Morgantown Christmas Parade 2011

When I heard an announcement on the radio for the 2011 Christmas parade in Morgantown, I immediately marked it on my calendar (set a reminder on my phone).  Kerriann is a huge fan of parades and I knew that she would love it!  

It was extremely hard to get her to stay in her stroller and/or sit still, but I think the outing was a success regardless!  

When the bands started to march past I decided to let her get down because she wanted to dance so bad. She was trying to dance in her stroller and I was afraid she was going to tip it over haha!

She was also a huge fan of the candy they were throwing.  Most of it was not age appropriate which was a rough point in the night, but I tried to distract her by telling her that there would be a few M&Ms waiting for her at home if she was a good girl.

Kerriann even loved the firetrucks as they drove by blaring their sirens.

When it was time to go home, she cried and begged to stay longer.  If it had been a few degrees warmer, we would have stayed until the end, but after 45 minutes my toes were numb and I knew hers must have been too.  We just happened to be in the right place at the right time, because as we were walking to the car we passed Santa and one of his helpers on the street.  After accepting a few pieces of chocolate from them, we were on our way home.  Hopefully there will be another parade to take Kerriann to sooner rather than later!

Fall Bucket List: Photoshoot in Leaf Pile

Finally... I can mark the first item off of our fall bucket list!

Today Kerriann and I stopped in Woodburn Circle on our way home from church to snap a few pictures.  I have seriously been slacking the past month.  It seems like every day that we are free it rains, or something else comes up so we can't get outside and play.  We were only out about 20 minutes (didn't want to get towed from where I was illegally parked!), but I got a few cute ones that I'm happy with considering the circumstances.  Hopefully we will have a chance for a REAL fall photoshoot sometime in the next week or two.

College Gameday Craziness

If you're in any way connected to WVU or college football, you've probably already heard the big news.

ESPN's College Gameday is officially in Morgantown for this weekend's game vs. LSU.

I probably won't be around much the next few days because a lot of friends who I haven't seen in ages are coming into town, so I just wanted to give a heads up about where I'll be.

Looks like life in Morgantown is going to get pretty crazy.  People started camping out on the Mountainlair green earlier today in hopes of scoring a good location for when coverage starts at 9am on Saturday.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.... LET'S GO MOUNTAINEERS!

The Mountaineer's Journey

This week has been a busy one for us.  I've finally started packing for the big move next week.  It's been hard to get motivated, and Kevin has been gone a lot which I think adds to my lack of motivation.  I decided that my plan of attack would be to pick a room and start with the easiest items, so I began to conquer our bedroom first.  The majority of the "stuff" in our room consists of clothing and books, so I began sorting through them and labeling boxes that should stay in storage until we get to our next house, and things that should be unpacked for use in Morgantown.

As I was sorting through the shelves of books, I came across a book that was a gift from a friend titled "The Mountaineer's Journey Through West Virginia."  I know I read it as soon as I received it, but I honestly couldn't remember exactly what it was about so I decided to open it up and take a peak.  The first page I happened to open it to was actually the last page of the story.  It read "Finally, the Mountaineer made it back to Morgantown and WVU's beautiful campus.  He was happy to be home!" and I couldn't help but think about my own journey.

It's crazy to think about how I left Morgantown so abruptly in 2008, not knowing what was in store for my life.  It all happened so fast that I really didn't have time to think about if I would ever be coming back.  Months later I know that I had moments of sadness when I thought about the fact that I would probably never hold the title of WVU Alum, even though I felt that I would always be a mountaineer at heart.

I continued to read... "As he rested comfortably in his bedroom, he thought about what a wonderful vacation it had been.  He was proud to be a West Virginian." This sentence also seemed to parallel my life. 

There is no denying that the past few years of my life have been wonderful, despite the ups and downs.  It has been a long road, but I AM proud to be a West Virginian and I cannot wait to take those country roads back to what I will always consider my home a week from today.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to live in both Alabama and Maryland for a period of time, and I wouldn't trade my experiences living out of state for anything.

The final lines of the book read "The Mountaineer was ready for another year of learning and cheering the Mountaineers to victory.  Holding a football, he thought, "Let's go Mountaineers!!!"

And as I read those lines I couldn't help but get excited for what the next year has in store for me.  As sad as I am to be saying goodbye to Kevin, I feel like our lives have led us to exactly where we are supposed to be.  Things have fallen into place and I know that this temporary separation is going to be beneficial to us both.  It will give me a chance to finish my degree, and it will give Kevin a chance to gain some very valuable experience that I know will help him reach his future career goals.  God has decided that this is the right path for our family, and I am trusting him and trying to view this deployment in a positive light.

So with this newfound peace I feel ready to start off where I left off as a WVU student and tackle 12 credit hours this fall.  Please continue to keep Kevin, Kerriann and me in your thoughts and prayers during our move next week and as we adjust to life in our new home.