If I've Said It Once

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times.  I'm a horrible blogger.  I think all the time about what I could write about it but it really gets away from me.  I guess it's time to catch you folks up on my year.  To my 13 faithful followers....thanks for sticking around.

Well, well, another year has come and gone, and to be quite honest, I was not sad at all to say goodbye to 2011.  I hesitate to even say that because in essence, aside from a bump in the road, it really was a great year.  In February, my brother, Jonathan graduated from Army Basic Training.  Me and my roomates (aka, my parents) as well as my sister-in-law, Brittany, flew out to Oklahoma City for his graduation ceremony.  Unfortunately, Oklahoma had just been hit with the blizzard of 2011 and there were 18 inches of snow on the ground.  After having 3 flights cancelled and spending most of the day trying to figure out how we could get there, the sweet flight attendant from Southwest Airlines got us all straightened out. We finally got to Oklahoma City around 1am and then drove (in the blizzard snow) to Ft Seal about an hour or 2 away.  Needless to say, we were exhausted, but seeing Jonathan walk across that stage made it all worth it. I was so proud to see him accomplish that!

We spent a few days around base, then drove back to Oklahoma City and got to visit the bombing memorial.  It was incredible!  It's unbelievable how many people survived such a horrible event!  It was a really cool museum and I would suggest you all go visit it!

In March, I left the banking world and came to work for Scott Dawson Evangelistic Association (SDEA) as the AtlantaFest Administrator.  Most of you know I've been volunteering with SDEA for years, and I'd been praying for an opportunity to come on board full time, and in March a position was created and they offered me the job!  It's been a huge challenge but I LOVE it!  AtlantaFest is a 3 day Christian Music Festival held in Stone Mountain Park each June.  As administrator, I am basically in charge of making it all come together.  I'll talk more about AtlantaFest later.

In April, the big tornado came in and wiped out much of Pleasant Grove, my sweet little small town.  I won't talk about it too much, but thankfully, my home was spared and we didn't have any damage.  I wish I could say the rest for the city I love, but thankfully, now, the rebuilding stage is beginning.  Each time I drive around and see a new house pop up, it gives me a little more hope for the future of good ole' PG.

In May, I got to go to North Caroline to the mountains of Maggie Valley with 11 of my closest friends.  After literally almost drowning on a white water kayaking trip after falling out 3 times and being washed a mile down the river with nothing to stop me, thankfully, my friend Wes Butler saved my life.

This is the best picture I could find to show you:

Needless to say, I'm not really an outdoorsy girl.  That water was like pure ice water!  Anyway, other than that whole near-death experience, we really had a great time and even got to take part in the block party the little town had.  Nothing like dancing in the streets to live music. Now that I like :)

June started the craziest month of my life!  With AtlantaFest in full swing, I didn't have a lot of time to celebrate my birthday like I normally do....you know, with a month long celebration.  I did have dinner with some great friends and played putt putt afterwards.

AtlantaFest was held June 15-18th and we had a blast getting to know lots of new people and seeing lives changed!  I can't wait for the next one!  I did almost get arrested for driving a golf cart on the side of the road, but you know, no big deal.

While we were at AtlantaFest, my sister in law, Brittany called to tell me that she was expecting their first baby, my nephew Ryan!  They are stationed in Ft Stewart, Georgia, which is located just outside of Savannah.  I went to visit them in June with my parents and we had a blast!  Savannah is a beautiful city, full of history, and my favorite, of course...spots they filmed movies in.  My dad couldn't pass up the opportunity to pose as Forrest Gump in this spot:

Goofball.  I guess you can all see where I get it.  Anyway, I stayed a few days longer than my parents, and on the way home, stopped to see my other brother, Jordan, his wife, Kari, and my neice, Hannah, also known as the cutest kid in the world.  Who couldn't love this kid?

Anyway, while we were talking, Kari tells me that she and Jordan are expecting their 2nd baby, my niece Leah!  WHAT?!?! The Bankston's are out of control!  2 babies within a month apart? So needless to say, we're going to have babies out the wazoo coming soon!

In August, I FINALLY graduated from Huntingdon College with a degree in Business Management. I travelled to San Francisco to visit my Aunt Susan and her family and had a great time!  I love Northern California! We also visited Sacramento while we were there, but best of all, Palo Alto!  If you don't know what's in Palo Alto, let me show you.....

We had a blast.  Well, aside from the holidays, that's about it for good ole 2011.  It was a fun year.  I made some great friends, shed a lot of tears, but God is good.  Stay tuned!

Life in a Small Town

I grew up, like many of you, in a small town.  My little town was my whole world, and anything outside of it barely existed in my eyes.  I grew up knowing my neighbors, and playing at their house (outside of course).  We snuck down to the creek, when I promised my mama I wouldn't go...always coming home soaking wet from falling in.  We pretended to be on Kids Incorporated and rode our bikes around the block over and over again, until the bug man came and sprayed the neighborhood for mosquitos and you either rode behind him taking it in, or if you were like me, ran inside because your mama told you it was poison.  We listened for the ice cream man, and swung on the swing set in my back yard, jumping off when we got so high in the air that we could almost touch the clouds!

My mama let me stay home alone after school (in the 4th grade!) and in the summers because my friend's mom was always at home if I needed anything.  We swam in her above ground pool and jumped on the trampoline, and ran through the sprinkler.  When we got thirsty, we drank out of the hose pipe.  If it rained, we stayed inside listening to old records, or watched VHS tapes of "Creep Show" or Alice In Wonderland.

When my mama would come home, I would be ready to go to ball or cheerleading practice or the Athletic Complex to play softball, cheer, or watch my brother's play baseball, football, soccer, or basketball.  We practically lived there.  For dinner, we would eat whatever my mom cooked, or we ate at the ball park.  Eating out was for the weekends, and when we did, my PawPaw always went with us, letting me count the money in his billfold on the way.

One summer, I went to my friend Michelle's house every single day at 10am and watched The Price Is Right, followed by Dirty Dancing.  We'd play Barbie's or ride bikes after that, but always, without fail, had to watch The Price Is Right & Dirty Dancing.

Opening Day of little league was always a big day!  All of the teams would get together at someone's house the night before for a team party while our parents decorated the trucks for the parade the next morning.  The parade was followed by a huge carnival at the park where we would play needle in a haystack and go "fishing" for goldfish that would die by the time we got home with them in that plastic bag.  We sold raffle tickets and ate barbeque at the ballpark.  We played our games and got free cokes afterwards.  While the other teams got ready to play, Mr. McDonald, better known as "Goat" would line the fields while we played cup-ball near the batting cages.

We rode a school bus to Woodward Elementary, passing the house with the chickens in front on the way, and had sock hops and 4-H talent shows.  We took field trips to the zoo and the Children's Theater, but nothing was better than going to the Space & Rocket Center with Mr. McCrory in the 6th Grade.  As  6th graders we took a tour of the high school and had our class picnic at the park.

We travelled the halls for the 1st time as 7th graders, realizing we were small fish again, and hoping that we got a top locker.  We loved assemblies and pep rallies and would pay $1 for a prom fashion show, even as a Jr. High student if it meant we got out of class.   We fell in "love" with senior boys, and got our hearts broken when they never looked our way.  We did book reports on "Where the Red Fern Grows" and wore our Dick Tracy t-shirts tied on the side with our jeans tight rolled.

We held spend the night parties, rolled yards, and prank called people from our home phone...our only phone.  We had lock-ins at church, choir tours and beach retreats.  We took road trips to Opryland and Point Mallard in the summer.  

We went to football games on Friday nights to walk around the track and meet boys, not to watch the games.  We dressed up during homecoming week, and had wars between the Juniors and Seniors.  We won baseball state championships, and cried at graduation.

Everyone knew you and all of your business.  We knew the mayor and he knew us.  Life in our sweet, small town, hasn't always been great, but it's home.

On April 27, 2011, a massive tornado came in and tore down a lot of the houses that my friends used to live in.  While it may have destroyed the way our little town had looked for all those years, it didn't destroy our sense of community.  I think I love it much more today than I did on April 26th.  Sometimes you just don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

What's your small town like?

New Blog Address

I know that those of you who previously kept up with my blog at worldofblarinkaren.blogspot.com have been extremely disappointed in my blogging these days...especially since it's been about a year since I last posted.  I can explain. While I love blogging, I tried posting a while back and realized I couldn't remember my password.  In turn, I requested blogspot to send me a new one and I realized that the only email address they had for me was my old rickandbubba.com address that I no longer have access to.  I didn't realize that trying to convince a computer that I'm Blarin Karen would be such a difficult task, but needless to say I got frustrated and never could convince them. Go figure.  

So, here I am.  It's a new day, a new blog address, and time to start this blogging back up.  I can't promise I'll be that  consistent but I can certainly try my best.  Bear with me...