Oh. Baby.

I'm sure the title got you didn't it? If you're reading this and expect a baby announcement, go ahead and click the back button, because you aren't getting one.


The first thing I think to do when someone tells me "No, you can't" is "Oh, just watch me." No one likes to be told that they can't do something when it is perfectly within reason. If you do, then you're lying. Several years ago, I was told that the odds of me having a child were slim to none. Hearing those words, at the time, was not devastating to me. I didn't want a child then, and I wasn't interested. Now, I am with the absolute love of my life and it's all I can think about. I will be with this man until my spirit is no longer on this earth. That being said, I do not want a child right this very second- we have way too much going on in our lives and a lot of things to take care of before that happens.


One Wednesday evening back in September I received a phone call from my sister, Cassie. I didn't answer because my phone was on silent. When I finally looked at my phone and saw it blowing up I had several missed calls and several missed FaceTime's. When you live hours away from your entire family, multiple missed calls are usually not a good thing. Finally I answered and my baby sister was all bubbly and smiling- whew. No emergency. I heard my other sister, Carly, and her husband Jon in the background along with my parents. Wait...huh? What is going on, y'all? Then Cassie shoved a positive pregnancy test up to the camera so I could see.  It took a second for me to put two and two together, but when I did I was so excited! I know my sister Carly, and I know that she LOVES God and her husband like crazy. She too has been through some really tough, unfair stuff, and I truly feel Jon is her perfect soulmate. Realizing that they had created a life together made me feel over the moon. Aunt! I'm going to be an AUNT! So happy! I cried a few tears of joy, we talked a bit more on FaceTime and then we said our goodnights.


The second we hung up I completely lost it. A tsunami of emotions washed over me, and I was an absolute mess. I was so happy, yet so sad at the same time. My heart was being pulled in so many different directions- SO overjoyed at the great and wonderful news! Yet, so envious and sad because I know, that may not ever happen for me. I may never get to make that phone call or come up with a cute, clever way of announcing a pregnancy. I may never get to buy things for a nursery or buy enough monogrammed baby stuff to keep the entire Etsy website in business. I may not ever get the chance to cuddle with a child of my own, feed them, care for them, and be known as "mommy." I bet I cried for two hours. I am sure Jack was ready to throw me out, but he didn't. He just held me and was so understanding and rode the emotional roller coaster right along with me that night. I know I say it all the time, but he is an absolute angel. Now, all that being said I am SO in love with my little nephew already, and am so excited and happy for Carly and Jon. They are going to make amazing parents, and sweet Jonah has SO much love waiting on him already! I absolutely love these two pictures- little Jonah giving the thumbs up to everyone and my gorgeous sister and mom at Thanksgiving. We have wonderful genes.

I've been reminded and faced with the fact of "no baby" even more lately. There are at least 25 (yes, TWENTY-FIVE) friends on Facebook who are pregnant (and to all of you- Congrats! I am truly happy for each of you and wish you ALL the best!), my immediate family is growing with a nephew, and then of course Jack and I eloped so we MUST be pregnant. That is why people elope now days. I KNOW! Definitely not true at all, and I've had several people be very tactless in approaching the subject. We got married because we LOVE each other. Imagine that. We got married because when you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, what in the world are you waiting for?!  However, people can really be cruel, and brushing off rude, inappropriate comments is NOT something I do or handle well. How insulting for someone to insinuate that I got married because I had to and not because I wanted to do so. Ugh. Just so rude. This is a great article I found about asking couples about having children. It applies perfectly to my situation and I couldn't have said it better myself.


I know that God's plans are the ultimate ones, and I know that if it's meant to be for Jack and I to have a child, then we WILL have a child. However, for now, I am just enjoying my husband, and enjoying being a newlywed. Let us enjoy that. He has a three-year-old son, who is probably the sweetest little guy ever. If Camden is the closest I ever get to having a child of my own, then I am okay with that. So below, I wrote a little letter to Jonah. Enjoy!






Dear Jonah Maddox,


We haven't met you yet, but trust me when I say there is a whole lot of love waiting to meet you. You have always been loved, even before your mommy knew about you growing in her belly. I know she prayed for you, prayed for your life, and prayed for your health. You've changed her a little bit. She can get kind of grumpy, but it is actually pretty entertaining so keep it up. I am so very excited to be in your life and to be a part of your story. I pray that you encounter Jesus early and often, and I'm sure that you will.  I can't wait to have KayKay and Jonah days when I visit you in Georgia and just spoil you rotten. I can't wait to have Facetime/Skype dates for when I can't be there. I can't wait to see my mom and dad (Your Nonnie and Poppy) with you. You will ruin them I am sure! I can't wait for you to get here. Please come on time and be a little gentleman- the world needs more of them. Know that I am so very excited for your life and your future. I look forward to being your aunt. At this point in time, I am not really sure what that means but eventually, I will. I am your KayKay, and I love you Jo!

Full Belly: Ground Turkey, Peppers, and Rice

Yet another amazing, delicious recipe. This was borrowed from a dear friend of ours (thanks Daniel!), and we kind of modified it and made it our own. And let me tell ya, IT. IS. DELICIOUS.


Just like in my previous recipe, which you can find here, I got my frozen veggies at Kroger. It's a blend off three peppers and onions and the flavor is simply amazing.  First I sautéed them in a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and added salt and pepper and some Cajun seasoning (yum!). Again, the colors alone make my mouth water. It's aroma is intoxicating.

While the peppers were warming up, I browned my ground turkey. We had bought a three pound package, and I used half of it for this recipe. Once it was done I mixed it right in with the peppers and onions. Y'all, the smell alone will just make your head spin. SO. GOOD.

I let the meat, peppers and onions cook on medium/high heat for about 10 minutes so that it would add some flavor to the meat. While that was going, I whipped up some minute rice. (Easiest thing ever, especially for dummies like me!)  We served the meat/pepper mix over the top of the rice, but you could mix it all together as well. Whatever your preference. You could also substitute the white rice for whole grain rice, but we used what we had in the pantry! It is very filling- I can never eat a full bowl in one sitting. I only ate about half of what you see in the picture below. Feel free to borrow and adapt how you see fit. 'Til next time!

Full Belly: Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry

Let me be the first to tell you- I am no chef. I never have been, nor will I ever be. If it involves more than 6 or so ingredients, odds are I am GOING to screw it up. Any recipes that I post on here will be strictly SIMPLE and often for the picky eater, as I myself have been known to turn my nose up at new, unfamiliar dishes. Last night I got creative and with a lot of help from Jack and Cam, we made probably the yummiest, easiest Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry ever!



First, I got frozen stir fry veggies with noodles at Kroger. It has green peppers, red peppers, onions, celery, broccoli, and who all knows what kinds of seasonings and stuff in it. These were only $1. Yes. True story. They're in the frozen veggie aisle, and you better believe that the Springfield, Tennessee Kroger may or may not have any if you ever go, because I will have already beat you there. Booyah.

Jack and I sautéed these veggies and noodles in a pan on high for about 15 minutes. I mixed in a tablespoon of olive oil and about a 1/4 a cup of Teriyaki Sauce as well. Can we just take a second and appreciate just how beautiful food is? This. Is. Gorgeous.

While doing all that, we were also busy with the chicken, which I had already marinated in Teriyaki sauce all day in the fridge. Jack put it in the oven until it was fully cooked. Then, Viola! (Vi-oh-luh, as my mother would pronounce it. Ha!) We had some great stir fry! I didn't even mind the broccoli, and I usually HATE broccoli. Cam even ate some too and seemed to like it. It's definitely going on our favorites list!

In Sickness and In Health

I have a really, really great husband, y'all. He has been such an amazing trooper these last few months. He has listened to my pissing and moaning complaining and has taken it like an absolute champ. One reason we are keeping this blog is so that we can look back on our many years of marriage and laugh, cry, and sometimes just roll our eyes at ourselves over the  things that happen in our lives. I don't want to forget ANYTHING.




For anyone who hasn't read any of my status updates on Facebook, let me give you a little update on what's been going on lately. Jack and I went on a fantastic cruise back in October. The week after we got back from our cruise, I got my first migraine headache since middle school. No nausea, just a headache that I was sure was going to be the end of  me. I just knew that this was it. This was how, where, and when it was going to end. I was in the floor of my classroom in the fetal position, squalling, on the phone with my mama who was praying (thank JESUS for my mama!), and ready to just rip my eye balls out. Jack took me to a Quick Care type place up here, and they gave me the "Migraine Cocktail." It didn't knock me out. It just made me feel high as a kite. And it didn't take away my headache. It was still there on and off for the next week.




During the month of November I had random headaches that would come and go throughout the day and would repeat like that for several days at a time. Ibuprofen literally saved my life. Damaged my kidneys I'm sure, but saved my life nonetheless. On Christmas Eve we were at my parent's house in Georgia. We had just driven back from Knoxville, and my eyes were feeling "tight" as they always do before a headache comes on. I attributed the tightness to driving across the mountain and all the traveling we'd been doing. By that night I had a full blown headache. Like, an it-woke-me-up-from-a-dead-sleep-screaming headache. It felt like someone was using my eyeballs as the reins to Santa's sleigh and then had a chainsaw splitting the back of  my head open with a chainsaw. Although, that might have actually been less painful. My Super Trooper (Jack) immediately went upstairs and got me some medicine and a drink. I had to continually take Ibuprofen and Tylenol every three hours on Christmas Day, or I could not function. I was completely miserable.




On January 8, I started feeling that "tightness" in my eyes again after school. We got home, and I took the usual meds. Nothing. Took a little more. Nothing. Went to bed. Couldn't sleep. Jack gave me one of his migraine pills (he is an absolute angel) but it really made my headache much, much WORSE. So I did what any southern girl would do. I called my mama and just lost it. (Yes, I am twenty-seven years old, but I am NOT too grown to call my mama, and I know she will drop whatever she is doing to pray for her baby girl!) At this point, I think anxiety took over because I was a crying, blubbering mess. Not to mention the stabbing, fierce pain in my head. Then my face started tingling and feeling "heavy"and that's the only way I know to describe it. I immediately thought I was having a stroke since it was specific to my left side. Jack all but tossed me in the car and took me straight to the hospital, which is luckily five minutes or so from our house. Or at least it was that night.




I got poked and prodded and was given another "Migraine Cocktail" and a CT Scan. This time, the "Cocktail" caused a scare though. The second they injected the medicines into my IV my heart-rate would shoot sky high and caused me to come up off the bed. My eyes FLEW open, and I nearly hit the nurse. But it knocked. me. out. Anyways, they sent us home and the next day I went to my doctor. She gave me Topamax. Y'all. The devil is in that drug. He is. It made me have very vivid, frightening nightmares. It also gave other unpleasant side effects, but the nightmares were just a deal breaker. The next medicine she gave me has weird side effects on the heart, so I'm not even going to bother with it, since I have a murmur and sinus arrhythmia anyways. No, thanks. So off to a Neurologist I go. We are praying for an answer and an EFFECTIVE treatment! I am so thankful for the sweet angel I get to call husband. He has been so amazingly patient through ALL of this, and has not uttered the first complaint. (To me, anyways)  I love him so much for that. Keep us in your thoughts!

Student-Athletes

Being a high school baseball coach, I see all kind of things that still blow my mind in regards to student-athletes, parents, and administration.  As I will not go into the administration things because I like my job too much, I will talk about the parents and athletes.

Student-athletes.  Let's talk about that for a minute.  Do I REALLY need to break this down for you?  STUDENT-athletes.  Not ATHLETE-students!  Student - "A learner or someone who attends an educational institution" (Thank you Wikipedia for the true definition).  They are called student-athletes for a reason.  They are STUDENTS FIRST!  Meaning, if they do not make the grade...BYE!  If they receive ISS....extra running.  If you get suspended from school....well, don't even get me started!

I remember back in my day *in my best grandfather voice possible*, that if a member of a sports team was in trouble, caused trouble, or was an embarrassment to the team in anyway, on or off the court/field, they were dismissed from the team.  When did this not become the norm?  When did students and parents decide if their child was or not on the team?

Now, in this instance, I understand the involvement of parents.  Parents should know the result of their child's actions in school.  However, what if the athlete decides they want to quit a team?  They should talk with the coach first.  If they still feel the same, then perhaps talking with the parents will clear some things up.  If a athlete tells a coach that they quit, do not come knocking when you decide "I shouldn't have done that."  You did, so you are off the team.  If you quit a job, you think the boss is going to just let you back.  Negative Ghostrider (Had to get in my Top Gun reference!).

Parents, I hope you never are put in this situation where your child does not discuss this with you first as you are the one more invested in the sport than they probably are.  However, if your child does decide to quit and you are upset about it, you are to talk with you child about what they learned from this.  Do not call the coach, do not call the administration.  YOUR child quit.  Not our issue anymore.

Moral of the story:
We have to start teaching our children consequences again.  There is NOT ALWAYS a winner.  There is always a winner AND a loser.  We all lose and we all fail at some point.  How we deal with that loss or failure and learn from it is what determines our character and how we can prevail.  SUCCESS is determined on how many times we fail.  We cannot succeed if we fail.  We have to teach our children that it is OK to fail and how to deal with it.  They have to understand that just because they fail, they cannot give up.  They have to try harder and continue to try until they prevail!

About the other half

Well, here it is.  It has actually come to the point where I blog.  If you had asked me years ago if you would ever blog, I probably would have laughed in your face.  I think this is my wife's way of trying to get me to read quite honestly.  That is OK.  I just hope I do not make her too upset with all my grammatical errors!

Who is this Jack Fullerton guy?  No one special.  Just a super-hero teacher that worked in retail for TOO long and was looking for a change.  I wanted more of an impact on the world in which I lived in and raised my son in.  I was getting stagnant in my career and wanted more of a challenge.  I definitely got one! 

I am a runner.  I am not a Oh-I-did-the-Color-Run-and-walked-the-whole-thing runner.  I am full-fledged, marathon-crazed, runner.  I have ran at least 4 half-marathons, 2 full marathons, Tennessee Ragnar, and who knows how many 5 and 10Ks.  I find it relaxing (that is where the crazy comes in because who considers RUNNING.....RELAXING?!).

I obviously am not a blogger and I am not going to pretend to be one.  I am sure that Kayla will put in a lot more entries than me. I cannot promise to entertain as much as  I would in person, but hopefully to enlighten or motivate on situations.  I take pride in that with my students and maybe I can do that with just one of you out there.

Until next time...........

First Thing's First...

I'm the realist.


Ha. Ha. Yes, I am that person. Welcome to my blog. I used to blog several years ago, and if you scour the internet hard and long enough you could probably find it. I forget what it was even called really. I do know it was about losing weight, working out and dieting. HA! Anynotdietinganymore, I am starting a new blog. Fresh. Brand spanking new. It was actually one of my few New Years goals. In fact, all of my New Years goals were:


1. Run at least 3 races this year- (one being the Savannah Half Marathon with Jack for his birthday.)
2. Travel and use my passport again!
3. Start a savings account.
4. Start a blog.


And that's it. No losing weight goals. (I honestly don't care about losing weight as long as I am healthy. Scales can kiss my lovely, round rear-end.) I have made a list and checked it twice of things that I want to blog about and I can't WAIT to share them with you. I may have a guest blog now and then, as my husband, Jack, is also an admin on here. We've both talked extensively about this and are excited that this is something we will be able to share together.

I have to give blogging credit to my very dear friend, Erica. She has her own blog titled "Whimsical September" which you can find here. She is simply ah.freaking.mazing and is such a gifted writer. She gives incredible (and healthy!) recipes, HILARIOUS and tear-jerker stories about her precious daughter Hadley, DYI project  how-to's, and talks about her ever changing life as a military wife. Now, my life in no way is as interesting as hers, but I'm going to try my darndest to think of some things to blog about that folks will enjoy reading.


So here's to my first introductory blog. Thank you for taking the time to read it, and I promise you that good and interesting things are to come.