly how do you get a mouse out of your car?

Yes I do have a little mouse in my car. I live next to the woods so I do get them in my garage (never in my house) from time to time. I just can not figure out how the heck it got in my car! Well here is the story of my little friend.

So, one day Lisa and I went to Lebanon to work, we decide to go to the ORIGINAL Cracker Barrel for lunch (Go ahead - laugh my corn maze friends)! After lunch we saw some Jelly Belly jelly beans and both wanted some. So since Lisa bought lunch I bought the jelly beans, original for Lisa and sours for me! We snacked on a few of them then put rubber band around them and put them back in the little Cracker Barrel bag. That night I put them in my back seat with my work bag so that we could have them the next day. Well that next morning when I went to pick them up the Cracker Barrel bag was torn open and my sours jelly beans had a hole in the bag and half of the jelly beans were gone!! The original jelly beans had not been touched!! This was the first signs of my little traveling buddy.

Things my little traveling buddy has accomplished:

- To eat my sour jelly beans

- To tear up a whole box of tissues in my back seat

- To tear up a travel pack of tissues in my front seat

- Put a hole my lunch sack and eat my crackers

- Some how put a hole in a water bottle and soaked my passenger side seat

- Last but not least, he got lose from the trap I set!!!

Some of my friends think this is just hilarious, not so much on my part!! So they have named him, his name is Finnigan but I call him Finn. I am about to go crazy, I want him out of my car before he dies in there and leaves an odor!! If you have any ideas let me know!! Below are some pictures of the little guys adventures in my car!!

Over half of what was left is gone!! That is going to be one fat mouse if it eats all of them.

It is hard to blow your nose with this!!

Merger week - cars!

2008-03-17T08:06:00.000-07:00

Ok so on Monday March 3rd I had to be in Lebanon at 7:00am at one of our new office to be there support help. I decided to stay at my parents house because it cut my drive by about 20 minutes. For those of you who know me well know I am not a morning person, but I did manage to get up at 4:45am on Monday. So I get ready and go to leave but my tire is flat to ground! I had a little melt down and freaked out for a minute but I am so glad I was at my parents house because I ran in took one of their cars and arrived there at 7:00am on the dot!! So the reason I was upset about this is because this was a brand new tire!! I got my car fixed from my wreck and had two new tires put on at the end of February so I would be okay driving to Lebanon everyday. When my dad took it on Wednesday to get it fixed the guys said that they messed it up when they put it on but thought it would be okay. I am just glad nothing happened to it while I was driving!! The owner was not very happy with them at all because he knows me very well and was so upset that it happened to me. They fixed it and everything is good now!! That was a long week but fun!!!

2008-02-29T09:24:00.000-08:00

Okay so we had a Murder Mystery Party back in October and I am just now getting my film developed. Here are some of the pictures from that crazy-fun night! The theme was The 8o's (as you can probably tell from the big hair and lots of make-up).

Very busy with the merger!!

2008-02-26T08:48:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have not posted in a while! I have been really really busy!!!

Training, testing, conference calls, meetings, all day Saturday practice sessions, last minute trips to Nashville for a meeting, all day visits to Lebanon, ATM problems, schedule changes, 10 to 12 hour work days and much more!!

I was involved in our last merger with Pinnacle but not near as much as I am this time! I just found out Monday that I am in charge of closing one of the offices on Friday night, auditing and moving all the money to another location. I have alot of responsibilities with this merger. I really have come to enjoy all of this, it is fun but a little nerve racking.

By the end of March things will slow down. I have met alot of great people during all the training and testing. I will be in Lebanon for the first few weeks in March. I really like the office that I will be with the first week, well I really like going to all of them.

I have spent so much time with Lisa during all of this that we are dreaming about each other. It is really funny!

Okay enough about this, I will get back to normal things come April!!

Welcome to the world of Banking!!!

2008-02-11T10:14:00.000-08:00

50 Things I Have Learned By Being A Bank Teller

1. I know everyone in the world, so I never need to ask for ID.

2. "I'll be with you in one moment," means "Come right up here into my business and breathe your popcorn breath in my face for a while."

3. Every bank in the world steals money from its customers, particularly from the ones that don't keep a transaction register.

4. I'm always kidding when I tell people a check is not any good. I'm a good kidder.

5. I know the balance of every account at the bank.

6. I am at the bank just because I feel like it. My window isn't actually open when I say, "May I help you?"

7. I know everyone's account number.

8. I know everyone's address.

9. I don't understand how banking works.

10. I have to do whatever the person who gave my customer the check said.

11. I don't know how to count.

12. I don't know how to add.

13. I don't know what the date is.

14. I can read everyone's mind.

15. If I ask for your social, Im trying to steal your identity.

16. I know when every new coin will be arriving.

17. I know how much everyones bills are for the month.

18. We don't sell stamps.

19. We are just here for fun on most holidays, we're not really open. We love it when you rub it in.

20. When someone asks how you want your cash back, your suppose to wait until I have it counted it back to you.

21. Apparently people have different definitions of commercial.

22. Your time is more important than mine. I have no life. When you show up 5 minutes before we close to make 10 deposits or open a new account, we don't mind.

23. Everyone with the Bank name tag is related.

24. I am also your secretary.

25. We love to place holds on your checks for fun. We are the only bank that does it.

26. 13 hours and 10 minutes is not enough time for people to do their business.

27. I am in charge of the never ending popcorn, smarties, lollipops, and coffee.

28. It is polite to ignore someone when they say hello.

29. It is my fault when someone cuts you in line. I should have been paying attention to you and not your money.

30. I know what a checkingdepositwithdrawal for savings is.

31. Being rude should make me want to help you more.

32. I am not really human. I should never make mistakes.

33. It is okay to walk into someone's office when their door is shut.

34. I have a secret collection of licenses in my cubby.

35. I can't hear. I need you to ding the bell 5 times in a row.

36. The sign that says "Next Window Please" is just for decoration.

37. I make people wait on purpose. It's fun to make them mad.

38. I know everyone's PIN number to their ATM card.

38. Fraud doesn't really happen to anyone. Therefore, I should give everyone exactly what they want.

39. The coin machine is my favorite thing to do.

40. The bank gives out free poinsettias at Christmas. We order them for you, not the bank. Display only means whatever you want it to mean.

41. Please and Thank You are forbidden words at the bank. We hate to hear them.

42. Checking and Savings deposit slips are EXACTLY the same, we just like all the pretty colors and wanted to make them more colorful. Marking through the word savings changes the deposit slip completely!

43. When I tell someone the same thing over and over, I'm just doing it for fun. I like to waste my breath.

44. We will break the rules for anybody as long as you gripe for more than 10 minutes..

45. I am a professional coin counter. Even when the machine is broken, I will count the coin for you by hand!

46. I am psychic. When you call I can recognize your voice and pull up your information automatically. My computer is voice activated. It's all that fancy technology we have.

47. You don't have to tell me that you've been with the bank for 50 years. I can tell.

48. Even after 5 years, I am a new teller to anyone who has never seen me before. If I've never met you, I have no idea what I'm doing.

49. I make the rules for the banking industry. You can blame everything on me!

50. I'm an idiot.

My favorite is number 48. I get this alot due to the fact I float between all the offices. I love it when someone tells me that, yet I waited on them two weeks ago.

Poem

2008-01-24T09:59:00.000-08:00

I read this poem on a friends blog and really liked it so I thought I would post it also. It just makes you think a little.

I read of a man who stood to speak

at the funeral of his friend.

He referred to the dates on her tombstone

from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth

and spoke of the second with tears,

but he said that what mattered most of all

was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time

that she spent alive on earth,

and now only those who loved her

know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;

the cars, the house, the cash.

What matters is how we live and love

and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard,

are there things you'd like to change?

For you never know how much time is left.

(You could be at "dash mid-range.")

If we could just slow down enough

to consider what's true and real,

and always try to understand

the way other people feel.

And...be less quick to anger,

and show appreciation more

and love the people in our lives

like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,

and more often wear a smile,

remembering that this special dash

might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read

with your life's actions to rehash...

would you be pleased with the things they have to say

about how you spent your dash?

...Linda Ellis

A girls day off!!!

2008-01-22T10:45:00.000-08:00

So What does a girl do on her day off?

Well this gal goes to get her hair done!!! I needed a cut but I also wanted something different! I called my hairdresser and told her I wanted to go dark! She ask how dark, I said just not black! I got there and she kept asking "are you sure?", I told her it is just hair and it will grow out. So we put the color on and it is dark but I love it!!! I told her that I wanted her to just cut it off. My one request was to still be able to pull it up in a ponytail at night. Well she cut about 5 to 6 inches off.

So last night I could not sleep due to the fact that I slept in for the first time in a LONG time: so I had a photo shot with me and my new camera. It was fun!!! So below are some of the pictures.

This is my favorite picture!

Ok yes I was being super silly last night with the pictures but I am trying to learn to use this camera and what better way to learn than to play. Oh trust me, you all are not going to see some of the crazy pics. Whatever, I love my hair. I have to get use to it being this short again (especially when it is curly).

What a bad way to start the new year!

2008-01-10T12:08:00.000-08:00

So Monday after work I was on my way to get my nails done and the next thing I know the car in front of me is at a dead stop. One minute we are going 35 mph and the next she is stopped and bum - I hit her! Everything in my car went flying. The guy behind me did not hit because he had time to get over on the shoulder but when he stopped we were side by side. He looked over, waved, and smiled.

The girl that I hit had her mother with her and she was crazy! She (the mother) jumped out of the car and came running up to mine screaming 'Did you hit us, did you hit us?' I wanted to say no your license plate is lying on the ground and you bumped up a few feet but I did not hit you but I was nice! She was super crazy!! I was trying to find my phone while she was yelling at me so I could call 911. Finally she walked away and I found my phone which was under the gas peddle. So after I called 911 we moved our cars out of the road the woman came running back at me asking me all these questions, 'Do you have good insurance, etc..'. The guy that almost hit me noticed that the woman was a little nutty, so he asked if I wanted him to stay until the cop got there; My answer was "yes the cop might need your statement" I had to be nice because the lady was standing right there. :) He was very nice and stayed even though he needed to be somewhere.

The cop finally arrived and had us pull into a car dealership that we were in front of. The cop got out of his car and was not very nice at all, lucky another cop was on his way to do the report. The second cop was much better! He noticed right off the bat that this mother was kinda nutty. He looked at her car and rubbed something off and I thought the woman was going to attack him for rubbing what looked like a scratch off. He told her to hush because her car was nothing compared to mine!

He returned to his motorcycle to start the report. After a few minutes he called me back to get some more info from me and he said "You look really familiar to me and asked where I worked". I told him that I worked for Pinnacle Bank and that is where he knew me from. We continued to talk as he finished my part of the report, he was a very nice guy! He called the other girl next and did her part, I walked away so that I was not being nosey. Finally he finished!! He called me back over and asked if we had any questions for him, then let the girl and her crazy mother go but I had to stay....

He pulled out his ticket book and my head just dropped. He said "Don't worry honey I am in a good mood today." I smiled and said that's good! So he continued to write the ticket up but he told me that he had not written any warnings today so he needed to get one under his belt before his shift was up. He asked if I could handle just a warning, I smiled real big and said ' I think I can handle that today!' We stood around talking for a little while because they had not left yet. They turned around and were sitting watching us. He did not want me to leave until they left because he noticed how crazy she was. We stood around and she finally pulled off. He told me to have a good night and be careful out there.

So my car is acting crazy now. I had to go to Mt Juliet on Tuesday with Lisa to train some new people, so I left my car at her house and rode with her. We got a call from her husband asking whose car it was because the alarm was going crazy! I had to have mom go over and unlock the car so the alarm would not go off anymore. We laughed about this all day!!! It has been one heck of a week!!! :) Can't wait to see how much this one is going to cost!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! Things will get better!! I thought this was a funny story to post. You all got to hear about my first wreck that was my fault!! Hope you enjoyed!!!

I don't get mad, I just get even!!!!!!

2007-12-28T09:09:00.000-08:00

So back right before Easter some of my friends decided to decorate my house for Easter. They used lots of plastic eggs, some pinwheels, green Easter grass, and lots of post-it notes! I thought it was funny after I played a joke on them. I told them that someone else had cleaned it up and I did not see it. They were all mad, then on April 1st I sent an email that said April Fools and told them that I do not get mad I just get even!!! Below are some of the pictures of my house:

This is the house with crazy post-it notes that I could barely reach all over the windows.

This is the gang who had a blast doing this!! Love you guys!! :)

Oh my little fountain (which we moved back in Nov and found some green grass still in it) !!

John aka "Mr Post-it Man" who got his payback in December!!!

Well John had me water his Christmas tree while he was gone out of town, so I had a key to his house. Perfect opportunity for payback!!!! I use the same eggs, pinwheels, and Easter grass that they use but I had to buy new post-it notes!! Eggs and pinwheels where all around the house and post-it notes covered every mirror in the house!! It was so much fun!!!! I had a little help from some good friends!! Below are some pictures from his house:

Ricky, Erica, and Ali right after we finished!! Oh what a fun night!!

This is his bedroom mirror, see I was nice and left him little notes!

This is his bathroom mirror! That was a pain to make the post-it stay on there because it was like a freakin ice burg in the house!

This is his bathroom sink (both sinks looked like this)

This is me looking around the corner at the Christmas tree. (Note the eggs and pinwheels in the tree)

John thanks for being a good sport about it even though you had company coming into town the next day!! Sorry!! :)

2007-12-20T09:36:00.000-08:00

So... do you ever feel like just packing up and moving?

Well my best friend moved back to Texas because her husband got a church there. This is her third time moving to TX. The first two were so he could go to seminary there but now she is going to be there a while. We got so use to seeing each other while she was here that it has been really hard this time. I am not sure when I am going to be able to go visit her so I am a little sad. In these times I want nothing more than to pack up and move closer to her.

We have been best friends since 2nd grade (which equals out to 20 years). I am so blessed to have her as a friend. I can talk to her about anything and everything! When we call each other it is like we never quit talking the last time, we just pick right back up and start where we left off. It is wonderful to have someone like that! I am truly blessed and can't wait to she her. Here is a picture of us the night before she moved:

I have had three GOOD friends move away in this last year and it sucks!!!!!! I miss each one of them dearly!!! I am going to make my way to three different states to visit this next year!!! I love all my friends and I am blessed to have each one of you as a friend!!

Getting pulled over!!!!!!!

2007-12-17T12:49:00.000-08:00

OK so Friday night when I left work I noticed my head light out. Mom and I went shopping and did not get home until like 11:15pm. I told dad that it was out and I would go get a new light if he could fix it for me. Well he said it might be a few days due to the fact he had to work all weekend. I WAS fine with that until....

I left there house at 11:30pm, I needed to get home and in the bed because I had to get up early for work. Well I was driving home and I passed a cop. I was not speeding or anything, I was being a good little driver! :) Well I did not notice the fact that he turned around until I turned onto Lascassas Pike. He followed me for a while then boom... BLUE lights!!!

He came up to my window and asked if I realized my light was out, I told him that it just happened today. So he asked if there was anything on my license that he should know about(like DUI, suspended, exc..), I told him no sir! Well my took my DL to go and run it through the system and after about 15 minutes I started wondering where the heck he was, I needed to get in bed. I finally spotted him (which is really hard with all the blue lights flashing at night) and another cop had pulled up! I got kind of nervous.

All the sudden they are walking around the first cop car looking into windows with flashlights. I got kinda tickled because all I could think of was that he locked his car on accident. Finally after about 20 or 25 minutes he came back to my car said "Sorry it took so long (with a big grin on his face) I am not going to write you anything but you do need to get it fixed because others might not be as nice as me. Go home, get some rest and have a good one" He was very nice and good looking to, I might add! All I could do was laugh at the fact that I think he locked his car.

Well on Monday morning I get to work I had an email stated 'So you got pulled over Friday night'. It was from a guy that works here who also volunteers at the Sheriffs dept and heard my name over the radio when he called my tags in. I can not even get pulled over without someone finding out about it! :) I thought it was a funny story so I wanted to share it. Hope everyone has a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Some thoughts from Ali

2007-12-11T07:57:00.000-08:00

So it is 74 degrees outside.....

CHRISTMAS is only 2 weeks away.....

I am tired.....

I have to finish shopping....

I have to finish my cards and get them sent out....

Again I say Christmas is exactly 2 weeks from today!!!!!!!!

Cute picture!!

2007-10-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

Last night we had our work Anniversary party at the LP Field Stadium Club House. It was pretty cool there. I had never been to the LP Field before so I thought it was neat. The theme was sports so we all just wore jeans and a team shirt! It was pretty funny to see how everyone dressed. The picture below is Joy, Lisa B (our boss), and me (Ali). I thought this picture was cute and wanted to share it.

Old flings!!!!!!

2007-10-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

Ok so I am at work and this lady comes up with some checks to deposit into her account but they are made out to someone else. Well we now have to see the ID of the person that gave her the checks. This is something new since there is SO much identity theft going on these days. Anyways, the name on the checks caught my eye because they are to a guy that I 'talked to, dated whatever you want to call it' in the past. I informed the lady that she would have to come back with him. She was fine with this and off she went. I got a little bit shaky because I had not seen him in about 8 years. So about 20 minutes later here they come. They pulled up in the 2nd lane drive thur and I noticed him kind of looking at me trying to decide if he knew me. I have changed a little bit since last time. I could not decide whether to talk to him or not but the last time I saw him and did not say anything I regretted it so bad. So I asked him if he remember me and he said he recognized my eyes but not really. I told him who I was and he was like OH OK. He told me that he would like to come by sometime later and talk to me and catch up. I totally forgot to mention that I float and am not always here. I told them here at the branch if he comes by just to call me. Who knows if he will ever show up. All I can do is just wait and see!!

Pictures from Richard and Lauren's wedding reception.

2007-10-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some picture from Richard's wedding that a Derrick took at the reception. He did a great job with these pictures. These are just a few of my favorites.

Here is Lauren's flower's:

Richard and Lauren:

The flower girl (Emma Mae) and the ring bearer (Benjamin).

Richard and Ali

Connie (mom), Ali, and Tommy (dad)

Ali and Linds

Ali and Derrick

Rebecca and Ali

New HAIR look!!!

2007-10-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

So I decided to 'winterize' my hair!! I went for a new color and cut yesterday on my day off!! Here is my hair before:

Here is my hair after I got it cut and colored but straighten:

Here is my hair back to normal (curly).

Jackie did a Great job on my hair and I LOVE IT!!!!

Friends at the BEACH!!

2007-10-02T07:44:00.000-07:00

Oh how I want to go back! I went to Destin FL on Aug 28th till Sept 3rd!! It was GREAT!! I met up with a friend from work: Susan, her family, and some close friends. I had a great time with them. I spent all day Wednesday at the beach and pool, then that night they invited me to go to dinner with them. I was a fried little Lobster by the end of the day Wednesday. On Thursday we stayed at the pool most of the day because little Ethan did not like the 'nasty' water!

From Left to right: Ali, Jennifer, Susan, Bo and Eric who is holding Molly Kate.

Susan and Ali (we are both a little Lobster like)

Ethan at the pool because he did not want to get in the 'nasty' water!

A water spout that Bo got a great picture of from the condo!

Thursday afternoon a friend from out of town, Aaron, came in and we went to dinner then took a trip to Wal-mart to buy groceries for the rest of the weekend . The rest of our church group got there at about 1:15am Friday morning. We all had a good time just relaxing on the beach and hanging out together. We played games till all hours of the night, went to dinner each night, and had devotions together. It was a fun time. I can't wait to go back!!

The gang in Destin, FL!!

The girls one night before we when to dinner!

The boys doing the model poses while waiting at the Back Porch. They are the 'stuff'!!!

I love this picture!!! Beach Angles, that's what we are!!

Ali and Erica, I love this picture.

Beauty that GOD created that's what this is!!!!!

BLOGGING!!

2007-09-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

OK so ALL of my friends are doing the blogging thing so I thought I would give it a try. I am not real sure how often I will blog but I thought it would be fun because I love looking at everyone's blog. Hope you all enjoy.

CARS! ARRGHHH

2007-09-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

So do they have a Head Hunter for buying cars? That is the question of the month. I have the worst luck with cars. So here is my story about my different cars.

The first car I had was a Blue Pontiac Sunbird, a hand-me-down from my brother. He knew that he would be getting a new car when he was 18 so he did not care how he treated this car. So when I got the car it was not in the best condition. The radiator was bad so it would die all the time, no air (or that's what I thought), no emergency brake because he would drive down the rode then pull it up just to have fun. The things we do when we are 16 are crazy. Finally mom decided to get a new car so we traded in mine. So the night before we go to trade it in my dad tells me to go take the car for one last spin around the block. I thought why in the world would I want to that. I was ready to get rid of that car. So I got in it for one last spin and on came the AIR full blast and cold!! The only thing wrong with the air the whole time was that dad had unhooked the fan belt because when the air was on it would over heat the car because of the radiator. Well you would think when we got the radiator fixed dad would have hooked it back up but no he waited until we traded it in!

The second car was a Nissan Stanza, another hand-me-down but this time from my mom. This was a good car! It had air and ran really good, at first. Before I got the car mom was traveling home from Nashville and the car started messing up on her so she did the smart thing and pulled off the interstate and called dad to come get her. Well dad decided to drive the car home even though it was not running well at all. What happened was some belts broke and he got those replaced and we thought everything was okay. I drove the car for about 1 1/2 years until I had enough. This car started dying on me so I took it to the shop and it had a blown headgasett (very expensive to fix). So I decided this time to get a NEW car, no more hand-me-downs.

The third car was a NEW Cavalier. I was so glad to have a new car that I would not have any problems out of it, but boy was I wrong. I had the car for about 9 months and then all the problems started. I would be driving down the rode and the radio would just turn off all the sudden then it would come back on really loud. Weird I know, I thought I was going crazy the first couple of times it happened. So I took it to the shop and it was a something electrical. I thought they had everything fixed but then it happened again. I took it back to the shop, they said the same thing. Then a few weeks later while driving down the rode at night my head lights went out. No head lights at night, not a good combination. The next evening the head lights worked great, no problems. So things like this kept happening all the time. Finally one day I had enough, after I pulled into the driveway and the car died before I got it into park and would not start back up. I think my car was in the shop oh about 30 to 40 times within a 8 month period. The guys at the shop knew me by name at this point. I told the guy that if he did not get things fixed then I wanted a new car because mine was a Lemon (I worked for an attorney and had paperwork already drawn up for this fight). They finally gave me a rental and kept my car for three weeks. They got it fixed this time, for now. Well the car did fine for about a year or so then all the sudden no head lights while driving home from work and they never came back on except for bright but by this time my warranty was up. I had a few different people look at it and could not figure out what was wrong and with the background of the car it was looking as if all my problems were coming back. So instead of paying someone alot of money just to try and find the problem I decided it was time for a different car. So off I went car shopping!

So the fourth car, which is what I have right now, is a 2002 Hyundai Elantra. I bought it used which is the route I wanted to go this time. It has been a pretty good little car for me. I've had the car for almost three years and just now having problems. I drove to Shelbyville to go to work, when I got into town my car acted like it did not want to pick up and go from a stop, so I took it to get the transmission fluid checked and get an oil change. It was overdue for the oil change (about 5 months late) and they said the oil pan was dry and dirty. So after about $80 we finally got everything cleaned out and the oil was good. I had to get this taken care of because I was suppose to drive to Florida for a vacation that I really needed. Well after driving to FL and then back to TN my car did not like me at all. It started shaking 'like a mad woman' so my dad did a "tune up" on it. The tires have what you call cups so he rotated them and changed some other things out too. Well I drove to Smyrna one Saturday morning to go to work and the check engine light came on and I did not think I was going to make it home. The car would not go! My brother gave me his car and kept my car so he could drive it to see what was going on. They tested it at Auto Zone and I had a bad censor. My dad went to pick up the car on Sunday afternoon to fix it and the stupid car was FINE for him. This always happens, dad will take the car and it will not act up for him. He drove it for a few days and the only thing that happened while he had it was it did not want to start for him the first morning and then again that night, but after that no problems.

I am still not real sure about keeping this car because I travel and run around so much that I need a reliable car. I am looking at some different cars right now to see what I want to do. I guess we will see what happens in the next few weeks or months. I will keep you updated! :)