I'm so excited!

The one and only thing I requested for my birthday was a sewing machine. My wonderful husband bought me one! He told me when he got to the store he had full intentions of not buying a "beginning" machine. Intermediate is the way to go, I'll grow into it, is what he thought. Once in front of all the sewing machines, he changed his tune and bought me a Singer Simple.

I've been extremely intimidated by just the box. I've left it upstairs for the past week, contemplating how I was going to tackle this sewing thing. I've solicited advice from friends- Mary Catherine and Brooke. I have tons of friends that sew and I'd say have comparable intelligence to myself (at least I hope). So today I decided was the day. I was going to do something with this machine. I got in the car and headed to Hancock Fabrics. This is my first experience in a fabric store looking for fabric and not just ribbon- thank you 15 plus years of cheerleading. I get on the phone with Brooke and she explains to me how confused I probably am and to just get some straight pins and cheap fabric to play around with.Apparently I like paisley's.

I did what she said, bought some cute fabric, pins, AND bought some fabric scissors (I'll need these, right?) I've decided I'd love to make some curtains for the boring and plain kitchen I have. But I think I may have to tackle how to thread the bobbin first....this could be a long night.

Happy Birthday...to me!

Well, another birthday has come and gone. I'm one year closer (sigh) to the dreaded age of 30. Normally I love celebrating my birthday. I make it in to one week long (or longer) celebration. It helps when I continue to get birthday presents well into February and sometimes March. Some of my friends and family don't get to see me too often.

This birthday was no different. It began with a stop off in Greenville for lunch and drinks with Allyson, her fiance Matt, and Mike D. who flew in for the Duke game. We then drove the last 40 minutes to Clemson and hung out with Austin's parents for a little while. Then we all had dinner at Sardi's with Trey joining us. I wish I had gotten pictures of this, but of course, I forgot. There were so many people at Sardi's. And of course when the Watts' walk in, they know half the people there. I've learned the short two and a half years I've been a Watts that everyone knows who they are. But another GOOD thing is that they hardly ever have to wait to sit down anywhere. Our table was waiting on us.

After dinner, we drove to the game. As soon as we walked in to Littlejohn, I ran into 10 people I knew and hadn't expected to see there! It was such a nice surprise seeing everyone. Our seats were AMAZING. We were 5 rows up from the floor, just a little to the left of the Game Day crew. Austin had to have a pic in front of them.

Well the game was kind of disappointing, but what made my day was halftime. CJ Spiller is one of the most sincere and amazing athletes that Clemson has had in my opinion. The student body government gave him the honor of naming an award after him. I stood at the top of the stairs and shed a tear. Who knows if I'll see another caliber of athlete like CJ at Clemson in my lifetime.

On Sunday, (my real birthday) Austin gave me a sewing machine. I've been dropping subtle hints that I wanted one since Christmas. I'm very excited to begin learning how to do all that most of you guys reading this already do. I'm a smart girl. I'm sure I can figure this out. I may need some help though. When you see my name pop up on your caller ID please answer. :-)

Wednesday was the final day for celebrations. A few of my friends, my wonderful husband and I went to dinner at La Tabella. La Tabella is a new Italian, pasta and steak place on James Island. The owners are some of our friends. I LOVE their restaurant. Great food and great wine!

All in all a great birthday.I'm so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life to help me celebrate. This coming year will be bringing many changes to my family: graduations, new jobs, and moving houses just to name a few. While the chapter of our life may be closing in Charleston, I know the friendships we've made will last throughout our lifetime.

Global Warming, My Butt!

My intent for this post is not political, however I may venture (slightly) into some of my views- please forgive me!

I. Hate. Winter. Plain and simple. I always have, I always will. I don't know what it is, maybe all the clothes I have to pile on, constantly having to wear socks (I really despise socks- even though my feet are constantly freezing), having chapped lips and dry skin.

Something about this winter just seems different to me. Maybe it was when Christmas day was really freezing and rainy and I couldn't go play on my Big Wheels that Santa brought me. (J/k Austin always says he's going to get me one for Christmas.) Maybe it was the record low temps in Charleston and the **possibility** of snow in January. We never have any possibility, ever. I actually am having a hard time getting my car warm quick in the mornings- my Prius usually warms up nice and quick, but not this month. I think she's just not used to it.

With all this being said, I find it hard to believe that Global Warming really truly exists. I mean I believe it is important to take care of our planet. After all, it's the only one we've been given. Yes, it's not ours, it's our Father's and He's trusted it to us. Now, I think to an extent, we can affect what happens, but not to the extent we're being told.

But have we not studied in school about the ice ages? Wouldn't the earth need to warm up in order to melt all that ice? The earth has changed a great deal since it first came into being. The continents have moved, living things have come and gone, and the temperatures have CHANGED. I don't believe the dinosaurs caused that, do you?

In my world, I'd go into hibernation until spring. Hopefully my body would eat away all my fat and I'd come out all skinny and ready for swimsuit season- AHHHHH!

Too bad...until then I'll don my sweaters, scarfs, gloves, toboggan, and heavy coat that adds 15 lbs.

Mr. Austin

When I was in elementary school (years ago) I always loved the teachers that would tell us stories of what happened in their lives- those lives they lived when they left school- yes, teachers don't live at school. I remember those teachers who talked about their kids, their pets, their hobbies, and of course, their husbands. This is something that I strive to do for my kids- let them into my life, let them know who I am.


With all that being said, I talk about Austin and our cat, Connery, ALL the time. I tell them how Connery whines when he gets baths, he spits up fur balls up on our duvet cover, and loves to drink fresh water from the sinks. I tell them how Mr. Austin shares his ice cream with Connery, goes on walks with me, makes me dinner (on the few occasions that he actually cooks) and lets me put my cold feet on him when we get in bed at night. These may seem like stupid things to share with my kids, but these seemingly insignificant things are what I remember about my favorite teachers.


I also use Austin a lot of times as subject of what I like to call "Life Lessons with Mrs. Watts". I share little things he does as an example of things they should try to do too. It may be telling them how he will go out of his way to walk around the car and open the door for me because that's the gentlemanly thing to. It could be how he is friends with everyone (and I mean EVERYONE- we can't go anywhere without him knowing someone) and never excludes people no matter who they are.


Well, my class this year had never met Mr. Austin until today. Austin doesn't start back to school until next week and had a free day (well he should have gone into talk to a professor, but said making me happy was the priority) so he drove 40 minutes to Summerville to eat lunch and go to recess with us. He showed up an hour early...whoops! And as soon as he walked in the door, everyone knew who he was. I mean they've seen pictures on my computer and figured it had to be him- didn't take much inferring. Well, we still had some things to get done even though he had come to school like read and talk about or story of the week and write about it. Throughout the entire hour, Austin kept making all of us laugh, whether it was making fun of me or joking around with the kids. It was amazing watching him interact with my kids. He knew which ones to really pump up saying how great their work was or some other kind of compliment. He knew which one of my "star" students needed to be asked to see his work and then when he only saw one sentence said he was pretty disappointed because he really looked forward to reading what he had to say. HA! He did a question and answer...they asked his favorite animal, color, how we met, and why he loved me...so funny! He gave high-fives to anyone who answered a question correctly. He didn't just sit with one group at lunch (we have 3 round tables and he bounced around to each one talking to everyone). He played soccer at recess in the 38 degree weather. Most importantly, he hugged each kid when he left. AMAZING. They adored him, of course. As I dismissed my kids at the end of the day I heard them talking to each about how "Mr. Austin asked me about who I had a crush on", "Mr. Austin told me I'm the fastest kid in the class", "Mr. Austin scored a goal for my team", but the greatest quote was " Mrs. Watts, you have the most hilarious husband ever."







I totally agree. And he's wonderful!