NOT READY TO LEAVE MY HEART IN WASHINGTON DC

The past 8 days have been a dream! I have absolutely had a BLAST, and what most people would consider an ordinary vacation has been one of the best most fun experiences of my life! :) Scott being in DC has been a mojor adjustment not only for me, but for Mackcenzie as well. She did not get to come with me this time, but hopefully the next trip up she will get to tag along! I don't know if she has quite gotten adjusted to me being gone, but we have talked on the phone a few times and she thinks that's oh so funny....most of the time I don't think she knows it's me. Scott and I have gotten to really spend the much needed time together that most other couples tend to take for granted sometimes. You really don't know how hard a relationship can be until you are seperated more than you are together and you have to make your relationship work basically over the phone. I really do have A LOT of respect for all of the army wives and husbands that have their loved ones half way around the world. I have gotten to see many new things and I got to see where Scott works keeping watch over the White House, and I have had lots of fun, but most of all I am so greatful for being able to spend this time with Scott! I love him and I know even more now that I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him!

I LOVE Summer Olympics!

GYMNASTICS

BEIJING, Aug. 15, 2008 - Nastia Liukin of Parker, Texas, and Shawn Johnson of West Des Moines, Iowa, won the gold and silver medals, respectively, at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, becoming the first U.S. women to go 1-2 in the all-around at an Olympic Games. Liukin joins Mary Lou Retton (1984) and Carly Patterson (2004) as the only U.S. women’s gymnasts to win an Olympic all-around title.

(www.usa-gymnastics.org)

I am so proud of our American Gymnasts! I love watching the summer olympics because this is the time when Gymnastics can SHINE! For those of you who don't know, I am a HUGE fan of any kind of gymnastics. I grew up with it, competed in it, and I am now coaching it! I know the hard work these girls have put into the many years and many many hours of practice! I remember back to all the hard and challenging times I had in my years of being a gymnast, and as I watched these girls I couldn't help but feel a great feeling of accomplishment for them! Great Job Girls!

Hello to all! This whole blogging thing is new to me like I'm sure it was to everyone at some point, but I had to have some kind of introduction, so what better than to give you a brief introduction of myself! I have enjoyed reading everyones blogs so much that I have decided to try it out for myself; although I would not say that writing is my greatest skill! Anyways, I will start from the beginning I guess...

MY FAMILY: I am the daughter of Billy and Dicye Murphy and their love has formed a very loving, special, and unique family that I am proud to call MY FAMILY! I was born 24 years ago on May 14, 1984. This day was not only the day that I would call my birthday for the following years to come, it was also my mothers birthday that we would be able to celebrate together for years to come! I guess you can say my mother had a wonderful but slightly painful birthday this year! When I came into the world I had 2 siblings that were here to welcome me, my sister, Melanie, and my oldest brother, Caleb. Most of my friends growing up never knew I had a sister because she is so much older than the rest of us. She is (and I hope I'm not wrong) 11 years older than I am, so she is 9 years older than Caleb. BUT... My parents didn't stop there, I guess they just didn't believe in odd numbers because 2 years after I was born Mark, made his appearance.

WHERE I LIVE: Our family of 6 lived in Starkville, Mississippi FOREVER. If you are from Starkville you probably know what I mean when I put the emphasis on FOREVER. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Starkville, but it can get old at times. We had what I would call the simple/ordinary/typical/yet sometimes complicated Starkvegas life! My parents are the owners of most all of the Mini Storages in Starkville and with patience and time it has been a great investment for our family. We are proud Mississippi State University fans although we aren't so hardcore as some lifetime Starkville people/fans can be. All of us kids attended Starkville Academy and it is just amazing how each of us was so different in activities we chose to do as kids. My parents were great about letting us try anything we wanted at least once and my mother was the crazy lady you saw all over town in the big van transporting her children to different practices, school functions, and church activities. My mother gets major props for being a full time mother of 4 and she worked full time as well! I will have to write a seperate blog about how all of us siblings were growing up, and what we've become now, I don't want to bore you in the very first blog I write so I'll move on for now!

SCHOOL: I graduated from Starkville Academy in 2002 and went to East Mississippi Community College the following fall, and graduated from there in December 2004. I had an associates degree in general business and decided to further my education at Mississippi State University. My only major problem was that I HAD to decide a major! This can be the most complicated part of some people's life. I just don't understand how some of these people that come straight out of high school already know exactly what they want to do for the rest of their lives! That's crazy! There I was 3 years into college and still didn't know what I wanted to do. I just decided that I would go into something I was familliar with. I decided to push forward with a Physical Education degree with emphasis on Fitness Mangagement. My Goal: I wanted to own my own Gymnastics Facility one day...and I still do! This leads me to my next discussion....MY JOB....Since 2004-2005 I have been a Gymnastics Coach at the YMCA in Columbus, MS. I love it! You may be wondering why gymnastics??? I am a gymnastics freak...ha ha. No really, I took gymnastics for almost 10 years of my life and competed in various competitions growing up. Gymnasctics has been a big part of my life! Gymnastics fell into the category of, one of the many places my mother was constantly having to drive me to and from, when I was growing up. It was well worth it though because I am now making a living off of it!

MY BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER: I was going to school at Mississippi State, had moved out on my own, and in February 2005 I found out I was pregnant! I'm not going to go into much detail because there really isn't much detail to go into, I had a rather hard pregnancy, but 9 months later I was in the hospital with my new baby girl! Mackenzie Claire Murphy was born on November 4, 2005! She has been the greatest thing ever to happen to me! You may be wondering...usually a family is made up of 3 people, but "he" opted out of our/Mackenzie's life a long time ago and it's been the best decision he ever made! BUT Mackenzie is my heart and soul and I'm sure you will see plenty of pictures of her on here! I put school off for the time being to start raising my HEART!

MEETING MR. RIGHT??: In April 2007 I went out with a few friends and had NO IDEA I could meet the love of my life that very night! Single, and being a fairly new mom, I was no where close to "looking" for anyone at the moment. My friend introduced me to Scott, who I just thought of as any other guy at the moment....to find out quickly after that he was "hooked" on me. I will just have to say that it is true that if somebody wants to date you bad enough he can and will wait if he wants to bad enough. I made this poor boy work and work to get even my phone number. It was almost a month before I finally agreed to have lunch with him. I am so thankful even to this day that I did finally give him that opportunity!

QUICK OVERVIEW OF SCOTT: Scott McInnis is from Quitman, MS and when he was 18 he joined the National Guard. When he was 20 he was deployed to Washington DC to work for a year. He came home from DC and about a year later was deployed to New Orleans when Katrina happened. When he finished in New Orleans, he found himself in Starkville going to school....where he met me almost one year later!

EXTENDING OUR FAMILY: On November 4, 2007 (the night of mackenzie's birthday)Scott proposed to me, or us (Macnenzie too)! He was going to be a huge piece that would add to our little family puzzle! In January 2008, Scott found out that he was going to be deployed to Washington DC once again. We had plans to get married on April 19, 2008, before he left in May and he would be gone until June of the next year. WOW....sometimes God puts little bumps in the road and, in my case, I am very thankful for this bump and even though I didn't understand it AT ALL at the moment, God did have a plan for us!

LIFE'S LITTLE (seem big at the moment) BUMPS: About one month before we were scheduled to be married, we decided that a wedding did not seem like the smartest or easiest thing at the moment. This was a very hard and stressful time in my life and I wasn't really sure where God was taking me or what he had in His plans! We had everything planned....the photographer, the cakes, the dresses, the tuxes, the food, the honeymoon, the invitations...we just hadn't sent them out yet THANK GOD, we had everything planned!! And we called it off! WOW>>> As if a wedding wasn't stressful enough, now we have to cancel everything, and he was leaving for DC in 2 months, and I just didn't know if things could get any worse or more stressful! God knew what he was doing! Now... 5 months later....I am sitting in Washington DC writing this blog and we are now re-planning everything with the knowledge that sometimes God throws little bumps in your way and you can let it sink you or you can tough it out and swim right through it! I's sure there will be other little bumps that will happen throughout the rest of our lives but we are ready...we do have our floaties on for the next time though! ;)

Our Little Family!