Gotta love those Monks!

Took a little detour yesterday as I was driving through Cullman from Gadsden. I saw the sign for Ava Maria Grotto and the St. Bernard Prep School. I had been there once before, but this time I had my camera, so I thought, "Why Not?!" I wheeled my car in and took a few shots. It's an absolutely gorgeous place that I want to go back and explore again one day. After reading about the Abbey on the internet, I think I drove up during the Monks prayer time becase that happens around 5ish-6ish. I guess that's why it was so quiet. Yeah, definitely got to go back and visit. I like this place. :0)

Happy Graduation!!!

Today was yet another Tittle Family Fun Day! My sweet cousin Andrew graduated from Westbrook Christian and in true Tittle fashion, we had to par-tay! It was a blast! They just built a GORGEOUS house in Gadsden. Here we have pics of Andrew in his cool new Ninja Turtle hat that I got him. (Remember - Andrew is the one cousin that was as determined as me to get that Kermit the Frog hat at Christmas). SO I had to go get him yet another cool hat for this special occasion. The other pic is him, Grandma and his sis, Kimberly. Lots of Tittles were missing, but it was still a fun day! And even better, there were no frantic calls from the Marriott to ruin it! :0)

Bridesmaids!!

Here we are in all our glory! This will be the lineup for July 3rd. Starting from the left we have Tasha, Mary Catherine, Cuz (the bride... obviously) Sister, and me. Sister and I are both freakishly tall, luckily, she's a bit taller than me, so as we are towering over the other three, at least I'm not the tallest. The shower was at the B'ham Botannical Gardens and was BEAUTIFUL!!! So pretty with great food and the weather couldn't have been more perfect! :0)

CheeseCake!!

Let me start with YUM!!! My sweet boss (Bowser) went to lunch today at Logan's and brought me back some cheesecake. Just out of the blue, walked in with a box of scrumptiousness. What a nice surprise ~ and DELICIOUS!!! It had a little thing of chocolate sauce and a little thing of strawberries on the side. I took the pic after I'd already had a taste... or two... or three. I didn't eat it all by myself though. Chef finally came back to the office and finished it up. It was definitely a much needed good surprise to this day. Love you, Bowz! :0)

Meeeeee!

Didn't take any pics today, however, this is the one I used for the paper. I'm in charge of the Hotel newspaper at work and we've been trying to do a "Guess That Associate" article every day. Today, was my turn and this is the one I picked. Kinda cracked me up. The 2nd floor told me I was so cute. I assured them I grew out of it. Bowz and Chef couldn't get past the blonde hair. I told them it was in fact very blonde for a while and now it's this very dark brown. Fun times. :0)

Lunch with Lover (and Chef)!

How could someone so pretty eat someting so disgusting?! Chef and I had a bet going today with the outcome of lunch and it just so happened that Lover called and said he was going to get Rice Box and asked if I wanted anything. "OF COURSE," was the answer. You never pass up a chance to have Rice Box. Chef had his normal Lunch Special with the Eel Roll and Crunchy Shrimp. I had the amazing Honey Sesame Tofu, and Lover had Pot Stickers. I was expecting a Pot Sticker to look like a shish-ka-bob. Boy was I wrong. It looked more like goat brains. EWW! However, he's pretty so we'll overlook it. He also tried my Tofu, so I'll try and bring him over to the dark side of being a vegetarian. Then it's Goodbye Goat Brains! :0)

Par-tay at Chef's House!

Party at Chef's House! Crawfish Boil, actually. Tons of those creepy, crawly little critters were thrown into boiling water and consumed tonight. I had hummus and salsa. Much better than the "swimming critters" as we have been referring to them as. It was so much fun and I finally got to see the famous deck that Chef has been working on forever. It looks BEAUTIFUL! Too difficult to try and name everyone in the pics, but almost all of them are Foodies (Food and Beverage Peeps) at the Hotel. Fun night! :0)

Blues Brothers Part 2

Yes, I had to double-post today. We'll just say I'm making up for all those days I skipped. I couldn't wait to share this one too. The more I see it the more I laugh. Maybe it's funnier for me because I work with these two every day, but I thought it was hilarious. Hope you enjoy. :0)

Blues Brothers!

Oh my goodness. This video might quite possibly end up being even funnier than the first. These are both of my bosses. Absolutely hysterical. They were the Shoals Blues Brothers for Town Hall today. Bowser was "Jake" and Chef was "Elwood". They say "Sweet Home (Chicago) the Shoals" and "I'm a Shoals (Soul) Man". We might have to put up with a lot of crap sometimes, but ask yourself - Do you have this much fun where you work? :0)

Grilled Cheese, Please!

Well, it's Associate Appreciation week at the Shoals. We've had a fun week. Today, was especially crazy with our GRAND RE-OPENING happening as well. Seriously I worked 11 1/2 hours IN HEELS. My feet are screaming! But that is beside the point. It was a fun day. My pics, are just some proof. The one with me in it is me and Lover. He's the best. It is annoying, however, that he looks better in me in EVERY pic that we take together. I love him! The other pic is my other best guy. Has he spoiled me? YES. The managers and supervisors had to wash cars today and we had a cookout. Chef was flipping burgers and hotdogs. He had promised me that he'd watch out for me and make a grilled cheese if I came over for lunch. And that he did. It was the size of Texas and I ate EVERY BITE. It was sooooo good. A 4-Diamond grilled cheese for sure. He's the best! :0)

My Jerry!

This post probably won't mean a lot to any of you (except maybe Cuz and Jess) because you haven't truly been invested in this 14 year story. However, Coach Finley, Coach Holladay, and about half the town of Lynn could appreciate it. This lovely little fellow is Jerry Vickery. He was the second love of my life... after Coach Finley of course. I fell head over heels for him when I was about 10... he was teacher's aid to the class above me, but I was friends with a lot of those girls so we shared a mutual affection for the hot 10th grader. IT was so bad in fact that Coach Holladay being the wonderful guy he is and always willing to spoil me, let me be the ball runner one night for the football team, just so I could be out there with #60. Fastforward to 7th grade. I was ever so excited to be going to high school because Jerry was a senior and I would get to pass him 7 times a day in the hall as we changed classes. He was so good to me. He entertained me and never treated me like the stupid tag-a-long that I probably was. He even saved me a seat on the varsity baketball bus one night when we had an away game. I got to sit with him all the way to Hackleburg. Good times. Anyway, he went off to the ARMY after graduation and of course I sent him mounds of letters, spritzed in whatever body spray I had at the time... I think it was Green Apple. I wasn't kidding when I said I was head over heels for him. Then in 10th or 11th grade I got the sad, sad news he'd gotten married. IT was only really funny because Coach Finley announced in the middle of history class that I would have to give it up. He was married... my dream had to be over. It was a great, really funny moment. All those years of being crazy about him and it seemed like everybody else had shared it with me. All of this comes about tonight because my dear Jerry is still serving our country. He's still married with 2 little girls. He's in his... I don't know how many this makes... tour to Iraq. A true American hero. AND two days ago he sent me a random email. Even though we've grown up, I still turn into a giddy little 10year old when I talk to him. He has that crazy way of making the day better and taking me back to a time that was really good. SO, I guess now you all can appreciate my pic and you have officially shared a rather embarrassing, rather hysterical part of my life. Keep him in your prayers. We want him home safe. :0)

Taylor and Rylee

More little kid softball...
It is some of the funniest stuff I have ever watched. Tonight, we had to go see Rylee play. It was hysterical. As you can see from the photo she was posing for the pic as she batted. That is SO ME! I did the same thing! The other VERY CUTE little cousin of mine is Taylor. She looks just like Kev. Such a cute baby. And of course Grandmother and Marge were there.
We were just a little late getting there. Me with no sense of direction and Sister, with not so good directions, got lost and spent 30 minutes driving aroudn in Tuscumbia. I coudn't get Grandmother, Todd or Kevin on the phone. Todd did finally call back only to say, "I think you're forgetting you've lived up there for years, but if I can help you, call me back". YEah - that's not really what I was going for. All I needed was to hear him saying, "Let me Mapquest that for you." He's a hoot. Fun times! :0)

Love Cakes!

It's Associate Appreciation Week! What better way to kick things off than with Love Cakes by Bowser. My boss and everyone's favorite GM put on his chef's hat and cooked up pancakes for the entire staff today. He's the best. Chef and I had lunch from Rice Box. Even better. Now Sister and I are having egg and cheese biscuits... I'm thinking gluttony is still a sin. :0)

Seriously... More Wedding Bells?!

So my pal Mal who's been my BF since we were about 6 yrs old... announced on FB of all places that she's ENGAGED! Not too surprising since Cody's is CRAZY about her. How can you not be? Mal's the best! It's very fun living in Mal world. I grew up there. Her house was an amusement park. She had a playhouse... many acres of woods with (I know this sounds so old fashioned) TONS of trees to climb... a dirtbike that we drove ALL OVER Natural Bridge, AL and her mom always made chocolate gravy and scrambled eggs. And the cardinal rule was that we NEVER took anything seriously. Ever. It was great. Now she's engaged. I can't believe we have lived long enough to be old and getting married. Crazy! :0)

He FINALLY did it!

I've just about never been prouder to go to a graduation than I was to go to one tonight. My cousin Brian just graduated from Athens State! We never thought the day would come.. mostly becuase he has always enjoyed going to school even less than I did. However, tonight was his night. I know you probably can't pick him out in the group shot, but actually it's pretty easy. He's on the front row in the middle... also the only one who took off his hat during the prayer and the national anthem. You can tell he played sports. Coach Young raised him right. The other pic is his niece and my little cousin, Kensley Isabella... or Belle Belle as she calls herself. Midway through the ceremony, she managed to dump out an entire tumbler of cheerios and then turned to her mom and said very loudly, "Hm. Made a mess!" It was hysterical. Congrats, big cousin! Love you!!! :0)

Go Bears!

Old pic ~ However, Phil and I go way back so I thought it was only fitting. Tonight he led the Lady Bears not only back to the State Playoffs, but finally came home with a trophy. We are officially runners-up in the state! Quite an accomplishment for our little 1A school. Phil's the best. It was very strange growing up with him and then him taking over as softball coach... but it was definitely a GREAT 2 years. We were actually good for once and it was all thanks to Phil. Best memory from softball was after we'd gotten back from the beach and he'd nearly ran us to death because we were stupid high school girls and there was - let's just say drama - at the beach. Anyway, we had a team meeting after and went around saying something good about each of our teammates. Phil was the last one and he went around to everybody telling about thier work ethic, personality, blah blah blah. He ended with me and all he said was, "Kimbo, you're my best buddy." I'll never forget it. We've definitely been through a LOT together and I am so proud for him. I'm sure he's going to be coach of the year yet again. Congrats Phil!! Love you!!! :0)

Pomp and Circumstance...

Cue the sad graduation music please...

My little cousin (not little anymore) is graduating from AUBURN! Today was her last day as an AU Student. In the pic in front of the building, she's farthest on the right. I trust you can figure out which is which in the other. However, it hasn't always been that easy as we were both given the same name. So growing up at Grandma's, we were, and still are, Kimberly Joyce and Kimberly Rebecca. Now she's off to Ole Miss to get her Master's. Congrats, Kimberly!! We're so proud of you!!! :0)

Adult Time!

Miss Kim got a break this week. My little heatherns had their Choir Kick-Off tonight so they were at the Skate Center and I got to go to big church and hear Matt. It was great. I've missed him. However, every week when I don't hear Matt, I do have his daughter Kenzie... who is practically Matt, only she's 5 years old, and she's a girl. Other than that, their Type-A personalities are exactly the same. I missed my kids, but it was good to see some adults again. :0)

Names for my Bees!!

Steve keeps forgetting thier names. SO, I found some very cute, colorful foam sheets to make some name plates for our bees. Apparently they are doing very well and one hive will probably have to be robbed early. Can't wait for that fun. Got to go to the Farm Thursday though because apparently the bees need to be fed. Who knew?!

RiCe BoX!!

Rice Box - Yum. I have discovered the secret to happiness. Honey Sesame Tofu. It is delightful. Ask anybody in the Tennessee Valley what the best Chinese in town is and it will be the overwhelming response of RICE BOX. I don't know what it is... the customer service is definitely lacking, but the food is GREAT. :0)

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is not my favorite holiday, but it is when we have the big children's parade at church and the presentation of the babies. Too fun. All the little kids dress up in different outfits and march through the church. It's pretty funny. My 5 year olds did surprisingly well. As for the pic, this is my mom (sporting those Aviator glasses) and dad in Gatlinburg in July of 1985. Yep, 5 months before I made my grand entrance into the world. I hope if I ever get pregnant, I can look half as pretty as she did. I recently found this pic in an old photo album and have kept it in my Bible ever since. It's special. Happy Mother's Day, Mama. I love you, miss you and think of you ever day!

Dum dum da dum...

Here is my beautiful cousin on her shower day!! We had a FANTASTIC time at the Birmingham Botannical Garden today. What an absolutely perfect day for sitting out in the sunshine! Even better, we got to catch up with some very old friends... Linda Murphy and Rachel Wiley. They are fantastic and so funny! Rachel used to always say that she was going to pull my teeth out when I was little because it seemed I was always missing a tooth or had a loose one when I would see her. Linda, is and always has been just great and so NICE. She actually just came up and stayed at the Hotel last week and neither of us knew the other was there! It truly is a small world. More importantly though, this day was about my Cuz! One day closer to her wedding day!! She was absolutely beautiful in her yellow dress and was a very good sport to wear the 80s style headpiece Mary and Mrs. McCollugh made for her. Fun times!!! :0)

Bathing Suit!!

Got me a new bathing suit tonight!! Went shopping for Sister an outfit and found myself a suit. Not much more to say other than I think it is so stinkin cute. :0)

KIDS!

This pic cracks me up ~ it also speaks of what my night was like. After a ROUGH day at work, I flew like a bat to church (late of course) to teach my kids. Wednesday nights are my nights with the 5 year olds. Normally they are good. The past few weeks they've been a bit rowdy because of Spring Fever, tonight, they were AWFUL! This pic, reminded me of that. I'm sure all my poor mother wanted was for us all to stand still so that Papa could have his picture made with his only 4 grandkids. This was as close as we could get to being still and quiet for the whole 3 seconds it takes to snap a pic. Mom was so good about putting captions on the back so that years from then (now) we'd know what it was all about. This was Chad's 13th birthday. Which makes Cuz approximately 10, Sister around 7 and me probably 4. Good memories. :0)

Celebrity Golfers!

Randy Owen was in house last weekend for the Celebrity Golf Tournament. Dr. Bronner was supposed to play, all of the Bowden Fam played, some former Coach from AL after Bear Bryant was even there... HOWEVER nobody compared to my favorite guy, AJ Milwee. Former quarterback for UNA and practically Mr. Div 1 Football. Got a few pics in from the tournament. This was my favorite, although he's right handed so I can't figure out why he's golfing lefty. Ambedexterity is a beautiful thing. :0)

Andrew!

This is my FAVORITE hat ever. I won it in Dirty Santa at Grandma's this year. I cheated a little becasue I actually bought it intending on coming home with it. Sister liked it so much she got one as well. She wasn't as lucky though.. Andrew had claims on it. We were both determined to keep them. Anyway, Andrew is my cute little cousin who is graduating from Westbrook Christian this year. The reason he made the blog tonight is because I just bought his graduation present. It's the funniest little thing ever. The PaRtY is set for Memorial Day Weekend... should be fun. :0)

A Shower of Showers!

What a fun start to the wedding frenzy!! I had a BLAST today at my Grandma's house for the shower to begin all showers for my Cuz and dear Josephine. We don't get to see the Myers' side often, so it was fun catching up with all of them. As for the Tittle's, I feel that I am most blessed in that I LOVE this crazy group of people that God placed me with. It's loud and overwhelming, but I couldn't live without these people. Only in our family do men and women both show up for a wedding shower. And then there are our friends (PHYLLIS BARKER) who didn't want to get in our pics :0). We ALL love you dearly and are so glad you are a part of our fam! I wish I could've put all of my pics up, but I decided to just go with these three. One from our Tittle side of the family, one with our Myers side of the family, and one of just us girls.

It was sooo good too see you all today. We must do it again soon!