December 28th...it's a pretty important day!

I got a new camera for Christmas so for my birthday we took a little trip to North Alabama to Little River Canyon to take some pictures...an by some pictures I think I snapped 200ish. It's just good practice and quality family time. Here are just a few pics from the day of different water falls. I finished the evening with dinner at PF Changs with mom, Teri and Tiffany. Not a bad way to celebrate being 32!!!

Christmas 2009

Here is Christmas in a nutshell in the Thomas houses....

We have dinner at Dad and Scotty's house and open presents on Christmas Eve. Here is a picture of Teri and her new baby Ginger, one of me, Dad and Teri and one of me on my new step stool....this is so I wont climb like a monkey on my counters to get stuff in the top cabinets since everyone knows I am accident prone.






Then we spend Christmas Day with Mom. We have breakfast and open presents and just hang out. This year we spent the entire day in our PJs and slept almost all day because I was sick and mom still wasn't feeling well. This picture pretty much sums up our Christmas Day.

A Crazy 48 Hours

Well I can honestly say that this has been the most adventurous and eventful trip I have ever had home...ever. On my way home I stopped in Vicksburg at the outlet mall and realized that I had forgotten my debit card and the memory card for my new camera. I should have known right then something was wrong. Within an hour of walking in the door I met my new "niece" Ginger only to find out that just moments before I got in town my sister had gotten rid of her dog Lucy. No one had warned me that I was walking in to a heartbroken sister who was grieving over getting rid of her great dane. Long story...but Lucy has a great home in the country now.

The next morning I got up early to finish some Christmas shopping with my dad and got some lunch at Dreamland bar-b-que (yummy). Before I had a chance to get to my mom's house that afternoon I got a call from her neighbor, Lou saying that she was on the way to the hospital in an ambulance having chest pains. 17 years ago at Christmas time my mom has a massive heart attack so this is always scary territory for us. I quickly got to the hospital where we spent the evening in the ER before she was admitted to the cardiac ICU. All the tests and blood work seemed to indicate there had been no heart attack but mom was in a lot of pain so they wanted to keep her for observation. The next morning I headed to the hospital for the 9am visitation but when I arrived they had taken her for her stress test and said she wouldn't be back in her for several hours. I decided to mess around in the area and get some last minute shopping done instead of waiting in the waiting room...BIG MISTAKE. I went to Target and got a few things, among which was some Starbucks coffee. I then headed to Walmart and to pick up a gift card for my dad at the movie theater....little did I know I was going to have a wreck. I ended up wrecking my car in the parking lot...my fault...and hit a lady who is very much out to get everything she can from my insurance company. Fun times. Poor little Explorer! I was fine, just mad.

Luckily the car is still drivable...mom got out of the hospital in time to spend Christmas as home and the 48 hours of drama were OVER. I did wake up on Christmas Eve with a full blown case of bronchitis which is still hanging over my head but I can deal with being sick.

Christmas Came Early

Christmas came a little early this year and I have been a picture taking fool! I got a new camera this year for Christmas and my birthday and with the addition of my Christmas bonus. I have been wanting to upgrade to a Canon Rebel for quite some time after playing with friends of mine and now I have my very own. In less than a week I have taken over 1000 pictures. Matti is not enjoying my new hobby...she just sighs every time she sees me take it out. I am really trying to work hard at not just taking pictures of her but some of my best ones thus far have been of her. I'll share some of my favorites so far....

Go Speed Racer Go

So I have a confession...at the tender age of 31 I got my first speeding ticket last week. I was on my way to Baptist, Louisiana just on the other side of Baton Rouge to the funeral home. My good friend.."older brother" Brad's father passed away and I was on my way to funeral home after work. If you know anything about the drive from Pineville to Baton Rouge the majority of it is through small towns on Hwy 190 that are known for being speed traps and yours truly was paying no attention to how fast she was going through Livonia, LA until she saw the blue lights. There is nothing like that feeling...your stomach turns, you don't want to cry because you know you were in the wrong yet the reaction is involuntary, your hands are shaking as you reach for your license and registration...and though the police officers may not be out and out mean they always treat you like a hardened criminal. True, at that moment I have broken the law and in my case I was caught for going 20 over the speed limit so at this point I should just be thankful he is not arresting me for wreckless driving. I guess for my first ticket I did it big...but ugh what a horrible feeling. I tried to throw out the "I'm on my way to a funeral card" but he was less than sympathetic...he did care enough to tell me to be careful as he walked away from my car. Some days you just cant win for losing. I had plenty of time the rest of that trip to think about it and what really irritated me the most is that I wanted to be mad at that officer...I really did and all I could come back to is that I needed to be angry with myself. I messed up. I broke the law. I wasn't mad that I sinned...I was mad because I got caught and now I am going to have to pay a hefty ticket for it. What a sobering thought that was for me that day and something that I have been chewing on for a few days now. It always amazes me how the Lord cant get your attention through the strangest of circumstances. I have to trust that the speed limit is what it is on that road for a reason and when I dont abide by it I am putting myself and others at risk. Just like I need to be more concerned not with getting caught in my sin but that when I sin I am offending a Holy God. It's not about getting caught...even though getting caught sucks...its about honoring boundaries because they have been placed around us for our protection and for the protection of others. That was an exepensive lesson for me to have to wrap my mind around last week.

Pressed But NOT Crushed!

Well we are three weeks into the Fall semester and the only way I can describe what the Lord is doing among the RA staff is "pressed but not crushed." First let me start by saying that I have the best RA staff ever! If you are reading this and you have served on a previous RA staff it doesn't mean that I don't love and appreciate you. The Lord has blessed me beyond anything I could ask or imagine this year with the way he has put this team together and put us on the same page. I have a very ministry minded team that is seeking to be poured out...wrung out...serving residents and loving on them so that Christ will be glorified in us and through us. There is no doubt that at the point we prayer walked the LC campus asking to be challenged that Satan decided to turn up the heat and throw some challenges our way. Twice now we have had to do dorm shuffles and move over 60 boys around. I have to keep reminding myself that we didn't ask for an easy year...we asked to be challenged and though we are pressed we are not crushed...in fact we are being refined and with every bit of pressure I see more of Jesus in my staff...what a precious sight!!

Matti's Photoshoot

My baby is growing up and it has been a while since I have taken pictures of her and posted them on my blog or on facebook. It's hard to believe that I have had her for two and half years now. I can tell she is maturing because she is calming down and just getting set in her ways. We have grown up together and our routines and quirks just work together. Needless to say...I LOVE THIS DOG...and when you see these pictures you'll see why. She is a mess! You can tell that she started posing and that was prompted by me. In fact, I was uploading pictures my computer from RA training week and looked over at her and she was sitting in my chair posing like this so I picked up the camera and started clicking. That's my girl!

A Taste of the Other Side of Camp

The week I came back from my cruise I got the opportunity to chaperone my church youth group to MFuge at Samford University in Birmingham, AL. After working camp for 8 years it was so weird to be on the other side of camp but I loved it. It was nice to not be responsible for anything going on in the program. My only responsibility was to get to know the youth that I was with. Though I have been attending Kingsville Baptist Church for three years I just recently joined the church and didnt know very many of the youth that were going to camp. That is part of the joy of camp...you get to know everyone really well, really quickly. I had a blast with our group and feel connected with KBC more now than I ever have.

I also have to admit that after working 8 years of Centrifuge I fell in love with MFuge. I loved going to our mission site every day. I was in the children's track so I got to play with precious black children doing backyard bible clubs every day. On our last day we went to a nursing home which was a challenge but even that was an absolute blessing. I got to spend the afternoon with an 85 year old lady named Mrs. Faye who challenged me in my faith more than I have ever been challenged.

Some of the highlights of my week of camp: adult bible study was amazing, hanging out with the GOLDEN GIRLS (the other lady chaperones), painting up for MEGA not once but twice, getting to play with Reese every day at site, getting payback on Katie P and Joni after they rolled my room, and getting to know the KBC youth!!

A Sailer's Life For Me

As you can see by the dates of my blogs it has been quite a while since I have updated my blog. I apologize. The lack of blogging has not been a lack of activity so I am going to do my best to try and catch up on some of the events and highlights of the summer.

In July I went on my very first cruise with my dad and Scotty and had an absolute blast! The sailer's life is the life for me...no doubt. I love the sun, the water, the food, the atmosphere....I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and getting to just hang out with my dad and Scotty. I was like a little kid every night when we would come back to our room and find our towel animals...you gotta enjoy the simple things in life!

We went to Cozumel and Progresso on this cruise but have already booked a 7 day cruise for next October going to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. I feel like this cruise was just a teaser and I am so ready to go back.

Unexpected Surgery

So I found this knot in my side almost two years ago and after having an MRI done which showed nothing abnormal my doctor told me it was probably a fat tumor and it was not a big deal unless it started bothering me. Fast forward to two years later and the once golf ball size tumor is now the size of a nerf football. I went to the doctor on Monday to see about getting medicine for headaches and just happened to point out the overly large tumor in my side. Before I knew it he was scheduling me to see a surgeon on Wednesday morning. After going to Dr. Aguilar (the surgeon) on Wednesday he said the lipoma needed to be taken out and asked me when I wanted to do it. Thinking "as soon as possible" would mean in the next few weeks I foolishly said "as soon as possible." Crazy me...as soon as possible ended up being on Friday at 10:15am. It has been a whirlwind week to say the least but I am home and well after having a fairly large tumor which I affectionately have named Alice, removed from my side. The tumor was about 8 inches long and about 3 inches deep so I am hoping to see a good 10lbs come off the scale this week when the fluid and swelling go down.

I was also put on a migraine prevention medicine that is supposedly going to help me lose anywhere from 60 to 100lbs so watch out world...here comes lean, mean, skinny kabes (hopefully).





this is me pre-surgery with the IV in place to get some "happy" drugs

here is my sweet daddy and nurse for the weekend

Going to the Chapel....

We've been counting down the days for months and months and now Amy Sue Morrow is finally Mrs. Cory Chandler. Their wedding was last Saturday and it was so beautiful and so sweet. I am so proud of her dad and Cory's grandfather for making it through the ceremony without getting choked up. I wont lie...I shed a few tears, especially when Cory balled his eyes out watching Amy come down the aisle. I am so excited for them both and what the next chapter of their life together is going to entail. Congrats you guys!

I didn't get many pictures at the wedding but I did take a few pictures at the nail salon the morning of the wedding of Amy and her sweet sister-in-law Lindsay who is going to pop any day now with Kaleigh Grace.



this was right about the time that I looked at Amy and said, "you're getting married today!!"

being 8 months pregnant didn't slow her down one bit....so precious!

the beautiful bride and not so shabby maid of honor :)

Welcome PARKER MICHAEL ROBIN

My friends Brandon and Mindy welcomed their little boy, Parker, into the world on April 23rd. Parker did his job and hung in there until we returned from Boston...good job! He did make his appearance a couple of weeks early but he was ready, he is healthy and he is ADORABLE. I have loved being Aunt Kabes to this little sleeping, pooping,bundle of joy.


proud Papa!

he's a gonna be a soccer playa!


not so happy right here...I think my hands were cold

Long Overdue Pictures from Boston

Sorry it has take me so long to get some pictures from our Boston trip posted. The delay is not an indication that I didn't thoroughly enjoy the trip...just that life has been incredibly busy since I got back.


a perfect end to a perfect day...mission accomplished to eat lobster in as many forms as possible the day before we left


sad but true...this might have been the highlight of my trip...getting to go to the Cheers bar for appetizers.


this is a movie theater in Davis Square (about five minutes from where we were staying) and just two weeks before our arrival U2 made a surprise stop here for a quaint little concert


This is Stacy...our contact in Boston who set up our trip.


this was the church that my group helped clean...it is so much bigger than it looks!

Needless to say we had a blast in Boston and I would love to go back really soon!