2 Months Until Everly

I've moved, had a baby shower, and passed the 32-weeks-pregnant mark since I last wrote. We've decided to name our little girl Sandra Everly Hodge. We've been to parenting classes, decorated the nursery, and settled into a new place. Thanksgiving has come and gone, leaving only Christmas and New Year's between us and our baby! February 1st is my due date and is now just two months away!

Thanksgiving in Lenoir City, Tennessee...

Posing with props

Mamaw Rose worked hard to make Thanksgiving special, as she always does.

 Lucy helped... :)

Josh, getting some practice by holding my baby cousin, Ezra, at my baby shower. He's a natural.

Everly's closet is getting full already! Thanks to some awesome family members, we've gotten TONS of cute clothes for the baby! I'm starting to think that my unborn child has more to wear than I do. Some things we bought along the way, but we really lucked out having some awesome hand-me-downs.

My little cousin, Aven (the ADORABLE little girl pictured above), had outgrown shoes and clothes that her mom and grandma generously gave for little Everly. I had SO MUCH FUN sorting through all this!

We've been lucky to have so much support from family. They all pitched in to help us move and get settled in. It's awesome to have people be excited for the good things that happen in your life. Everly is getting an awesome family and I can't wait to be her mom! 

Pictures of Cheekwood in August 2014

Ready, Set, SPARKLERS!

Playing with camera settings last month for a sparkler heart long exposure shot that I really like! :)

Finalists Announced 2014 We Said Go Travel's Inspiration Writing Contest - I made it? Whaaaat? :) This is awesome...

I entered a writing contest several months ago. I never expected anything to come from my spontaneous efforts in submitting my story for

We Said Go Travel's Inspiration Writing Contest. The top 50 finalists were announced TODAY. I am one of them. That's CRAZY, right? 

Well, I suppose...

 I prefer to describe the phenomenon as 'awesome', 'one of the best things ever', or in similarly constructed positive-type correlations...

I am in the Finalists.
I haven't been in the finalists of anything since I was a kid.

I won the 4-H public speaking contest several years in a row, back then.

This is WAY better.

Over 500 people from around the world entered the contest I'm talking about.

I realize that I sound pompous, or worse-
brag-gy...

Neither projection is my intention.

The motivation for entering the contest,
in the first place-

was not to win...

Don't get me wrong, friends.
Winning would be GLORIOUS.

The initial purpose that prompted my frantic story-writing frenzy-before-the-deadline-arrives-ed-ness... (Whatever, I write that way... when I'm excited)...
WASSSSS....

that I FELT something more than just a desire to gain recognition from my story.

I didn't write what I wrote to be recognized.
I was surprised when my entry was selected to be featured on We Said Go Travel's blog.

Today,

I was
FLOORED.

Me?
Regina?
A FINALIST?

You're kidding.
Really.
No...,
seriously...

WHAAAAAAAAATTTTTT?

So went the reasoning-to-myself process of thought,
which occurred shortly after a notification email was sent to me.

Congratulations!

For what?-
I think this while I read the subject title and opening sentences of Lisa's email notice...

Then,
it hits me.

My story...
It...

mattered.

It mattered to somebody-
to more people than just me-
a newbie writer...

To explain why it mattered to anyone other than myself,
I suppose you'd have to ask the contest judges.

I wrote about my Papa Jim.
I wrote about my Mamaw Rose.
I wrote about our travels together.
I wrote of loss,
joy,
tears,
smiles,

...

In 500 words or so,
I wrote what mattered most to me at that time-

It still matters to me.

It matters that someone read words I wrote-
They thought well enough of them- or me- or whatever the heck-
to make me a finalist of the contest I'm so glad to have been a part of!

Read my story here and find the 'R's in the list of finalists for the Writing Contest!
My name is Regina.

I wrote something that mattered to me.

It mattered to somebody else.

It mattered more to me.

It still matters.

Read it.

Read the other stories, too- especially those from Lisa and George...

I don't expect to win.

But, I hope...

That's kinda what my whole story is all about, after all... :)

Read: Finalist Story for We Said Go Travel Writing Contest 2014 - Regina's Story!

Find other finalists at the following link- List of Top 50 Finalists Writing Contest We Said Go Travel 2014

The Jackpot Egg - A Cannon Family Tradition of Crazy Easter Egg Hunts on The Farm

Realizing that my last post probably didn't go over well with some readers, I have decided to write about happier things this Saturday morning. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. I LOVE EASTER.

This year, we're estimating 50-75+ people are coming to our family's annual Easter egg hunt.
I'm related to 90% of those folks, although I haven't seen many of them in years.
Big family is an understatement.
I love it.

Yesterday, I went to my Aunt Renee's house to help set things up for the big egg hunt that's happening tomorrow.

She's put in a lot of work to make sure everything looks awesome. I LOVE, LOVE, LOOOOOVE my aunts' new house. It's PERFECT for having tons of people over!

Anyway, I get super excited about Easter.
It's my favorite holiday, second only to Christmas.

Our family does Easter like no other.
I don't mean to sound brag-gy, but -
our Easter egg hunts
are
FUN.

REALLY,
REALLY,
FUN.

We hide what we call the "Jackpot egg" every year.
Everybody donates a few bucks to put towards the Grand Prize pool.
Depending on how many guests show up,
the finder of that one little egg
walks away from the hunt
with a good wad of cash.

We are competitive.
VERY
competitive.

It's all in good fun, though.
It's been a tradition for as long as I can remember.
The little kids pick up all the other eggs,
but everybody-
young and old...
all who attend...

join in the hunt for the Jackpot egg.

Seems easy, right?
Except,
we bury it.

Most years, someone's yard is torn to shreds by a mob of Egg-crazed Cannons and friends...
We dig.
There are giant holes left in the ground when we've been released into the field where Jackpot egg awaits our finding.

When time has passed and no egg has turned up,
the boundaries are narrowed to send us all into
an even crazier frenzy.

It's exciting when you think you're getting close to that egg.
It's also worth pushing your cousins when they encroach on your territory.
Sounds pretty redneck, huh?
Yeah, well...
We like it.
You'd do it, too...

Nobody ever gets hurt and we don't brawl or fight to get the egg...
just a push or two when needed.
:)

Tomorrow,
I hope like I hope every year
that
I
will
find
the
Jackpot
egg.

I think I found it maybe one time...
years ago...
or maybe I just imagined that little victory...
not sure.

Anyway,
I'm ready for Easter.

ARE YOU? :)