Life and the pursuit of...love!

I want to first apologize for the length of this post...sometimes I get long winded, and with this one I definitely did :) But, I hope you enjoy the read!

Most girls begin dreaming of marriage, kids and all that entails at a young age. They think about growing up, meeting their prince charming, being a beautiful bride, and then starting a family. Some dreams are big...some are small. No matter how large or small the dream is, it is still something that goes on from a young age.

Sleepovers, notes in class, talks in the hallway between class...they all are leading up to this dream of love that girls have. We giggled, we laughed, we oohed and ahhed, we cried, and we planned. But, does the "dream" turn into reality? Most definitely yes...and no.

I always dreamed of the prince charming. The guy who would sweep my off my feet, make me breakfast in bed, bring me flowers for no reason...all that mushy romantic stuff! Then...I grew up!

My "love" life was a rocky road for a long time. In fact, though I thought I was in love several times, I really never was. I was content. I could do as I pleased, go where I wanted and never worry about anyone else but me. Well, in a relationship, that isn't how it works! But, I was young and didn't know any better...blah blah blah...

Then came September 2004. I was in school at WSCC and met Charlie. He was one of the instructors  of the class I was taking. Though he wasn't my specific instructor, they took turns teaching so I had him a lot because of the days I went to class. I was also on the rescue squad at the time and decided to switch shifts to the be on the truck with my instructors. It was great being on shift with them because I could study, ask questions and get hands on instruction with the equipment we had at the station.

During the nights at the station, Charlie and I began talking. We talked about class, religion, politics, people...everything. We found out we had a lot in common. We liked the same music, movies, foods, and had a lot of the same views on religion, which is important to both of us. After a couple of weeks of talking in person, we began talking on the phone...for hours at a time. Fast forward...

December 3, 2004

After late night talks, dinners, cooking together, meeting family - everything that goes with the "whirlwind romance" - I married my prince charming on December 3, 2004; this was approximately 2 months after our first real "date." 

Now, remember I said that "prince charming" would make me breakfast in bed and bring me flowers for no reason...yeah right! We were married on Friday evening and back at work/school Monday morning. But, we were happy and very happy to be together.

In May 2005, we found out we would be adding two little feet to our family :) This was the plan from the beginning and we were very excited! So, life went on with work, family, doctors appointments, etc...

James-Charles Lawson Williams
January 19, 2006
7 lbs 12 oz * 19.5 in long

Wow, life changes when you have a baby...but it's all worth it! I won't bore you with the details, but if you have had a baby, I am sure you know! Now...let's skip to 2010...

Lawson * June 2010 * 4 years old

My unrealistic expectations of love have gone, but they have been replaced with reality which is much sweeter than anything I could have dreamed! I now have a "Love Is" list and will share it with you in a future post :)

I like to take picutres...

I don't just like to take pictures...I LOVE IT! I am not, however, a photographer. Sometimes a creative genius comes out, but not very often. But, after the snapshots are taken, I do like to get creative with the editing. I have played with Photoshop a lot, and like it, but just don't have the use for an expensive program. So, I went in search of a great editing program that was free and found...PhotoScape! It is free to download and has some of the Photoshop features. I use Picnik online, but really like having a downloaded program for when I have my computer but no WiFi :)

My sis and her new baby boy...I love their faces :)

Irritated...*Update*

Last week I worked on my blog for hours to get it just like I wanted it. I found the perfect background, the coordinating banner, and customized my fonts/colors so it would all be the same. I think it looks great and it is just what I wanted!

Today, I click to look at my blog and make sure my latest change is there. Once my site loads, there is a note in the top corner from "The Cutest Blog on the Block" - where my background and banner came from - saying my background will disappear from my blog on Friday, July 23 and to click on their banner for an explanation. It also says if I don't get through the first time to keep clicking because of the high volume of users. So...I click. The site takes *forever* to load and then comes up saying it is down for maintenance and should be up in the next 2 hours...really?!?

Normally I love their website but now I am doubly irritated...my blog that I worked so hard on will disappear tomorrow and I can't find out why!!!! Grrrr....

*UPDATE*

Ok...I was finally able to see on their site what is happening and have everything fixed! Photobucket is shutting down their account and they have moved everything to their own server...thank goodness! I was able to change part of the background code and now I won't lose it :) Man...I was about to panic!!!

Happy Birthday in Heaven, Sister

Today would have been my middle sister's 23rd birthday. We lost her November 24, 2004, due to a car accident. I am sure she is watching over me, our sister and brother, and her two nephew's from Heaven. So, Happy Birthday Nikita! I love you always :)

Crazy...wonderful...LIFE!

Wow...it has been a while since I updated! Life has been crazy, but wonderful! In the past couple of months I found out my stepson is gonna be a Daddy again and will be marrying a wonderful girl, Siara :) Lawson has had some more problems in daycare so we removed him and are now attending therapy so he can begin Pre-K in September. I became the aunt of an adorable little guy who already has my heart wrapped around his tiny finger! And these are just the biggies!!!

Becoming a Ya-Ya (that's Grandmother in Greek):

Wiley and Siara told us about a month ago they will be welcoming an addition to the family in early February 2011. Their original plan was to get married in May 2011, but they have decided to move that to September 2010 so they can readily prepare for their precious gift. I have been working with Siara to plan the details of her first big day, becoming a wife. I am excited for them and very happy to welcome her into our family!

Lawson - my sweet little man - my hyper little man: 

Lawson continued to have issues at daycare with hitting and not listening to his teachers. After a meeting with the directors and teachers, we decided to give it a couple of weeks to see if we could get things under control. But, that didn't last. Due to, what I believe was their lack of desire, he was removed from daycare almost two weeks ago. Luckily, it has not been an issue for childcare as I have a wonderful family so willing to help! I also think in the long run, that will be what was best for Lawson.

We have found a new therapist that is very skilled in working with children Lawson's age. We see him once a week and, at this time, he has not specifically diagnosed Lawson with ADHD, but will in time. We know this is the issue, we just have to make sure we specify it correctly. In the meantime, we will continue to meet with the doctor once per week, and figure out how to help Lawson be more aware of himself and his surroundings.

Becoming an Auntie:

On June 30 at 4:01 pm, I became an aunt! Jeremiah Jachob De'Quan Johnson made his appearance into the world. He weighed 6 lbs. 13 oz. and was 19 5/8 in long with a head full of black hair! I was so blessed to be with  my sister as she gave birth to this little guy. It was amazing to watch a new life come into the world and see her face the first time she saw him. Her pregnancy was hard and, at times, I wasn't sure she was ready...I could not have been more wrong. She has become a different person in the past two weeks and is an amazing little mommy...JJ is lucky to have a mother that loves him so much!

Life - what an adventure:


Other than the big things, I continue to run the shop in Dandridge. I love it so much better since we moved from Jefferson City. I am working on setting up a Vintage room and hope to have it open by early August.

I celebrated my 28th birthday on June 20 and decided I wanted to teach myself a new skill...so, I bought the "I Taught Myself Knitting" kit and off I went. I am doing pretty good so far...if I do say so myself! I have made a baby hat and, though it wasn't great, it turned out pretty good. I am working on one for JJ now and hope to have it done by Saturday for his first pictures :)

Charlie is working a lot lately and I have been working on some other things, so we haven't spent much time together...hopefully after summer life will slow down and we can take a couple of days to do some family things. We are going to the beach in October and I am pretty sure that cannot get here fast enough!