Abby Goes to Nashville!

Abby, being the West TN Area Representative for the State of TN Student Council Board, has to attend several meetings throughout the year in and around Nashville. She had her first official meeting at the state park right outside of Nashville. Of course, we had to tie in a visit to Aunt Jan! Abby was able to spend the night with Aunt Jan on Friday night, do some serious shopping, veg a little bit, and head to her meeting Saturday morning. 

Abby being silly while we were shopping! 

A Nashville tradition (yes, I just got a pedicure with Ally two weeks ago)...pedicures!

You have to be quick on the trigger to get a candid shot of Abby these days. This is her when we were making a mad dash to Green Hills Mall. After we dropped Abby off at her meeting, Jan and I went to a birthday party for a friend of hers. Then, we had dinner at my new favorite place, one of the M Street restaurants. I LOVE going there with Jan...Awesome time!

Abby pictured with her "Executive Board" friends. She left her retreat motivated and ready to take on the world! Gotta LOVE it! 

iLead...Student Council Convention...Bristol Bound!

This was the second year that the girls and I attended the State of TN Student Council Convention sponsored by TASC. It is held each year in a different city in the state of Tennessee. This years' convention was held in the absolute furthest city possible...Bristol. Look at this...

A school campaigns each year for Secretary-Host to decide where the convention will be held. The host was Tennessee High School. It was HUGE and HAUNTED! Yep...HAUNTED! Checkout this site...

TN High School Ghost. It was the longest drive EVER, but the MOST FUN ride ever. I had a car full of giggly girls and Ms. Angel Jones, aka, "Angelina Jones Lee"! Yep... you had to be there! 

Ms. Jones called in a last minute 911 for the scrapbook. The kids in charge had dropped the ball and hadn't even started it less than two weeks before they were supposed to have it completed. We had a weekend of scrap booking at the house and this is the final product. Pretty darn good if I must say so myself. Old Momma came to the rescue once again! We actually got SECOND PLACE OVERALL! I was so proud! 

This is the high school's scrapbook. They did a great job as well. 

Ally and AJ and Abby and Jack...Their "BOYFriends since babies! 

Abby, following in the footsteps of her big sister, Ally, ran for the State Office of West TN Representative. I was so proud of her. She won and will fill Ally's shoes on the State Board for the 2012-2013 term. She will have several Board meetings throughout the year. It is invaluable experience and a great network of friends for life. She was so excited to be able to do this especially after seeing Ally enjoy it this past year. Congrats Abby!

Her campaign slogan was..."Don't Be Crabby, Vote for Abby"! 

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these two women, Ms. Jones and Ms. Baker!

I have also grown to know and love this entire BUNCH of GREAT kiddos! I think I have become the "unofficial student council Mom"! 

Notice all of the kids' shirts. These are Abby's campaign shirts that she had made and gave everyone to wear to support her and her office. They turned out perfect! A huge thanks and shout out to Molly at the Print Shop! She takes such great care of me and does all of my crazy student council tasks! 

Our council won tons of awards! Look at this impressive list.

Ally Naifeh-Member of the Year

Ally Naifeh-Rising Star Award

AJ Hightower-Rising Star Award

Nate Phillips-Rising Star Award

Abby Naifeh-Best Overall Speech

Scrapbook-Second Place Overall

Four Star Council Award

Madison Cranford-Rising Star Award

Matthew Cannon-Rising Star Award

Christopher Fox-Above and Beyond

Abby getting her award for first place in speech competition! WOW! She said it in front of 400 people! I was so proud of her...I NEVER could have done that at her age...not sure I could now!

These pictures are of the induction ceremony for incoming state board officers. How cool was it for Ally to "pass the torch" to her younger sister Ally! WOW! Talk about a Mother's pride...

My girls and their awards! 

We stopped at Calhoun's on the River in Knoxville on the way home. We gave everyone a "driving tour" of the University of Tennessee campus on the way out of town. It was a perfect ending to our trip. I am so thankful for trips like these where me and my girls have so much quality, bonding time with each other. 

Peace, Love & Leadership

Student Council Leaders....

Ally, the President

Abby, the Secretary

I am so very proud of my girls and their efforts to become good leaders. I always enjoyed those activities when I was in school and have been stressing the importance to my kids for several years now. They have both been fortunate enough to have been elected to their student councils as well as hold offices. Ally also chose to run for a state (yes, the entire state of TN) office and won West TN Representative last year. Part of her commitment as West TN Area Rep was to hold a meeting for all of West TN. These are the pictures from that area meeting. She could not have pulled this off without a great group of advisors (Angel and Jo), cooperative administrators (Justin and Johnny), and a hardworking council. It was "flawless". I have NEVER been so proud of Ally AND Abby. From the preparations, to the website design, to the meals, hospitality, seminars, I could go on and on.

Anna Claire, Abby and Joze Smith

Ally and Madison Cranford...

Madison was Ally's "Campaign Manager" and right arm (literally-she was in a cast)  when she ran for the state office! Madison is the sweetest, most beautiful girl...

The Student Council

The Executive Board

I know that this entire experience will prepare them for their high school and college careers. I am so proud of them and ALL of the TRA Student Council. Looks like Abby has her sights on this state office for next year...Oh...a quick but HUGE shout out to Leslie Roane. She not only designed the t-shirt for Ally's campaign, she designed the area meeting shirts for us. She rocks! Thanks again, Leslie!