facial hair or no facial hair?...THAT is the question.

So, I pretty much love country music (shoutout to my George!). I'm occasionally willing to listen to other genres, but my heart belongs to country--I can't lie.

I wouldn't say I'm a huge Tim McGraw fan (Adelia?), but I've seen him in concert and I really do like him. He's talented, entertaining, and yes...very sexy.

If you know me well, you know that when it comes to guys I choose to date, I'm generally not physically attracted to the country type---cowboy hats, twangy voices, "scruffy" faces, etc. In fact, more times than not, you'll find me attracted to the complete opposite---well dressed, clean shaven, etc.

I'm not sure about this one though.

Candy and I watched "The Blind Side" last night (ummm...BRAVO to Sandra Bullock for that Oscar-winning performance!!), and I'm going to be honest...Tim McGraw's clean shaven, "I look like every other guy" look did nothing for me.

Ironic, huh?

What do you think?

vs.

Candy time!

It's ridiculous how long it's been since I've spent time with Candy and her boys! I got to spend the week with them and had the best time with my friend! I also got a glimpse into what it's like to have 2 small children! I love those boys, but I now have a whole new level of respect for Candy, because she NEVER STOPS!

For those of you with children, my hat's off to you!

Here are a few pics from my fun week:

Candy's oldest- Landon (who thought he needed to have a golf tee behind his ear for this pic)...

..and Charlie, Candy's baby...look at that smile!

Ingram Hill on the square in Hernando. At least we got to enjoy it for a little while before the bottom fell out of the sky!

I LOVE SUMMER!!!

better late than never, right?

Somehow my mom's birthday weekend came and went and I failed to post pictures from her fun birthday cookout! How could I?! =)

Enjoy!

3 in 1!

I may never really understand why June is the most popular month for weddings, but for some reason it is. I always say that I'd like to go against the norm... like during one of my 2 favorite months: April or October. (Perhaps I should just focus on finding the right guy before I worry about the month of marriage, though, huh?).

But alas, my parents and both of my sisters decided to get married during this ridiculously hot wonderful month, so I thought I'd give them all a shout out in one gigantic post rather than saying "happy anniversary to a fantastic couple" 3 times in one month.

First of all, we have the little sis and my bro-in-law, who celebrate their 4th anniversary today! Yay!!

Secondly, the big sis and my other bro-in-law will celebrate their 7th anniversary June 7!

Woo hoo!

And finally, the greatest parents in all the land will celebrate their 34th anniversary on the 19th!

Yippee!

Yay for happy couples and anniversaries!

putting things in perspective.

In the past few days, I have:

• gotten upset about my finances
• whined because I'm not happy with my current body weight
• complained about my hair

Yesterday, I found out that a girl who was a KD with me at State just lost her mom to cancer only a few weeks after giving birth to her mom's first grand baby. In addition, a coworker of mine who got pregnant after struggling with infertility for YEARS, just lost her baby yesterday at 38 weeks. 38 weeks.

WHY? Why was that woman's life taken before she got to experience what it was really like to be a grandmother?

WHY? Why did that couple who so desperately wanted to hold their baby girl and experience parenthood, have to go through such an unimaginable ordeal?

While I believe everything does happen for a reason, it's hard to look at these particular situations and understand why they had to happen.

Today I'm saddened for these 2 families and quickly realizing that those things that bothered me a few days ago, suddenly seem so so very unimportant.

Please add these particular families to your prayer list today. And hopefully, you'll look around today and be thankful for the things and people around you, and ignore the things that are not-so-important. I know I am.

Why did I have to come home?

Well....the beach trip I look forward to EVERY YEAR has officially come to an end. Sad. Fear not, though, for I have captured quite a few pics that will help me remember the fun that was had.

I'm assuming, of course, that you want to see these pictures, so here you go!

Girl trip to Orange Beach 2010.

(me, HEGS, Laura Courtenay, and Candi Cockroft)

Lovely view from the balcony. The weather was beautiful...

GTHOM. That's right.
Our first outing...

...and the next night (do I look a LITTLE more tan?)...
and here you have cute, pregnant Heather in her element. (She may quite possibly kill me for this one. Haha).


I'm already ready for NEXT YEAR'S beach trip!!

Here's to the start of summer 2010...one of the many reasons why I love being a teacher!

And this is for you, Katey...

Dear Katey,

Remember when you did this to me?

Well, HERE'S what I have to say about THAT.

Love, LT:)

He won. And I love him.

I love Lee.

all new!

So...how do you like the new look? Thanks to leelou for her professional help! I started feeling a little guilty for paying someone to design my blog, but I justified it by remembering that blogging is a hobby of mine, and in comparison to lots of other hobbies (ex. hunting, scrapbooking, etc), it's a very CHEAP hobby, right?
Other than a few things I want to rearrange, this blog look is here to stay for a while! Want a change to yours? I highly recommend leelou!

Now.... if you'll allow me to get back to my beach trip...:)

sweet, sweet Mom.

Happy birthday to my beautiful, kind, selfless, wonderful mom!

I love birthdays. I love celebrating birthdays with people I love and giving them as much attention as I can on their special day! I could sit here and make a list of a million reasons why I love my mom and why I think she's THE.BEST, but I'm going to actually do something a little different. Instead of ME writing reasons why I love her, I want YOU to leave me a comment telling me why YOU love her. Got it?

Mom reads my blog daily (except for weekends), so on Monday morning she she'll be so excited to see just how much she's loved!

Happy weekend and happy birthday MOM!

700

(This is my 700th blog post. WOW.)

ANYWAY...
No more school for me!

If you need me next week, you'll find me here:

HAPPY SUMMER!

and we have a winner!

Thanks for entering the drawing for the devotional! I had 11 entries (10 people, one of which was entered twice). In past give-a-ways, I've used this site to generate a winner, but today, I decided to do it the old fashioned way. I selected a student to choose a strip of paper out of my hand. The strips looked like this:

1. Tracy

2. Joy

3. Nancy

4. Trish

5. Mims

6. Nikki

7. Katey

8. Julie

9. Bailey

10. Bailey

11. Alison

And the name chosen was:

BAILEY!

Congrats to you! Please email me at LLTomlinson@hotmail.com and give me your address. I'll get it sent to you as soon as possible!

You're going to love the book!

he's gonna win.

Umm. Yeah. I pretty much love him.

This was amazing.

Tomorrow!

I'm drawing a name for my give-a-way tomorrow! If you haven't already entered to win, be sure to go back to this post and leave me a comment!

a "shower" and a birthday!

For a few months now, I've been so looking forward to a weekend with my dear friends Claire and Meredith. As you probably remember, Claire is currently living in Birmingham, and Meredith and her husband are in Texas. Needless to say, it's very rare to actually spend time with these girls at the same time. Claire and I (along with several others) planned to have a baby shower for Meredith, who's expecting little Madeleine in August! She was expected to fly in from Texas last night, the shower was going to be this morning, and then the 3 of us were going hang out tonight. I've just been so so excited about this weekend I could hardly wait!

Imagine the disappointment we felt when we heard that because of bad weather in the area, Meredith was unable to get a flight out of Texas. She called me from the airport last night IN TEARS because after all of the excitement, she wasn't going to be able to come to her very own baby shower afterall! My heart broke for her as I imagined my sweet, pregnant friend crying alone in an airport. (STUPID WEATHER!!!)

Even though Meredith couldn't technically be at her baby shower, we still wanted to do something for her. A few of the hostesses, along with some of Meredith's sweet family members, were able to get on Skype with her this morning and we got to open some of her presents for her to see. I must say, it was bittersweet because I wanted her THERE, but it really was the next best thing.

Here's a picture of dear Meredith at her "shower" this morning.

..and here's a picture of the 3 of us...
We missed you, Mere!!

On another note, my favorite buddy Max turned 4 today! In case I haven't told you lately, I.LOVE.THIS.DOG. He's such a big boy now!
Happy birthday, dear Max!

Give-a-way time!

I've got another goody to give away! I have a nice, unused copy of Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for his Highest"! If you haven't read it, it's a WONDERFUL read and makes a great daily devotional for anyone. (The copy I have, however, is purple leather, so it looks a little feminine--it may not be the best gift for a male!). It comes in the original box, and as I mentioned before, it's never been used!

Want it for yourself OR to give away to someone for a gift?

All you have to do is leave a comment letting me know that you'd like to be entered in the drawing, and like my other give-a-way, if you give me a shoutout on YOUR blog, you'll be entered twice! (In your comment, let me know that you've mentioned it on your blog, so I'll be sure to enter you twice!). I'll announce the winner next WEDNESDAY, MAY 19!

So what are you waiting for??

TGIF!

what's not to love?

I have had to rewind this last night because I loved it so much. How in the world is America going to choose?

I know I can't!