Had a great lunch with David's parents yesterday for his birthday. Then a nice trip to Big Lots! Then home again to relax before heading to my parents' for dinner and cake. :) Today I've been doing nothing but homework. Had a 1000 words paper to write, and another 3 page paper. Will be very happy when it's all over. 3 more weeks of this nonsense.

It's Easter!

and boy has it been a very long day. I got home from work around 3am, and because it's the schedule I've become used to, I didn't fall asleep until around 4:30am, then got up at 8:15am, to go to church with David's parents and his brother Robert. David stayed passed out so he wouldn't fall asleep tonight at work. After church, I went to the dollar store and Winn Dixie to pick up some candy, temporary tattoos, and easter eggs for the siblings to have an easter egg hunt. Then David got up around 11:00am, and we headed to my parents'. I filled the eggs, put them out, and started on the casserole. At 1:30pm we headed to David's parents' for their Easter dinner, and got to see Larry and Bob which was nice, because we don't get to see them very often. At 2:30pm we had to head to my parents' because David had to head to work, so my mom put him together a lunchbox to bring to work so he could have food for dinner. Had dinner at my parents' and passed out for two hours on my parents' living room floor. Then Naner and I hung out and played Monopoly and Scrabble on the computer. Now I'm finally home, and watching Oprah and catching up on internet stuff. Tomorrow I'm heading to the Sheriff's office to drop off another application for an Administrative Assistant position that I really really want. Wish me luck!

Christmas has come and gone...

Despite not having a job, my grandfather passing away, and not having any real money for gifts this year, Christmas actually went really well, and I'm very grateful for that. This year we spent Christmas with three parts of our families. It's been a long week this past week, because given the lack of funds for gifts, I decided that I would try to make gifts for my family like I used to do as a child. I hoped that everyone would like them, because I know that as a kid, you don't really grasp the 'thought that counts' aspect at Christmas time. Thankfully they all liked them, or at least pretended too. I made all of the kids Christmas ornaments that were animals, with their names on them, and then made glittery decorative balls for my aunts, my cousin Rachel, and my mom. My big give to my mom though was a "love" box that I had everyone fill out letters to her, and put them in the box that I decorated.

It's been a very long, rough month for all of us, but for my mom especially. When my grandfather passed away last month it really shifted the family a lot. My grandmother needs constant help, so in order to better do that, my family made the decision to move in with her. The moving process has been a long, hard one. My mom however, somehow through all the hardship has managed to put on a happy face and take care of everyone from making the move, to helping grandma get from one part of the house to the other, to making meals everyday for the whole family. She really is a superwoman. I wanted her to know we all love her and are grateful for all that she's done. Several people thought it was stupid and didn't take it seriously, but when I saw her cry as she read them, I knew she appreciated it. I'm happy for that.

So we got up early and headed to my Grandma's around 9:30am, where mom made us all eggs and toast and hot tea for breakfast. Then once Aunt Kate and Uncle Drew got there we began opening presents. At around 11:30am we headed out from Grandma's and headed to David's parents' house for lunch with his family. Unfortunately Larry and Bob and Duane and Birgit (I know, I butchered the spelling, sorry) weren't there, but we spent it with David's mom and dad, Elizabeth (whom it was great to see again), Meredith & Mike and the kids, and David's brother Robert. We opened presents and sat down for a nice lunch together. Then at around 1:30pm we headed out, stopped back at our house to pick up the cookies and lemon chiffon pie that I made and the slideshow and headed back to my Grandma's for an early Christmas dinner. There was soooo much food. More and more family came. I believe we had like 17 people there for dinner. Then we opened presents again and watched a slideshow I made. At like 6pm we headed out once again for Christmas at Aunt Bobbie's house, where we opened MORE presents, and hung out for a little while, which was nice. Finally we headed back to my Grandma's AGAIN where we met my uncle's new girlfriend and her daughter. Eventually we were able to finally head home for the night, and Douglas came over and we watched 'Drillbit Taylor' which was a very cute movie. It was a very long very filled day, but it turned out just right. :)

Today I spent the day applying for more jobs again and making sure all the paperwork for school is ready.

I'm looking at how much I just wrote and realize I don't write in this journal enough, but I guess there's just not that many exciting or important things going on, but I wanted to share with everyone our Christmas, and I hope that everyone else had a great one! :)

R.I.P. Papa

This morning my grandfather passed away. We are all devestated. You will be missed more than you know!

Update:

I've finally gotten my car back, and a big thank you to David, my parents, Douglas and Marge for helping to get me to and from work for the past two weeks. :) It's greatly appreciated. School is almost over. I've got a week and a half until I graduate and until David is supposed to. I'm so excited. Then I get to start my paralegal degree, which I can't wait for. Today I've gotta go pick up David from work, and we've gotta get our caps/gowns/tickets, and research for our paper that's due next Friday. Next week is that last week. Yay! Oh and in other news, so...I'm auditioning for American Idol next month. lol. Exciting, right?

So the rental company never did give me another car. So all of last week, David brought me to and from work, except 2 times. Friday Douglas, Renee, Ken and I went to River Lanes to play pool and did three hours of extreme bowling which was pretty fun. My car was supposed to be available for pickup on Friday and supposed was, but when David went to pick it up, my stereo system wouldn't turn on, and my airbag lights came on. Apparently the front and right airbags were having problems, which is interesting since it was the LEFT side of my car that was being worked on. So needless to say, my car is once again back in the shop until at least Wednesday. :(

Yesterday we got to sleep in a bit, and got up and headed to Rosemarie to weedwack since we'd mowed a few days ago in the rain. From there we headed to his parents' how to mow and weedwack, stopped at the bank, picked up Arby's, and headed to Meredith's with cut down some bushes/trees. It was a long and VERY tiring day, but I got to play with the babies for a while, which I absolutely loved. :)

Today we're mowing here and then heading to my parents' to put in a wireless card to Renee's computer.

Oh and in other news. Guess who's trying out for American Idol? Yep, it's me! :) August 13th in Jacksonville. I'm definitely excited, although a little concerned as well. I'm just hoping to get a wristband at registration. That's the scariest part, I think, is wondering if you'll even be able to get in to audition.

Oh, and just two weeks left until school is out. I can't wait!

Vacation:

So Wednesday night we got back from our 4 day vacation in Ft. Lauderdale. The trip was great, and it was a nice getaway. I've only got a few pictures unfortunately, but I believe my mom has others that I can hopefully scan and post later.



Naner on the way there


David on the way there


Naner actually awake finally


Naner dancing


Lazing at the beach


Dad


Kira


Me


Mom and Nick


Me and David


Mommy


Naner


Me and Naner


Nick


David making me an anklet


"This is my happy face"


Naner


Mom and Nick


Mom, Nick and Naner

Graduation:

Tonight Douglas graduated. I am so old.

:(

Today I learned that my great-grandfather passed away lastnight.

R.I.P. Pappap.

Wet 'N Wild

Tuesday, this being the Brevard County spring break, Erin and I got to use the passes the McDaniels picked up last year for weekdays at Wet 'N Wild and go with Nick, Renee, and Katie. The weather rolled through somewhat ominously, but ultimately stayed decent (despite mistaking the water-gun blast at one ride for thunder more than once). Great times were had, including new patented moves like the "sneak up and pance-&-flip-tube" as well as favourite quotes such as Nick's gem to a group he thought was Erin/Renee/Katie whilst floating down the lazy river of: "If you swam under me right now... it feels like you may see some crack." Lastly, none will forget the look of tourist faces when they were told the rafts were empty because everyone fell out and went sliding down without it... necks askew. Ah, these things will haunt forever.

...somewhere deep in the back seat of the F-150 sat the waterproof camera from last summer's outings to Wet 'N Wild, but alas, there it stayed.

Disney

So on Saturday, David, Renee and I headed over to the four Disney parks. It was a long, but mostly fun day. Needless to say, I'm ridiculously sore now though from all the walking. Renee finally got to see Animal Kingdom, and ride Space Mountain. I've got a few pictures (very few) that I'll try to put up later. Sorry if they aren't too perfect since they were on my phone, and it doesn't have a flash.

Next week is the kids' Spring Break. Tuesday David and I are taking Renee and Nick to Wet N' Wild.

Hello!

Hello everyone! I decided to start this blog so that our family - both Pococks, McDaniels - et cetera could keep up with the family if they wanted too. David and my family and I have been hanging out a lot and doing a lot of things and trips together recently, and we often take a lot of pictures and videos of everything. Also, hopefully in the next year or so, David and I will be starting some life changing events, and would like to be able to keep everyone updated as things go. :) Hope you enjoy it! Also, you will be able to leave comments if you'd like. Much love, and Happy Easter!

Erin

Pictures from St. Augustine Trip:

Here are some pictures from our St. Augustine trip.