April & May in Pictures May 23, 2012

April and May are practically GONE.  How did THAT happen?!?  One minute I’m griping because I gave up sodas for Lent and the next, it’s MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!  My life is traveling at an excessive rate and I need it to s l o w d o w n….

Despite the fact that the months flew by, I did have some fun.  I started going to a crossfit gym.  If you don’t know what that is, look it up.  It’s amazingly awful and tough and it has changed me for the better.  Then, I ran a 5K with my friends Katie and Jessica.  It was a great time and a big shout out to Katie for running the ENTIRE TIME despite the fact that she had a sinus infection and could barely breathe!!!

Post-race.

The weekend after the race was my oldest niece’s senior prom.  I can’t believe she’s a SENIOR in high school but more importantly, I can’t believe I am old enough to have an 18-year-old niece!!!!

She’s so beautiful!!!

Then, I went to NYC.  Why? Because I can.  That’s right…two of my girlfriends and I went to NYC for a weekend at the theater.  We saw Newsies and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.  We also shopped and went on the Gossip Girl tour (yes, I admit it).  It was so fun just being in the city.  I love that place.  I should move there (insert gasp from my mother).

Pre- Newsies in NYC!

Oh, I forgot to mention the night before we left for NYC, I went to the FOX in Atlanta to see Les Miserables.  So, three plays in 72 hours, people…that’s how it’s done.

May has been a little more quiet than April.  But…I did enjoy a Crawfish Boil in Atlanta and then went to Amelia Island last weekend to see a good friend get married.

Me with the girls at the crawfish boil.

Sorry it’s a little blurry…but you get the point! She was a beautiful bride!

I’m exhausted…

Think Happy Thoughts April 11, 2012

Work is slowly draining the life out of me this week.  I’m slammed and just can’t seem to get ahead.  It’s days like this that while I am thankful for my job, I have had more than one moment in the day when I’d like to just walk away.  Thankfully, I come to my senses and realize in the grand scheme of things, it truly isn’t that bad and I’m probably being overly dramatic.

So, in an effort to help me realize even on bad days like this, I am truly blessed…here are my top 10 happy moments of today.

10. Receiving a random email from brother-in-law that made me laugh at least 10 times throughout the day.

9. Finally being able to follow-through on lunch plans with my friend Mary Frances (after canceling three times in the past month).

8. Beautiful weather made the option to “dine on the patio” for lunch a no-brainer.

7. Listening to this newly downloaded song on my iPod on repeat.

6. Text messages from my BFF’s.

5. No line at the omelet station for breakfast this morning.

4. Witness to an over-pouring of generosity from colleagues to help out a fellow associate in a time of need.

3. Searching for a funny ecard to send a friend for his birthday (yes…the SEARCH was actually the fun part… and involved a LOT of laughter!)

2. A spontaneous afternoon trip to Starbucks with a fun friend.

1. Watching mindless television to drown out the stress from the day.

Heavy Thoughts from this Week April 7, 2012

There are times in my life when I feel like God is just sitting back and watching me.  Then there are times when everything I do, see, read or hear feels like it is coming straight from Him.  The latter has been my week.  I can’t explain it.  My week hasn’t been that out of the ordinary.  Work, gym, time with friends…  Typical.  But something is in the air that makes me feel different about my future.  I feel happier.  I feel healthier.  I feel less uncertain by what the future holds for me.  Funny how that happens isn’t it?  Funny how suddenly the lightbulb comes on and you just feel relieved about any and every anxiety you have just because…

I wouldn’t say I am typically a glass-half-empty type of person…maybe others would disagree.  I try to make the most out of situations.  (TRY being the operative word there.)  But in life’s ups and downs…it gets tough and some days it does get the better of me.  It is on those days I try to stay away from people altogether because I’m just…well, crabby.

I’ve been reading a lot this week.  Actually, my television has only been on for one hour in eight days.  That reading has led me down some emotional paths.  It’s made me realize some things about myself and given me a hopeful outlook for what is to come.  Despite all of the crying I’ve done, I like that feeling.  It’s like I’m being broken down so that I can be built up.  Feels good.  Feels real, real good.

I’m a big movie quoter.  And, in most of life’s situations, I can find a way to relate it to some movie I’ve seen.  Writing this post was no different in that I kept thinking of the scene in Forrest Gump (a family favorite) where he’s sitting with his mama and she’s telling him she’s dying.  She says “I happen to believe you make your own destiny…you have to do your best with what God gave you.”  Such a simple sentence, but it’s so true.  Most of the time we spend our lives trying to be like this person or that person because it’s what we think the perfect life looks like.  When in the end, God made us all different for a reason.  We each have unique qualities, good and bad, but made purposefully made just that way by God.

I know this is a bunch of rambling…and I debated about posting it, but I knew I needed to…for me.  I think it’s good for me to feel these feelings but most importantly…I think it’s good for me to admit these feelings.  And what better week than Holy Week to get a spiritual awakening, right???

Happy Easter all!

And, for your viewing pleasure…the scene from Forrest Gump that I referenced.

Wide Open Spaces April 2, 2012

I’ve signed up for another 5K in two weeks so I decided to time myself today and see how I did.  I’ve been trying to improve my trail time (versus the treadmill on which it is much easier to improve your time) and had a good run a few weeks ago, but that was only 2 miles.  I shot for the 3.1 miles today (a full 5K).  I will admit I didn’t do so well.  It was hot and I was very under-hydrated.  BUT, in the words of my friend Kat…at least you were out there.  So true.  I finished it and in 38 minutes, but I’m aiming for 35 minutes or less.

Boring, I know…let me get to my point.  I have a mix of songs on my iPod that I listen to when I run.  Some songs are current and some are from back in the day…like 1998.  Whoa.  Talk about flashback, right?  HAHA…kidding, a little.  That was a while ago but whenever I go to talk about how old I am, my mother and father kindly remind me they are much older.  I get it, but from my perspective, 1998 seems like eons ago.

One of the songs that my friend Cari and I would blare on the radio as we drove through campus freshman year (1998) was Wide Open Spaces by the Dixie Chicks.  The DC were pretty popular during this time and Cari and I listened to their album so much I think the CD died at some point.  It was our anthem and despite all of their drama a few years after this song was released, I never stopped loving their music.

Today as I was mid mile two, this song came through my headphones and not only did it take me back, but it was a bit of an emotional moment for me.  See, I’ve always felt a personal connection to this song.  I’m incredibly independent (almost to a fault).  I left home after high school to go to my college of choice, then from there I moved to head to a big city to pursue my career.  I knew what I wanted.  I had goals for myself.  I wanted to venture out of the bubble I’d lived in for 18 years and see the world, meet new people and maybe figure out a few things about myself along the way.  The first 18 years of your life are pretty much dictated by your parents (no offense)…school, sports, having the right friends, projecting a good image to the public, staying out of trouble, and ultimately going to college.  These are all GREAT…but there is rarely time in all of that to find out who you truly are and what YOU truly want.  I think at some point, we all need our own wide open spaces to figure out what it is that we want from life.  I know at age 32 what I want is a lot different from what I wanted at age 22 but I only know this because of the obstacles I’ve been through and the people I’ve met.   Life is never going to have a checklist you can just go through every year to make sure you’re on the right track…you’re going to have to deal with lows and well as highs and maybe change paths 42 times…  It’s okay though…the mystery is the beauty of it all. 

I’m sure the DC wrote this song with their search for fame in music in mind, but for now, I’ll just pretend it’s about me and my journey.

Who doesn’t know what I’m talking about 
Who’s never left home, who’s never struck out 
To find a dream and a life of their own 
A place in the clouds, a foundation of stone 

Many precede and many will follow 
A young girl’s dream no longer hollow 
It takes the shape of a place out west 
But what it holds for her, she hasn’t yet guessed 

She needs wide open spaces 
Room to make her big mistakes 
She needs new faces 
She knows the high stakes 

One more thing for today… April 1, 2012

I updated the books I’ve read so check out my latest entry here.

Spring Break April 1, 2012

In 2002, I celebrated my last true spring break.  Senior year of college, three friends and I spent our break in New Orleans.  What a great tribute to the end of my week off every spring (I can’t provide anymore details than that…sorry…my mom reads this blog)!  Shortly thereafter, graduation came and my entrance into Corporate America where spring was just another season and breaking from it was unheard of.

Before anyone thinks it…I am well aware of my choice to be in an occupation where we do not get this time off.  Of course I could use my own personal vacation time for the week off, but again, I choose not to and it isn’t a standard holiday.  So off to work I go.  It was a tough decision but at the end of the day, I chose my job because it’s what I enjoy doing and if no spring break is what I have to endure, then so be it.

Generally, having no spring break wouldn’t annoy me so much…but, thanks to the wonderful world of social media…I dread this week every.single.year.  Why?  My so-called “friends” on Facebook make it absolutely unbearable.  All of the countdowns by teachers (and I have a LOT of teacher friends and relatives…) to spring break drives me crazy.  I realize teachers have a tough job and I wouldn’t trade with them for anything, but the comments have to stop.  I dread it more than actually not having the time off.

So this year, I have decided of a little break of my own.  A spring break from Facebook.  I’ve updated my status, closed the web page from my laptop and turned it off of my phone.  No more annoying status updates.  No more photos by the pool to envy.  No more reminders that I’m at work while the rest of my world is not.

Spring Break 2012…lovin’ it.

Expanding My Vocab March 20, 2012

This week, I’ve added a couple of new words/phrases to my vocabulary.  Seeing as how I like to keep everyone who reads my blog (all three of you…) up-to-date, here goes your first vocabulary lesson from yours truly.

FBO: Facebook Official.  This means your relationship is legit now that you are linked together on THE social network.  You are “in a relationship”.  This is a big deal…well, for anyone out of high school (where you are pretty much always “in a relationship” with someone).  Being that I am an aunt to two teenagers, you’d think one of them taught me this term.  Wrong.  I heard it from a 29-year-old friend of mine…I can’t decide what is worse…the fact that people are now defining relationships based on a website or that it was MY friend (not my niece, nephew or one of the middle schoolers from church) that introduced me to this term.

Niblings: nieces or nephews; the offspring of your siblings  This is an actual a slang word in webster’s dictionary online, but I think it’s pretty awesome.  I actually SEARCHED for this word.  My friend Kerry and I wanted to know how to collectively refer to our nieces and nephews, so we googled it…and there it was!  Kerry’s new “thing” is to see how many times he can use this word each day.  He used it twice in one sentence and then bragged about it for three days.

Current Obsession March 15, 2012

I’m currently obsessed with my hair.  Obsessed in the sense that it needs to be CUT…it has gotten too long.  (At this point in the blog my mother is nodding her head and saying “amen sista” because while she loves my hair, she is not a fan of long hair on yours truly…she prefers I maintain a cuter/shorter style versus long hair that hangs everywhere.)

Having had it up to here with the length of my hair (picture me with my hand raised to my eye level) I made an appointment for a haircut for last Thursday…but without fail, I had a conflict in my schedule so I had to move it to this Saturday.  Not really a huge ordeal but for some reason, I am growing very impatient with my hair by the day and cannot wait until Saturday at 10am.  In the interim, I am obsessed with finding a cute hairstyle to change it up a bit.  I’m very fortunate in that my hair is naturally curly (or at least I’m told I’m fortunate…my curls tend to annoy me more than anything) so I can opt to spend an extra 30-45 minutes to straighten it or I can do little to nothing and wear it curly.  Depends on the day/mood/weather, but 95% of the time, I opt for the curls and leave the straight/styled look for mostly “special” occasions.  Having said that, I feel that the more length I have on my hair, the lazier I am with it and the worse it looks…and it typically ends up in a ponytail by noon.  Thus my decision to get it cut shorter.

I’m going for a straighter look in the style, all the while knowing I can curl it up if the weather is rainy or I oversleep or I just don’t care that day, mostly because if it’s a cute enough style, I know I’ll take the extra time to “fix” it as opposed to not caring and ensuring I have a ponytail holder in my purse for that noontime up-do.  In my quest for the perfect hairstyle, I’ve googled medium length hairstyles way more than I care to admit.  Here are my final two choices.  I’m still 50/50 on whether or not I want bangs…

I realize these photos appear to be very similar but if you are a female, you’ll know there are differences aside from just the color.

Roughly 42 hours until I’m at the salon…who knows what I’ll come up with between now and then…I’ll try to remember to take before/after photos.

No He Didn’t March 8, 2012

The gym at my office has regular challenges throughout the year to keep people motivated to come to the gym and stay healthy.  Despite their sometimes cheesiness and extra effort required, I like the challenges because for one, I’m competitive (hello…I have three older siblings and one younger one…) and secondly…I like to get free money.  (First Place is $500 cash prize.)  Based on these two principles alone, I immediately decided to sign up for the challenge when I saw the flyer last week.

Yesterday was the official weigh-in day.  No big deal.  Fill out some paperwork, have someone record my weight…easy!  Here’s how the conversation went as I stepped on the scales:

Gym dude: No, you leave your shoes on for the weigh-in.

Me: Okay…I don’t normally weigh with my shoes on but that’s cool.  Wow, I guess I gained a few pounds!  Either that or my shoes weigh a lot!

Gym dude:  Nah…your shoes don’t weigh that much.

Ouch.

You Make Me Smile March 6, 2012

Today I was searching for a file in my personal folder on my work laptop and found this little gem.

I took this photo at the playground when my youngest niece, Virginia, was visiting a few months ago.  We had such a fun day…shopping and playing.  She’s a ham.  She was just a posin’ while I took her photo on the slide, but I think this one truly captures her true essence for the day…sheer happiness.

Remember when you were three years old and the best thing in the world was just a simple slide at the park?  Oh how I long for those days again…

Until then, I can stare at this little lady on my laptop and smile.