Engagement Pictures

Last Wednesday night I checked my email and there it was...an email from Robby Followell that contained the link to our engagement pictures. I called Jace during the UK game and said, "they are here!". Needless to say, I don't remember much about the second half. Jace and I are so pleased and now have to decide which ones to order, which will be the hard part.

If you want to take a look at our engagement pictures, please:

• visit www.followellfotographystore.com
• click on your gallery - keith ENGAGED - (you may have to scroll down)
• enter any valid e-mail address
• enter the password: katie

When Jace is in his suit standing next to the white columns, he is without a doubt the Southern attorney that I admire and am so proud of. We love the casual outfit pictures too but wish this one was with us!

Thank you Robby Followell for capturing our love for Mississippi and for one another! 

Michael Bolton: The Concert

Hello!!!!!! How was y'alls Thanksgiving? I am still thinking about my momma's sweet potato casserole and wish I could still be eating it!

Listen, my momma raised Ross and I on 3 things: Cher, Wheel of Fortune, and Michael Bolton. Honey, I can sing almost any Cher songs and can whip your butt in Wheel! If I am lyin', I am dyin', my momma has Michael Bolton VHS tapes and told me last night she has a DVD of his music videos (when did she purchase that?!)

When Ross and I heard that Michael Bolton would be coming to the Eastern Kentucky Performing Arts Center, we knew we had to get Mom tickets to his concert. As part of her Christmas gift, we got her tickets and the concert was last night. I was excited because I knew Mom was excited but I had no idea how much fun we would have. Michael put on a great concert and I was swaying in my seat, let out several "Woot Woot", and sang along to several songs. I think the entire audience enjoyed the concert but a group of ladies really enjoyed it. Y'all I thought they were going to go home braless. They were all about M.B!

He had a wonderful duet partner and she was fabulous. He also had a saxophone player that stole the show multiple times. Michael sang his classic songs like "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay", "Georgia on my Mind", "Time, Love, and Tenderness", "How am I supposed to live without You", "I Found Someone", and the throw back "When a Man Loves a Woman".

There was one moment when Michael came out into the crowd and I thought Mom was going to die! Here is the closet shot I could get of him:

I had the best time and the concert was a ton of fun. I am so happy Ross and I could take Mom. I know Mom is always happy to have her kiddos around and for the three of us to spend time together.

Crockpots and Spaghetti

This past weekend I visited the girls and while we were at Whitney's house, pure wisdom was spoken. Wisdom that rings so true that Mary Engelbreit or an ecard should say it!

We were sitting around the table doing what us girls do best, eating and dissecting our lives, relationships, work, and anything in between. In our conversation, Whitney told us about a presenter she heard recently who said men are like waffles and women are like spaghetti. Men are like waffles because everything is in a box. Everything is separate and is its own entity. Whereas, women are more like spaghetti because everything is intertwined together. Women relate everything together and know the sum is greater than the parts. After she said this, there was a round of umm hmms and head nodding from all of us.

After we agreed we were in deed like spaghetti, we were discussing how we handle arguments with our boys. Lauren spoke the truth and Whitney and I listened intently. She said that men are like skillets. They get hot and mad real quick but then are quick to cool down. Whereas, some women are like crockpots. You make us hot and mad and we will simmer and stay warm for a good 8+ hours. Lauren and I fall into the crockpot category. We know we stew and stay upset for at least a day and then we are over it.

Conversations like this make me thankful to have the best girlfriends because we can laugh with one another and have a good time together. We relate to one another even though we are all at the same but different stages in our lives. We can be crockpots and spaghetti together!

The girls plus Jackson

This one won't be a waffle!

Duck Dynasty

Happy Thursday y'all! Listen, Thursday mornings are awful for me. Wanna know why? It is because the beards of Duck Dynasty keep me up until 11! Willie, Jase, Mrs. Kay, Phil, Uncle Si, and the rest of the gang keep me in stitches late at night and it has become my new favorite show!

Ross, my brother, first introduced me to the Duck Commander (Phil) several, several years ago. He owns numerous Duck Commander DVDs and proudly displays three different types of mounted ducks in his room. He owns several duck calls, duck call necklaces, camo, waiters, and whatever else a duck hunter needs. Ross obviously knew what was cool before the rest of the world because there is an intense following of Duck Dynasty now!

While I love a clean cut man in a suit, I can't help but love those crazy hunters and their beards. Their wives must love them too and let me just say Willie and Jase married nice looking women! The women must know the way to a man's heart and according to Mrs. Kay, it is through their stomach! She is always cooking for her family. Don't worry about running out of sweet tea either because Uncle Si carries around a pitcher, at all times! Then there is Mountain Man, who must do everything in West Monroe but is slower than molasses. I think what I love most about the show is the family focus and the prayer at the end of the show.

If you haven't watched it before, I encourage you to! It comes on Wednesdays nights on A&E 10/9C.

How Great Thou Art

Today is one of those days that I can't adequately put into words what Sunday school and our discussion, music in worship, or the sermon did for me. Instead I will turn to the lyrics of one of our worship songs because this is what my heart is singing today...

How Great Thou Art

Oh Lord my God
When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds
Thy hands have made
I see the stars
I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout
The universe displayed

Then sings my soul
My Savior, God, to Thee
How great thou art
How great thou art
Then sings my soul
My Savior, God, to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art

When through the woods
And forest glades I wander
I hear the birds
Sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down
From lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook
And feel the gentle breeze;

Then sings my soul
My Savior, God, to Thee
How great thou art
How great thou art
Then sings my soul
My Savior, God, to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art

I think of God,
His son not sparing,
Sent Him to die,
I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden
gladly bearing He bled and died
to take away my sin

Then sings my soul
My Savior, God, to Thee
How great thou art
How great thou art
Then sings my soul
My Savior, God, to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art

When Christ shall come
With shout of acclamation
And take me home
What joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow
With humble adoration
And then proclaim My God
How great Thou art

Then sings my soul
My Savior, God, to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
Then sings my soul
My Savior, God, to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art

How great Thou art
How great Thou art...

NEP Assistant Training

Today Jennifer and I had to lead train-the-trainer sessions on one of our financial curriculas. We trained Nutrition Education Program assistants. This is a group I haven't worked with before but was eager to get to know them. NEP assistants work primarily with Family and Consumer Sciences agents and educate the county on healthy eating, food safety, etc. Many of their clientele can benefit from financial education, which can easily be incorporated with food budgeting, meal preparation, etc.

Jennifer and I were prepared: handouts copied, activities planned, posters made, PPT saved. We presented two sessions,1 hour and 45 minutes each. We had 50 assistants in each session. Jennifer and I feed off of one another pretty good and were really comfortable with the material by the time the second session rolled around. We both insert our own personal stories and jokes to keep the audience engaged and have a good time with it. Teaching money management concepts can be tedious at times but I like to think we make it fun and interesting.

I absolutely love training and educating others! I love seeing someone shaking their head with understanding. I love seeing someone listening to me intently and I just know they are learning and soaking it all in. I love hearing the personal stories after the presentation,how much they appreciate the information, and how needed it is for their life and others they know. That is rewarding to me and makes all the preparation worth it.

Something that was interesting today while Jennifer and I were teaching/training was the number of people who asked me, "Katie, where are you from?" I would then ask them where they thought I was from. Many answered GA, AL, LA, or MS simply because of my accent! Now that just warms my heart! Kentucky will always be my ol' Kentucky Home but to be mistaken for a deep Southern girl...oooh that gets me excited! I love my accent and it something that makes me unique. I just thought it was funny how many people noticed it today.

I hope y'all had a good day. Now let's wrap up tomorrow and get to the weekend!

My book

I had a lunch meeting today and one of the ladies I met with is married to an attorney, turned law professor. Her son is at UK Law and her daughter dates a first year law student. Needless to say, her family is surrounded by law.

I can talk to Sue about law school. She taught me to embrace this time when Jace is super busy with work and school and to take this time for me...and I have. In turn, I hope I have helped her understand her daughter's situation with dating a law student and understanding the emotions that come with being a law student's girlfriend.

I was telling Sue of my dream to write a book for law school spouses/girlfriends. I joke with Jace all the time that my book will be a hit! I will be the breadwinner and we will live off the royalties of the book. Basically, I will be his sugar momma!!!!

But in all seriousness, I think I would write about the joy the student experiences of accomplishing the goal of getting into professional school. More than likely the girlfriend/spouse was a part of that journey and what a blessing it is to watch them achieve their dreams.

Another chapter would be about the understanding that has to take place. This understanding will have to be relearned each semester and with each round of finals. You have to understand they are busy. You will be on the back burner. Honey, some days you won't even be on the stove. The books, studying, outlines come first. You come second, at best.

Next chapter: acceptance. Accept that you will have a range of emotions. Lord, help but did y'all read my post from Tuesday? Girlfriend, had emotion that day!!! Some days you will love it because they are happy, other days you will be pissed, other days you are indifferent and it is just a day. Some days you can't wait for graduation and the next day you can't believe the time has passed so quickly and want to hold on for a little bit longer. You will feel thankful; thankful for the wonderful people you get to meet and become your law school family. These people truly get it. Love them because you too know what they are going through and everyone needs support.

Fourth chapter: Faith. Put full faith in the Lord on this journey. God is a funny, funny man. What your plans are may not be His! He may reveal to you to do something that you hadn't even thought of. Throw away your plans and pray that at the end of the day that you are doing His will. Know that you will pray through finals and He is the ultimate test taker. He will get you through the rough patches and praise him in all situations. This is much easier to do when those times are joyous but remember you prayed and dreamed about law school. Even during the rough periods, you are still living your dream.

Fifth chapter: Understand you aren't in law school for a reason. Attorneys know the Latin translations, use big words that we don't know the definition of, most like to argue, and are sometimes political. You may not want to know the Latin translation of every word that that is OK. When Jace tells me about cases, I barely understand the watered-down version and that is fine by me. I didn't choose to go to law school and don't need to know that stuff. He does but I don't. Thesis of this chapter: it is ok to not understand what they do.

Sixth chapter: Explanation. While in law school, more than likely your friends and their spouses will be in the workforce, having babies, and making money. You will have to constantly explain what you are doing, how much longer they will be in school, when the Bar exam is, how long it takes to get the results back, etc. Learn to embrace this. People are asking you because they love you and want to know.

Seventh chapter: Support. Support each other. Law school is emotionally draining to spouses and is every form of draining to the student. Support one another, always be in each other's corner, stand next to each other on this journey. Support the student in other ways too. Give them the space and time to study because after all they aren't just doing this for themselves, they are doing it for you and your future family.

Now I just have to expand these short chapter descriptions into full fledged chapters, come up with a title, write my dedication page, find a publicist, editor, someone to promote my book, etc. Maybe I could interview other law spouses and get their input. Basically, what I am saying is that I am on my way to becoming an author of a New York Times Bestseller! Easily my book could be adapted for medical, dental, pharmacy students and their spouses as well. Do you think my book would be a hit? Maybe I should just stick to this little ol' blog...