J is for "Jadyn, Jennifer, Jill, Jade, and Jodie"

As you probably read on my previous post, I had a terrible day yesterday. I have thought a lot about the people who mean the most to me and how blessed I am, not only with my life and where I feel like it is going, but also about the people who mean the most to me. I thought I would use the letter J in the alphabet blog to honor a few people who mean a lot to me. I included a picture of each one and a little bit about who they are. Hope you enjoy. (Sorry if you don't have a J name!!)

Jadyn Crews

Most of you know that Jadyn is my niece. Born last out of three babies, she is the youngest, and by chance, she is also the smallest. Her attitude and spunkiness make up for her size. She reminds me a lot of Britni and of Elizabeth Scott, two people who also mean a lot to me. Her smile lights up the room and she is such a happy child. The doctor told Shanie after she concieved them that there were two healthy babies and one that "might not make it." We believe that Jadyn is that child, due to her size...though I believe that God gave her such an amazing personality and smile to compensate for her small stature. She has always been the one out of the three of them that likes to snuggle and sit in you lap and we have jokingly called her a "lap baby" since she was born. I love her so much (as I do the other two...and they will come later) and am so thankful that God blessed us with this little angel in our lives. I can't wait to watch her grow and become the wonderful person that I know she will be.

Jennifer Hutchins

Jennifer is Kevin's sister. I first met her at Brittany and Michael's wedding. I remember thinking that she was so sweet, but that no one could honestly be that nice all of the time and that it was probably an act. (I have since told her this!!!) I have learned over the past year and a half as our relationship has grown that she is in fact that sweet all of the time. She is a very thoughtful person and is always there with a kind word or compliment for me. She is married to Kengi Hutchins and they share three beautiful boys, Taylor, Cade and Noah. I have grown to know and love their family and am so thankful for the relationship that she and I have. They recently moved from Florida to Huntsville (Kengi is in the army.) and I hope to see them even more now that they are so close, however most of our bonding is over the phone. We can talk for hours without realizing it and never run out of things to talk about. I have never had a sister...but thank God that he has sent me a Jennifer! I hope our relationship continues to grow as it has over the past few months! I love you, girl!!!

Jill Fair Jones

Jill.....oh, where do I begin? Jill and I have been friends since kindergarten. I feel like I have known her all of my life. We have had ups and downs in our friendship, but the older we have gotten, the closer we have become. She is a kindergarten teacher at Buhl Elementary and does a wonderful job. I admire her patience and the impression she makes on the lives of the children in her class. She is married to Dusty Jones, one of the sweetest, most genuine guys I have ever met. They have become great friends with Kevin and I and we have such a great time when we are all together. Jill means a lot to me and I know that she is one of those people that will be in my life when I am old and grey! We have so much fun, laughing and joking when we are together and it always seems like we are back in high school again. We always wind up playing the "remember when" game, telling stories about the good old days and boring Dusty and Kevin to death!!! I am so thankful that Jill and I have gotten to be so close again and I love her so much!!!!! I hope we have many more memories left to make!

Jade Hamner Campbell

Jade and I have been friends almost as long as me and Jill. We became close in elementary and high school and have remained friends all of these years. She is married to her high school sweetheart, Shane Campbell and they have a beautiful baby boy, River Patton Campbell. He will be a year old on Halloween. He is such a beautiful baby and Jade is an even more amazing mother. It makes me so happy to watch her with River and know that I have watched her grow from a shy young girl into a lovely wife and mother. She has worked for Bank of Tuscaloosa for several years and attended cosmetology school,and was employeed at Gilda's before she had River. Recently, she took a job with me on 6North as a patient care assistant and has started nursing school at Bevill State. I have watched her with our patients and know her desire to become a nurse and am so proud of her goals and accomplishments this far. We have come so far from hanging out at the little league baseball field and driving her mother's Jeep around on dirt roads when we were 14! I pray God's blessing on Jade and her family and this new part of her life she is beginning. I am so thankful for her and our lifelong friendship and pray that we have many more years together!

Jodie Cargile

Jodie has been my friend the longest out of all of my friends. We met on the first day of kindergarten. Our mothers have told us that we met when we were younger, though neither of us remember this. Our first memories of each other are in kindergarten. I remember going in and sitting down at a table with Jodie. Not long after we went in and got "situated" it was time for our mothers to leave. The story goes that Jodie started crying first and then I started crying too because Jodi was so upset. She turned and looked at Mom and said "Miss Marilyn, I think I'm gonna bomit!" (Jodie tends to get sick when she gets very upset, I guess even to this day!) We still laugh at this story all these years later. Jodie is a radiology tech at The Radiology Clinic in Tuscaloosa. She moved to Northport a few years ago, but we have remained good friends. She got engaged about a month ago to Jason Griffin, a sweetheart of a guy that I have grown to love as well. They are planning to be married in March and I will be proud to honor her as one of her bridesmaids on this very special day. Time and space never seem to matter to us and each time we talk it is as no time has passed. I love her so much and am so happy for her during this exciting time in her life. I am so honored to be a part of her special day. I pray God's blessing on their engagement, marriage and new lives together and pray that Jodie and I will be friends for years to come!!

I hope you all have enjoyed this little peek at a few of the most important people in my life. I love them all for different reasons and am blessed for what each of them brings to my life.



I am about to start getting ready for the ballgame now. Stay tuned for pictures tomorrow!!! Have a great Saturday and ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!