My little brother is all grown up... :)

I remember, well sort of, the day that my little brother was born. June 15, 1993. I remember my mom being pregnant with him because we had that horrible blizzard of 1993 when she was pregnant with him. We were still living in our old house on Homewood, and we had SOOO much snow! I, the cute little precious thing I was, decided that it would be cool to throw snowballs at my mommy's belly. Don't worry, despite my arm now, I didn't have that hard of a throw to do TOO much damage to little Christopher. I remember coming up to the hospital with my Grandma the day he was born and finally getting to sit in the little green hospital chair and hold my baby brother for the first time. I think I was terrified and excited all at the same time! He was so stinkin' cute though! It took some getting used to though, no longer being the only child in the house. At one point, I kind of wondered outloud "I wonder what he would look like in the trash can?" Needless to say, seconds after that I got a, "BRITTANY ALEXANDRA" from my mom and I ran off crying. Daddy came and talked to me. I was just a little freaked because everything had changed and I was afraid nothing was going to be the same. Hey, its a lot for a 4 year old to deal with. After this little episode, things got much better and I tried to be a good big sissy to him. 

Now, almost 18 years later...we've finally found out how to get along with each other. Now don't get me wrong, we still argue and fight and push each other's buttons, but he is one of my best friends. My little brother (well younger brother considering he stands a good deal taller than me and can pick me up like a rag doll), knows me pretty darn well and always knows what to do to make me feel better, or quit stressing, or make me laugh when I'm about to lose it and cry! We've had our moments, but I am SO proud of him for everything he has accomplished in life! On May 21, 2011 at 10am, my brother, Christopher Patrick Duncan, graduated from Powell High School and joined me as an alumnus of PHS. He even made it all the way across the stage and down the ramp without falling or tripping! He did so well in high school, keeping up with his grades, a social  life, and learning how to manage time and working as much as he could to earn money to help him pay for gas, his car, and everything else he wanted to do. Now, as a high school graduate, he is starting to work full time at Food City to earn some money for when he decides to go to school for his career! I am so proud of him for taking each of these steps in life. I am so proud to call him my brother and so, so proud to be his sister! 

This blog post is dedicated to my brother! Congrats Chip! YOU DID IT! :) Here are some pictures from the graduation day...to sum it up...we sure do like to party and take pictures :) 

Chip and dad 

Momma's Boy 

 Love this picture!

 Pretty sure this is when mom lost it...for the millionth time ;)

 He's all grown up! Dang!

 I think he's changed a tad since his picture was taken!

 We really do love each other!

 Chip and his mommy!

 Yeah, we're HOT. We know :) 

It's official! He's got his diploma! 

 YAY! CHIP!

 I got the first picture with the PHS graduate!

 Chip and his "twin" Dusty!

 The wolfpack, as Jerica calls it :) 

 Chip and his beautiful girlfriend, Bailey!

 Too cute! 

 Chip and his Aunt Cathy!

 Isn't this precious!

 Chip and his grandparents!

 Chip and his Aunt Wanda and Aunt Jan 

 Chip, mom and Bailey 

 Chip and mom and dad!

 The men of the family :) 

 Chip and his sissy :)

Chip and his girls ;) 

Once again, Congrats Chip! I am so proud of you for everything! 

I love you! 

-Sissy-

Wrapping up the semester...

Well guys, it's officially summer! I finished my last final yesterday and it felt GLORIOUS to be done! Not that I pretty much have been on summer vacation since April 26th around oh 3:00pm considering that was my last class that day! My last two classes were cancelled because of the impending storm that was coming our way. Thankfully, where I was didn't get hit. However, others were not so lucky. West Knoxville had some really horrible storms and hail! I'm so thankful that no one I knew was hurt or really had any damage. Matthew was at work that night in the Apple Store and was getting ready to leave when he texts me and says "So there was a tornado touch down at Campbell Station Road and its heading this way. We're going into the hallway for shelter!" YIKES! I did NOT like knowing he was anywhere near the tornado. But thankfully, he was ok! :) That night there were so many tornados and a horrible one that ripped through Alabama destroying lives and homes the people there. I have never seen storms as big and powerful as the ones we had on my last day of classes.

So with that being said, it looks like I'm not going to be getting that wonderful internship that I was hoping for this summer :( Bummer, I know...but there is nothing I can do about it. I have interviewed with 6 different companies and have gotten the same thing, "It was very close, you are a great candidate and have extremely strong qualifications and experience but just not exactly what we are looking for" Lovely, so I'm apparently great but you don't want me! Alright, I'm done complaining now! So now, my plans are to just work as much as I can this summer to save up for mine and Matthew's wedding and for beginning our lives together :)

I am excited beyond belief about this summer! It's going to be AMAZING! My whole life is about to change and I couldn't be more excited! Matthew has graduated from Johnson Bible College and starts his grad classes on May 16th. I am so proud of him for what he has accomplished.

 getting his gown ready...with the steamer :)

 all ready to leave and graduate :) Doesn't he look handsome!

 Matthew and his Grandma Bowsman :) 

 Matthew and I :) I'm so proud of him!

 Matthew and his beautiful mom, Melissa!

 Matthew and his brother, Justin

 Ya know...I'm hoping he doesn't make that face when I kiss him when we get married lol ;)

 Matthew and his step-sister, Kathleen! :)

 Matthew and his step-dad, Larry (that guy is a HOOT!)

 Matthew and my cousin, Mari

 Matthew and my mom (his soon to be mother in law), Amy

 Matthew and my parents! :) 

 Matthew and my grandparents

 Matthew and the brother in law

 Matthew and my aunt Cathy and Uncle Marty

 It's official, he's graduated! He's got his diploma in hand!

 Matthew and our maid of honor, Brianna

 Showing his family around our stomping grounds :)

 The fountains at the world's fair site :) 

Larry and Melissa, Matthew's mom and step dad :)

We have our house. OUR house...where WE are going to be living when WE get married! Matthew is simply the best. He is the best a girl could have ever dreamed of and so much more! I cannot wait to become Mrs. Matthew Scott Davidson :) So for those of you who are wondering, here are some pictures of our house...we're still working on it and getting stuff situated..but here's an idea :)

 The bedroom (still needs some work but hey we're going one step at a time) :)

 another shot of the bedroom :)

 our "linen closet" as my dad calls it

it's our random half bath that is right next to our bathroom lol 

 our bathroom! doesn't it look good?

 the office....the one room we haven't set up yet

We're waiting for our trip to IKEA on Friday to get our desk (our his/her desk) to set everything up!

 the futon that we found on craigslist for $40...thank you Jacob from UT for not having room for it to go back home! We rather enjoy it :)

 standing in the living room looking down the hallway, 1/2 bath on the left, bathroom straight ahead, office door to the right 

 our living room...the view from the TV! notice the "Davidson" plaque hanging above it? Thanks mom!

 The outside of our humble abode :) 

 What a view we have :) 

 our plants on our back deck! From left to right, sunflowers that matthew bought me, cherry tomatoes, green bell peppers, and a regular tomato plant :) 

 view from the living room into the kitchen! I LOVE our plants! It makes our house look soo good!

 close up view of the backdoor to the deck and our pretty hanging plant :)

 close up view of the kitchen!  If you can tell, the thing hanging over the sink? Yea, we have a small fly problem...those little things are annoying! But matthew assures me that it is getting better! :)

 our back deck! And our ABSOLUTELY AWESOME deck chairs and tables from my mom and dad! They even match our pots and are our favorite colors! Wonder if you can guess which one is mine and which one is matthew's? :)

 the view from our back deck! How pretty :)

 our washer and dryer...so glad that Uncle Marty fixed the washer! Darn shipping rod was making the noise from the washer absolutely unbearable :)

 view of the living room from the kitchen! :) Its coming along quite nicely :)

another shot! our amazing matching love seat and couch. Matthew had the love seat already that he bought off craigslist a while ago and then my Uncle Mark and Aunt Jennifer bought new living room furniture and offered us their couch free! How amazing is it that it MATCHES PERFECTLY our love seat! YAHOO! 

So that's a little sneak peak into our house and how things are going. I'm sure we'll post more pictures when we get the office all set up and everything! I'm quite excited about that room if you want to know the truth! Also, I'm REALLY excited about going to IKEA on Friday! :) CAN'T WAIT!!! 

Well, I think thats about it for now! Gonna finish up working and head to work out and then come back to work! I'm just so excited about this summer! I just can't wait for everything to get rolling and for all the excitement to come :)