#4 - Check (War Eagle!)

I LOVE Auburn (as if you didn't know that already) and there are many reasons why. I have sooooo many great memories in Auburn that started when I was a little girl. Every Saturday in the fall our family would pack up the Astro Van and head to Auburn for gameday. I can remember countless tailgates in front of Funchess Hall. Years later I ended up being a student and experienced "The Loveliest Village on the Plains" in a whole new way. The absolute best year I had as a student at Auburn was 2002 - 2003 when I lived with 4 amazing girls in a fabulous house on Gay Street. I still have days where I would totally move back to that house again if I could. Since we all graduated and moved off to other cities, started families, etc. we don't get to see each other as often as I would like, which is why I decided that #4 on my list this year would have to be a reunion with some of these great Auburn friends. A few girls were unable to make it, but it was still great to visit with Katie, Mary Laura, Sara, and Traci. Last Saturday we met at Sara's house in Montgomery for lunch. We got to catch up and play with everyone's kids. It was so good to hear what has been going on with each of them.

This is us together at Sara's (From left: Mary Laura, Traci and her little girl Amelia, Katie and her little boy Chase, Sara with Dawson, Davis, and Baby Kate who will be here in June, and me).

After lunch, Mary Laura and I headed to Auburn for the afternoon. We got into town and made a quick pitstop to tour our old house (thanks Whitney for letting us walk through). Then we made our way to Toomer's Corner to see how the trees were doing (still standing strong for now). We walked around downtown, browsed some shops, and sipped on Toomer's lemonade. Then we headed to dinner at one of my all time favorite places... Niffer's (Home of the used to be $1, but now $1.50 beer and the best homemade chips and Mexicali dip). I spent the night with ML at her family's lake house and then headed back home on Sunday. It was a great weekend with old friends and a special way to start my Spring Break.

#5 - One Check

Another thing on my list is going to concerts. The first one I have been to this year was on Tuesday, March 8 here in Birmingham. I am a HUGE fan of Hillsong, especially since we sing lots of their songs at church, so when I heard they were coming to Birmingham I was super excited. I have never been to a concert like this before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was blown away and blessed by such an amazing worship experience. The atmosphere was incredible as I stood among thousands of other people who shared one common goal... to worship our Savior.

I was thrilled to share this awesome night with my sweet friend, Lauren, who loves Hillsong like I do!

#30 (Movies) 4/15 - Check

As part of my list I chose 15 movies to watch this year that I have never seen. I have now seen 4 of them, and I thought you might like to hear my reviews.
1) First up was Psycho. I got the old one from the library, but apparently there is a large DVD theft problem in Shelby County, so I was disappointed when I got home only to find out that the DVD was boobie trapped into the case. I guess I was supposed to have them remove this piece, but I didn't know that, so my friend Lauren and I ended up finding the newer version on one of her movie channels. If you have not seen the 1998 version, DON'T unless you are looking for a good laugh. The famous crazed son who runs the Bates Motel is played by Vince Vaughn (yes, the same guy who starred in Wedding Crashers). Pretty sure when they remade this classic they weren't aiming for the audience to burst into fits of giggles throughout the movie. Needless to say, I give this one an F-.
2) The next one I chose was Breakfast at Tiffany's. I give this a C+. Now let me say in the movie's defense that I sat down to watch this with Lauren on a Sunday afternoon when there was a forecasted blizzard in our area, which if you know anything about Alabama means we were all in a state of panic. I was frantically checking the weather updates and our school's website to see if we would be closed on Monday. Needless to say, I wasn't giving Audrey the attention she deserved. But, the movie was nothing at all like I expceted. It was a little quirky and just plain odd.
3) Next, I watched Doubt, which is the only current movie on my list. This one came out in the past couple of years and won several awards. I give it a B-. It was pretty interesting and really makes you think about how one tiny seed of doubt can flourish in your mind until you are convinced that your assumptions are truth.
4) The last one I have seen so far is The Godfather, and I must say it is by far my favorite so far! I loved this one and want to see the rest of the trilogy now. I was interested in the plot and loved seeing so many actors from their younger days. I give this one an A+.

Team M

I am on a team at school with three other teachers whose names start with "M" (Melinda, Michelle, and Myra), so we have named ourselves "Team M". I LOVE these sweet friends and am so thankful to spend each school day with them. We laugh, vent, sometimes cry (right, Michelle?), encourage, help, hug, high five, etc. throughout the day. An indication that you love your co-workers is when you want to hang out with them away from your job, which the four of us try to do once a month. They are each older than me with families that I love hearing stories about, and I do my best to keep them young and hip by discussing YouTube videos, the woes of dating, and what Justin Bieber is currently trying out with his hair.

All three of them have done the Couch to 5K this past year. Michelle and Melinda are closer to my running level than Myra who basically bolted off the couch and was running 3 miles within a few short weeks. Michelle and Melinda jumped on this ever-growing bandwagon last fall when they were asked to join a relay team for the Mercedes Marathon (actually I think Michelle agreed to do it and then suckered Melinda into joining her). I think I was also approached about joining a relay team. I later apologized for laughing in that person's face. Of course a few months later I decided to give it a go and I have been so encouraged by my team. I will be starting week 7 out of 9 tomorrow and will be doing my first 5K in Auburn in April.

February 12 - 13 was Mercedes Marathon weekend here in Birmingham, and I was so excited to cheer on my sweet friends. Myra did the 5K on Saturday morning and she finished in 34:22. Then on Sunday morning, Michelle and Melinda ran one of the 5K legs on their relay teams and finished together.

I am so proud of Team M and I can't wait to do a 5K with them soon!

#1 - Check (Well, sort of)

A week ago my younger brother from another mother, Perry, told me that he had a surprise for me this week. He wouldn't tell me what it was, but would only say he was going to take me somewhere to cross something off my list. So after meticulously looking over my list I met up with him this past Thursday to go on this adventure. We had dinner and then headed off to... The Bass Pro Shop. It took me a while to figure out where we were headed. When I figured out where we were going, I was quickly able to narrow down my list, as I was pretty sure we would not be doing a cooking class or reading Little Women while there. I figured it had something to do with #1 on my list (shoot a gun), but I wasn't quite sure. After hiking up to the second floor of this ginormous store, we rounded the corner to see...I was so excited to see what Perry had planned out! He gave me some quarters for the arcade style game where you aim for the glowing targets and fire away. Not quite the same as holding a real gun, but so fun (and less dangerous considering how awful my aim was). We had a great time together and I loved that he thought of this and wanted to share in marking something off my list. For those of you that don't know, this is the same amazing young man that I have often mentioned over the past year. It was about a year ago when Perry got some life-changing news and as I spent this time together with him the other night I couldn't help but think of how incredible his story is and how proud I am of him. He is about to finish up his first year at Samford University and looking forward to playing on the football team this coming fall. He is cancer-free, healthy, happy, and loving college, which is exactly how life should be for him right now!

#16 - Check

So #16 on my list was to get a massage, which I did last weekend. Anything that requires me to strip down to my skivvies is obviously going to provide a funny story. I have never had a massage before, so I was rapid fire quizzing my friend, Lauren on our way there on how this whole thing works. We got to the place and filled out paperwork and then waited for our massage therapists to come get us. When my dude walked out all I could think was "Please be Lauren's, Please be Lauren's" seeing as I was a little uncomfortable with this total stranger dude greasing me up. Well, of course he walked up and mumbled my name (which makes me think he was probably thinking "Please don't be Meredith, Please don't be Meredith") He seemed about as excited about working on this big girl as I was to have him workin on this big girl. Oh well, let's get to this, Rob. He leads me into what appears to be a haunted house. It is a giant, dark room that is separated into little sections by hospital curtains. He pulls back the curtain to his table and tells me to get undressed and put my clothes in the (Saved By the Bell) locker. I am pretty sure I was out of my clothes and under the sheet in approximately 7 seconds. I didn't want to risk Rob coming back and seeing a little more than he bargained for. I know the whole reason you get a massage is to relax, but I was laying stiff as a board with the sheet practically over my head when he whispered at the door (curtain) "Meredith, you ready?" I wanted to tell him, "Um, the question is are you, Rob?", but I just mumbled "Mmmhmm". So he came in and got down to business. I figured it was dark enough that he was shielded from the blinding white of my skin. For the first 30 minutes I was anxiously anticipating "the flip". I wasn't quite sure how I was supposed to go from face-down to face-up without something flopping out, but it was successful and everything ended up just fine in the end. I am pretty sure I was in a mild catatonic stupor for at least an hour following my massage, so I guess I was able to relax after all. I would totally do it again.

The Mind of a 5th Grader

Here are two things that have made me laugh lately:
1. This past week I was doing a lesson with my class where we were reading about the Liberty Bell. If you are gearing this paragraph towards 10/11 year olds, please do not start off by saying "The Liberty Bell is known for its big crack." And also please do not continue to refer to "its big crack".
2. For our vocabulary test last week some very innocent or very perverted person included the following question: "Name a body part that protrudes and explain why." Pretty sure most of thsoe 10/11 year old boys were not thinking of their nose.