Pictures of Mamaw and Papaw

I just found some pics of my Mamaw and Papaw enjoy!

Edwin Dennis
I am not sure what year this pic was taken. I do know that he is at least 90 years old in this picture, no more than 94.

Margaret Dennis

Mamaw is in her late 80s in this picture.

Friends

I have never been one to have lots of girlfriends and to the girlfriends I did have through high school I probably wasn't the best friend. It isn't that I talked about them behind their backs or played tricks on them, I just started dating Eric at a very young age, and he has been my best friend ever since.


Through college to the present, I believe I have improved on my friend abilities. This is not because of some great effort on my part. I have just had the privilege to meet some of the greatest women in the world.


Alayna Adams

If you could pick two people more different (personality wise) and put them in the room together, it would be Alayna and me. Alayna and I were pot-luck roommates our freshman year at UT. I went into the arrangement knowing I was going to be living with a stranger. Alayna on the other hand had been hoping to live with her best friend (a very sweet girl that Ms Woodward is). Well, she was very upset that it didn't work out, and assumed I was going to be some hillbilly that didn't wear shoes. To set the record strait, it isn't like Alayna is from Manhattan. She is from Memphis. I on the other hand thought she was going to be stuck up and rude. Because that is how all rich people in Germantown are.


Well, God knew we needed each other. I was a perfectionist to the point of being unhealthy. And, well, Alayna was not. Her motto in college was, "D is for degree." I thought this was blasphemy. She use to storm into the dorm room and yell, "Are you studying again?" But as the weeks went by, we rubbed off on each other. I didn't stress as much. She studied more (a little more).


I credit Alayna with saving me that semester and semesters to come. She taught me to relax, have fun, and that worrying will do no good. She is a true friend. She is my best friend. I will always love her as if she were my sister. Love you, Alayna.

You should check her blog out SassyMcSmartyPants. There is a link to the left.


Amy Williams

First, I want to point out that I am blogging about this particular subject because of Amy. She has been begging me, "when are you going to blog about how great I am?" I hope I do you justice Amy.


I met Amy 3 years ago at Powell High School. Amy and I had similar clientele so I would often go to her to seek advice. Over time, these mentor sessions turned into true friendship. Any time I need anything, Amy is just one phone call away. She is a beautiful woman with a sweet spirit and great sense of humor (which can be rather crude sometimes...Please consult Eric for clarification). My day is always better when it has involved her. I am a better person for knowing her. I adore you, Amy.

Kandi Seals MacMahan

Kandi has by far the sweetest heart of anyone I know. Kandi and I have known each other since high school but didn't become good friends until college. We became roomies our sophomore year and lived together until the end with Alayna. We were in each other's weddings, cried and laughed for each other during hard times, and never got on each other's nerves, at least she never got on mine.

I just had dinner with Kandi the other night to catch up. It was an extremly over due get-together. Nothing about Kandi has changed and that is what I love about her. Love you, Kandi.

Beth Whitlock Brown

I have known Beth since 1st grade, longer than I have known anyone. We have been the dearest of friends ever since. I moved away at the end of 6th grade, and with the help of our wonderful parents, we managed to stay in touch. Although, I wish I spoke to her more. Beth and I have shared some of the most precious moments together. The most important is the fact we got baptised on the same day and have grown in our faiths together ever since. Even though time and distance have separated us, I know with out a doubt we will remain friends forever. Thank you for always being there, Beth.

Dinner Divas

This is a group of young women that makes me smile every time I see them. I have been blessed to have monthly visits with them. The Divas (aka female version of a hustler) are: Amy Williams, Kacey Wright, Melinda Lentz, Logan Thress, Leah Thress, Hannah Thress, Sarah McAffry, Steph Sherrod, Johanna Bullard, and Allison Mcgregor. I am happy they invited me into their group. They hold me accountable and make me be a better person. But, I do like to think they would fall apart without me though. Until next month, Divas.

2009 Dennis Family Reunion Pics

The cooks - the most important people.

The men in my life - my husband Eric, my dad David, and my brother Dustin.

My 1st cousin Marlee playing right field and worrying about her tan.

My 2nd cousin Nick and I decided to trade sunglasses.

The 3rd generation of the Dennis family. A generation that my mom and aunts would like me to contribute. Also, notice all the blonde hair. This is somewhat of a trademark of the Dennis family so when I showed up with red hair I got a lot of stares.

My second cousin Henry Hance. He was so excited about his new t-shirt that his Aunt Sherry had got him. He is currently batteling cancer and enduring some tough chemo treatments.

No, you are not seeing things. That is me playing 3rd base. I also made a cake and cookies for the day, very out of the ordinary.

My aunt Janice and her grandson Henry. Janice is somewhat of a local celebrity. Not only was she validictorian but she is the reigning Ms. Dandridge.

Dustin having a good time at short.

Eric and I in between innings.

Dustin and Sarah hanging out in the dug out.

Jake, my 2nd cousin, is ready to hit a homerun.

Yes, that is me batting. For the record, I got a single.

Eric having fun. Shh! Don't tell anyone.

My 2nd cousin Ashley was our team's pitcher.

The Rest of the Family

This past Saturday I spent the day with my extended family, mother's side. My mom is one of eight children so I have a very large family. We still get together at least once during the summer in order to make sure we stay in touch. Like all families ours has experinced the lose of some of its most important members. In 2004 and 2005 we lost my mamaw and papaw, the true foundation of our family.

I was talking to someone the other day about how I use to spend weeks at a time at my mamaw and papaw's house in the summer. She asked, "Oh, did they live at the beach?" This question really got me thinking about just how special my grandparents were and still are to me.

The answer is no. My grandparents didn't live in the beach but far from it. They lived in a doublewide (which you wouldn't know if you drove by b/c my papaw had bricked the entire house) in Dandridge and had no money to their name. Just recently I have started to think about this. I never knew they were poor or struggled. All I knew was that every time we drove in from NC, SC, or IN they were there with unconditional love. I still remember Mamaw's home-made biscuits (that she made every morning of her married life), papaw sitting in his chair into the wee hours of the morning reading Louis L'amour, Mamaw rubbing my back helping me to go to sleep, Papaw telling a story that he had already told a hundred times, Mamaw telling Papaw to shut-up, "we've already heard that one Ed," Papaw playing soccer with us in the yard at the young age of 80, Mamaw taking care of me when my brother and I had the Chicken Pox, Papaw worrying that a democract would be elected or worse that I would marry one, Mamaw worrying that I wasn't eating enough, Papaw fussing at us for leaving lights on or going to sleep with the TV on, Mamaw's bear-like hugs, Papaw' overalls, and I remember their unconditional love for one another and their entire family.

Mamaw died Sept 4, 2004. If you know me well, you know this was the day of my wedding. In the early hours of the morning my mother woke me up. She didn't have to say anything because I could tell just by looking at her that Mamaw was gone. My mom and her brothers and sisters were my heroes that day. It could have possibly been the worst wedding ever but they all came to the wedding with smiles on their faces wanting to make sure my day was everything my mamaw would have wanted it to be. Not only did my aunts and uncles not miss this special event but my papaw was on the front row. After the wedding, I saw my papaw and gave him a big hug and cried for the first time over my mamaw's death.

In August of 2005, not a year after my mamaw's death, my papaw passed away. A pattern was starting to develop because on that day I was in the wedding of one of my best friends. People were starting to not want me to be associated with them at all on wedding days. They saw me as collateral damage.

My grandparents were married for 71 years. My papaw said after my mamaw died that he never realized how much he would miss his Margaret, and my entire family believes this loneliness is what brought him home to the lord.

My Parents

I have had a wonderful life. It hasn't been a life full of money and expensive things but a life built on a foundation of love by my parents. There are a lot of great parents out there, and I am proud to say that my parents are some of the best.

My parents, Donna and Dave, met on a blind date in 1980. In a mere six months they were married and ready to start a family. After years of being told that she wouldn't be able to have children, my mom became pregnant right away. Whoops! and Yeah!! all at the same time.

From day one, my parents have shown me unconditional love.

My Daddy
Top Five


1)Gave me my love for history and an attempt at science
From the time I can remember, my dad was telling me stories about Columbus, Washington, Franklin, and Newton. He also taught me about the planets. The history stuck.


2) Use to sing this horrible song to my brother and me to wake us up in the morning. A song no doubt that I will sing to my children one day.
It's time to get up, it's time to get up in the morning.
Oh, how I hate to get up in the morning.
But, the worst of it all is to hear the bugle call.
I gotta get up. I gotta get up in the morning.

3)Taught me the value of hard work and to aim high. My dad never let me perform below expectations. I use to be annoyed by this fact, especially during high school. Now I embrace it and am thankful for my dad's push. I truly began to understand this on the day of my wedding when he read me a letter he wrote to me. I often find myself quoting my dad when speaking to my students. "Aim high miss high."

4) Taught me to love travel. We never had a lot of money when I was growing up. But, when ever the opportunity to show my brother and I a new part of the world he did it. I still remember the 3-day road trip to Utah and the numerous trips to Cincy to watch the Reds.

5) Taught me that Sex is a scared act between a husband and a wife. I never told my dad this but his talks highly influenced me on the importance of sex. During middle school, anytime my brother and I were alone in the car with him we go the sex talk. I hated these trips. Nothing is more uncomfortable to a 12 year old than hearing her dad talk to her about not having sex until she is married. Once I entered high school, he never mentioned it again. Well, it worked. One of the greatest gifts from parents is the influence to wait until I was married to have sex.

Sorry if that last story was too personal.

My Mommy Top 5

1) Number one influence on my faith My mother had one goal - to raise a Christian family. Because of her I am the Christian I am today. There couldn't be a greater gift.

2) Took care of me when I was sick (emotionally and physically). I truly feel that when I was in pain my mother was in pain. She wanted nothing more in the world to get rid of that pain. If it took staying up all night with me or holding my hair back for me when I got sick she did it. To this day whenever I get sick, all I want is my mom.

3) Taught me to be a good wife. My mom was and is a wonderful wife. At times when I was little/adolescent, I use to get upset by the things my mom would let my dad do (like have control of the TV). I was so petty then. Now, while I can't put it into words, I understand.

4) Taught me to be thankful There have often been times in my life when I wanted something or thought I needed something. But, the times in my life that I remember to be the happiest as a child is when we had nothing. When I was in kindergarten, we didn't even have enough money for gas so we walked everywhere. I didn't know we were poor mainly because of my mom. Because of her love, I had no idea. She taught me to be thankful to God for everything in life because it can be taken away at any time.

5) Never a day goes by that she doesn't think about me My mom thinks about me each day. She worries about me and wonders if I am doing okay. Usually she calls me each day at 5:00 on her way home to see how my day went. There is something special about knowing that someone loves you that much.

First Blog

After the persuasion of two young ladies, I have decided to start a blog. So, if this blog is too boring or horrible you will need to contact Logan Thress and Kacey Wright. I ask for forgiveness in advance if this is horrible.

My first blogs will be about my family. God has blessed me by putting amazing people in my life, mostly my family

Meeting My Husband

In 1996 I was a freshmen at Jefferson County High School in Dandridge, TN. I had just gone through a major "growing" phase for the better. I went to middle school in Indiana so no one at the high school knew the "before" me. Just to give you an idea of how dorky I was picture a young 12 year old with glasses, buck teeth, a big bow in her hair, and wearing a turtle neck and a matching vest with teddy bears on it. Yeah, it was that bad. Throw in a head gear and guys barking at me and you have my life in middle school.

So, starting high school was a new opportunity for me. An opportunity to meet boys that had never met me before. I could actually, maybe, possibly get a boyfriend. What I didn't expect was to find a husband. But, If I've learned anything, life isn't on my schedule but God's.

It was 2nd semester of my freshmen year, and I walked into World Geography for the first day. On the far side of the room was a tall boy wearing a North Carolina Tarheels sweatshirt, and I thought that boy is really cute. I chose the seat closest to him, and hoped he would talk to me.

As the semester went on, we became very good friends but not dating material. I would later find out that he once told his mother I was to peppy to be an actual girlfriend

When I started my sophomore year, I discovered we had French together. At this point, we were becoming best friends. I also gained a boyfriend (not Eric). I thought he was perfect until a couple months later I discovered the only reason he was dating me was to win a bet with another guy. They wanted to see which one could get me to sleep with them first. REALLY?!? I thought this stuff only happened in movies. They both lost the bet, and I turned to Eric.

By the middle of my sophomore year, Eric and I were an official couple. It was obvious that God designed us for one another.

When I was a little girl, I would often wonder how God created couples, and I finally came up with the following scenario. When God creates a child, each child has a personal blue print. God then creates an additional blue print for the child's husband/wife. At some point in life, these blue prints cross paths. You just have to be paying attention. Because God knows each person more than anyone else this match is the most special thing in the world.

Eric is my matching blue print. We have been together for 12 years and married for almost five. He has seen the worst of me and the best of me and loves me for it all. I honestly cannot picture my life without him. Because of him, I am a better person.