Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Oh what fun the Johnson/Sterling clan had in Pigeon Forge this weekend! We stayed in a cabin Friday and Saturday night together and no one was pushed down the mountain, so the trip was a success.

Our fun Friday was filled with some great shopping prices at Tanger Outlet stores and lots and lots of go cart racing. Did I mention that I don't like go carts? The fact that my own safety is in my hands just kills me, although I was not a fan of just watching either. So I participated and had a lot of fun! I didn't always come in last place either. We ended our Friday night with carryout pizza and a LONG trip up the mountain to find our cabin (scary). Not to mention we participated in some good almost clean family fun night in playing Tapple (thank you Bobby Bones). Although a few punches might have been thrown no one was killed, so there's a plus. 

Our Saturday was even more fun filled! We had pancakes for breakfast made by Ben and thanksgiving lunch prepared by Heath and Regina and Mallory and maybe Ben too I don't exactly know. Ham, Turkey, dressing, noodles, macaroni and summer sausage all make for a great lunch. 

 We got to have a wonderful photo shoot out on our balcony which the boys just loved! Regina had us coordinate and all wear our Ivory Ella shirts that help save elephants! These comfort colored shirts are cute and go to a great cause.

Up next on our Saturday Agenda included this awesome Alpine coaster all through the mountains. you control the breaks yourself so watch out bumping other people! Austin and I just happened to have a woman and her child in front of us so we didn't get to go as fast as we would have liked. But it is still a super fun and beautiful ride through the mountains!

After some arcade games in Gatlinburg and the hilarious moments of Heath, Macey, and Mallory taking an old time photo, which i'm not allowed to post on here because of their embarrassment, we set off on a tour around Gatlinburg to see some... Drum roll here... CHRISTMAS LIGHTS. 

I didn't get any great photos, this was the best I could do! To busy trying to pay attention to everything, also my phone is terrible. After I get to go to Opryland hotel I can officially mark "see Christmas lights" off of my holiday bucket list! When our Saturday night fun was over we were all pretty pooped and just wanted some sleep! This weekend was was one for the books and I absolutely love starting new traditions! 

Thanks for reading about my family fun filled weekend! 

Yay for almost Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays! 

"It Isn't Even Thanksgiving Yet"

Christmas is my absolute FAVORITE time of year. It's actually all I can think about lately. I'm obsessed with decorating and putting up lights, watching movie classics, listening to Christmas music, and all the wonderful holiday food! Therefore, with it being November 18th I have officially created my Christmas 2015 Bucket List. Here's a picture:

I don't have the prettiest handwriting and I tend to get a little fast with writing and misspell words, but that is beside the point. With all things I enjoy doing around Christmas time, most importantly Jesus is the reason for the season. Everyone needs to remember why we are doing all this in the first place. To celebrate the birth of Jesus! Why can't Jesus have a birthday every month? This weekend I get to go to Gatlinburg, TN with all of the Johnson/Sterling clan and I am so excited to cross "look at Christmas lights" off of my list! Also side note, I'm thinking of sharing one of my persuasive speeches from senior year on why Santa Claus is real, That should be interesting. 

Thanks for reading all of my before Thanksgiving Holiday Cheer. 

Mom's Birthday

Since November 2nd on Facebook I have been posting countdown pictures to my Mom's birthday and today is THE DAY! She may not look a day over 25, but mom turns 50 today! You can imagine how she is dealing with that, so I am gonna try and make her day a whole lot better!

Because I started with November 2nd, I have 15 pictures to countdown to November 16th. If you know me at all, you'll realize I tried to include myself in most of these pictures. From day one with my mother to now 19 years later, she has helped me through it all! 

She has been by my side with my 15 crazy dance years, my hating or should I say "disliking" of my younger brother stage, stupid boy stages, and a selfish teenager stage which she might tell you i'm still going through, but I would have to disagree. 

 I'm 19 years old and already can't wait to be a great Mom just like her one day! Love you SO MUCH! 

Cole and Charlie of course had to be included too. I know they love mom just as much as me and appreciate everything she does for them! I don't know how I got to be so blessed to have brothers like them! Mom also has yet to look any different in these pictures right?    

To move on to someone whom I know loves my momma the most, it would have to be my Daddy. Mom deserves all kinds of credit for having to put up with him for 20 years! I have no idea how you do what you do mom. haha

Our crazy family is still going strong after 20 years of having to put up with each other. None of us could have done it without mom keeping us all together. We love you SO MUCH! 

Happy 50th Birthday!  

B-E-A-utiful Weekend

Fall, Fall, Fall is here! Most definitely because the weather is B-E-A-utiful. Also because my weekend included a Fall Festival, a wedding, and some good ole deer hunting. That's right I went hunting with Austin and enjoyed my time spent with him in a crammed deer stand. Let's start with Friday night though. Austin and I took Hayden and Carter Smith to Hayden's Fall Festival at Simpson Elementary. (I forgot to take a picture though, darn!) Each game would cost you one ticket to play and we enjoyed getting to see Hayden have what seemed like the time of his life. Getting to see all my little dance babies running around and playing games, and Hayden saying. "You know them too?" Also Mr. Barnum was in a dunking booth and that was a sight to see as well. Let me admit I was ready to get out of there, Austin and I found ourselves fibbing that there weren't any tickets left to hopefully get away from the crowded rooms of screaming children.

Since I forgot a picture of me, Austin, Carter, and Hayden here is one of the end of my driveway. Ain't my scarecrow cute?

Saturday night was a night of some very cold weather and me not being able to feel my fingers. That however was all cured by the sight of what was a B-E-A-utiful wedding. The Sextons say I do was one for the books and after having so much fun doing the cha-cha slide and taking pictures in the photo booth we were pooped!

  Did I mention I bought some cowboy boots as well? I have just been all out of my Grace comfort zone this week.

Sundays are super fun days. This one especially. I had all of my homework and cleaning done that I needed to be done, so I was convinced to go deer hunting with AJ. After dressing in the the warmest camo I could find we set out for the deer stand. Every step Austin just couldn't help but to tell me I was being too loud, but I was making just as much noise as he was! It wasn't too cold up in that stand and I had games on my phone to play, binoculars to look out of, and Instagram pictures to post!

Of course the first time I go hunting with Austin of the season he shoots his first buck! Must have been the fact that I was there right? It actually took all I had to not tell that deer to run as soon as we saw it. I was secretly hoping Austin wouldn't kill anything because I didn't want to witness the death of an animal. He had to shoot the thing twice just because it wouldn't stop moving. It was really super sad. The buck itself isn't the prettiest one you have ever seen. One side of the rack is but the other is super messed up, he was a hoss though. We had to drag him with the ranger because no one could pick him up. Not even Cole!

Believe it or not, I stuck around for the gutting of the deer. I would post a picture of that but I suppose  i'll spare your eyes. It isn't actually as gross as I thought it would be. More like interesting to see the anatomy of a deer all up close and personal. So maybe everyone needs to go out and try something they wouldn't normally do. My new experience was the perfect ending to a B-E-A-utiful weekend. 

Sight to See Motorsports

We use to laugh at the idea of Austin saying he was going to participate in a derby with Nathan, then it became a question of is he actually going to go through with this, and finally after what feels like a year, it's all over. Long nights and early mornings in the shop working on his car is all it took for me to not be so fond of derby's. It may sound selfish but this took away from my Austin time and worrying about Austin in a derby is not what I signed up for. As time drew near for the real thing to occur I pretty much became completely annoyed if anyone brought it up. Question after question and this constant talk of it drove me crazy. I mean I have danced for 15 years and I don't talk about it that often. But Austin is truly into this whole thing and really seemed to care about it a lot and doing a good job was important to him. So i kept quiet (kind of) and I got over it, which I can proudly say now that it is all over. Which leads me to the day of the derby.

 

On October 9, 2015 Austin competed in a derby in Sturgis, KY. I have to say I actually enjoyed my weekend playing the part of a derby girlfriend. Although it is very nerve racking when people crash one car into another and it is not often looked at as a good thing unless you are in this demolition world. Austin however claims to have not been nervous at all, he definitely wasn't as you could tell by his constant pacing, antsy feet, and stubby finger nails. That didn't stop him though and for his first derby he did pretty well. (Let's all take into consideration I know NOTHING about derby's) I don't know exactly when he broke his stick or how long he even stayed in. I do however know he wasn't the first one out. It all went by incredibly fast and I was super nervous for him, not as nervous as his mom I might add, but extremely nervous that something would happen to him. He went SO fast, it really seemed as if he wasn't even hitting people but driving around in circles at full speed. He even hit Nathan because he was so excited to just go for it. The scariest parts of his driving included me seeing his hand out of the window, free for anyone to smash into, and his front end completely up in smoke. Which has something to with him using his front end too much instead of his back end and his bumper going into his radiator, which went into his fan, which touched the motor? See, I might just know what I'm talking about? Kidding.

All in all, Austin and even I, had a really great time with the actual derby day. As for him participating in another one? Lets just please not talk about it.

  

      

Tigers Meet Wildcats

Can I just say what a great weekend it was? My family from Herrin, Illinois came to visit and watch Cole play some football! We hadn't seen them in at least a year maybe two. During Cole's game it poured down rain the entire first half and we ended up losing to South Warren but besides that we had great family time the rest of the weekend! Our rainy Saturday was cured with a little Franklin shopping and DQ ice cream. Nothing could hold us back from having a great time.

  We were still missing many of our family and favorite cousins, including Whitney and Brandon. All weekend we couldn't help but think how much more fun we would be having if they were there too!

Even though I'm not in these, everyone once again was amazed at the size of Cole who is the youngest in this picture, but you'd never know that. 

Of course no Franklin visit is complete with out a trip to spray paint road or some good entertainment from Aunt Lori and her rock band game. Hate to see everyone go back home, but that just means until next time. Love every one of you! 

Here Comes Santa Claus

It may only be September, but I am not trying to go broke all at one time right before Christmas. So yes, I have already started shopping! One thing I love about Christmas is surprises, I'm not a fan of already knowing what I'm getting. Be creative! You know me and everything I like, creep on my Pinterest page! Although in order to get what is needed a 2015 Christmas list is in order! So check it twice people because I spent way too much time on this.

1. Cricut Explore Air: This thing will make awesome decals and custom cards too! Plus its all wireless from your phone or laptop.

2. Hobby Lobby Gift Cards

3. Paint Brushes: Big or small! I really just need some nice ones, I need some 1in or 2in ones and then just small ones.

 

4. Wire cutters, Hammer, Tape Measure that match in color? That sounds weird I know, but i use these alot. I really just need like a basic tool set haha
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5. Black Leggings you can’t see through and that don’t have the fold over waist band (I like kohl’s leggings)

6. Cheap , Cute rings, watches, studded earrings etc.

7. LONG Necklaces 

8. NO SHOW solid grey, black, or white socks

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9.  Satchel Purse: Macy's has really cute designer ones 

10. Moccasins 

11. Beats Pill or something similar, Wireless portable speaker, shower speaker, or IPod doc

12. Vests with matching long-sleeved shirt! SIDE NOTE: I like long lengthier long sleeves shirts not short in length 

13. Monogrammed Necklace

14. Lokai Bracelet (Clear) 

I know all of this may seem like a lot, but a girl wants what she wants. Am I right? Happy Christmas Shopping! Remember there are only 92 days, 10 hours, and 38 minutes till CHRISTmas! 

Always Wanted to be a Blogger

When scrolling through Twitter and all other things social media I can't help but notice how limited I am to what i can say, length wise. People get all judgy when you make more than 2 posts a day on Instagram and Twitter limits me to 140 characters. After constant debate with myself and wondering if I'll have enough time, and after a few motivating words from the Emily Nation... here i am. Your typical 19 year old girl with a lot to say about all of her favorite things.