We Love You SAINTS Oh Yes We Do!

I am so EXCITED!!! Tonight I am headed home with my favorite roommate ever to attend a football game at the wonderful PATRICIAN ACADEMY! Tonight they are honoring all past Championship football teams so it will be like a mini homecoming! I can't wait ...being from a small town everyone knows everyone and I'm looking forward to catching up and seeing everyone. I guess I should throw in there that the MAIN reason I am going is to see this cute little Trombone player that has a special place in my heart. JAY COWAN is a member of the Marching SAINTS Band! I am so proud of him and can't wait to be there to cheer my baby on! I am also looking forward to letting Amy experience a good ole Private School function. I know she has NEVER witnessed anything like it haha! I am blessed to have a roommate that loves the Butler and the SAINTS as much as me!
Oh When The Saints Go Marching In............I'm hoping for a VICTORY!






Next order of business....the University of ALABAMA!! School is killing me ALREADY! I was up so late last night working on homework and it is only the 2nd week of school. I am determined that my last year will be my best so I'm working really hard to stay on top of things. I have already turned in 1 paper, math homework, started a group project, and have another 2 assignments due on Monday! Oh and not to mention I had my first quiz yesterday and I was a nervous wreck all day. Now I am just waiting to see what I made. I am so excited to see what my future holds that school is just going to fly on by. I'm starting to get some ideas as to what I really may do so looking for a job will start sooner than later. YAY!





Today Blake should get the Bible I mailed him. I am so HAPPY to have given him something that is in my opinion the "PERFECT" gift. I can't wait to see what he says about it! You see its not just a Bible its a Bible I went through and added personal touches too. I highlighted all of my favorite verses, verses that help me get through hard times, and I also wrote on post-its a breakdown of some of the verses and how I view it. Let's just say it took me forever because there are so many verses that throughout my life I have fallen in love with. However, to me that time is just time devoted to the Lord because I know it is something that is going to glorify HIM! God is doing work in Blake's life and I am so happy to be just a small person helping do the Lords work. It is so exciting to see the changes taking place! Please keep this precious man in your prayers.

8 days till Atlanta with my family to see the TIDE play! ROLL TIDE ROLL

Loving my Blessed Life
Lara Ellen

Home Will Always Be Home...

So as I have said before this week...it has been a rough one. When I have times like this I feel like I need nothing more than Butler Alabama of all places. There is nothing like the feeling of Home, Mrs. Cowans hugs, Lindsey's voice, and everyone asking you about your life since the last time they saw you even if everytime I have to reply "no mam I have not graduated yet." I know that my future is not in Butler because what I want to do is not an option there....but I can tell you one thing it will always be a place of COMFORT and LOVE for me! Funny thing is I say its not the place for me but if I can't find a job Patrician Academy will be calling my name!! I can hear Mrs Cowan now saying "never say never" I never thought I would be here.

My boss from Nashville and I talked last night! It was wonderful getting to catch up with her on all the latest happenings in Nashville. I Love that place so much and can't wait to go back soon! It is so nice having a boss that still invites me to work with her at the local events. I am actually thinking about going up there in the next couple of weeks to help her. Im so excited!!

September is going to be extremely busy for me. Lindsey has a couple more showers. There is a couples shower on Sept 12th that I can't wait for...it is going to be a blast! Then the next weekend is her Bachlorette Party in Memphis! All her life she has wanted to go to Graceland and as her best friend I remebered that. I wanted to give her the best last weekend as a single woman ever so GRACELAND it is!! Oh yeah I also have a thing called school in the middle of all of this!

May seems so far away but I know its not...crazy to think Im about to be finished. I know one thing I could not afford to stay here much longer because the books are beginning to cost more than my classes!! It is crazy one book alone is 85 dollars. Thank goodness Im not in the medical or finance field those books are way worse.

Well this is a pretty random post but I just have so much going on in my mind right now its crazy. I'm just ready for a new day and a new week and maybe things will be MUCH better!!

When Times Get Tough Let Them Know You Are Tougher!

This week has been one of the hardest weeks of my life. Not because there is anything going on with me but because there is some stuff going on with someone I care a lot about. My heart has been completely broken knowing that I have a friend going through something and I can't do anything to help the situation. I feel like the whole thing is an answered prayer for me. I have been praying for this person a long time that God just soften their heart and work in them. I know that is an unusual prayer but sometimes we go through things throughout our life and our hearts begin to harden. I truly believe that until our hearts are soft we try to push away the Lord, people who love us, pretty much anything that we don't like. However, when the pieces begin to chip away from out heart we begin to see so much and understand that God would not put us through anything that we can't handle. As a friend I want this person to completely break but it hurts so bad to see it. I know in the end if they just give in to what God has in store for them then their world will forever be changed for the good. Needless to say I have cried more this week than I have in a long long time. I will continue to pray and hope that everything works out how it should.

School started back today. Can I just say I was not liking the fact that after my walk across campus I had sweat in every possible place that it could be. GROSS!! I am finally starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel as far as college goes ...THANK GOODNESS! I have loved my time here at Alabama and will forever love my school but I think my time is coming to an end here. In life we go through different stages and I think this stage is coming to completion!

I am so ready for August 5th the Alabama vs. Viginia Tech football game! Its going to be such a great time with my family, roommate, and friends! Let's just hope for a VICTORY!!!! ROLL TIDE

Ahhh I'm so ready to give Blake his Birthday present...yes Im late but we have not seen each other. I did not do anything to overboard however, what I got him his the PERFECT gift(at least I think so)!!! I'm so ready to see him ...I don't like at all that he is a big boy!!

Until Next Time Pray for my Friend!

Right Where I Need To Be

All moved in with my Byrd we still have a few things we are trying to finish up, other than that our little humble abode is GREAT! I miss Nashville every single day and the wonderful life I had there. Tuscaloosa is amazing as always and FOOTBALL season is almost here YAY! I'm super excited that some of the friends I made in Nashville are coming to some games. It is always nice to stay in touch with new friends!

I am so excited about the adventures that will take place this year in my life. If all goes well this is my last year of college...thank goodness its only taken me forever. I guess after that I will find a job and start a new life for myself. There is a boy who has my heart which is also VERY exciting! I guess as time goes on we will see just where it leads. I feel great about it so thats always nice! I'm so HAPPY and I LOVE IT!



I recently went home for a few days it was nice. I always love getting to see my family, best friend, friends, and the Cowan's!! Missy and I had a girls night it was so much fun. These are the moments I cherish the most. She has grown up so much from the baby who I once used to hold in my arms. She will be a pee wee cheerleader this year and I cant wait to go home and see her. That is what I heard all about so I know she is excited! I saw about 5 minutes of Jay Cowan because as always he is outside doing something or gone somewhere at all times. He is in the band at Patrician, his musical talents are angelic! I love to her both of my babies sing they are precious! Mrs. Cowan always puts a smile on my face and lifts me up when I see her. I was blessed with the most amazing second family EVER!

Lindsey's BIG DAY is coming up. It is hard to believe my best friend is about to be a wife and here I am still single! Haha! I am so happy for her and am thrilled to be able to be by her side for all of this! Matt is wonderful to her and that is all I ever could hope for. I'm ready for my day whevever the good Lord decides its time I'm waiting!

This weekend Paige, Abby, Amy, and I are having a girls reunion! Its going to be a blast. We are blessed to be able to have such an amazing friendship no matter where we are in our lives. This weekend is sure to bring up some great conversation!

Happy Happy Happy....that's me!!

Walls Will Crumble

I think we go through life knowing that we all have problems that take place in our lives. However, I don't believe that we take a lot of time to think about what happens years later to a person because of that problem they dealt with. More times than not I tell myself other people have it worse than me so just let my problems go.

Here lately I have realized that so many times the decisions our parents make, friends make, and we make have a HUGE influence on our lives. I am completely smitten with a man who has my heart. I love nothing more than talking to him, listening to him, being there for him, and seeing him. As we continue to grow as friends, I see things that happened in his life that have scarred him. It breaks my heart to see the damage that has been done to him by choices OTHER people made. Seeing how bad it hurts him, hurts me.

I feel like he has up a wall that will crumble ONE DAY. My only question is how long will I be able to hang in there until the wall crumbles. He tries to push me away not because he wants to but because he does not want to be hurt again. He truly cares about me but is scared to.

Is it fair to me? NO
Do I enjoy the hurt it brings to me? NO
Is he worth the wait? YES
Will he ever be able to let the pain go away and realize there are good people out there? I pray every night that the answer is YES

I am learning so much about the choices we make. We don't realize how important ONE choice is and how it will hurt or help those around us. I am so thankful to have him in my life and to be able to learn valuable lessons from him without him having a clue. Life is one big lesson that we will never get exactly right however, we can sure keep trying!
I will continue to be strong until the Walls Crumble....because I think he is worth it!

I have a feeling Nashville took my heart

I am now back in Tuscaloosa after the most AMAZING summer of my life. I knew I fell in love with Nashville and everything it has to offer the first week I was there. Now that I am back here in Tuscaloosa I know more than ever that Nashville is a place that will forever have a place in my heart! Last night I went out with my roommate and some friends and I constantly found myself talking about Nashville. Obvioulsy, I am going to talk about it a lot now because it is fresh on my mind but I have a feeling people are going to have to ask me to quit talking about it. So many of my dreams came true this summer. I learned so much that I will always take with me. My boss was great and showed me things that I would have never had the chance to experience!! All of the people I met were WONDERFUL! I made so many firends that I will never forget...and that is what is truly important to me. I am so thankful I had this chance to live my dreams....I will NEVER EVER forget it. It is one of those stories that if I have the pleasure of living long enough, I want to tell my grandkids about. Goodbye Nashville...but not for long!!



The apartment is coming along great! Its crazy how not even 2 weeks ago I did not even think I was coming home and now I am here in an apartment I had never even laid my eyes on!! I love that I'm a go with the flow type person because that if really how my life is!!! It has been great getting to see friends that I did not see all summer and FINALLY have time to talk to Amy about everything we could not talk about this summer.



I learned so much about men this summer...some good things some bad....but hey at least I learned just a little more about the male species hahaha! I don't think we will EVER get them!! I'm the kind of girl who put my heart on the line one time and it was broken so ....I was done! I have met great men throughout my life and I have met some pretty bad ones. Since having my heart broken though I felt it better that I step out of it and let the big man upstairs handle it. That is way harder to do than say ...that's for sure. I'm at a point in my life and have been for a while that I'm ready to take the risk again of putting my heart there. I have just been waiting on the right guy to put it out there for. Well a special someone has had my attention for a while and all I have done is pray about the situation. I would not say that I have had a sign that he is "the one" however, I know he is the one that I am supposed to be investing my time in right now. At times I worry about what it will be like if I have to go through a heartbreak again, but I can't let that get in the way of how a really feel about someone. So I am going to do a lot of praying and hope that everything turns out how it needs to!

Last but not least I can't wait for some Alabama Football!!! ROLL TIDE ROLL



Not ready to leave Nashville,
Lara Ellen