1. It's almost midnight, and I am cooking.

2. I love bow tie pasta. I think it's sassy. Just when I thought it couldn't get any sassier, I found colored veggie pasta. Hello sass-to-the-max.

3. This is my puppy. I love her.

4. I watched this movie last night. I don't think I stopped laughing during the whole entire thing. I would recommend it, on one condition: you don't have a problem with cursing. They're a Southern family who praise Jesus in one syllable and in the next they're using a four letter word.

5. I found an old cross-stitching pattern in my closet and I'm working on it currently. I hope to hang it in my apartment next year.

6. I decorated my graduation cap. Those are my initials in the middle and around it I have the following written: Sullivan Girls Bible Study, Clearwater Beach Summer Project 2008, Lebanon Dream Team 2010, and then three of my favorite Bible verses.

7. This is my niece. She's not allowed to date until she's married. And I will be setting her up with an arranged marriage.

8. These are my parents when they were my age. They were high school sweethearts. It's gross and incredibly cute at the same time.

9. These are the most uncomfortable shoes in the world. I'm currently wearing them almost every day as I head out to job interviews and meeting principals for a hopeful job next year.

10. I don't like uneven lists but I couldn't find another picture to share a sentence about. So I'm just writing jibber-jabber.

Happy Tuesday...well, now it's Wednesday.

a picture is worth a thousand words.

It is a known fact that I have the world's most beautiful niece.

This picture, once again, proves that fact.

I feel like this picture also sums up my Snow Day 2010. You can be on the look out for a few fantastic posts about my snow day and other things, but this certain post sums up a good bit of my day.

My sister had a handful of friends show up to the house so they could leave early this morning for the Wolfpack Bowl Game down in Orlando, Florida. I don't mind our house being full of people, but I was very much looking forward to them leaving so I could spend the day with the books, movies, and puzzles that Santa brought me for Christmas (Cousin Hannah, you may now insert a comment about me being a Black Sheep).

However, when I woke up, I found about a half a foot of snow glittering in the yard.

My sister soon got an email saying that the trip to Florida had been delayed, and she announced that many, many other band kids were showing up at the house to play and stay.

My beautiful, quiet day with music, literature, and entertainment? Yeah. Effectively down the drain.

That's where my beautiful niece, E, comes in.

I know she enjoyed her day. My cousin's blog told me so. So do the cute pictures of her smiling.

On the other hand, Eden loves to shop! Loves the lights and the people and getting out of the house. She makes me proud.

Eden's mama had promised her a great day of After-Christmas-Deals Shopping.

The snow effectively ruined that day for her too.

However, Eden, like Aunt Rebekah, sucked it up, made the twist of plans into something good, and enjoyed herself.

Is she smiling? Or is she unhappy? I can't really tell...

I feel like she's just kind of shrugging her shoulders and saying, "Oh well, we might as well have fun..."

Good girl, E. Aunt Rebekah loves you a lot.

Happy Snow Day, one and all!

Click Me!

So, my brilliant plan wasn't so brilliant after all :(

When you make a draft of something, it doesn't publish on the day that you click it; it publishes on the day that you first saved it. So my Thankfulness blog about my niece went to the bottom of this page.

But never fear! Technology is here :)

If you just click this little link right here it should take you right to the post. That way you can look at pictures and just gawk at her like I do every single day.

Sweet. Glad we got that taken care of.

Miss Eden Caroline (Day 21)

Eight and half months ago, I was at home in Wendell on a Sunday night for some reason that I cannot recall. I was sitting in my dad's green Laz-E-Boy (the coveted chair of the house) watching television with my sister. All at once, every cell phone in the house buzzed, beeped, or rang. Uncle Barry had sent out a mass text to the family alerting us that my cousin, Hannah, had been taken to the hospital because her blood pressure was through the roof. Hannah was just over six months pregnant at the time and they had been worried about preeclampsia for a few weeks. It all happened so fast.

I eventually returned to Raleigh within the next 24 hours.


I then ventured to my least favorite class of my semester and kept my phone on my desk, waiting impatiently for a text to tell me that I was an aunt.

Halfway through the class, my phone vibrated and my mom's text said "SHE'S HERE!!!" That's all it said. No name confirmation, no "Mom and Baby are doing great", no nothing. Just a confirmation that Eden had been delivered. Upon reading the text I let out a shriek and alerted my classmates that my little bundle of joy was here! (my professor, i'm sure, was so excited for the interruption)







But now, almost nine months later, this pre-me baby is a giggling, joyful, pudgy little girl that I could just eat up.



Not to brag, but she loves me the most. She absolutely lights up when I come in the room. I'm sure she's simply mirroring my joy, but still, it happens.



How can anyone not love this most precious little girl? I mean, her big, beautiful eyes...







That most adorable nose...


Or her heartbreakingly gorgeous smile...






I met my family at the gate at my final student home football game and got to kiss on Eden for a bit. The family (Mama, Daddy, Uncle Barry, and Hannah) kept pointing at me and were saying, "Look Eden! Who is that? Eden, look!" When her eyes finally connected, she started breathing heavy and giggling and pointing. I think she was as excited to see me as I was to see her! I absolutely adore that little girl. I cannot wait to watch her grow up and spoil her rotten!






She is honestly one of the most beautiful things that I have ever seen--and I have encountered serious beauty in my years and in my travels. Her smile lights up a room, she has the most beautiful blue eyes and the sweetest smile. She's going to be my flower girl whenever I get married. She is going to absolutely take Wendell by storm with that smile of hers, or where ever else this life takes her. She's also as stubborn as can be. Her personality also dazzles everyone she meets. I'm afraid to think of the day that she goes to kindergarten, or when she graduates from high school, or goes to her senior prom...


*THUNK*


I just died.





EDEN STAY SMALL FOREVER!

AUNT REBEKAH CAN'T STAND THE IDEA OF YOU GETTING ANY BIGGER!!!

Finally! Pictures!

Here is my Senior Year so far in photographs.

FALL RETREAT

One night at dinner, the most legit group of people sat down around me, and it was the best meal that I've had in all four trips.

All of my girls, grandgirls, and great-grandgirls that were at Fall Retreat.

This is my definition of joy: having my surround me.

(P.S. This isn't half of them)

BARN PARTY

One of my "step-girls" Megan.

(There's two junior studies on West Campus. I have mine and then I adopted another while their leader is studying abroad. I love them like they're my own but they're only on loan.)

Sarah Beth is one of my closest friends in Raleigh. She's a Meredith girl and neither of us remember how met, but I know that I'm sure glad that we did.

My baby girls, grandbabies, and great-grandbabies that we could wrangle up in five minutes.

Okay. I know that this is a very unattractive picture of me, but I have a point.

PHOTOBOMBING IS ONE OF MY BIGGEST PET PEEVES EVER.

No seriously. I scrapbook and have a million picture frames, so to not be able to frame pictures because of some disrespectful idiot in the background pisses me off so bad. Jason and I had literally spent five minutes wrestling Alecia to get a good picture and I was so aggravated by this point. Now if you photobomb once and then move so I can get a good one, that's fine. Whatever. I'll put up with your immaturity for one picture. But seriously, grow up people.


FOOTBALL

(L to R) My Hannah, My Kelsey, My Rachel, and My Lauren at the Western game.

(L to R) My Lauren, My Kelsey, My Hannah, and My Sami.

RESTORING CLASS TO AMERICA PARTY

Okay, I need to explain this one. A friend of mine threw a "classy" party. He and his roommates had canopied their back yard in twinkle lights, they had Michael Buble and Louis Armstrong and the like blasting from the speakers. They had candles lining the sidewalk and sparkling cider in the flutes. Everyone was dressed in their best and some smoked cigars and pipes and IT WAS one of THE BEST PARTIES OF MY COLLEGE CAREER. I am not even kidding. If I hadn't gone on two summer projects, it would surpass anything that I know.

Alecia (a former Oasis girl), Suzanne (another Oasis girl), and Brittany, "B.Knox" Knox (another of my step-girls.

And also, since this is my blog, so I can show off whatever I want...

Drum roll please...

MY NIECE EDEN :)

I feel like I should explain this. Eden is my cousin Hannah's daughter. My family is super close and just love each other a lot and so we decided for my generation to be the next generations "aunts and uncles" instead of just cousins.
So this is my niece, and I'm her Aunt Rebekah.

Does she not have the SWEETEST smile in the world? She is honestly one of the happiest babies I have ever known. And she just LOVES to smile for the camera.

This is Eden with her other great-grandmother, Granny T. Eden and I share Granny P, not Granny T. But I just love this picture of her...my little diva.

She's all sweet now, but little Miss Personality is coming all full force by the minute!

Eden's mom loves to take lots of pictures of her and so she decided to do a pumpkin photo shoot. I didn't think any of the pictures came out with the smile that I know of her but this one just shows her off! Cute as a button!!!

I went to go visit Eden about a week ago as I was heading back to Raleigh from a weekend in Wendell. I dont' get to see Eden much since my life is in Raleigh and her life is in Wendell (and I had also spent about 1/6 of her life in the Middle East), so I really wasn't expecting her to be comfortable around me or give me some good smiles. She had been under the weather so I wasn't expecting her to be a very happy little girl that day...BOY WAS I WRONG! I walked in the door and smiled at her, and she gave me the biggest smile! She immediately reached out to me and we played for the next thirty minutes. I "ate her belly" and she just laughed and giggledand smiled. We read the Wolfpack book together and I also read her the Colors book (she just loves pink, purple and green, just like her Aunt Rebekah!) She even showed off some of her rolling and crawling skills for her favorite aunt. Now, Eden is a baby that never. sits. still. (I wonder where she gets that trait from? Hmm...) However, a couple of times I picked her up and she just laid her head on my shoulder and just sat there for a bit. For such a go-go-go! type of baby, I considered this a big deal for her to trust me so much as to relax on me and just give me some love. It was a great day. She is just too cute for words.

Other than this, my life is filled with Student Teaching and topped off my cooking, Bible Study-ing, and sleeping. But hey, it's a good one.

happy spring!

it's beautiful outside.


but nothing, and i mean nothing is as beautiful as this little girl :)

I'M AN AUNT!!!

I'M AN AUNT!!!

Eden Caroline Hopkins was born on Monday, March 1, 2010. Although she is about 5 weeks premature, she is completely healthy. She was born at 3 lbs, 12 oz and is just as beautiful as can be :)

As soon as I learn to post pictures to this thing, I'll see if I can help y'all out a bit.

I haven't met her yet since she's in the ICU (not due to health problems--just a precaution because of the premature birth) but I'm hoping for Monday!

Yay! I'm an aunt!

Oh. And although I've talked about Eden's arrival for forever, I have felt recently as if I have had to explain this to everyone: Eden is Hannah's baby. Hannah is my older cousin on my mom's side. Due to the age difference between Eden and myself, and also because of the expected amount of involvement I will have in her life, and the fact that Hannah is an only child, I'm Aunt Rebekah. That is just too fun to say :)