What a wonderful weekend! It was a time to be proud of my loved ones and realize just how happy and lucky I am to have them all in my life.
My brother graduated on Saturday from undergrad with a degree in Mass Communications from MTSU. He is currently working towards spending a year in South Korea teaching English as a second language. And I believe the plan is still to apply to law schools after that. We didn't have the best relationship growing up, but as we've both matured, we've grown closer. He has grown into such an amazing guy. Smart and caring, and the funniest guy I know. I am so proud of him, and so happy that I can call him a friend as well at this point in my life.
My boyfriend, as reported earlier, made the snare line with the Atlanta Falcons Drumline for the 2010 season, something that he has been working so hard at for the past few weeks. I couldn't be prouder of him. (Though, to be honest, I had absolutely no doubt in my mind he could make it. Without sounding like I have a bias as his girlfriend, he truly does have this will power and determination that just allows him to achieve pretty much anything he puts his mind to.) I am so happy to see him achieving something that I know he will truly enjoy.
And the rest of my family- I am just so lucky to have them. To have a family that has the ability to send their children to school, to visit them and celebrate their accomplishments with them. Not everyone has that, and I am just so happy that I do. I can't imagine how proud my parents were of my brother to see him walk across that stage. Even though I am proud of him, he's not my son, and I know it means much more to them than it ever could for me. It makes me wonder about when I have kids of my own and all the things they will go on to accomplish. I just can't imagine what it must feel like to see someone you brought into this world going out and making something of them self.
The ceremony itself was long and pretty much like every other graduation ceremony people go to. It wasn't a HUGE graduating crowd, because they had multiple ceremonies that day, so everyone got to walk. I did think the president plugged the school a little more than necessary. I understand the need to talk about the school to some degree, but he talked about the school more than he did the actual graduates really. Oh well. The speaker wasn't bad, and I did make a note of at least one quote he used in his speech- "All that lies behind you and all that lies before you is inconsequential to what lies within you." (A rewording of a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, I believe.)
After the 3 hour ceremony, we grabbed a bite at a burrito place, Blue Coast, ran back to the hotel to change and then headed out to Nashville for the evening. Davey took us and his girlfriend, Claire, by the place he worked on Music Square. We walked around a bit, took pictures and contributed to the Geocache that was located under the back stairs leading up to his office. Very cool! Then after that we headed off to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner, dessert and celebratory drinks. I think we ended up leaving with about 10 to-go boxes between everyone!
Sunday morning we got to sleep in (past when they stopped serving free breakfast down in the hotel lobby) which was nice, since we were all EXHAUSTED by the time we fell into bed Saturday night. Davey and Dad ran off to get food for a picnic lunch while Mom, Sunny and I packed up and got ready for the day. Davey picked out this absolutely perfect place to spend Mother's Day. When they got back with the food we drove out to Arington Vineyards for a wine tasting and a picnic! The drive out there was gorgeous (though I didn't get to appreciate it on the way out due to a combination of cramps and the medicine I took that did more harm than good.) But the vineyard itself was just gorgeous! The pictures on the website don't even BEGIN to capture how beautiful this place is. The weather on Sunday definitely didn't hurt. The sky was blue, the grass was green, and the lawns were filled will families just out having a good time. There were dads and sons throwing balls, kids chasing each other, mothers pushing strollers. Not a single screaming child. They had live music and carts that could drive you up if you had to park down at the bottom of the hill (by the time we left the place was packed and people were just parking on the side of the road.) It really was kind of ridiculously idyllic. Whoever does the marketing for Tennessee's tourist industry really needs to get out there and get some footage. I was ready to move up there by the time the day was through.
The wine tasting went well. Mom and Dad have a more mature palate for wine, but we managed to agree on a few and ended up selecting a bottle of the Gewurztraminer to have with lunch. They purchased several more bottles to take home, and both Davey and I got a bottle of the Raspberry dessert wine to take home with us. Then we headed up to the top of a hill overlooking the vineyard and the surrounding area to have our picnic. We exchanged Mother's Day and graduation cards and gifts and had some awesome McAlister's for lunch.
After strolling around a bit and taking in the day, it was time to hit the road. We dropped Davey back off and were on the road by 5, home by a little after 9. I grabbed my bags and Gus and we were back home at my little apartment and in bed by about 10:30! Talk about a busy weekend!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
My Awesome Boyfriend
So my boyfriend tried out for- AND MADE- the Falcon's drumline today!!!! I am so so so so so so proud of him! :) He's been working his BUTT off getting ready and I am just so happy for him. I just wanted to brag for a minute!!! I absolutely cannot wait to go see him this season!!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Cats and Grads
I'm in a hotel room in Murfreesboro, TN currently. My lil' bro graduates from MTSU tomorrow. So proud of him! :)
I'm actually really tired, so this won't be long. Just checking in.
I got to see my new kitty again today. I don't think I mentioned that in my catch up post. I came home one day from work and there was a VERY sad looking kitty sniffing at people's garbage bags on the second level in my building. So I coaxed him upstairs and gave him some food. And I just didn't have the heart to leave him out there so I put him on my back porch and kept him out there for about a week with fresh food and water and litter. I didn't know what kind of diseases he may have so I didn't want him actually IN my apartment as my boyfriend and I have 2 other cats that I didn't want to risk catching anything. But he was very sweet and obviously used to being around people.
I got him into the vet and turns out he's an oooold man. They're guess-timating about 15. (So, more a "cat" than a "kitty" really, but whatev...) It took them like 4 tries just to even determine he was a he actually. His fur was so matted they couldn't get through to his "parts" to see what kind of parts they were. We ran all sorts of blood work to make sure he was healthy and such. He was free of the super bad stuff- feline leukemia and feline AIDS, worm-free, etc. Turns out he does have hyperthyroidism which causes all sorts of symptoms like increased heart rate and high metabolism which in turn lead to an inability to put on weight, increased bowel movements and urination, etc, etc, etc. But the vet said it's fairly easy to treat so we've got some pills. He'll take those for a month then we'll check his levels again and adjust as necessary. Once we get that leveled out again it'll just be a matter of a couple annual check ups.
And my parents did me the huge favor of taking him to get shaved (the matted fur really was just ridiculous) and I got to see him for the first time after that today. And Oh. My. Goodness. This is one skinny cat. When I get my camera fixed I'll post pics (hopefully soon, before he fattens up too much, otherwise I'll just use John's camera.) But the point is that he is now on his way to becoming a much-loved, fat, content indoor cat. :) He is very laid back (my parent's 3 dogs don't phase him a bit) so we'll probably introduce him to our other 2 cats within the next week or so. Oh yeah- I named him Gus!
(And don't worry, the house sitter this weekend knows to give Gus his medicine while we're away!)
Anyways, it was a long, if tolerable, day at work today. Followed by a 3 1/2 hour car ride, so I'm going to head to bed now. Luckily this ceremony is NOT a morning gig. We don't have to get there til 12ish. My only worry is getting up in time to catch free breakfast downstairs :) Sweet dreams!
I'm actually really tired, so this won't be long. Just checking in.
I got to see my new kitty again today. I don't think I mentioned that in my catch up post. I came home one day from work and there was a VERY sad looking kitty sniffing at people's garbage bags on the second level in my building. So I coaxed him upstairs and gave him some food. And I just didn't have the heart to leave him out there so I put him on my back porch and kept him out there for about a week with fresh food and water and litter. I didn't know what kind of diseases he may have so I didn't want him actually IN my apartment as my boyfriend and I have 2 other cats that I didn't want to risk catching anything. But he was very sweet and obviously used to being around people.
I got him into the vet and turns out he's an oooold man. They're guess-timating about 15. (So, more a "cat" than a "kitty" really, but whatev...) It took them like 4 tries just to even determine he was a he actually. His fur was so matted they couldn't get through to his "parts" to see what kind of parts they were. We ran all sorts of blood work to make sure he was healthy and such. He was free of the super bad stuff- feline leukemia and feline AIDS, worm-free, etc. Turns out he does have hyperthyroidism which causes all sorts of symptoms like increased heart rate and high metabolism which in turn lead to an inability to put on weight, increased bowel movements and urination, etc, etc, etc. But the vet said it's fairly easy to treat so we've got some pills. He'll take those for a month then we'll check his levels again and adjust as necessary. Once we get that leveled out again it'll just be a matter of a couple annual check ups.
And my parents did me the huge favor of taking him to get shaved (the matted fur really was just ridiculous) and I got to see him for the first time after that today. And Oh. My. Goodness. This is one skinny cat. When I get my camera fixed I'll post pics (hopefully soon, before he fattens up too much, otherwise I'll just use John's camera.) But the point is that he is now on his way to becoming a much-loved, fat, content indoor cat. :) He is very laid back (my parent's 3 dogs don't phase him a bit) so we'll probably introduce him to our other 2 cats within the next week or so. Oh yeah- I named him Gus!
(And don't worry, the house sitter this weekend knows to give Gus his medicine while we're away!)
Anyways, it was a long, if tolerable, day at work today. Followed by a 3 1/2 hour car ride, so I'm going to head to bed now. Luckily this ceremony is NOT a morning gig. We don't have to get there til 12ish. My only worry is getting up in time to catch free breakfast downstairs :) Sweet dreams!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Spring Cleaning
So a few posts ago I was pondering over which of my "What If..."s I was going to select at small group to focus on for the next week and check back in on next Wednesday. As it turns out, I didn't pick any of the items I mentioned in that post. I actually decided on "What if I finally cleaned out my closet?" (Which is good, cuz I was going to try the whole getting up earlier thing anyways and I already failed at that this morning. I'm going to keep trying, but that would have been a disheartening start to my What If adventure.)
So why did I pick this item on my list? Basically I'm hoping it will be a catalyst to help spring board the rest of it. I have admitted before that I am a hopeless, helpless pack rat. But that doesn't mean I'm happy about that fact. I really don't mean to hold on to so much crap, it's just that every time I try to start cleaning and throwing stuff out, the mountain of clutter is just so overwhelming that I get disheartened. Plus I get a crippling case of the "what if..."s (and not the good kind like this small group study... the bad kind that makes me think I'll immediately find a need for whatever it is I threw out right after the trash man picks it up.)
All this junk doesn't really do anything, though, other than get in my way and stress me out! Any time I actually feel like doing something productive, like painting or baking, I look around and realize that I would only be adding to the mess unless I clean up first, and my energy and enthusiasm for my would-be project just get sucked right out of me. I have actually attempted to declutter a number of times and just not gotten anywhere for all of these reasons. So I'm going to try one more time, with the hope that knowing my small group is expecting an update in a week's time (I promised them trash bags full of give-away clothes) I'll actually get somewhere. Granted, after agreeing to that I realized that the only time I'm going to be home and able to make any progress is tonight from about 5-6, Sunday evening for an hour or 2, and Monday evening from about 5-9. But hopefully if I really buckle down I can start making some headway.
I actually ran across a few really inspiring/helpful tips online today at Miss Minimalist. One entry zeroed in on a nasty habit I have of organizing rather than decluttering. Of course I want whatever I'm left with to be organized, but I'm going to try really hard to actually GET RID of stuff, because the simple fact is, no matter how organized I am, I currently have more stuff than I have space right now. The other tips were for how to keep my place decluttered after my purge. Hopefully by following a few strategies such as "one in, one out" and "one-a-day," I will feel inspired when I come home rather than bogged down with more work.
When we each announced what we would be working on in small group, we were asked "How will this change your story?" I am HOPING that if I can actually make some headway here, I will feel more at ease in my own home, keeping my home clean will take less effort, and I'll finally be able to just start whatever other projects I feel like without having to spend hours tidying up first. I'll feel more organized in general and, as silly as this may seem, better equipped to take on the world. If I can take on the monster that is my closet (and linen closet and desk drawers and storage closet) then just maybe I can tackle everything else on my growing-up list!
So why did I pick this item on my list? Basically I'm hoping it will be a catalyst to help spring board the rest of it. I have admitted before that I am a hopeless, helpless pack rat. But that doesn't mean I'm happy about that fact. I really don't mean to hold on to so much crap, it's just that every time I try to start cleaning and throwing stuff out, the mountain of clutter is just so overwhelming that I get disheartened. Plus I get a crippling case of the "what if..."s (and not the good kind like this small group study... the bad kind that makes me think I'll immediately find a need for whatever it is I threw out right after the trash man picks it up.)
All this junk doesn't really do anything, though, other than get in my way and stress me out! Any time I actually feel like doing something productive, like painting or baking, I look around and realize that I would only be adding to the mess unless I clean up first, and my energy and enthusiasm for my would-be project just get sucked right out of me. I have actually attempted to declutter a number of times and just not gotten anywhere for all of these reasons. So I'm going to try one more time, with the hope that knowing my small group is expecting an update in a week's time (I promised them trash bags full of give-away clothes) I'll actually get somewhere. Granted, after agreeing to that I realized that the only time I'm going to be home and able to make any progress is tonight from about 5-6, Sunday evening for an hour or 2, and Monday evening from about 5-9. But hopefully if I really buckle down I can start making some headway.
I actually ran across a few really inspiring/helpful tips online today at Miss Minimalist. One entry zeroed in on a nasty habit I have of organizing rather than decluttering. Of course I want whatever I'm left with to be organized, but I'm going to try really hard to actually GET RID of stuff, because the simple fact is, no matter how organized I am, I currently have more stuff than I have space right now. The other tips were for how to keep my place decluttered after my purge. Hopefully by following a few strategies such as "one in, one out" and "one-a-day," I will feel inspired when I come home rather than bogged down with more work.
When we each announced what we would be working on in small group, we were asked "How will this change your story?" I am HOPING that if I can actually make some headway here, I will feel more at ease in my own home, keeping my home clean will take less effort, and I'll finally be able to just start whatever other projects I feel like without having to spend hours tidying up first. I'll feel more organized in general and, as silly as this may seem, better equipped to take on the world. If I can take on the monster that is my closet (and linen closet and desk drawers and storage closet) then just maybe I can tackle everything else on my growing-up list!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Olfactory Memories
As I was driving home from a friend's tonight, I had my windows down and I realized it was finally that time of year. The honeysuckle is back :)
When asked what my favorite smells are, I normally list anything related to water or other "fresh" smells. Any scent that has cotton, linen, rain, water, mountain spring, etc listed in it is normally a fave. And while I do still appreciate those, I think tonight I finally came to a realization that I do have a true favorite. Seasonally, anyways.
When I smell honeysuckle, it just makes me happy. Not that warm, safe, comfortable happy when you smell fresh baked cookies that reminds you of coming home, or that kind of happy that reminds you of being on vacation when you smell sea salt and fresh pineapple. I'm talking out for the summer, not a care in the world, staying out late, catching fireflies, running through the neighborhood playing flashlight tag with your friends happy. I think of walking down to the corner store to buy ice cream and stopping when you catch a whiff of that familiar scent; following your nose until you find those little yellow and white flowers, and then spending the next 15 minutes trying to find the blossom with the biggest, sweetest, single drop of honey waiting just for you.
When I smell honeysuckle, I know summer's here. And even if that doesn't mean the same thing now as it did when I was 12, it still brings with it a mental sigh of relief, along with a sense of excitement at what adventures lay in store as the days grow longer. I'm looking forward to the surprises this summer still holds...
When asked what my favorite smells are, I normally list anything related to water or other "fresh" smells. Any scent that has cotton, linen, rain, water, mountain spring, etc listed in it is normally a fave. And while I do still appreciate those, I think tonight I finally came to a realization that I do have a true favorite. Seasonally, anyways.
When I smell honeysuckle, it just makes me happy. Not that warm, safe, comfortable happy when you smell fresh baked cookies that reminds you of coming home, or that kind of happy that reminds you of being on vacation when you smell sea salt and fresh pineapple. I'm talking out for the summer, not a care in the world, staying out late, catching fireflies, running through the neighborhood playing flashlight tag with your friends happy. I think of walking down to the corner store to buy ice cream and stopping when you catch a whiff of that familiar scent; following your nose until you find those little yellow and white flowers, and then spending the next 15 minutes trying to find the blossom with the biggest, sweetest, single drop of honey waiting just for you.
When I smell honeysuckle, I know summer's here. And even if that doesn't mean the same thing now as it did when I was 12, it still brings with it a mental sigh of relief, along with a sense of excitement at what adventures lay in store as the days grow longer. I'm looking forward to the surprises this summer still holds...
Foooooooooooooood!!!!!!
Ok, this is kind of a random post, but I'm bored and I've got food on the brain, so I thought I'd turn it into something constructive.
I am totally psyched about this new cookbook I got the other day. It's called Frame-by-Frame Baking and it's AMAZING!!! Not only does it help you make sure you're doing everything right with pictures of each step (rather than just one picture of the finished product) but all those extra pictures actually make your mouth water that much more when reading through the recipes!!! This same line of books has at least one other(Frame-by-Frame Quick and Easy) but as I'm more of a baker than anything else, I got this one. I cannot wait to bake my way through it.
At the same time as I got this new book, I also purchased a tart pan. "Why?" you may ask. Not really so I could bake tarts. That is one added bonus, as I don't currently have a tart pan. But no, I bought this particular pan because it had what looked to be an amazing peanut-butter-banana tart recipe on the packaging. Yes, I'm that kind of person.
I have also come across (or been sent) numerous recipes online, or simply pictures of items which I plan on attempting to divine the recipe for.
Bottom line? I have A LOT of baking to do!!! So I think I'm going to attempt, among everything else I have going on in my crazy life, to start baking one new thing each week. I figure that's not too lofty a goal, and should be easy enough to work into my budget. No budget-breaking, career-interrupting craziness here like in Julie and Julia (Though that was an awesome movie! And one more thing that inspired me to start my own blog!)
So in order to keep track of my baking endeavors, I'm going to keep a running list (see new sidebar gadget) of every new recipe I attempt in the coming days. If I can ever find the battery charger for my camera, I'll post pictures as well.
Feel free to send suggestions my way :)
I am totally psyched about this new cookbook I got the other day. It's called Frame-by-Frame Baking and it's AMAZING!!! Not only does it help you make sure you're doing everything right with pictures of each step (rather than just one picture of the finished product) but all those extra pictures actually make your mouth water that much more when reading through the recipes!!! This same line of books has at least one other(Frame-by-Frame Quick and Easy) but as I'm more of a baker than anything else, I got this one. I cannot wait to bake my way through it.
At the same time as I got this new book, I also purchased a tart pan. "Why?" you may ask. Not really so I could bake tarts. That is one added bonus, as I don't currently have a tart pan. But no, I bought this particular pan because it had what looked to be an amazing peanut-butter-banana tart recipe on the packaging. Yes, I'm that kind of person.
I have also come across (or been sent) numerous recipes online, or simply pictures of items which I plan on attempting to divine the recipe for.
Bottom line? I have A LOT of baking to do!!! So I think I'm going to attempt, among everything else I have going on in my crazy life, to start baking one new thing each week. I figure that's not too lofty a goal, and should be easy enough to work into my budget. No budget-breaking, career-interrupting craziness here like in Julie and Julia (Though that was an awesome movie! And one more thing that inspired me to start my own blog!)
So in order to keep track of my baking endeavors, I'm going to keep a running list (see new sidebar gadget) of every new recipe I attempt in the coming days. If I can ever find the battery charger for my camera, I'll post pictures as well.
Feel free to send suggestions my way :)
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Plans and Decision Making
So I've got a few friends started on What If... lists of their own. I'm still super excited about small group tomorrow. I still have to decide what on my list I'm going to really focus on for the next week. I'd like to look into painting at the children's hospital. I need to do some research regarding what it is I want to do (determine if it's healthy/feasible/etc) and then, if that all checks out, find out who I need to talk to in order to get permission and really make this happen. If it worked out, it would be a really neat way to get myself painting again while also volunteering within the community. However- I'm hesitant in that area because I simply do not have the time in my schedule right now to commit even one day a week if I WAS able to work it all out. However, I know we're supposed to step out of our comfort zones with this dare. So perhaps I can at least take the first few steps towards getting my idea organized. Set up a time to go talk to someone perhaps? If I get the details worked out I could plan on actually starting mid-June when my schedule calms down a bit.
However, the "what if..." that I choose (for this purpose) also needs to be something that I can actually make progress on in a week. With that in mind, I'm thinking about perhaps either trying to get up earlier each day, or trying to run everyday. If I ran in the morning before work I'd be killing 2 birds with 1 stone!
We'll see. I've got a little while longer to think about it.
In the mean time, I got to hang out with some friends I haven't seen recently today, so that was nice. We met up for pizza and got to catch up. And I'm ending my day with a movie with my boyfriend :) Jumanji. Haven't watched this movie in forever. Used to be a fave of my family's though. It was one of our go-to movies if all else failed. Hopefully it won't disappoint tonight...
However, the "what if..." that I choose (for this purpose) also needs to be something that I can actually make progress on in a week. With that in mind, I'm thinking about perhaps either trying to get up earlier each day, or trying to run everyday. If I ran in the morning before work I'd be killing 2 birds with 1 stone!
We'll see. I've got a little while longer to think about it.
In the mean time, I got to hang out with some friends I haven't seen recently today, so that was nice. We met up for pizza and got to catch up. And I'm ending my day with a movie with my boyfriend :) Jumanji. Haven't watched this movie in forever. Used to be a fave of my family's though. It was one of our go-to movies if all else failed. Hopefully it won't disappoint tonight...
Monday, May 3, 2010
What if...?
So I know it's been forever. I totally f-a-i-l-e-d at the whole keeping this going thing. I thought a million times about coming back and posting, but either it had been too long and I had too much to say, or I felt so guilty for staying away for so long that I couldn't bring myself to write anything, or a million other reasons. But an email I got today has inspired me, so here I am. My small group is doing a short "What If" study for the next couple weeks and I am already IN LOVE with it. We read this post (http://donmilleris.com/2010/03/25/the-single-most-powerful-question-you-can-ask/) and were asked to come up with our own list of 5 What If's. Then we're going to read them to the group and follow up on them in coming weeks. Well, I got started, and just like everyone that commented on the post, I couldn't stop at 5. And I wanted to share. So here they are. I have a feeling I've just created a list I'll be adding to for years to come.
What If...
What if I started a journal and KEPT it?
What if I got up earlier (on time) each day?
What if I stopped watching tv?
What if I looked into painting at the children's hospital?
What if I started my newsletter?
What if I really started baking?
What if I painted a little bit every day?
What if I refused to jump to negative conclusions?
What if I ran everyday?
What if I called my family just to say hi?
What if I stuck to my budget?
What if I finally cleaned out my closet?
What if I wrote a book?
What if I went on a mission trip?
What if I volunteered at church again?
What if I went to church every week?
What if I prototyped my invention?
What if I learned Spanish?
What if I learned guitar?
(ps- if you want an update on all the things I originally started this blog for, here's the short list:
-I failed at keeping up P90X first time around but am ending Week 8 of my second attempt tonight- this time with a friend.
-I have marginally improved my eating habits, including a few crash diets, and am now roughly 8-10 pounds (depending on the day) lighter than when I started this blog.
-I typed out my budget yesterday and created a Google Doc to help me stay on course. Hoping this Friday (payday) will be the start of that.
-I renewed my determination to get to the doctor's today and printed off info about my health insurance plan.
-I have made 0 progress on the cleaning out the closet front or the church attendance/volunteer efforts. Hence the listings in my What If list.)
What would be on YOUR "What If" list?
What If...
What if I started a journal and KEPT it?
What if I got up earlier (on time) each day?
What if I stopped watching tv?
What if I looked into painting at the children's hospital?
What if I started my newsletter?
What if I really started baking?
What if I painted a little bit every day?
What if I refused to jump to negative conclusions?
What if I ran everyday?
What if I called my family just to say hi?
What if I stuck to my budget?
What if I finally cleaned out my closet?
What if I wrote a book?
What if I went on a mission trip?
What if I volunteered at church again?
What if I went to church every week?
What if I prototyped my invention?
What if I learned Spanish?
What if I learned guitar?
(ps- if you want an update on all the things I originally started this blog for, here's the short list:
-I failed at keeping up P90X first time around but am ending Week 8 of my second attempt tonight- this time with a friend.
-I have marginally improved my eating habits, including a few crash diets, and am now roughly 8-10 pounds (depending on the day) lighter than when I started this blog.
-I typed out my budget yesterday and created a Google Doc to help me stay on course. Hoping this Friday (payday) will be the start of that.
-I renewed my determination to get to the doctor's today and printed off info about my health insurance plan.
-I have made 0 progress on the cleaning out the closet front or the church attendance/volunteer efforts. Hence the listings in my What If list.)
What would be on YOUR "What If" list?
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