Catching Up...

Well I decided it's time to rise to the occasion and catch everyone up on what's been happening around here. I returned home to Virginia on December 15th and immediately jumped into a whirlwind of play practices and dress rehearsals as our program was on the 21st. Our play turned out really well considering I didn't see my lines until the 13th! We had a great time doing it and we had minimal mistakes. We had my grandparents and Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Diane over for Christmas dinner. We had a good time visiting. The Saturday after Christmas we had our Baldwin family Christmas. We had a good time with our family. The next day we had church and then during the afternoon we began preparing for the Cox's visit. They came in on New Years Eve. We had a great time with them. We had our watch night service that evening. Sister Betsy preached a good message. I always enjoy hearing her preach so much. All the Church folks were happy to see Beau again. Evidently he was missed. They stayed all day New Years Day. We played football and cards. That night after the little ones were all asleep Nate, Bethany, Micah, Daniel, Joshy, Zach, Beau, and I watched the Sin Eater. That is a good movie a bit scary but a really good movie. We ended up not going to bed until maybe three the next morning. The next day was sad. Goodbye time. We always hate to say goodbye. I came really really close to going back to Florida with them. Sister Betsy wanted me to. Dad told me to go pack and Brother Jerry said they wouldn't leave until I was ready. I was heading up the stairs when Mom thought of Mammaw. She's really getting feeble and she's not been feeling well lately plus she really clings to me since I've been gone so much lately. So I ended up staying. The really big news concerns one of my closest friends. Tonya Sandy. Steele Williams proposed on the 29th! Tonya told me all about it. He fixed breakfast for the whole family and he put two napkins at her place. If any of you know Tonya you know that she uses lots of napkins. Well she always opens her napkin up like a book before she uses it. Steele opened her second napkin up and wrote, "Marry me Tonya" on the inside of the napkin. Then he put the other one on top. Well Tonya only used the one napkin. Everyone was pretty much done and she still had only used one napkin, so Steele takes grape jelly and smears it across her face. She picks up HIS napkin and wipes it off. He smears more on her face she is kind of aggravated at him and grabs the second napkin and opens it to wipe her face and goes speechless. When she recovered she said yes then he got down on one knee and did it "properly." I still can't believe it Tonya is getting married! Yay! It's so exciting another upside is that Brother Williams won't try to hook me up with Steele anymore!!! Hurrah!!!!! Tonya saw Steele for the first time at our regional Snowtubing youth trip 3 years ago. When she first spotted him she said, " Charity! Who is that? " She was so funny. Steele started back at Liberty this week He is doing an intensive or something like that. Tonya doesn't start back at Longwood until this coming Monday. Steele has been driving back and forth from Lynchburg to Kenbridge all week. Monday morning Tonya and I went with him. We went shopping and got lost and had a few experiences that only Tonya and I can get into. It was great. Then we picked Steele up when he got out of class at about 12:30. We went and got lunch and headed back home. Steele let Tonya drive his corvette with only her and I in it. I spent the night with Tonya and we hung around at the shop Tuesday. Then she and Steele took me home. Then we decided to go with Steele again on Wednesday morning. We hit the mall again and Macy's was having a huge sale. Tonya got two coats. They were normally $100 apiece and Tonya got them for $25 apiece. She got one for her Mom and one for her. I normally just look. But i found a really cute blue jean jacket that is really good quality for $15 it is normally $60. So i got it. Mom loves it. I looked but I couldn't find one her size. Mammaw looked at it and said, "You got it or $15? I would have snagged it too!" I thought she was so funny. We did quite a bit of shopping and then we picked Steele up got lunch and headed for Farmville for church. It was Mom's WMB service. She talked about being Faithful servants until the end. It was good. Today Zach and Beth had eye exams. So I made supper while Mom was gone. I made Roast Chicken, Home made Rolls, Greenbeans (canned from our garden this year), Mashed Potatoes, Baked Sweet Potatoes, and Salad. I made the rolls all by myself. It was the first time I made rolls by myself. Usually I help Mom make them. Zach was so funny. He loves rolls. I was looking at the pile of fresh baked rolls and adsmiring them. I told Zach, "Look at the rolls! Aren't the beautiful?" He responded, "Yes, and they taste beautiful too. They're almost as pretty as you!" I guess it's true that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Because my brother usually doesn't say stuff like that to me unless he's really happy with me. Anyway I'm sitting her typing this post up and watching the College championship game. Go Gators!!! Josh, and Zach, and Beau got me hooked on Tim Tebow. He's a great player and has a good Christian witness. I'll be a Gator's fan as long as he's the quarter back. Anyways this has been an exciting game and I'm going to finish this post up so I can concentrate on it. Goodbye! Oh everyone repeat after me, Go Gators!!!!!!