Happy 3 Year Anniversary Jesse!

On this day three years ago, Jesse Haywood asked me out over text message. I never thought we'd still be together today, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Today, Jesse took me to lunch at Demos'. I ate a delicious Greek salad while Jesse had spaghetti. After we ate Jesse gave me his anniversary/Christmas present.

Beautiful, isn't it?

It wasn't easy getting this gift though.

Jesse wrapped put it in a shoe box because I told him the one thing I didn't want was shoes.

Inside the shoe box, Jesse put my present in a shoe!

Clever boy!

I gave Jesse a very nice Nike backpack that he can use in college but I never got a picture of it, darn!

Well anyways, this anniversary means a lot to me because I would of never have guessed that I would be in a relationship this long, let alone be in love at 17!

Jesse and I have been through a lot and have experienced a lot of things together so I'm going to share with you some of the photos Jesse and I have taken over the last 3 years.

This is the very first picture we ever took together.

This picture was taken the first time I went to Jesse's house.

This picture was taken on our 6 month anniversary.

This picture was taken the first summer Jesse and I spent together. This was also the first time I went to the lake house.

This photo was taken on the first 4th of July we spent together.

This was the first photo taken of me and Jesse in our uniforms.

This photo was taken on our first Halloween together. I was a football player and he was my reff :)

This photo was taken on our first new years we actually spent together. My first new years kiss!

This photo was taken at the baseball bonfire our Sophomore year.

This was our favorite photo back then. We are always goofing off!

This photo was taken at Young Life camp at Sharptop Cove.

Junior football season!

This photo was taken when Jesse helped me paint my room.

This photo was taken on PJ day for Basketball homecoming.

Junior basketball homecoming attendants.

Junior prom!

This photo was taken at the prom after party.

This photo was taken on one of our many trips to Columbia.

This photo was taken during the second summer we spent together.

The cutest photo we've ever taken together. :)

This photo was taken after we saw the play Hairspray.

My first round of senior pictures.

Senior year football season.

and this is us today!

What a long, crazy, and amazing journey this has been. Jesse, you have been what makes me smile and what keeps me going. You are always there for me, no matter what.

To the world you may be one person, but to one person you are the world. I love you Jesse.

Well anyways, keep me in your prayers as I continue with performance, basketball games, and the horrible waiting for any information on application to UTK.

sooooo..

The Last Two Weeks!

I'm sorry for the long leave of absence, but life has been so busy I have barely had time to get on the computer!

To start off with, last week started our Christmas performances in AristoCats. We performed for the Women's Club on Friday.

After our performance, Samantha, Heather, and I played around at the Imagination Station.

We had fun ;) CHOO CHOO.

On Saturday the 3rd, The AristoCats held their annual fundraiser, Breakfast with Santa. Breakfast with Santa consists of breakfast, a Christmas concert performed by the AristoCats, and meeting Santa. It was a long but very successful day. :)

It's a happy day for all, not just children.

On Sunday, I attended the Christmas party for my Bible study group where we played dirty Santa with earrings.

These girls are absolutely wonderful and I am proud to be a part of this group.

The next week consisted of a gaggle of performances with the AristoCats and a few basketball games.

Needless to say I was exhausted by Thursday.

On Thursday came a delightful surprise.

Kiley Grace Dornon arrived :)

Kiley Grace is Jesse's sister's baby girl. She is a very healthy and beautiful baby.

On Friday the AristoCats had their Christmas concert at the high school. After the show everyone went to an after party at my lovely friend Heather's house.

Me and Heather's boyfriend, Alex, had a wee bit too much fun.

On Saturday the AristoCats performed at Cumberland Caverns. The performance will be aired on PBS sometime soon. Details later.

On Sunday, Jesse and I put up my Christmas tree and watched T.V. all day. It was a very relaxing day, something I really need.

Be with me this next week as I continue to have performances with the AristoCats, as well as basketball games and finals.

This week is sure to be a tiring one.

Sooo..

Thanksgiving!

So this weekend was Thanksgiving weekend and it was filled with the usual things; family, food, and football.

Thanksgiving is the day to give thanks, and this year I was most thankful for all of my family being home.

Along with my family, here are a few other things that I am thankful for in my life.

The first thing I am very thankful for is my friends.

We might not always get along, but I know we are always there for one another. These girls are what keep me sane. I love them!

The second thing I am thankful for my parents.

The last thing I am thankful for is my siblings.

We always fight and most of the times we cannot even stand to be in the same room with each other, but at the end of the day, we do love each other. Not matter what, we'll always be family.

Well, this week starts Christmas season in AristoCats with our first performance on Tuesday. Breakfast with Santa, our annual fundraiser, is on Saturday. What a long day but fun day that is.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention. When I arrived home on Wednesday, I was greeted with a bright red envelope from Belmont. This bright red envelope contained my acceptance letter!

Here I am all smiles with my acceptance letter. Woohoo!

Now all I am waiting for is a letter from my first choice school, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Right now all I can do is hope and pray I get in.

Soooo,

No matter what I do, they still shower me with love and encouragement. They have never once told me that my dreams are unattainable, but have always told me to keep pursuing them. I am so thankful God has blessed me with parents who never look down on me, not matter what I have done. They are amazing.

The Weekend.

So this weekend stared off with Friday being Veterans Day.

In honor of it being Veterans Days, this is what my friends and I saw walking down Jackson Street.

Everyone meet Abe Lincoln. :)

On Saturday, my cheer team and I competed in the TSSAA State Cheerleading Competition. We competed against 9 other teams around Tennessee and placed 4th.

What made the competition so great was that Mary got to come to it because she was home for the weekend.

After the competition, Lizzie and I headed to TAG camp. This year at TAG camp, Jesse's brother, Jacob, was the speaker. He spoke about boundaries and he did a fantastic job.

The first night of TAG camp we had to dress up in our favorite team swag. Naturally, I dressed in my Manning jersey.

Later after playing Apples to Apples and telephone in our cabin for about 4 hours, the seniors decided to roll the camp.

Sadly, our youth leader, Brandon, caught us and made us clean it up before anyone got to see it. But oh well, it was fun!

These are my best friends. The experience at TAG camp really made us realize how much we needed each other. I love these girls.

On Sunday, I went home from TAG camp and spent the day with Jesse and his family. We went and saw Adam Sandler's new movie, Jack and Jill. Although not my favorite Adam Sandler movie, it was still pretty funny. It's Adam Sandler, how could it not be?

After an exciting weekend, I came down with what I think is Strep and had to stay home from school all day. After not being able to eat normal foods all day, I got some good news. I received my first acceptance letter. It was from Tennessee Tech.

This is me all smiley with my first acceptance letter!

Now all I have to do is wait for replies from Belmont and UTK. At least I’ll have something to occupy my time because my last season of cheering basketball games start tomorrow.

Soooooo,

Drew and Ellie Holcomb Concert!

Tonight, instead of our regular YoungLife club, we held a Drew and Ellie Holcomb concert at the South Jackson Civic Center.

This is Drew and Ellie.

Drew and Ellie Holcomb are christian artists that everyone fell in love with while at YoungLife camp at Sharptop Cove in Georgia.

This is me and Jesse with Drew and Ellie after the concert. Jesse bought one of their CDs and got them to sign it. I'm going to have to borrow it sometime!

Here is my favorite Drew and Ellie song!

And here is my favorite little girl in the whole world, Adeline. She is my young life leader, Jennifer's, daughter and the absolutely LOVE her. She is sooo precious!

Anyways, I have a busy weekend ahead of me. On Saturday my cheerleading team competes for a title at state. We have been working very hard and are hoping to bring home a BIG trophy. Also on Saturday, after the competition, I ahead to TAG camp for two days. TAG camp is a youth church retreat held at Kings Cross. This year Jesse's brother, Jacob, is our speaker and we're very excited about that.

Well, pray that my cheermates and I do well at our competition!

Halloween Weekend!

Well, this weekend was a super busy. With it being Halloween weekend, it made it even busier.

On Friday, the football team and the cheerleaders had an away football game in Lawrenceburg. Even though the temperature was unbearably cold, we came through with a win at 41-14.

It was also the first game that Jesse got to play in since his injury back at the beginning of the season. He was all smiles after the game :)

On Saturday, my friends and I decided to dress up as the Spice Girls for our National Honors Society Halloween Party.

I was sporty spice, Natalie was scary spice, Olivia was posh spice, and Bethany was baby spice. I thought we looked very spice girls!

Our costumes went over very well with our peers, but the parents had no idea who we were. We won the popularity vote in the costume contest, but not the parent vote. Oh well!

On Sunday, I woke up bright and early to accompany the Haywoods on a trip to Columbia for Jesse's sisters, baby shower.

While in Columbia I got to see my best friend Madi.

This is Madi; she's Jesse's cousin and my best friend :)

I wish she lived closer, I hardly ever get to see her, but no matter how far apart we are, we're still best friends.

When we returned home from Columbia, Jesse and I decided to carve the pumpkin we had bought a couple weeks back.

Jesse made me do it all by myself, he was no help at all :p

It was my first time carving a pumpkin, but I think I did pretty well. It's the red angry bird from the angry birds game :)

On Halloween, I spent the day with my mother taking a few photos. We spent quite a while taking them only to find out later that the camera was sort of broken and all of the pictures turned out blurry. Even though most all of them were blurry, we did manage to get one or two good ones. This one is my favorite.

That night Jesse and I dressed up and went trick or treating for the last time. We took my little brother, but he just slowed us down because he can't run due to a football injury. Even though Evan slowed us down, we ended up with a fair amount of candy.

Overall, this weekend ended up being a wonderful weekend. I really enjoyed spending time with my girls, my boyfriend, and his family. I also enjoyed going trick or treating for one last time, definitely memories I will always keep with me.

Pray for me this week as I anxiously await to hear something from The University of Tennessee, Tennessee Tech University, and Belmont. Lets pray that all my hard work has paid off!


But for now,