Rest In Peace, Allun Cormier (1978-2010)

Allun in 2004, not long after I first met him.

I met Allun through his brother, Rick, in 2004. He was a friendly, energetic man with an amazing talent: the ability to sing, play guitar and write songs. Anyone who has spent any amount of time around Allun knows that he just had a spark to him and that it could just radiate through a crowd of people. He was just one of those people that could easily put a smile on anyone's face.

Allun was a member of a band called Folk Soul Revival. You can find their first CD on iTunes. You can also find 27 of Allun's original, solo songs on SoundClick.

Here is just a little bit taken from this article by David Cate in the local paper's blog:

"2010 ends on a tragic note as we say goodbye to one of the best singer/songwriters in the Tri-Cities region - Allun Cormier. 

On Wednesday morning, December 29th, 2010 Allun and his girlfriend Lucy Jennings died from smoke inhalation in a house fire in Bristol, VA. The word came early across the social networks and even though the wound cuts deep into the fabric family, friends and musicians, Allun left an indelible legacy of personal songs touching thousands in the region.

It's with great regret I share these words about an inspirational friend who I've been following for a number of years now. I'm sure he knew how I felt, but If there was ever an artist who had the potential to stand alone as a national recording artist, Cormier was at the top of my list. His music – native as the mountains of East Tennessee seemed to echo every moment. 

Known by his closest friends as a free spirit, he was performing most every night of the week across the Tri-Cities. From songwriter groups in Bristol and Kingsport, to living room house parties, there was never a day where he wasn't singing a new song. 

Although fate has closed the book on his life and the success which he so deserved, Allun has left a treasure trove of recordings and memories that speak volumes of about his short life. There's nothing contrived in these performances either. As you listen, you'll find a depth and an essence that lends itself to an important chapter in the musical heritage of our region."

Update: Happy New Year!

I know, I was such a horrible blogger through out the holidays. There was just way too much going on, and it's only going to continue. Tax Season officially started today and school starts back next Monday. I'm taking my 2nd Biology class, my 1st English class and Psychology this semester. Plus, I'm doing Taxes. I'm going to be super busy. My New Year's Resolution was to start blogging more regularly...I guess we'll see how it works out.

I spent a week in Tennessee for Christmas. I had a good time and it was nice to see my family, but I am definitely happy to be home.

The Gingerbread House I did with my sister.

The Christmas Tree @ Mom's

Our stockings! Mine is in the middle.

My brother, Jake. So stoked he got an xbox 360 w/kinect

White Christmas!

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas...

We have our Christmas Tree put up :)

And we finally found a use for the empty fish tank, lol!

Sunday Stealing: Questions a la Randomness, A Meme

What was the last thing you put in your mouth? A piece of gum.


How late did you stay up last night and why? Til about 3 a.m. because I was watching movies.


If you could move somewhere else, would you? No, I'm happy right where I'm at.


Have you ever been kissed under fireworks? Yup!


Do you believe ex’s can be friends? Sometimes...depends on the situation.


When was the last time you cried really hard? I couldn't tell you...


What items could you not go without during the day? My cell phone lol


Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? My Daddy


How do you feel about your life right now? I'm satisfied at the moment.


If we were to look in your facebook inbox, what would we find? A couple messages from some old friends.


Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass? Yup!


Has anyone ever called you perfect before? Sarcastically


Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m.: who do you want it to be? The one I want but can't have lol


Do you think too much or too little? Too much!


Do you believe in fairy tales? Not anymore.


Have you ever licked the back of a CD to try to get it to work? Yup.


What’s the largest age difference between yourself and someone you’ve dated? He was four years older.


Have you ever been on a blind date? Once...and it sucked!


Do you have any friends that you’ve known for 10 years or more? A few actually.


Have you ever had a crush on a teacher? Yup...in middle school lol I had the biggest crush on the student teacher.


What song do you want played at your funeral? 


Would you tell your parents if you were gay? Why not?


What would your last meal be before getting executed? A New York Strip


Do you walk around the house naked? Nope.


What do you do as soon as you walk in the house? Take my shoes off.


Who is the person you can count on the most? My Dad and Richard.


What is your favorite Holiday? Christmas.


Would you ever get plastic surgery? Why not?


Have you ever caught a fish? Yup!


What is the first thing you notice about people? Their overall appearance.


What is the farthest you’ve been from home? 1500 miles


How did you meet your spouse or significant other (or most recent one)? While working LOL


Where was the last place you drove (other than home/school/work)? The grocery store.

Eyebuydirect.com is AWESOME!

Mine and Sarah's Eyebuydirect.com order arrived in the mail on Monday. I can't put into words just how satisfied we are with our new glasses. We ordered during the buy one frame, get one frame free sale. Sarah got 4 frames and I got 3 frames since my lenses cost extra due to how strong my perscription is. For a total of 7 pairs of glasses, we paid $180!

I attempted to color my hair back to dark brown today, and it came out black! I'm kinda digging it. So, I'm gonna leave you with pictures of me wearing 2 out of 3 of my frames and my new hair :)

frame: Bari in Black/Clear

frame: Avignon in Blue

Halloween is OVER!

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I've been pretty busy between Halloween festivities and midterms. It's about to get even more hectic between Thanksgiving, Christmas Shopping, Christmas and Christmas Break. Dear God, I almost panic thinking about it all!

We carved pumpkins a couple weeks ago. I think I had just as much fun as the kids did! I had never actually carved a pumpkin myself. I had always watched my dad carve them each year. Unfortunately, our pumpkins didn't last until Halloween :(

Richard's Pumpkin. Awesome isn't it? It got dubbed the Thundercats Pumpkin lol

My Pumpkin. I chose one of the easiest designs in the book because I was scared of messing it up.

Sarah's Pumpkin

Mel's Pumpkin

Zack's Pumpkin

BB's Pumpkin

A better shot of my pumpkin.

We did our Trick or Treating here on Saturday. We had a total of seven kids between ages 2 and 9...they had a BLAST! We're all worn out and tired from the weekend, but it was all worth it. Sarah's sister, Hannah, did my face make up and it came out so so beautiful!

It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it!

A work in progress...

All done!

Now, it's on to Thanksgiving!

I'm Still Alive

I know I haven't posted anything this week. I apologize. I just have a lot going on. Hopefully we can resume regularly scheduled programming soon :) For now, I leave you with this fantastic halloween-themed treat.

Me. Without make up, without my hair fixed. Scary, isn't it?

Another Weekend in Tennessee

I did another quick trip to Tennessee with Richard and the boys this weekend. We left here about 5:30 p.m. Friday and got home about the same time today. The boys got to see their mom and I got to see my family.

My Dad cried as soon as I walked into his room Friday night. It broke my heart! I hung out with him for a little while and let him check out my new laptop. Then we started to watch Iron Man 2 together since he hadn't seen it yet, but I ended up having to bail on him because I was tired.

Saturday was pretty laid back. My Mom had to work for a few hours. I went to dinner at Olive Garden with her, Drew and Richard for a belated birthday dinner. I indulged in 2 Chocolate Martini's since I wasn't driving lol. Drew also let it slip to the waitress that it was my birthday and I ended up with a slice of chocolate raspberry cake with a candle in it. I had a lot of fun, but I ate way way way too much food!

After dinner, Richard and I went and hung out at Drew's for a little bit and played some ps3. Richard bailed for bed and Drew and I went shopping at Walmart because it was so flippin cold to me in Tennessee and all I had brought with me was a thin sweater. So, I ended up getting a hooded jacket and 2 blouses I found on the clearance rack. The only color they had the jacket in my size was white. It's going to be so hard to keep it clean!

After Walmart, Drew took me back to my parents' house. My brother, Jake, and I hung out for a little bit. I let him check out my laptop and add some music from my iTunes to his iTouch. I also go to mark off one of the items on my 101 list when we took our photo together.

Happy Birthday to ME!

I turned 27 today, and I have mixed emotions about it. It seems like life is quickly passing me by, and there's nothing I can really do about that except go with the flow. 30 will be here before I know it! I'm a little bummed out about the fact that I am now the age my mother was when she gave birth to me, yet here I am single and childless. I know everything will happen for me when the time is right...I'm just impatient lol!

These are some photos from today. Please excuse the fact that the date on my camera is off!

Some Photos of Me from Today

Is This Considered a Fumble?

I made a post a couple weeks back about being able to keep up with my brother's football games thanks to photographer Allen Greene's website. Imagine the look of shock/horror that spread across my face for all of 2.2 seconds when I clicked "next" and this photo appeared:

Yup, that's my brother...#78, mooning the entire field in mid-tackle. After the 2.2 seconds of shock/horror passed, I laughed my butt off! Don't worry, when I called him to tell him about it, he was already aware of it and was laughing about it too. He's such a good sport!

Wordless Wednesday: Handsome BB!

Wordless Wednesday: Bryson Vacuuming the Living Room

Jacob's Football Photos

Last school year, I was able to attend my brother, Jacob's football games as long as I didn't have to work. This school year, I'm 330 miles away. However, thanks to Allen Greene Photography, I am able to look at photos from each game online. I was able to do this last school year as well, but it means a little more to me this school year. I am so proud of him! Despite missing the beginning of summer training thanks to his broken foot (oops!), he's an awesome player. He's 110% dedicated and it honestly would not surprise me if he ended up going to college on a football scholarship. I'm probably getting a little ahead of myself seeing as he's just a sophomore. Did I mention that he's in honors classes and gets straight A's? Yup...my baby brother is the bomb *lol*

 

They've only played two games so far this season, and they've won both of them. The 1st game was a home game and the 2nd was an away game.

Update on My Foot

It looks and feels much worse today. Not to mention I went and worked a shift on it this morning. What you can't really see in the photo above is that the right side of my foot is a nice bluish tint.

I've been wrestling with the idea of going to the emergency room to have it looked at, but I don't have insurance. I'm able to walk on it, but it look and feels horrible. Tylenol isn't even doing anything for the pain at this point.

The Next Chapter

I've been in South Carolina for over 2 months now and everything is going well. I'm working part time, and although I wish I could get more hours than what I do, I'm just thankful to have a job. Something is definitely better than nothing.

School starts next week for me, Sarah, Melodie and Zack. Sarah and I are doing evening classes at Florence Darlington. Melodie is entering 2nd grade and Zack is starting Kindergarden. Poor Bryson is going to be so lost. His whole life, he's gone wherever Zack's gone. He's going to be upset that Zack's going to school and he isn't. Then again, maybe I'm wrong and he's going to love having all the toys and the Wii to himself during the day. Only time will tell...

I caught my pinky toe on something about 24 hrs. ago now and it still hurts. It was a lovely shade of blue this morning (the picture in my Wordless Wednesday post.) But as the day progressed, the bruising has gotten worse.

Wordless Wednesday: My Poor Pinky Toe!

This picture really does it NO justice.

My pinky toe and foot are much more blue than this.

August Happiness Challenge 2010: Day 2 / New Photo of Me

I took some new photos of myself today. It's been a while since I last done so. Which brings me to me to today's happiness factor: Photography. I love taking photos whether it be for a specific purpose (birthday, holiday, wedding, etc.) or just because. Being behind the camera has always made me happy. Eventually I'd like to have some formal/professional training and a professional grade camera.

Straight Out of the Camera Sunday

I-26 East in Tennessee on my way to South Carolina

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Photos

Bryson

Zack

My busted radiator hose

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