Just put on a little lipstick...

Nothing like Cary on the big screen The Franklin Theater has been restored and is open for business. They did a great job of restoration and they are showing some classic movies on the weekends and admission is only $5.00. The theater is also hosting live music and theater nights.  If you go, make sure you meet Henry - a wonderful man who introduces the movies and never forgets a face!

My work territory includes Lawrenceburg, TN. This also happens to be where Allison, one of my childhood friends lives. Amber, another childhood friend lives 20 minutes or so from Lawrenceburg. So...Amber met me in Lawrenceburg and we drove over to the school where Allison is a first grade teacher and surprised her! I wish I had taken a photo of her face when she saw us walk up to her door. She screamed and burst into tears. After much hugging, we headed to Dairy Queen for sundaes and to catch up. Then I headed to Florence to Amber's house for a slumber party complete with delicious Mexican food and a scary movie. I love my lifetime friends!

Jenni and Thomas     I didn't dress up this year, but Jenni was black widow, and Josh's girls were princesses. We spent the evening at the Spears annual Halloween chili night and trick or treating. Here's some photos!   Morgan, Anna and Emri   Sophie Spears   Elijha Spears

I am intrigued by the National Novel Writing Month . The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. It's supposed to get your creative juices flowing and you hopefully come out of it with a first draft at a piece of literature. The challenge is to write 1,700 words each day. I've been reading a book called " No plot, no problem " and they help you prepare for this challenge. Since today is day 1, I am not sure I will make it this year, but I wrote my 1700 words and we will see how tomorrow goes.

Some of you remember my cousin Hayley from when I called you and said "turn on the TV, cousin Hayley is on Deal or no Deal!" Hayley's post today is a great reminder that we should never let a day go by without telling those we love how much they mean to us: http://www.hayfarris.com/2011/10/so-this-one-time-i-died.html?showComment=1320155953972 Thank you for sharing this Hayley -We love you!

I had an appointment at Dr. Whitworth's office today (October 31st) and his nurse was dressed in a pink tutu and tiara - I forgot to get her photo, but it really helped me relax before the exam. I'm still having some transient nerve pain on my right side, but they say that is normal and should eventually get better. It's reassuring to know that these things happen to other people and are nothing to worry about.

Even Santa lent his support!

 Team Fight like a girl - photo 1  This is my 4th Komen Race for the cure since my diagnosis, and evidently it was the biggest cancer walk Nashville has ever hosted. That first year was a blur, I had just finished my chemo and I walked purely on adrenaline and support from my friends. This year I really enjoyed walking and catching up with friends. When I see other ladies who are obviously in the middle of their treatment it certainly takes me back to those hard days. I want to thank everyone who supported me during my surgery and treatment, and all the days since. Everyone should be lucky enough to have friends and family like you!  Team Fight like a girl - photo 2

October is breast cancer awareness month and everywhere I look people are showing their support. The Grand Ole Opry turned pink for one night, and the even the Titan stadium went from blue to pink in support of breast cancer.   Thank you to everyone involved - the support is greatly appreciated!

I thought as an adult I would not cave to peer pressure, but when my dinner club friends invited us camping, in October, I decided to join in. Camping is not bad, I've camped before. Anyone that knows me knows that I love fire - I love candles, bonfires and as a youngster I loved making burned paper pictures. The scenario even got better, the campsite had a bath-house, a plug for electricity and you could drive up to the campsite. It's the OCTOBER part that I didn't fully take into account. So we set out to Fall Creek Falls family campground. Bryan actually went up on Friday night with some of the guys, and I followed on Saturday with Catherine. We had a large roomy tent, an air mattress and warm sleeping bags. We ate delicious burgers, tenderloin, veggies, smores, popcorn and cider. The guys played football, we tried out the swings and took a walk. We didn't take into account the COLD! I almost bought a heater to take with us. Had I done this, it would have been a mu...

I feel a bit guilty when people ask if I want them to donate to my Komen for the Cure team. I know the importance of getting those research dollars and I appreciate everyone who donates. The reason I feel a bit guilty is because there are other cancer's that don't get as much recognition and I have friends who have some of those other types of cancer. If you want to donate to breast cancer research - do me a favor - give my team half of the amount you were planning to give and the give the remainder of your donation to Melanoma, Colon Cancer or another less popular cancer. Bryan and I recently joined "Team Willett" for the Miles for Melanoma walk. This was the first annual walk and they had a good turnout, but it was small compared to Komen. We plan on making this an annual event and would love for you to join us. Amy Willett is a fabulous wife, mother and friend who is battling melanoma and I am sure she would be honored to have you donate in her honor. Amber,...

Many times through the years when Bryan and I have been dining with our dinner club friends we've said, we should really take a trip together . We always have great intentions, sometimes we even pick the location, but actually making it happen is almost impossible. Well...we finally made it happen! Bryan and I took a California vacation with our friends Abbey, Jamie and Catherine and it couldn't have gone more smoothly. Even with us all flying in to SFO with different arrival times, and creating an itinerary that kept us on the road a lot of the time we had a wonderful and relaxing time. I have posted pictures on my travel blog if you want to see glimpses of our adventures. Friends are the most important part of your life. Treasure the tears, treasure the laughter, but most importantly, treasure the memories. - Dave Brenner

Some of my girlfriends and I have been looking for fun outings to spend time together. One of my former supervisors in Chattanooga told me about the Vaudeville Cafe and Mystery Dinner Theater. They have a Saturday night show called the "Redneck/Italian Wedding". This sounded like such fun. Some of us had attended Tony and Tina's wedding in Chicago several years ago and it was hilarious and we all had a great time. So we loaded up our cars and drove to Chattanooga for the evening. I'll have to admit, the best part was the drive there and back where we all caught up on each other's lives and laughed and commiserated about life's ups and downs. It was fabulous being together. I wasn't too impressed with the show or food. The show had some funny moments, but didn't hold a candle to the one we attended in Chicago where you are actually incorporated into the event. Here's a photo of our group