Sunday, December 28, 2014

Wrapping up 2014

What a year!

This year I crossed the Mississippi river for the first time and crossed three states off my travel list as I packed up mine and my husband's lives and moved westward from Alabama to Texas. This is the first time I've lived so far away from my friends and family and let me tell you, it has been a learning experience. I think everyone should do this at least once in their lives.

I have learned not only how strong I can be, but that weakness is ok too. I've learned how far a leap of faith can take you and sometimes not everything is as good as it seems. I've learned that picking your battles does not mean you are a doormat, nor does it mean that you weren't right in the first place. I've learned that I am only as great as my effort. Most importantly, I've learned how to trust quickly. I've never been a very trusting person. Everyone has an agenda, right? Not so much. Packing up and moving to a place you've never seen, working with people you've only met via email and a phone call, and living in a town where you absolutely know no one will give you a different perspective on people. I'm not saying my sense of awareness has been lowered. I think it has been heightened, but at the same time I'm able to open up to others more... That probably makes no sense.

So, in my usual end of the year fashion, I've created my annual year in photos video. I hope this upcoming year brings you joy, happiness, prosperity, and most of all - love. Be blessed.



Sunday, December 14, 2014

How this Scrooge won Christmas

I mentioned last week here that I've been a homesick scrooge lately.  What I didn't mention is I went through my lonely bag of Christmas things I saved from our move from Opelika. We were in such a hurry and had many mixed emotions raging during the move, that I only packed the Christmas things that had meaning to me. Two of these things were ornaments from my childhood that I had dug out of ornament storage our first Christmas together. We had tried for a few years to keep a Christmas tree, but with the cats it always ended up knocked down or the tree lights chewed up where they no longer worked. So, we have put Christmas trees on permanent hiatus.

While I was rummaging around through my Christmas bag I found my childhood ornaments and decided they were not meant for me to keep. My dad has very few if any mementos or even pictures from mine or my brother's childhood. So, I wrapped them up in tissue paper, framed a photo that also found of us in 1990 in Florida, and framed three pictures from last summer's graduation and sent them through the mail. I also send framed pictures to Buddy's parents and my Grandma.

I checked the tracking number on all three presents each day to see if they had arrived yet. When they did I called each of them to see what Santa brought them. Buddy's mom hadn't got home from work yet and no one at home was answering the phone, so we called her at work to make sure she checked the porch. Grandma had placed the tissue paper wrapped presents under the tree and was going to wait till Christmas to open them, but I convinced her she wanted to see what it was before hand. She opened each of the photos with an aw and cried by the time she got to the end of them. I told her that I wanted to make sure that if she couldn't see us for Christmas she could at least look at us. She was very glad she didn't wait till Christmas and cry in front of everyone.

Diddy (Dad) was the last one I called and he said the box was under the tree. They hadn't even opened the box it was shipped in! I told him he had to at least open the two little ones before Christmas, so they opened the box and scared the crap out of me when he said there weren't two little ones in the box. My heart sank into the pit of my belly and I just wanted to cry. Those were irreplaceable! But then Sally turned the box upside down and they slid out. Whew!

He opened up the first one to which I asked if he recognized it. He said he didn't and asked if he should. Granted, the first one was a plain gold bell that had my name inscribed and the year we they had got it, 1984. So, it was a little difficult for even my decent vision to see the words on it. But the second one...The second one was from my kindergarten year (1987). My teacher had drawn animals from our thumb prints and put them in a tiny frame. Mine was a mouse. When he opened the second ornament all I heard was "The Mouse!" and then garble, the sound like the phone fell on the floor. Y'all! I made my Diddy cry! I wasn't necessarily looking for him to cry, making him happy - totally, crying, not so much. He didn't want to open the others till Christmas, so they are still under the tree. So even though we are not going to see our families for the holidays. I totally won the daughter of the year award and this scrooge won Christmas.
I got this picture about an hour after he opened his presents.

More updates to come, so until then have a great week and blessed be.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Holiday woes

I honestly do not know where last month went. Between the school work, take home tests, learning TWO new modeling programs (which I still don't know how to use well), Dragon Age: Inquisition, and everything in between, November came and went in the blink of an eye.

Now it's December, finals are over, and Christmas is around the corner. I am not a holiday person by any means. I do not like surprises, I don't get excited over carols, trees, or decorating the house. I don't remember getting excited about these things except for when I was little, but it still gave me panic attacks. The list of things I do like around Christmas time is short: other people's Christmas lights and making sweets. That's it. The end. Bah Humbug. I know, I'm a scrooge.

But this year I haven't seen my family and friends in almost a year and I'm awfully homesick. I have tried to figure out how to make it home for the holidays. However, with classes not starting back and my loan money not coming in until the end of January, hotel and registration fees for a conference in February being due in January, nicer clothes for that conference and another in January, and being able to have tuition for this summer's classes saved....it's just not going to happen.

I was so ready to leave Alabama and now I would give almost anything to go back for just a few days. Don't get me wrong. I love being out here. I love the anonymity, not having to look over my shoulder when I go out for someone I know and don't want to bump into, not having the same questions being asked "what are you going to do after school", "when are you going to have kids"....

I know it's just homesickness and I'm sure it will pass, but I'm just so bummed right now. How do you deal with homesickness and missing those that you love?

Gosh I had a lot of pictures to post! I hope you enjoy, have a happy holiday, and blessed be.


early November when the leaves were still green

I've been trying to get back to taking "first light" or sunrise pictures



Normal kitty business here

There's two of me!!!

This November was how I remembered it when I was growing up: cold and drizzly





I was a little drunk, but I love it