2009: A Look Back

I thought I would jot down some memorable moments of the past year. These are in no particular order. Enjoy the trip down my memory lane.

* Alexis started Kindergarten.

* Austin began going to pre-school full time.

* I began volunteering up at the Church every Friday.

* Mom, Dad, Kimberly, Justin, Lexi, Austin, Tazzie, and I all went to Galveston for a weekend and had a BLAST! We're making it a tradition and will be going back in 2010.

* Mom, Dad, and I went to Colorado for a week and are still in awe of God's beauty when we look at pictures. AND...Dad FINALLY saw his Colorado bear!

* Taylor Crocker was born.

* I got the surprise of a lifetime the day after my birthday (don't ask, won't tell)

* Michael W. Smith's "A New Hallelujah" came out and I fell in love with "Deep in Love with You"

* KSBJ was able to put their Listen Live feature back online.

* I discovered "Enation" and "Eyes of Grace" is now my favorite song of ALL time. A band that seeks God first!

* Lexi made a Home run during an All Stars softball tournament!

* Meredith and Derek got engaged in an elevator and "married" via post-it note on "Grey's Anatomy."

* I began to start enjoying "Brothers & Sisters" MORE than "Grey's Anatomy." (and the whole world gasps...I know).

* I deleted my Myspace account and jumped into the Facebook world.

* I got a twitter account.

* Jonathan Jackson returned to the role of Lucky on "General Hospital" after a TEN YEAR absence...And he and Becky Herbst still have what made me fall in love with them. And JJ continues to be sold out for Christ!

* Scott Reeves joined GH as Steven Webber and he and his wife Melissa have become two of my biggest inspirations because of the way they live their lives and seek God in all they do.

* I got an IPhone.

* Liz Jordan got engaged....LIVE on KSBJ.

* I watched and prayed while Patrick Dempsey raced in the 24 Hours of LeMans (yep, stayed up ALL night & still made it to church the next morning).

* I said "See ya later" to my Great Granny after she went to be with Jesus Christmas Eve.

* Trent and Ginny brought Ruthie home from China.

* It snowed like crazy while Kimberly, Mom & I were shopping in early December.

* We got a White Christmas while in Coppell for the holidays.

* My best friend since Kindergarten found out she was expecting her third child!

* I came to appreciate and be more grateful for my older sister and the relationship we have because at the end of the day, we're always going to be the only sisters we have.

All of the above things makes me thank God for His plan and for the simple things He has done that fill my heart. I pray that in 2010 I continue to fall more in love with Him and that I may reflect Him in all that I do.

I know there are AMAZING things ahead in 2010 and I pray that each of you have a year filled with God's best. May you know that you are loved and adored by Him, and I pray you seek Him in every way and that He reveals Himself to each of you in incredible ways in the coming year.

Love and hugs to all of you. God bless!

The Twitterness of it All

I'm a twitter person, I like twitter, BUT I'm learning that it's all about WHO you are on twitter that will reflect how many followers you have.

There are a few people I follow on twitter that are in the industry of entertainment in some capacity or another. Three of those people I really enjoy and I @ them quite often. I have no clue why though, one of those people has over two thousand followers, the second one has over one thousand, and the third had over one hundred on his first day on twitter two days ago. Today he has 640 and climbing by the hour.

I love these people, but let's face it, they have no clue whether I follow or unfollow them at any given moment. I'm simply just another tweet, just another person, just another fan. It boggles my mind at times that people are always like "follow me on twitter..." and they already have an AMAZING amount of followers. How in the world do they keep up with everything? To be fair, the three people I've mentioned above, don't @ anyone, all of their tweets are general to everyone. I do however, know someone with over twenty five thousand followers who DOES @ reply to people, only it seems to me the SAME people get the replies.

When I was under the name PDempseyFan, I had 80 followers, most of them were greys fans or race car people. I rarely got @ replies when I mentioned something general about me, but when it was something about Patrick Dempsey, it got attention. Once again, all about who you are.

Now that I am under the name NatNicole1981 I have 9 followers. Nobody cares what Natalie Pearce is doing at any given moment, but if you're "in the public eye" they can't get enough.

I've slowed down my @ mentions to everyone, most of the time I simply don't see the point. it'll just get lost in the shuffle, but I still enjoy the peek I get into their world. :)

And to be fair to them, I purposefully didn't specifically mention the three people I especially enjoy.

Goodbye for now, Granny

On the morning of Christmas Eve, my great grandmother went to be with Jesus. She was 97 years old and lived a wonderful life! I'm SO incredibly blessed to have known her and had a great relationship with her. And I'm so glad she got to meet and know both Alexis and Austin. We will have many stories to tell them about Granny when they get older!

She will be so missed, but we know that this was not a goodbye so much as a "See you later" because we know she is with our Lord and that we will see her again!

Goodbye for now sweet Granny! We love you!

Congratulations, Liz!

My amazing friend and sister in Christ, Liz Jordan just got engaged this afternoon LIVE ON THE AIR!!!!!!!!! I missed the live proposal but Liz posted about it on her facebook and I cried just reading it then KSBJ played the proposal again a few minutes later (I e-mailed them and begged....I don't think they did it JUST because of me though...LOL) and HEARING it made me cry AGAIN! It was INCREDIBLE and SO sweet!

Those of you that read this blog know how much Liz means to me because I talk about her often on here. So needless to day, I'm BEYOND thrilled for her! I seriously can't stop smiling!

Please keep Liz and her fiancee DK in your prayers as they ready themselves to take this next step.

And Liz, CONGRATULATIONS!!! Words do little to express how happy I am for you! I'm praying for you and know God's blessings will continue to pour on both of you. I love you so much! :)

Scott and Melissa Reeves: Big Inspirations!

I went out to dinner last night with some friends and once I got home checked in on Facebook and saw that Scott Reeves and his wife Melissa were having a live chat. I thought I had missed, but it turns out, I was right on time! I've been a fan of both Scott's and Melissa for years. Melissa was on Days of Our Lives for years when I was watching, and Scott was Ryan on Y&R several years ago. He just joined General Hospital this past week and it's so awesome to see him back on television!

I knew Scott and Melissa were Christians. I've read in interviews recently how Scott and Melissa never say never and they stay open to whatever God leads. I went to the chat last night and was blessed beyond words!

Melissa and Scott answered questions from us, and spoke openly about their love for the Lord and how they devote their lives to Him each day. Several people wrote in asking about their faith and Scott and Melissa were eager and happy to discuss anything and everything. One person even told them they (a chatter) was not a believer but that they enjoyed hearing people discuss their faith in Christ. It was awesome because we all started telling her we'd be praying for her. Melissa shared how she came to know Christ after meeting Scott. Their kids, Emily and Larry even came in and answered some questions! Steve Burton even called Scott while it was going on! LOL! They discussed their favorite musical artists (Scott has an AMAZING voice) and I said something about Michael W. Smith and shortly after Melissa said, "Oh look, somebody likes Michael W. Smith and they both said they were big MWS fans! I was of course, smiling from ear to ear!

I really didn't talk a lot during the chat, I just simply listened as they shared their lives and stories. I actually found myself tearing up more than once as they shared. And when the chat was over, I simply could not get Scott and Melissa off my mind.

As a believer, it is SO awesome to see two people within the entertainment industry living lives that reflect Jesus so clearly! The way they talked to each other, the easy banter between them, the way they interacted with each other as a family, the way they interacted with US...I can't speak for anyone else, but I know for me it felt as if I was in their living room listening as they shared with us. The chat was over entirely too soon and I could have sat there for hours talking about my faith and swapping stories back and forth.

I can't begin to tell you how much they have encouraged me and inspired me. It's so encouraging to know that they are there being a Light for Christ in a place and industry SO in need of Him! And it's not that they talk constantly about it, but they live the kind of life that CLEARLY reflects Him. Knowing that Scott, Jonathan Jackson, Steve Burton, and Rebecca Herbst (and more, I'm sure) are all on the GH set shining for Christ just makes me smile!

I pray that is how I live my life. That when people look at me, they see Him in all that I do. God's timing is perfect, because had I not gotten on Facebook when I did, I would have missed the chat and what that time did for me was a total God thing!

Please keep Scott, Melissa, Emily, and Larry in your prayers. They are in the process of moving into an apartment in L.A. since Scott is now on GH. They were in Nashville and still have animals and such there. Please just pray that the move goes well and that every need is taken care of. God is truly at work through them...I know, because I was touched by them last night!

To the Reeves family if you happen to read this: Thank you for your incredible story and for allowing God to work through you like He is. I can't begin tell you how much I appreciate the chat last night and how much it blessed and spoke to my heart. Thank you. Please know I am praying for you and I know that God will continue to be glorified through you. Love you guys! God bless!

Let It Snow!

You may recall me posting almost a year ago about getting snow in Huntsville. Well folks, it happened again today! Yep, it SNOWED in Huntsville! Mom, Kimberly and I were in The Woodlands, but if it snowed anything here like it did in the Woodlands, it was quite a sight!

I even said at one point while getting in the car after a stop at "Toys R Us" "I never thought I'd say this, but SNOW is getting in the car!" The above picture is of the snow on our windshield shortly after I made that statement! It was awesome to see and really got us in the spirit! We at lunch at The Olive Garden (big surprise there, I know ;) ) and had a table right next to the window where the snow was REALLY coming down hard. So we watched the snow fall as we ate and Christmas music played in the restaurant!

It was SUCH a fun day! I had a blast with my Mom and sister and we talked about how years from now we'll be able to look back and say, "Remember that year the three of us went Christmas shopping in the snow?!"

It is already a treasured memory!

The Blind Side

Go see it! Go see it! GO SEE IT!!!! The absolute BEST movie I've seen in YEARS!