Day 120 Switched internet browser and switched gyms

I (Lynn) have ALWAYS used Internet Explorer at work as my internet browser. I like it best. This week we were told not to use it since it has some major problem. Today I made the decision to make Chrome my internet browser. I bookmarked all my favorites on it. I am now a Chrome user.

Well, I (Taylor) have been wasting $44 a month on a gym membership where I haven't gone in about a year and never took full advantage of what I was paying for. So I switched to planet fitness today :-) I'm pretty pumped about y new gym though! 

Day 119 Special Olympics and decorating Bookstore

Tonight we (work and I, Taylor) had some very special visitors. We had 2 athletes who are competing in the special olympics come to sign some autographs and take pictures with our guests. This was the first time I had ever sat and spoken with a special olympic athlete and talked about their events. It was a very humbling experience. 

My first today was not nearly as cool as Taylor's. A few days ago Jennifer Chiaverini, an author who writes quilt based books, posted a question on Facebook..."Should I schedule a book signing in Knoxville while I am there in May?" I responded yes and suggested she contact a local bookstore, Union Avenue Books. She did and announced she would be there on May 22. (I am not sure my suggestion had anything to do with her choice, but I decided to tell myself she took my advice.) I contacted the bookstore on Monday asking if I could bring by a poster advertising my guild's quilt show which starts the next day and offering to bring some quilts for them to use as decoration. They took me up on my offer so today I took the poster and quilts by today. I hope no one steals them or ruins them.

Day 118 Conquering fear and mind blown

Today I (Lynn) conquered my fear. I was a gym rat for a number of years. I loved going to classes at the gym and sweating. I went almost every day. Then I got sick. My thyroid stopped working. I was so tired I could not work out. It caused me to start putting on weight. That caused my RA to flare. Then I got planters fasciitis. I gained more weight. For about 4 months I did not go to the gym at all. I was afraid to go back. I had put on so much weight I was embrassed for anyone to see me. Tonight I conquered that fear and went back. So my first today - conquering my fear.

As I was about to post my first for the day, josh turned on Hannity. Im chowing down on my first (JIF Whips - the chocolate pb kind) and a woman by the name of Daryl Hannah popped on to chat a bit. I knew I had seen her somewhere but couldn't figure it out. Josh said one movie and I knew that wasn't it. So I made him google it. A walk to remember was where I knew her from. THEN I saw steel magnolias! Holy batman she played Annelle in steel magnolias!! My mind = blown! Learn something new everyday! 

By the way, the whips isn't awful. Tastes more like peanut butter than chocolate which I was a bit sad about. 

Day 117 100 books and baptism

Today I (Lynn) decided to make a list of 100 books I have always wanted to read but never found the time to do. I thought this would be quick and easy. Ha joke on me. It took me over 2 hours and I ended up with books I had never heard of because it appears I have read a lot of books. I think my goal next year will be to read these.

Tonight after getting back from I headed to church to see one of our friend's daughters get baptized. As I say and thought, I don't think I've ever seen someone get baptized in person. Crazy huh? 

Day 116 banana pudding and Family girl day

On the way back to Mom's house from my cousin Jenn's baby shower, my aunt and I were talking about homemade banana pudding. So we decided to call my Granny up and get her Mom's recipe and we were going to make it. So after a trip to the south Knoxville walmart, aunt Mary and I made our delicious homemade banana puddin! 

My first today was spending the day with all the girls in my family - Taylor, Keri, Tuesday, Graycie and Marian. We went to my neice's baby shower which was so much fun. Then we came home, Taylor and Marian made banana pudding and then we played the Big Bang game. We had so much fun and it was nice to spend time with my daughter-in-law without my son. It gave me a chance to get to know her better. It was a wonderful day.

Day 115 Being silly and I found the dress

My sister and I (Lynn) went out for ice cream. I told her on the way there that I did not have a first today. While we were sitting in the store eating Madonna's song "Vogue" came on and Marian started doing the vogue. She says this could be your first, do the vogue with me. I started laughing so hard, she says or you could pee yourself while eating ice cream which made me laugh even harder. We ended up laughing so hard we made quite a scene. So my first today - creating a scene at the ice cream store and having a huge belly laugh with tears, snorting and weird facial expressions.

So after a 3 hour drive I made it home to Mom's house for the weekend. I still hadn't done a first for the day at it was after 9 local time. So we decided to watch a TLC show called I found the dress. This particular episode was where they had a huge sale on their dresses. Brides lined up the night before to get these cheap dresses. I'll admit it gave me anxiety to even watch the show. There is no way I could take part in that event in person! 

Day 114 frisbee and surprise text

So I (Taylor) have played frisbee before, but it's been out while. But today I got to play frisbee in the middle of a private school hallway. I was doing a delivery for work and saw a prize cart for a fundraiser the school was doing. The leader of the fundraiser was standing at the cart and was informed that we were doing a new first every day for a year. So she picked up the frisbee and said here let this be your first and she threw it to me. So we threw it back-and-forth and that was my first.

My (Lynn) first today was a surprise text from a friend who moved to California. It came out of the blue and made my day. I miss him.

Day 113 Bacon chocolate chip cookie and breakthrough

I (Lynn) went to dinner tonight with friends. On the dessert menu was a bacon chocolate chip cookie. I decided to make that my first. How can you possibly resist trying that. It was horrible. In my opinion, the bacon gave the cookie a bitter taste. Not a fan at all.

That sounds absolutely disgusting by the way. On to my first. After a short day at work we headed to therapy like every Wednesday. I won't go into detail but there was a breakthrough today. Now what it means and what will come from it, I have no idea. But at least it was a breakthrough! 

Day 112 New Place to eat and princess ball

I needed a first (Lynn) today and since I am still under the weather, I decide to try out a new place to eat. With no place in mind, we just headed down the road. We found a little place called China Wok in Seymour. The service was great and so was the food. We will be going back there again. See it pays to just drive with no idea where you are going.

Tonight was a night that I've been looking forward to for over a month. A lot of planning and preparation for my biggest event at work. We hosted a daddy daughter princess ball at a local country club. We had about 300+ people throughout the night come to our event. It was such a special night and a wonderfully humbling experience to get to see dad's and their daughters bond. 

Here is a picture of the awesome team that made this night happen. 

And this is one of my favorite pictures from the night that I've seen so far. 

Day 111 Steroid inhaler and compliments

Today I took myself (Lynn) off to the doctor to find out why once again I cannot talk. Turns out I have allergies and bronchitis. One of my treatments is a steroid inhaler. I have never used an inhaler so this is my first for the day. I am not sure I did it correctly but I did it.

Today I ran around like a crazy person getting every last minute detail taken care of for our big event tomorrow night at work. I was in major need still of a photo printer that printed 4x6 photos only. I had a really annoying experience with the local Best Buy on Friday but I wanted to give them a second chance. So I called to see if they had got any in stock over the weekend. The woman I talked to put me on hold for about 3 mins and came back and said they did. I let her know what happened Friday and I asked if she for sure had one and she said yes. So I headed to the store and when I got to where they were there was no printer in site so I got a bit ticked off. I asked a sales associate about it and it turned out the woman I had talked to took it to customer service to hold for me. Then I asked the same woman that saved the printer about extra ink and paper. She went on a mad hunt for a good 5+ minutes for extra paper and ink and sure enough found some. I don't usually express my gratuity for things like that but I definitely let her know just how much that meant to me. 

Day 110 Holiday trip and Easter adventures

Lynn here. My first today marks something off my bucket list. I have always wanted to use one of my holidays from work and take a trip. Today I booked a holiday trip. So excited! I love to travel.

Today was a long, Warren family filled day. We started off with 7am breakfast at Cracker Barrel, 8:30 church service, lunch at Legends, and then off for some golfing. I didn't golf. I did what I do best which is riding around in the cart. My firsts you ask?? Eating lunch at Legends. It's a steakhouse in Smyrna. It's not too bad. I didn't enjoy my chicken but my sides and the bread was good. I also learned a very disgusting trick to make a baby poop. Needless to say it looks very uncomfortable but it worked! 

And I must add, if you ever want free entertainment, go golfing with the Warren siblings. The pure competitiveness is hilarious! 

Happy Easter! 

Day 109 Tums and donation to local singer

Today I (Taylor) headed to MTSU with the cow and another team member to be part of the Blue and White (spring scrimmage) football game. We had some down time so I bought everyone some lunch at the concession stand. I had a hotdog that later decided I needed to pay for it again in the form of horrible heart burn. I'm not really even sure I've had heart burn before but my first today was eating a Tums. It was pretty gross to be honest. Still hasn't kicked in to help either unfortunately b

I am a little behind (Lynn). Allergies have had me down all weekend. My first today involved this delightful young musician I have discovered. Her stage name is Emi Sunshine. I saw her first one afternoon while walking downtown on Market Square. We stopped and listened because she was that good. You can find YouTube videos of her singing. Her music is bluegrass, gospel and country. She has gotten so popular, she appeared on the Today Show. I love her music and have been following her on Facebook. I found she was trying to raise money to travel to a music festival. Today my first was donating to that fund raising effort. Check her out. She is wonderful!

Day 108 anime take over and Graycie's softball game

Today was my (Taylor) first full day back to work all week. We had a ton of people coming in because of Good Friday (schools being out) an there was an apparent anime convention in town the next exit up. I definitely got to chat with some interesting characters while working a register but I really got the full effect when I went to the side of town the convention was on. I felt like I was in a triply Alice in Wonderland movie! Definitely an interesting experience for sure. 

I went to Ider, Alabama today to watch my granddaughter, Graycie played softball. This is her first year to play and she is doing great. It was wonderful to see Jonas and his family.

Day 107 Yarn Crawl and standing up for myself

I have done quilt shop hops in the past. That is where you visit a certain number of specific quilt shops during a limited time period. They are always fun. Well I discovered they have yarn crawls. Same idea as a shop hop only yarn instead of quilts. Today I signed up to do a yarn crawl during June. I hope it is fun.

I've grown a backbone as I (Taylor) have gotten older. I started to stand up for what I believe and put my foot down for a lot of things. Well today I stood up for myself at work. As we all know I've been sick all week. I had no choice but to go into work for a few hours this morning but was scheduled to be on register during lunch. I knew that wasn't going to happen. So after being told multiple times I was needed up front I put my foot down and said I didn't need to be in front of customers being this sick and I left to go to the doctor. 

Day 106 Art Quilter praised my work and being sick

Tonight was FAC @ FAB. That is my Fiber Art Chick meeting at the Fiber Arts Blount office. Once a month a few of us from my Quilt Guild gather to talk art quilts, which we love. We try new methods, and we have taken on a project. Every other month one member pick a word and we make a 12 x 12 inch quilt that is inspired by that word. One member of our group is the "pro". She started the group and has won ribbons on her quilts. She is our mentor. When we show our quilts, she always skips over mine and praises everyone else's. Tonight she really likes my quilt inspired by flower. These are my five. The flower quilt is the last one. So my first today was having her like one of my quilts.

So being sick isn't anything new for me. But missing 3 days of work is. I've been I'll since Sunday night and even went to the doctor Tuesday but was told I only had a cold. I didn't believe it. But not being able to go to work for a number of days just doesn't happen to me. Now granted I've only been working for about 10 years, but still being out that long is not usual or fun.

Day 105 Friend at work leaves and nose swab

My world is sad today. (Lynn) In the Fall, I developed a friendship with one of our basketball staff members. We have worked closely together this year. Today I learned he was leaving. I am glad he is getting this opportunity but I will miss him. So my first today is my friend leaving. Not a first I wanted.

So I went to the doctor this afternoon. I still don't think their diagnosis is right, but we'll see how I feel in the next few days. They did test me for the flu though. I don't know if I've never been tested before or I just sit remember it. But they stuck a corin swab as far as they could in my nose. That sun of a gun hurt! Thankfully (apparently) I don't have the flu though. 

Day 104 meditate and trusting in others

I (Lynn) stole one of Taylor's first and tried meditation. I was hoping it would help me sleep. It didn't. Maybe I did it wrong.

My first for the day was trusting in someone else to do my job. I started getting sick Sunday night and I knew certain parts of my job had to be done yesterday. So I called someone in an hour early for their shift to have them do it. Big mistake. It didn't get done :-( 

Day 103 Go with the flow and frog legs

The only thing I (Lynn) had to accomplish today was processing the huge stack of quilt show entries that arrived at the house while I was in New Orleans. We were in a mild panic that we only had 138 quilts in the show. Our website was hacked so it was down the week entries were due. We extended the deadline to help us get to our magic number of 200 quilts. When I got home Saturday there was lots of mail. I opened it all Saturday night. Sunday I needed to take the 59 entries, scan them into my email, then convert that email to a PDF document, then send that document to the five members of the entry committee. My first obstacle - there was an event at my work building. We had to talk our way into the parking garage. We accomplished that. Then we walked into my office and found the IT guys had my computer. So we scanned the forms and headed to Marian's office and used her computer to access my email. It took about four hours to process these entries and get them sent to everyone. It was a day of thinking on my feet and I never panicked or got upset. I just kept on keeping on. Thinking on my feet and getting the job done. 

Today I was able to get josh up to go to church wth me this morning. We normally go to lunch after church and this time we went to a buffet with about 13 people. Josh had a huge plate full of fried frog legs. So I tried them. It wasn't awful but definitely very tough to eat. 

Day 102 Skip Bo and Orange Sherbet milkshake

Tonight I (Taylor) went to dinner with the bestie, Jess. After that we went to the book store and to get fro yo (frozen yogurt). After some yummy treats and walking around the avenue we went to the Merino's for some Skip Bo. I've never played that game before and I must say I've found yet another game I really enjoy playing! 

We came home today. I am so glad to be home. On our way, we stopped for lunch. The restaurant had Orange Sherbet milkshakes.  Never had one, in fact never heard of one. It was delicious.

Day 101 inspirations and plantation

I've never been told that I'm (Taylor) an inspiration to anyone. Let alone to inspire someone to do something I've done. Well that happened today. One of my very best friends (pooks/Jess) has an older sister that I've had the pleasure of knowing since 2005. Today, I found out she was inspired by my post a while back when I donated my hair and she went and did the same! How cool! 

That is cool. My first today was visiting a sugar cane plantation. I guess I thought all southern plantation were cotton plantations. I learned that most Louisiana plantations were sugar cane growers. I also learned that after Jefferson made the Louisiana purchase he would not allow them to become a state until they learned English since they all spoke French. I also learned that women loved hooped skirts. It allowed the breeze to come up under their skirts and cool them off. 

Day 100 new coffee and semi nude woman walking down street

I've got into the habit of drinking a cup of coffee on my way to work and I take full advantage of my keurig. A while back josh and I were grocery shopping (always a bad idea) and we got one of those k cup things where you put your own ground up coffee in it. I always use the k cups that already have coffee in them. So I finally broke that out and had some French vanilla 8 o'clock ground coffee this morning. It was delicious! I'm very excited I discovered this little thing. 

By the way... We made it to 100 days!!! Only 265 more to go! (Holy crap that's a long time) 

Today we spent the afternoon in the French Quarter. They were having the French Quarter Festival so there were tons of people on the streets. Every corner had someone playing music. People were walking around in all kinds of outfits. I was standing by myself (everyone else was in the bathroom) and a young woman walked by me. She had on high heels, fish net hose, short shorts and a feather head dress. I had to look twice but sure enough all she had on above the waist was red paint on her nipples and a fleur de lis painted on her back. She was carrying a tip bucket. She was walking slowly, staring straight ahead like she didn't have a care in the world. You just never know what you might see.

Day 99 fitness tracker and WWII museum

So I (Taylor here again) have wanted a fitness tracker (think fitbit) or heart rate monitor for a while. I finally decided to do some research tonight. I know it's not much of a first but it's a big deal for me to actually do the research and narrow down what I want. 

Today was the best day of our trip. It was finally sunny and warm. We started the day with a tour of New Orleans. My first today though was a visit to the WWII Museum featuring a 4D film. The film starred Tom Hanks. It was wonderful! Our seats moved, snow fell from the ceiling, the screen surrounded us, the front of a plane dropped from the ceiling. It told the story of the war from start to finish. Everyone should see it.

Day 98 jewelry cleaner and paddle boat ride

So I'm (Taylor) pretty sure I've never had my diamond stud earrings cleaned since josh bought them for me for my birthday in 2010. That inspired my first for the day. My earrings stunk. Like for real. So I gave them a bath along with my wedding set and another ring I have. The mixture wa 1tbsp of both salt and baking powder, 1tsp dish detergent, and 1 cup hot water.  You fold up a piece of aluminum foil and put it in the bottom of a bowl. Put the baking soda, dish detergent and salt on the aluminum foil an then add the hot water. You put your jewelry in the mix for 10 minutes and then scrub with a toothbrush and dry off and you're done! My wedding set isn't as sparkling beautiful as it gets at the jewlers but the earrings and my other ring are gorgeous!  

I (Lynn) had quite the adventure today.  On our schedule today was a ride on a steam driven paddle boat. Sounds wonderful doesn't it. It started out that way. It was overcast and a little chilly but we got on board and found great seats on the side of the boat with the best view of the tour. Karen went and got us hurricanes and the boat took off. Our two and half hour adventure began. Fifteen minutes into our journey, the rain started. The rain was quickly following by thunder, then lightening and then hail. Everyone ran for cover. There was not a lot of cover however. Mom and Gladys found cover in the bar but Karen was freaked out by so many people in such a small area so she and I hung out on the front of the boat under cover, but in the cold wind. It was scary to say the least. We finally pulled back up to the dock just as the sun broke through the clouds. Not an adventure I hope to have again.

Day 97 Final Four and Rosie the Riveter

So today, I (Taylor) am using my husband as my first. I fought this hard but josh went to the final four (men's) in Dallas this morning. He left at 5am to drive 10 hours by himself to go watch his beloved Cats in the game. So my first you ask? Getting to watch my husband take off and do something that has been on his bucket list for a while. Is that a cop out? 

One of the greatest thing about traveling with senior citizens is hearing their stories. Gladys, a close friend of my Mom's, was telling me about how she met her first husband. After high school she did not want to head north to find work because she hates the cold. There were no jobs in her hometown of Crossville so she took off for Florida and warm weather. She found a job welding on ships on the Panhandle. She was a Rosie the Riveter! She meet her husband on the ship where he also worked. She is 89 years old and still gets around and is smart as a whip. She travels as much as she can and has been to 49 states. I had the best time talking to her all week.

Day 96 climb Nashville and riding on bus with 40 strangers

Back in January, I (Taylor) bought Mom and I indoor rock climbing passes on LivingSocial. Unfortunately Mom wasn't able to make it up to use them before they expired for a few reasons. So Josh and I decided to do a first together today and use them. I've confirmed the fact that I don't like heights even when I'm attached to something I know will catch me if I fall. Needless to say I didnt enjoy it very much. Josh, on the other hand, seemed to have a lot of fun. 

Mom is on a short blog hiatus as she is on vacation. She'll update when she gets back :-) 

Mom is back. Today's first was riding on a bus all day with 40 strangers. I went with my sweet Mother and older sister, Karen on a week long vacation to New Orleans.  Little sister, Marian was going to join us but she had to go to California for business. I don't really care for riding on a bus for traveling. It makes me feel confined and I like the control of driving myself. Mom really wanted us all to take this trip together so I went. Riding on a bus with a bunch of strangers - not fun. But I got through it.

Day 95 No Dishes and Barre Fitness

I (Lynn) have a problem. If sweet sister Marian does not get something done when I expect it to get done, I will do it myself. Then I will be mad at myself for doing it. Marian's alarm did not go off Friday morning and she had to rush out the door without doing the dishes. (It was her turn.) in the past, I would have done those dishes. But not this time. Good for me! I put them in a trash bag where they will wait for her to get home. Now we are both happy.

Sweet Momma standing up for herself :-) today, I got up an went to a new fitness class. I bought a groupon a while back for a barre fitness class. So I finally took my first class this morning. I actually really enjoyed it. I was a bit nervous because I had to go by myself which I don't enjoy doing but the class actually challenged me more than I had anticipated. Definitely looking forward to my other classes! 

Day 94 "Serenity" and Fat Moes

As everyone in my family knows I am challenged by electronics. I have never figured out how to work a VCR. Now we have a Blue Ray player which I have no idea how to work. In an earlier post, I learned to put our Amazon Prime Account on our TV screen. Last night I used our Netflix account to watch the movie "Serenity" on our TV. It was a good movie. I am sorry the TV series only lasted one year and that they only made one movies. So that was my first today - using Netflix to watch "Serenity".

Sweet little Momma :) tonight I got a text from one of my best fiend's husband to see if Josh and I wanted to go to dinner. We went to this burger joint called Fat Moes. I've live in Murfreesboro for about 9 years now and never been. It was much better than I expected. It's not the prettiest place but it definitely had some yummy food! And the burgers are huge! 

Day 93 Painted shoes and #TBT

I was going to grow magic rocks tonight. (Lynn) Unfortunately you need aluminum foil for that and of course we do not have any. So here I was eight o'clock and what to do. I needed a first. As I wandered by my sewing room I saw the solution to my problem. A year ago I purchased a pair of plain, cheap tennis shoes at Walmart. So I decorated them.

What do you think? I thought they turned out cute.

How cute are those shoes Momma made!! I decided to take part in something I hate. Yes, hate. I can't stand all these days with special names just so people can post pictures of themselves "back in the good ole days." But that's what I did. I took part in throw back Thursday. 

Day 92 giveaways and "Wrens" play

So with my job I get to do a lot of really cool things. Today we decided to surprise our guests that came through our drive thru during lunch. We had Cow out in his swim trunks doing his dances and I got the chance (and pleasure) to hand our chicken biscuits to 100 of our guests :-) it's those things that I get to do that grow my love for my job. I'm honestly honored to be able to have a job like this. 

It warms this Mom's heart to know her child loves her job. My first today was seeing the play "Wrens" at the Lab Theatre. The plays at the lab theater are done by the younger theater students and through the years have been my favorite. This was written by Anne V. McGravie. She served in the Women's Royal Naval Service in Scotland during WWII. This play is about the end of WWII and the women having to go back to the real world. It also talks about rape and abortion and how back then the women were blamed for the rapes and abortion was illegal and very deadly at times for women. It was very emotional and makes me very thankful that I grew up during a time when women began to have freedom to choose how she wanted to live. I am very grateful to the women who game before me and fought for women's rights. 

Day 91 Compliment from new boss and failed headstand

My first today (Lynn) was a feel good moment. I had a meeting with my new boss and he complimented me on a procedure I developed. It was a surprise and made me feel really good.

As the back bend should have shown me I'm not nearly as limber as I was back in the day. So mom suggested that I try a headstand. I'm wondering now if she was trying to kill me. But it was an epic fail. I hardly got anywhere close to getting up. Oh well. Never hurts to try.