Just Because..

VIA

Just because..

I needed to hear this... And I thought someone else out there might need to hear it too. My patience has been running thin in every aspect of my life. I have always been a very patient, easy-going person, but these days, there's very little of either going on in my life. In other words... I am Captain of the Struggle Bus!

Throw Some Glitter.. Make It RAIN

On Thursday Mallory and I headed down to Santa Rosa, FL for our friend Meagan Rae's bachelorette party!! It was not your typical long weekend at the beach, but hey... a rainy weekend at the beach is better than not being there at all. And by rainy, I mean we were in the middle of a tropical storm.

Rain or shine, we had a fabulous time and shared lots of laughs!!!

..and champagne!!
..and dancing!!
..and cupcakes!!
Lots of cupcakes!!

Movin' On Up

Well, the day has come and gone. Eleanor is officially a resident at Moseley Hall and Hayes officially loves her Bulldogs. As soon as we pulled on to campus, she spotted this blown up Bully and squealed!

We spent our day walking around campus seeing what all has changed, pointing out different buildings and our memories there, eating at two of our favorite restaurants and of course, making a few trips up and down the stairs moving everything in the dorm. It seems crazy to think I haven't noticed all of the changes since we go for every game, but on game day you park and walk strait to your tailgate. There's no cruising around campus or town, for that matter. 

What a difference ten years makes!!! The dorms these days make ours seem like we lived in the projects. They now have room for a living area and no longer have community showers and bathrooms. That would have made my dorm experience much, much more enjoyable.... 

Seriously.. could these two be any cuter??

And today rush recruitment begins...

I have a feeling this will be worse than cheerleader try out day... 

Come on bid day!

The Great Debate

It's that time again... 

Fantasy Football time, of course.

When this whole girl's league began, we all had girly names. I started out as Touchdowns and Tiaras (taken from Toddlers & Tiaras) and I won my rookie season. So the name stayed through season 2, but I shortened it to "TnT" because I couldn't handle the girly-ness. Well, season 2 didn't pan out like season 1, so I can give up the name. It is no longer the ole' good luck charm. 

This is where the great debate comes into play. 

I need your opinions.

Here are my new name options:

1. Boobie Trap 

(after Anthony "Boobie" Dixon of MSU now in SF)

2. Off the Chaney 

(after Jamar Chaney of MSU now in Philly)

3. Stop, Drop and Sproles
(after Darren Sproles of the Saints)

4. Jimmy Thing 

(after Jimmy Graham of the Saints)
(a little shout out to DMB)

5. Marvinitas 

(Kendol's nickname is Marve.. He is the Marvinators in all of his leagues)

6. Calliente 

(after my own name, obvi)

And now you know what keeps me up at night.

And how much of a loser I really am.

You're Welcome.

And don't even think about stealing my ideas.. 

(Kidding...)

(Kinda)

(Not really..)

Letting Go

Tri Delta Bid Day 2003
Pig Tails for Everyone

On my way home from work last Thursday, Suzy Bogguss' "Letting Go" came through loud and clear on my radio and I was taken back a few years. It hit me like a ton of bricks and I sang every word as loud as I could sing. Thousands of memories flashed through my mind. I was taken back to the Tri Delta house in Starkville. I was taken back to rush. I was taken back to the night where I made the final decision to become a DDD and my life changed forever, Pref Night. I had no idea what the next four years had in store or the life long friends that I had just made. 

The Life-Longs!!

Then it hit me. The time has come. We leave in three short days to move Eleanor into her dorm at Mississippi State. My whole life, I thought this day was so far away and I honestly still can't grasp that it's really happening this week. Her life will be changed forever and changed in ways she could never imagine. I could not be more excited for her. 

She will begin rush in a few short days and my main prayer is that she will find a perfect home, like I did. I hope she finds the best group of life-long friends, like I did. That she will forget all of the dramas of high school and start this new and much better phase of life, like I did. 

I hope she never misses a football game and that she goes to some away games (one of my biggest regrets). I hope she spends many a nights in the Left Field Lounge at Dudy Noble and spends many a early morning in line for basketball tickets. I hope she spends lots of time dancing the night away with her girlfriends and I hope she takes advantage of every concert that comes to town. (I could still kick myself for missing Snoop Dog and Dwight Yoakam) I hope she cranks her country music up and takes many drives around the refuge. I hope she spends many afternoons with her friends on a patio somewhere, figuring out life. I hope she truly appreciates the deliciousness of a bar bq sandwich from Petty's, a plate lunch from Cappe's, a pizza from Stromboli's and everything on the menu at Oby's... Yes, everything. (I still crave them,often.) Speaking of restaurants, I hope she works in one. Everyone needs to. And I really hope she takes a little more advantage of the Sanderson Center than I did. (Note to self: A few leisurely laps around the track, once a semester, does not count as a work out.) I hope she throws random themed parties for no good reason at all. Those made for the best of nights. 

Camo Night... Why not?
We had to "delta-fy" all of our friends, duh.

I surely hope she makes some mistakes and I hope she learns from them. I hope she lives in her sorority house and I hope she takes advantage of every opportunity that comes her way. I hope that she finds a major that she loves and is passionate about. I hope she is very involved on campus and that her love for the Lord will show in all she does. I hope she finds a church home and that as many times as it may be tested, that she never loses her christian spirit. And last but not least, I hope she loves being a bulldog as much as I do and I hope she soaks up every single moment of those few short years, like I did.

O, and of course, I hope she attends a few more classes and studies a little harder than I did. And doesn't miss an exam.. (your planner is only your friend if you write down everything correctly...) Yea.. that doesn't go over well with the parents. But if it does happen, call them when you're crying hysterically. They feel a little more sorry for you that way. 

Refreshed

Sunday, I spent the afternoon starting to clean out our house. Yes, clean out our house. That seems so unreal, but it has to begin at some point. I organized the linen closet and did away with a few things. I straitened up the back bedroom and organized the closet as best I could. Then it was on to the kitchen. I cleaned out all of the drawers and started on a few cabinets. Before I knew it, I had thrown out 6 garbage bags full of junk.

Now it's Monday, and so far today I have... woken up about 15 minutes early, actually put my make up on at home instead of in the car, actually eaten breakfast... fruit to be exact.. and currently have a water in hand instead of a coke... What is the deal, y'all?? Have I turned over a new leaf? I sure hope so.

It's so sad that I'm proud of the above, but I am chalking it all up to being refreshed. We spent the weekend at home with my parents. It's the first full weekend in a while that I've spent up there with them where there weren't 30 things to be done and a reason to rush back home. We literally went on Friday afternoon and hung out all weekend. We had a little fish fry on Friday night, an engagement party on Saturday night, followed by a little sister time til 2:30 am.and a huge family lunch on Sunday, to top it all off. (homemade fried chicken, lima beans, purple hull peas, cornbread, fried corn, slaw, tomato slices... etc.. Whoa) I may have gained 5 lbs but it was just what I needed.

and the Sky Proclaims His Handiwork!!!

..The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.

~ Psalm 19:1

Well, the sky really showed out with God's handiwork last night. This is just a little snap shot of the views I had on my run/walk last night. Lately, I have been getting my exercise in around 4 or so, so I miss these little moments. But last night Eleanor was in town spending the night, so I waited until they went to the movies to go for my run. Boy am I glad I waited. I had a full hour of this beauty.. 

Lately, I have been so anxious about our new house and all of the details involved, that I was beginning to  miss out on the present moments in my life. Last night was no different. I was running around the neighborhood, over-analyzing every different brick color and pattern that I passed, trying to come up with the perfect one for our new house, and God sent me this view. It was breath-taking. I believe it was God's little way of calming me down and taking my mind of everything, even if it was just for an hour. To help me actually relax and take in the present moments instead of stress over details that won't even come to fruition for months.

And in the grand scheme of things, do bricks really even matter?