Summer Slacking

This summer has been a whirl wind! I can't believe I have not posted a blog since March, but now that things have calmed down recently, I am trying to get caught up on everything I've been slacking on. Here is a brief synopsis of what has been going on lately.

Around the beginning May I found out I was going to be laid off from my job in Wetumpka as of June 11. So, you can imagine my nervousness in trying to find a new job. Thankfully, I was given about six weeks notice and thankfully, by the grace of God, I was able to find another job. I started work as an Office Manager at D & L Development. Not my dream job, but a job none-the-less. After about two months at D&L I interviewed for a position at AUM...and got it! I started work the day after Labor Day as a Student Recruiter, focusing on Scholarships and Events, at AUM! I have been here now for almost two weeks and LOVE my job and all the people I work with!

If you're wondering what all Leon has been up to lately, it's A LOT! Leon has been studying, studying, studying. Earlier this summer Leon decided to go back to school and get his MBA! I am so proud of him. He has almost completed his first class and will be starting his second class in October. He has classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights and then spends most of his remaining free time studying.

Not only has he been studying for school but also for several computer certification tests. All of which he passed with flying colors and was greatly relieved. So, as you can tell we have been busy! This is just a brief up date. I will have some more detailed posts very soon.

Nashville!

Music City, Crazy Town, whatever you want to call it, Nashville is an awesome place full of history, Southern Charm and a lot of Country Music! From March 21 - 24 I attended the Southeast Tourism Society's Spring Conference in Nashville, TN. I had never been to Nashville before so I was really looking forward to this trip, not to mention I would get to spend my birthday (March 23) there too. I wasn't sure how much of Nashville I would actually get to see and experience but it turned out I was able to see a good bit. Mom was able to go with me for a few days so it was really nice to have her with me. We arrived Sunday in the pooring rain, not to mention the drive took an hour longer due to a sink hole that swallowed up the North bound lanes of Interstate 65 near Decatur. After we arrived at our hotel the rain finally quit and Mom and I went downtown Nashville, to Broadway St. and ate dinner at Big River. It was a nice restaurant and had really good food. After dinner we walked around downtown, but since it was Sunday all the stores were closing down for the night. We were tired so we went back to the hotel and rested up for the next day. Monday morning we signed up to take a tour of Nashville. Well, this tour was not quit what we expected. What we expected was to see a few sites around Nashville and get out and take a look around. Well, what we got was a two hour tour of celebrity homes, which was quite neat to see all of their houses, but after riding on a school bus for two hours wasn't quite as fun as you might think. Then, we pull in front of the Country Music Hall of Fame, thinking we were going to take a tour. Not! We were taking a potty break and then we got back on the bus, the bus, by the way, was painted camoflage and had 'Redneck Comedy Tour' written across the side and the inside had astroterf on the floors and boxers and giant bras hanging from a clothes line across the racks. The second part of our tour was spent with our new tour guides who were "cousins" that proceeded to make us all Redneck Certified by the end of our trip. The funny thing was,

everyone on the bus was from the Southeast so most of us were already qualified. We spent another two hours driving around Nashville while our guides pointed out some of the historic sites along the way. All in all the tour was interesting but not something Mom and I will ever do again. After the tour I had a few hours until the Conference began so Mom and I decided to take a tour of the Ryman Auditorium, aka the Grand Ol Opry. We did the self-guided tour as well as the back stage tour. The Ryman Auditorium is full of history and grandeur. It was so neat to be able to stand in the place where so many famous country music legends had once performed. Okay, here is a little history lesson. The Ryman Auditorium was once a church but started allowing entertainment acts to perform there. The Grand Ol Opry started in a radio studio but outgrew that space and moved to the Ryman permanently until the 1970s I believe. After that it moved to several locations until it is at it's current location which I'll get to in a little while. But, the Grand Ol Opry is still in existence today and is currently the longest running radio show ever! Pretty cool. Okay, history lesson over for now. Later that afternoon my conference started, and if you're wondering I did actually attend the conference and learn alot. I also met a lot of really cool and fun people as well. That night the conference had a reception and dinner at The Parthenon in Nashville. This is a replica of the Parthenon in Greece. It was an amazing building and such a unique setting for the evening. After the reception we all went to several of the bars downtown to listen to the loca artist sing and play. There were so many talented people there it was hard to find a favorite. But we enjoyed them all and had a blast, even Mom went out with us for a while. I was very proud of her. The next day, Tuesday, was my birthday! I was expecting it to be fairly uneventful. I spent the entire day in the conference. After the conference was over for the day all the attendees attended a reception and mixed and mingled. I was chatting with a couple of people who were going to the Grand Ol Opry later that night (I was secretly jealous) They started to leave to load their bus for the Opry when one of the guys came over and said "Aren't you going?" I had no clue what he was talking about. He said "to the Opry." I asked him how much and he said it wouldn't cost me anything and there was a bus out front waiting to take the group. I then asked him who was playing and he said Trace Atkins! My response was "Where's the bus?" I found out later that this guy was attending the conference from California and decided to purchas two dozen tickets and a bus and whoever the first 24 people where that wanted to go to the Opry were the lucky ones! I was certainly lucky and excited. So we all loaded the bus and headed to the Opry! The show consisted of Little Jimmy Dickens, Connie Smith, Jack Green, Trace Atkins, Glorianna, Joey and Rory and Luke Bryan! Amazing!! Needless to say this was one of the best birthdays ever. I was able to hang out and get to know a lot of wonderful people from all over the country while enjoying a great country concert at a legendary venue (the new Grand Ole Opry of course). Wednesday the conference wrapped up and I headed home, but I can't wait to get back to Nashville. There is so much more to see and do there and I don't know that I will ever have enough time for it all. If you've never been to Nashville I highly recommend it and hope you have as great of a time as I did!

Birthday

Birthdays have always been a big deal in my family. My Mom always makes sure we are recognized when it's birthday time no matter how old we may get. On March 23 I turned 25, yes, a whole quarter of a century old and this birthday was wonderful! Mom through a party for me at her house for all of our family and a few friends. We cooked out steaks, baked potatos, salad, and my favorite, ice cream cake, from Dairy Queen...yummy! All of our family came and even a few of my close friends. We had a wonderful time and I always love it anytime my family gets together. Incase you didn't know, the Maddox family is a very tight-knit family and we will use almost any excuse to gather together and celebrate. That is just one of the many reasons I love my family! I also got a few wonderful presents. Rainboots from my brother (that's exactly what I told him I wanted), a gift card to Ann Taylor loft, a cute duffel bag, money, and some other great gifts too. Oh, how can I forget, my Grandma also gave me a wonderful phot album. It was full of pictures of my parents when they were younger and of me growing up. It also had a lot of pictures of my aunts and uncles when they were younger and of my Pawpaw when he was younger. I think it is so neat to be able to take a glimps into the past and see what everyone looked like when they were younger. It is interesting to see the resemblences in people in the family. This was just the first part of my birthday. I will write another blog to cover the second part...Nashville!

Spring Fever

After a long cold winter (cold by Alabama standards) and some cabin fever, the weather has finally warmed up and it is starting to feel a little like Spring. I can finally get outside and enjoy nature the way it was meant to be enjoyed, in the woods. Leon, Penny and I decided to go take a hike (literally) in Chewacla State Park, just up the road from us in Auburn. It was about a 45 minute car ride and we were there. Literally just a hop, skip and a jump up the interstate. Chewacla State Park is a beautifully wooded area just off the interstate. You feel like you are miles away from everything when you're there. There is a glistening 26 acre lake and miles and miles of hiking trails, especially if you take the wrong one like we did, by accident of course. So on Saturday, upon our arrival, we asked the guy at the entrance which trail would take us to the waterfall. He told us any trail would, but what he didn't specify was that almost all of the trails would take you there if you didn't pick the one with a dead end. We started our hike off with the first trail we spotted. Which wasn't very easy because the trail markers were not always very visible. But we hiked one trail for a few miles and ended up at a dead end. The trail was beautiful, it followed along a crystal clear creek and a few little lagoons through the woods before opening up to the pristine lake and park area. We continued around part of the lake back through more woods until the trail ended. After a few mishaps we finally found out we were on the wrong side of the lake to get to the water fall and if we would have taken the trail in the other direction from the start then we would have ended up at the water fall. Of course, we eventually made our way to the waterfall, created by a dam. It was very beautiful and we enjoyed watching the water cascade down the rocks. Chewacla State Park was a great retreat to escape town for the day and I would highly recommend taking a trip to check it out one day.

Weekend Road Trip

This past weekend Leon and I went to Atlanta for the North American Grappling Association (NAGA) Jui-jitsu (pronounced Jew-jit-sue) Tournament. In case you're wondering what jui-jitsu is, it is a type of martial arts, sort of looks like wrestling. There were over 900 participants in various categories at this tournament. Needless to say, it took all day long, but was well worth it. In Leon's division, White Belt, 160-169.9 pounds, 30 and under, and 14 participants, Leon got first place! I think he even surprised himself. It was a lot of fun to watch all of his matches and see everything he has learned. I am very proud of him and his many talents!

Run Forrest Run!

How can I forget, in January I decided to start this program called Couch- to-5K. It is a program that trains you to be able to run a 5K race in nine weeks. If you're a little skeptical like I was, I can promise you that this program works! I started the program in mid January and have loved it! After two weeks I was feeling ambitious and with a little encouragement from my friend, Hollie, and my Mom, I decided to run in the Cruising the Creek Walk 5K in Prattville. That was the most excruciating yet gratifying experience I have had in a long time. I completed the race in 42.05 minutes and I was very proud of myself for this accomplishment. I was experience some pain and discomfort in my knees and hips after running so I took a break from running for a few weeks. Last week I decided to pick up where I left off on the program. I also decided to try running on the treadmill at the gym instead of outside on the sidewalk...this has made all the difference in the world! No more pain! I am now back on week four of the Couch-to-5K program and can't wait to complete the program and really be able to run...not struggle through my next 5K! Here is a link to the program if you're interested. All it takes is three times a week and 25-30 minutes of your time. Pretty simple to follow! And don't joke on the picture of Hollie and me. It was taken after the race and we were exhausted, or atleast I was. I'll put up another picture to show you we can look human...haha!http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Walking in a winter wonderland...No it's not Christmas and no, we didn't take a ski trip to the mountains...in fact, we never left Alabama! On Feb. 12 we received about 4 inches of snow. Yes, SNOW! That is a rarity in our part of the South. After the weather men had been talking about it for a while many people were skeptical. So much so that we actually had to go to work the day it snowed. The beautiful slushy snow began to fall around 6:30 that morning and by 9:00 a.m there was a white blanket of snow every where! This was about the time that I was able to leave work and Leon got off work around lunch time. To celebrate the snow Leon and I went over to my Mom's house and had a big snowball fight with my sister, Catherine, and two of her friends. We even let Penny out to experience the snow and she loved it too! It continued to fall for the remainder of the day and when all was said and done there were several inches of snow all over Alabama! Yes, the entire state, even south Alabama (where they received even more than most of northern Alabama) received snow! Here are a few pictures from our real Alabama Snow Day!