Should I Pinch Them???

So... as you all know today was St. Patrick's Day! I held a hall activity, coloring contest, to give the girls something fun and different to do. The prize was a itunes gift card... in my mind I thought now who wouldn't want an itunes gift card? However, sadly I was disappointed at the poor turn out of yet another hall activity. I mean come on, we try nearly everything to get these girls involved and nothing seems to draw them in... what on earth do they like to do with their time???

Anyway... I say all of this to simply say... we normally pinch people for not wearing green on St. Patrick's Day... should these girls be pinched for not celebrating in the fun by competing in this fun little contest??? Oh well... the day is done and project over... perhaps next time will draw a bigger crowd.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all!!!

Wow... not so good at this...

So... it takes me forever to come up with something to write on here or to at least take the time to post it. I really don't have much to say, except the only thing that I have really done since my last post is try to finish up senior year and played in the snow a bit. A couple weekends ago Garrett and I did get our friend Andrea together and got the first addition to our engagement pictures taken... which is exciting. We both love the snow so we couldn't resist the opportunity to take some pics in the snow, however there will be more to come once it gets warmer out! I have attached just a few of the pics... however if you would like to see more simply go here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31318&l=8581c&id=500267325

The wedding is still months away though... I guess plans are coming together slowly but surely. I have other things that come before then such as graduation, a friends wedding, and also my sisters wedding... preparing for all of those consumes more thoughts than one might think. Though nothing can really take away the excitement of my own wedding it still just seems so far away...

Thoughts of early years... ahh...

So long ago... before there was Garrett Gilkey... there was this man... this wonderful, amazing, God-fearing man that I liked to call Granddaddy. He was my favorite person in the world, especially as I child... he would sing to me and I knew without a doubt that he loved me. He past away when I was in high school and I can truly say that my life has not been the same since... I go through days still where I think about him and think about how he didn't get to see the important days in my life... high school graduation, my upcoming college graduation, my upcoming wedding, and someday the birth of children (someday far far away)... Anyway, these thoughts do make me sad... but memories of him make me extremely happy. Today I thought of him and the song that he sang to me all the time... "You are my Sunshine." I looked for it frantically trying to find just the right copy on itunes so I could listen to it whenever I needed it... what I found were two good versions one by Sara Gazarek and the other by Sara Hickman... you should check them out sometime... and check out the lyrics too...

"You are my Sunshine" (lyrics)
The other night dear, as I lay sleeping,
I dreamed I held you in my arms,
but when I woke dear, I was mistaken,
and I hung my head and cried.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
you make me happy when skies are gray
you'll never know dear, how much I love you,
please don't take my sunshine away.

I'll always love you and make you happy
if you will only say the same
but if you leave me to love another
you'll regret it all some day

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
you make me happy, when skies are gray,
you'll never know dear, how much I love you,
please don't take my sunshine away.

You told me once dear you really loved me
that no one else could come between
but now you've left me and love another
you have shattered all my dreams.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
you make me happy, when skies are gray,
you'll never know dear, how much I love you,
please don't take my sunshine away.

Senioritis!?!?

I have recently been experiencing what I seem to think might be a bad case of senioritis....
According to Wikipedia... "Senioritis is a colloquial term used in the United States and Canada to describe the decreased motivation toward studies displayed by students who are nearing the end of their high school careers.(In my case college!) By definition, Senioritis is not due to the direct physiological effects of a general medical condition such as hypothyroidism or insomnia but is typically said to include: slowness, procrastination, apathy regarding school work, a feeling of entitlement or privilege and a tendency toward truancy, increased drug use, malingering or feigning illness in order to avoid presence in a school setting, cognitive impairments, and changes in sleep patterns. Many high school students find themselves in a type of lame duck situation: their plans are made and a new chapter in their life is about to begin, so finishing the current chapter (the current term separating them from graduation) becomes just a formality or "holding pattern."
Oddly, the scientific meaning of the word 'Senioritis' would be 'inflammation of the senior'.
In College Seniors...
Senioritis, though typically perceived as a high school ailment, can also be found in college seniors. The typical causes of this may be burnout, or the obtainment of job offer letters. Having received a job offer letter, concerns about college GPA generally decrease and a sense of apathy in schoolwork can develop."
... I seem to have many of the symptoms that Wikipedia describes... I have just recently come to the point in my life that I feel as though I'm ready to move on to that new chapter in my life... this college chapter seems over and I'm ready to move on. Now if you would have told me that I would be feeling this way a year ago I probably would have laughed in your face... but its simply not the case today. I don't know if any of you out there have ever experienced "senioritis" or not... but if you have I suppose you can relate to how I feel if you have not... well its just not fun! Please... pray for me!

Engaged!?!?!

So... I'm horrible at keeping up with my blog... but I have been informed by a close friend that I needed to blog about the current BIG news in my life!

During Christmas Break from college I got Engaged!!! We finally set the date after nearly 2 weeks of being engaged... it will be Oct 11, 2008... I'm so excited! I guess this is the day that every girl dreams about for years and year and my day has finally come and I'm more than excited to share it with all! Below you can find pictures as well as the full story of the engagement!



I'm ENGAGED!!! to Mr. Garrett Gilkey... guess that makes me the future Erika Gilkey... weird to say now but I can't wait!



On Dec. 23, 2007... I was visiting with the Gilkey family... what seemed to be a normal day to me... we were scheduled to attend church that evening for a Christmas Eve Eve service... then back home to open gifts! So we finish church head back to the house for dinner and presents... then the opening of presents begins... I'm impressed at Garrett's taste in presents for I wasnt expecting much from a poor college boy!

Then all of the presents were opened and Garrett was asked to go move his car... what I thought would only take a few minutes turned into what seemed to be an eternity. The whole family was sitting around talking and enjoyting their presents and I was wondering where in the world Garrett could be! Then his mom asked if I would go with her to wal-mart to pick up some last minute stocking stuffers... and I was completely ok with that!

However on the way wal-mart we seemed to take a wrong turn... and headed straight back to their church... where I found that Garrett's car was the only one in the parking lot! She told me that this was my stop... so I got out of the car and anxiously walked into the church... I found Garrett standing next to the sanctuary door... all the Christmas lights were on the church... and I was still waiting to see what would happen!

He told me to come to the front that he had written a song and he wanted me to guess who it was about... the song went like this...

"I once knew a girl she was quiet and shy, she was the apple of her granddaddy's eye. Only for Granddads baby did he have ears to hear but his love for her rand loud and clear
Chorus:
This was just a reflection of the love of Christ We will never find its fullness His love is beyond our heights We will never reach it.
This girl grew up as most children do And as she did she found love to good to be true With broken heart in hand and still on the mend She made it through with her closest friend
Chorus
And now that time has moved on it is plain to see The man to love this girl is surely me Every song I write and every cheesy thing I say I promise I'll mean them with every breath, until my dying day
But it will just be a reflection of the love of Christ I will never find its fullness His love is beyond my heights We will never quiet reach it... But we will try"

This song was indeed about me... every word! Then he looked at me with tear-filled eyes and said "Erika I love you... will you marry me?" Now what was I suppose to say... but YES of course! To top it all off this was the first time I had heard the words I love you come from his mouth and be spoken to me... such a sweet moment that I had been waiting for and I was so happy to hear!

We then called my parents and our closest friend Emily and Dusty... then we prayed together right there on the alter of his church and headed back home to share with his family the good news!

Best day of my life??? Yes, I do believe so... so far that is!

ONE Costume Ball/Halloween - What was I thinking?!?

Do you ever feel as though you would do anything to please those around you? Well, thats kinda what I did for Halloween! Ok, sorta Halloween anyway... we had a ONE costume ball and silent auction the Saturday before Halloween and, if I do say so myself, it went rather well! ONE for any who don't know is a campain to fight world hunger... LET'S DO AWAY WITH POVERTY! Anyway, so I spent most of the day Saturday helping some RDs and other fellow RAs set up for this event and I started to get really excited about what the night was going to bring. As the decorating process continued I began to get excited about how the place was beginning to look and even thinking that I might have a little bit of creativity within myself afterall... maybe? So, after a long day of decorating I then headed back to get ready for the Ball... Now when I think ball I think of an huge mascarade ball...



However Garrett decides that we should go as HICKS... Hillbillies... Rednecks... whatever you want to call it. I agreed that we could do so... and the more time I spent getting ready the more I just had to laugh at myself for what I was doing. Now as you can see from the pictures it turned out to be a quite hilarious site to see... and we did end up afterall winning the Most Realistic Reward at the costume contest. So all in all it turned out to be a good night... and a good idea I guess because we won FREE T-SHIRTS! Even if we did look rediculous.... we had a good time doing it!

Oh Fall Break... possibly my last...

Alright... I know... I'm bad at this. Keeping up with a blog is so hard for me to do, though I dont know why. So I must start my updates with Fall Break thats what seems to have come last since the blogging ended. This fall break may be my last because this is my senior year of college... after this its on to the real world! Yikes! Anyway, fall break was filled with fun times with friends and family. For the weekend portion of the break Campbellsville is wear I stayed, hanging out with the fabulous three and Garrett's friend Shawn! It was a blast we went to a corn maze and though it was easy we still had fun with it as you can see in the pics.

Sunday night through Wednesday morning Garrett and I found ourselves back in western KY to see the fams. It's always refreshing to go back and be at home for a little while... no matter how much I like college life nothing can beat being at home sweet home. Anyway, though uneventful, it was still a relaxing and refreshing break! I loved it and greatly wish I could have another!