God's got this.

It's been about 4 weeks since Corey and I moved to Charlotte.



In the beginning: when we first moved to Charlotte, I was so ready for new adventures. I was excited to see what it would be like at a larger market. As we started our jobs, reality set in for me, honestly I was scared, other days I just wanted to move back to Bristol. I still miss my friends and family. Some days are harder than others. My biggest problem is I'm scared of failure. I want to be able to pick up on a task and not make a mistake....but as we all know that doesn't happen and it really frustrates me. I'm the kind of person that gets frustrated so easily because I want to do better, I always end up crying. (not because I'm sad but because I'm so angry with myself)

For the past week and a half, I've been training on audio. It's been a challenge to say the least. So many mics, so many beds of music, so many things to remember. The guy training me though is so positive, some days it makes me angry, but I wouldn't want anyone else training me. He has been a light to me, a blessing really. The one thing that has stuck this week is when he said, "Don't let them steal your joy!" I had made a mistake and it really bothered me, and a couple of comments were made by other people....and instead of him getting mad at me too, he just said, "it's okay, we all make mistake, don't let them steal your joy!" (best advice ever)

So since Monday, I have been reminding myself, "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me!"

God is good and faithful.

He has provided an amazing apartment for Corey, Wall-e and I to live in. He is continuously blessing us financially, we've found an awesome church to attend, and he has comforted me through all of the fears I've had to face, Oh and I also get to spend weekends with my husband.

Honestly, two weeks ago, I was ready to move back to Bristol, but now I'm ready to learn more, relax and know that I'm not alone in this journey.

(This is a short blog, I know, but I just needed to get that off my chest!)

"Find rest, oh my soul, in God alone. My hope comes from him!" - Psalms 62:5

Love always,
Callie Marie-McCarty Presley

We're going on an adventure, quest, voyage, escapade, undertaking to the great unknown!!

So, I just wanted to take a moment out of this busy week to talk about this new adventure we are taking. (I have used the word 'adventure' so many times, I'm going to have to start looking for an alternative word) *journey, quest (oh I like that one), escapade, voyage, undertaking*

About a month ago, Corey and I applied for jobs in Charlotte, NC at the CBS station, WBTV. Corey got the job right on the spot (it's tough being so perfect huh?), but I didn't hear back until last week. Corey will be a producer (Monday thru Friday) and I will be a production assistant/director (Monday thru Friday). So, we'll both have weekends off which is such a blessing. I'm not even sure I remember what weekends are!

On August 3rd, 2013, I signed a lease to our condo in Bristol, TN and on August 8th, 2014 we will be moving out! It has been a great year! We have had so many great opportunities in Bristol, but it is time for a new *quest*! (haha, Lord of Rings comes to mind when I use this word)

God has definitely blessed me with a great life. Corey is such a great husband, he supports me in all my decisions and we both challenge each other to always do our best! I couldn't imagine life without him! We're both so excited about this *escapade*! (well except for the packing) It is definitely our best opportunity yet!


We will definitely miss our WCYB family! We've learned from some of the best broadcasters around! I remember when I first began working there. I ran teleprompter and edited for 9 months, around the 8th month I started begging to run cameras and somewhere down the road I started coming in early on weekends to learn how to direct! It's been a fast pace journey, with some amazing people who are great teachers! I also remember Corey's first day of work. (don't you honey?) He was supposed to run cameras for an early morning show! (Yes, he started out in production) I had told my boss that he was a fast learner and he worked hard! I called him around noon that day, to see how his shift had gone! "I didn't make it!" And my heart literally sank to the ground! Apparently one of his friends (one that shall not be mentioned) had texted him so many times the night before, it had ran down his battery and shut his phone off (which was his alarm clock) and he didn't wake up til around 7. (the show by this time had already ended) Luckily, my boss gave him another chance!! Everyone at work, loves to tell the story of "Corey's first day of work!"

So here's a tip kids: Always have an alternate alarm clock set, in case your friends decide to text bomb your phone! Or better yet, don't be friends with idiots! :) (just kidding, Eric, oh I mean friend who will not be named)

We begin our first day of work, August 11th. It doesn't seem real!!

My sister and I traveled to Charlotte yesterday to find an apartment for Corey and I to live in. WE FOUND ONE!! It's actually outside of Charlotte, in a town called Mooresville! It's super nice! It has a pool, a dog park, a fitness center (maybe I'll actually start working out), a computer lab, a playground and the apartments are absolutely gorgeous. We are also super close to Lake Norman (I want a Kayak, as soon as possible)!!

I will also miss not living as close to my family as we do now! But with so many fun things to do in Charlotte, they now have a reason to come visit!

Please continue to pray for us, or think happy thoughts for us!

We are so excited, stressed (because of packing), nervous, ready to rock and roll, up for the challenge, and super happy to begin this new *voyage*!! (I'm on a boat....)


"Find rest, oh my soul, in God alone. My hope comes from him!"

Much love,
Callie Marie Presley

Oh darling, lets be adventurers....

I cannot wait to post this blog!

First of all, God is good and faithful!

It has almost been a year since Corey and I got married and moved into our little condo in Bristol, Tn. It has been full of great experiences and fantastic opportunities, we have made great friends and we work with an amazing group of people. But if you know Corey and I at all, you know we both strive to further our careers and we both love adventure! I mean we did go to Jamaica for our honeymoon. (which I'll never do again, because it was super sketchy, overly priced and I'm not a fan of flying)

The deal is we both have big dreams. Ever since I decided to major in broadcasting, I knew that I wanted to be a full time director! I have pushed past many obstacles and learned from some of the best, and now I do direct my own show......but I want to do more.

My husband is probably the hardest working man I know (we could argue about which husband is the best, but we'd never agree) He always puts the needs of others first and is willing to help out in any way possible!! He is an amazing producer.

Even though our first year of marriage has been full of happy memories, it has also come with a price of not being able to spend weekends together. And I'm not sure about you, but it's rough not seeing my husband and spending quality time with him!

And that is why, I am super thrilled to announce, that in 2 weeks, we will be moving to Charlotte, NC to further our career in broadcasting. God has blessed us so much and we are super excited about this new adventure, with WEEKENDS OFF TOGETHER!! (I'm not sure I know what a weekend is anymore)

Please be praying for us as we begin to pack and decide on a great place to live.

"Find rest, oh my soul, in God alone. My hope comes from him!"

"Goodbye Bristol, Hello Charlotte"

much love,

The Presley's

A best friend blog.

It utterly blows my mind, how God picks out the perfect people for our lives. Honestly, I think that God has a sense of humor....because my best friend, hasn't always been my best friend.

When I finally decided what I wanted to pursue as my career in life, and that ETSU is where I wanted to study, my parents and I took a tour of the campus. There were supposed to be 3 other people in this tour, but only one other person showed up. The other person who showed up, is now my best friend in the whole world, but at the time, I wasn't very fond of her. It was the middle of July (I believe), I was wearing blue jeans and a blue tank with stars on it and she was wearing, cute little capri shorts and a blouse. (complete opposites) At one point during the tour, she asks, "why are you wearing jeans?" (in what I remember to be a snotty tone, she says other wise) I probably wanted to smack her, we laugh about it now.

After the tour our parents suggested we exchange phone numbers, I'm sure I rolled my eyes about this idea, but we did. And the rest is history.

I definitely wouldn't have survived college without her. We endured bad grades, bad decisions, heart breaks,late night talks, driving at midnight for no reason, dance parties in our living room, numerous games of ninja, sleigh riding (on cookie sheets), running in the snow (bad idea, too many snow flakes up my nose), building snowmen, working out in the gym (I usually just sat around and watched), and everything in between.

She was definitely a God sent.

She now lives an hour and some minutes away, but we try and see each other when we can. We also FaceTime like we did tonight. And I know it sounds cheesy, but we both had our hair twisted in the same way, it made me laugh, but also it's kinda the reason I wrote this blog.

Friends come and go, but a best friend last forever. We've known each other for what? 6 years and she still puts up with my crazy personality....

(Our first semester at ESTU)

(She might kill me for this one)

She is the kind of friend who always loves...I can also trust her to keep secrets. She basically knows all of them anyway. She's the kind of friend who never judges and always, always tells you the truth (even if it is, in like a big sister, scolding type of way)...(just kidding, sorta)! She's the kind of friend who acts crazy right along side you and laughs at all your crazy ways. She's the kind of friend who listens. She's the kind of friend who I can also count on to make my day better.

And that's that...

Love Always,
Callie Marie McCarty Presley

Find rest (lay your head down), oh my soul ( the part of you that doesn't think you can survive another day), in God alone (because he is the only one who can fix our pain, our loneliness, our sickness, our negativity, our problems.) My hope (our peace, our comfort, the solution to the problem, the light at the end of the tunnel) comes from him. -Psalms 62:5

Never Grow Up..

 My friends and I have always been a little quirky. 

Mandy is loud and mischievous.

She has a beautiful soul. She's the type of friend 

you go to when the whole world turns upside down 

and there's no one around. She always has the right words

to say. And my favorite part about her is, she's a child at heart.

Cara is quiet and bold. 

She'll always stand out from the crowd. She's the

type of friend, who can tell you the honest truth

just by her facial expressions. And my favorite part

about her is, she always puts up with our crazy ideas.

(because we all know she's a goofy head too)

And then there's me, and what's not quirky about Callie?

Yesterday, my friends and I decided to have a photo shoot, with fake tattoos and crazy outfits! We had a blast! 

My favorite memory:

Cara and I are in the bathroom sticking on tattoos, Mandy's in Cara's room with a whole pack of sharpies to herself. I went into the bedroom and found Mandy drawing eye brows on Mara (Cara's dog). I will never be able to look at that dog the same. I also saw a huge drawn on tattoo on Mandy's arm that said "faith, love and ____" (I don't remember the other part) It was brightly colored. It made me giggle. 

     Lesson learned: never give Mandy a pack of sharpies and leave her alone.

Reasons why Mandy and I would make horrible models:

Mandy couldn't sit still. (which reminds me of a time, Cara and I were at Mandy's. We were going to play the game of Life. Mandy got through like one round and she didn't want to play anymore, because she got distracted by something else) She also wanted to frolic through the field, or twirl in circles (because that's what hippies do) 

I couldn't be a model because frankly I don't know how to stand. Every pose seems awkward, standing, laying down, sitting.....I even tried blowing a dandelion and I looked like a chipmunk. (and that my friends is why I work behind the camera)

Supper:
After the shoot, we went to eat. It was a little chilly so we all wore long sleeves. At the end of the meal the waiter came over and Mandy shoves the camera in his face and says, "Check this out, she got a full sleeve today." (it was a picture of me) Cara and I bust out laughing. I took my sweater off to reveal the other side of my arm, which had an arm full of Disney tattoos. He was a good sport about it, laughing and complimenting the "art work".

Ice Cream/Desserts:
After supper, we went to an ice cream place across the street. I have been wanting ice cream in a cone for months now. I got cappuccino crunch (it was the bomb dot com) chewy chocolate pieces, crunchy mysterious pieces with chocolate ice cream....oh man. So, while I'm paying I ask Cara to hold my ice cream cone, and when I look back over at her, she's casually just licking MY ice cream cone! Needless to say, I had the first drink of her frappuccino!!  While we were sitting around eating our desserts, a group of Roman soldiers walked by, I really wanted my picture with them, but no one volunteered to go with me. Another biblical character walked in, and walked right back out, I thought he stole a muffin. (random)



Needless to say, there's never a dull moment when we're together! We say things and do things that most would find immature, but I wouldn't want it any other way! I never want to grow up!!

I've been missing my friends for a while, and I'm so glad we finally got to hang out!!

Love always,
Callie Marie-McCarty Presley

"Find rest, oh my soul, in God alone. My hope comes from him." - psalms 62:5

Middle School Memories

A couple of days ago, a childhood friend of mine put a couple of pictures on Facebook of our younger years and today Mandy sent me a snap chat about a memory she had from middle school. I thought it would be cool to write down a couple of middle school memories, and I've ask my Facebook friends to participate, lets see how this goes...


Memories:

In middle school I was obsessed with Spongebob. - Me

I remember playing hide and seek in the band lockers where we kept the drum cases and other large instruments. - Me

"Remember when people wrote poems or short stories and they would go in the white binder, they would pick the best and publish it and if you were in the book you got to go to the cafeteria for a snack!" - Mandy Vanhook

I also remember my try out for snare, Keith Roop sat behind me drumming out a rhythm to match a leaky pipe in the ceiling. - Me

"I think one of my favorites from middle school was when they'd take us outside in 7th grade, and let us run around. We all thought we were too old for recess so they called it "break" instead" - Maria Christian

I remember rummaging through my sisters closet, trying to find the coolest outfit for our middle school dances. (Two outfits come to mind: a purple sleeveless turtle neck and a silver chain linked belt. The other was a white shirt with a tiger on the front, the sleeves were ruffled and had sequins on them....STYLIN') - Me

I remember those square boards with wheels on them in gym class, a couple of the other boys would see how fast they could go before crashing into the padded walls. - Me

"I remember when my dad died and my pre-algebra class all pitched in and got me a teddy bear named Mr. Tibbles." - Cara

"And in that class, I remember we always played pranks on Mrs. Crutchfield."- Cara

I remember when Tony Wisniewski rolled up in middle school....all the girls thought he was super cute. Honestly, I can't remember what I thought, but I remember those white and red "skater" shorts. - Me

"Blue lipstick and the health books with all the dirty pictures drawn inside!" - Mandy

"Tommy Hilfiger hair scrunchies" - Mandy V. 

"Fruitopia, Surge, the flavored Mellow Yellow!" - Mandy V. 

Does anyone else remember the "moat" in the back of the school where we had recess and some of us would catch salamanders in what I'm guessing now was a water drain? - Me

"Pee-dabs (freshmen)" - Mandy V.

"girl, that boy in prison, he in prison in his soul, for being so mean to me!" - anonymous

I remember the project we had to do in history (everyone had to pick a state and use a cardboard box to design what each state was most popular for) - Me

Remember those nights where we would go to the school for "science" night? - Me

I ask Mandy the name of our history teacher, she couldn't remember either, but did remember that when she went to "take her pills" they were Cheerios!

I remember when a boy I had a crush on let me wear his football jersey and I had to let one of the "popular" girls help me put it on, because I didn't know how to wear it the "cool way". - Me

I loved Mrs. Clouds class, she was such a sweet lady and I loved the different writing projects we had to do. - Me

I remember making a "cell" in Mrs. McKinney's class, we used toothpaste for maybe the Cytoplasm and (a boy who shall not be named ate half the tube of toothpaste during class).... - Me

"Another one is when we threw Mr. Wharton that party because he stayed after his first year and didn't leave!" - Rachel Mason.

"I remember the talent show where I did a dance routine and I fell on my face in front of our whole grade? I still blush when I think about that, and it's been almost 14 years ago!" - anonymous

I remember getting a mellow yellow and honey bun for Mr. Wharton during class. - Me



Let's face it, middle school was a long time ago. We were different little people back then. I hope more people participate after I post this. It's always good to look back at memories and laugh at all the good times we shared.




Find rest oh my soul, in God alone. My hope comes from him. - Psalms 62:5

Love Always,
Callie Marie-McCarty Presley

I'm a clueless Boston Red Sox Fan by marriage....

So summers here and husband and I are trying to decide on when to take our vacation.
We've already planned on the destination, thank God it's in the country and we can drive. Excitement is in the air as we plan our first vacation as a married couple.

Our first vacation planning & my thought process:

• We've decided to go to Boston. Cor has always wanted to watch a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway and since I'm an honorary Red Sox fan by marriage, I'm tagging along.

• Even though we're going to Fenway for Corey, I should still be able to help out in important decisions, like where we sit. All of the seats I think would be great to sit in, are less expensive than all the seats that I feel are in horrible spots, which are super expensive. (I guess I just don't get this whole baseball thing) I'm also guessing that Fenway looks nothing like the baseball field in Johnson City, where I used to go watch the Bucs play. The worst seats were right behind the catchers mound (I think that's what its called) because of this huge net. At Fenway, even though they're up a little higher, these seats are the most expensive (besides the "Green Monster").  

• Do those people still walk around yelling, "Get your popcorn, $2 dollars for popcorn, get it while its hot." If so, I'll be even more excited about going.

• Last year, I watched almost all of the Boston Red Sox games....this year I've forgotten most of what I learned. I hate sports, but I do really like Big Papi just because he seems like a cool guy and he hits a lot of home runs. (I just spelled home runs wrong and auto correct changed it, *smacks self in face*)

• Okay, so we're going to a Red Sox game, but we're also going to New York. I've never been before so this part of the vacation is more for me.

• Corey really wants to go to a Broadway play. I'd like to go, but only if it's something I'm familiar with or a play with some comedic relief. (I refuse to watch Les Misérables, or any other sad, depressing musical.)

• I would also love to go to FAO Schwarz toy store. (because we all know I'm a huge child at heart) I just watched a youtube video about the huge floor piano they have there. (I'm so excited)

• I would also really love to go see Jimmy Fallon or SNL, however, their ticket system is in lottery form, meaning you sign up and they just pull your name out of a hat for a random show. (not exactly, but you get the point) (Which seems totally unfair since Cor and I both work at a NBC affiliate station.) *Sad day*

• I'm also really excited/nervous about riding the Subway. (I really hope it's not as creepy as they portray it on t.v.) (yeah, go ahead and make fun of me, I'm a small town girl who's "never really been anywhere") 

• One of the many things that I'm excited about is that since we're not going out of the country, we don't have to worry about switching currency. (Never again Jamaica, never again) *shakes fist* 

• My husband is also allowing (haha "allowing) us to drive, not only because I really don't like planes, but because I love road trips. (seriously, I love driving to different and new places)

• Isn't it awesome when you marry your best friend, vacations seem more like mini adventures.

• I'd like to see the statue of liberty, but unless I'm taken over by boat and get to stand next to her, I'm not really that interested! (i might even give her a hug)

Okay, so here's the interaction part of the blog. If you've ever traveled to New York and have a favorite restaurant or a cool place to visit....let me know. Also, advice for visiting a large city is allowed. 

Thanks for visiting....

Love always,

Callie Marie-McCarty Presley

“Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.” - Deuteronomy 31:6