The Picturebook

Last night, Lash and I drove to Georgetown to meet his parents, his two grandmothers, and my grandmother for dinner in honor of his 24th. (Birthday month, huh?!) Our grandmothers had never met before, so it made the evening very special for us all to be together.

After dinner, when Lash and I went to drop my grandmother off before we headed back down 17. As we left her house, she gave me a picture book that she started compiling many years ago. It was filled from cover to cover with pictures and various programs and memoirs of my sister and me growing up, from birth until about age eleven.

While Lash was listening to the Saints/ Vikings game on the radio, I was taken to another world looking at these pictures. Memories flooded through my mind as I was suddenly reminded of all times we all had together growing up. The vacations with friends and families, the birthdays, the first piano recital, Easters, Christmases, summers on the water, etc.

At some, I died laughing at my goofy sister and I in matching princess or cheerleader costumes, others I would groan as Mama (my grandmother) had managed to capture me at my most awkward growing age.

And then, as I reached the last few pages of the book, I burst into tears.

Good tears, yes, but sad tears, too. (Now, some may say that I am an emotional person- I certainly do wear my emotions on my sleeve- but I like to think of it as being more sensitive and sentimental—but that is neither here nor there :))

I think that I realized as I turned each page was how much I miss those people that shaped my life in those early years. . . whether they have been lost to death or to distance or to different circumstances.

As I looked at each page and each picture, I began to yearn for those lost relationships. I am specifically talking about my mom’s step-father, my dad’s mother, and our caretaker that RoRo that raised my mom and loved my sister and I like her own children. I certainly I have very fond memories with these folks from my childhood, but how I wish I could go back and have just a day with them! What I would give to have them in my life today, to help me, to guide me, and to love me with that unconditional love they showed me every day that they were on this earth.

With that being said, (beware, this post is taking a stark turn), I have modified my new years resolutions. Instead of trying to “work out” and "budget" and “read” and do all of these things that I’m sure are on everyone’s resolutions, I have decided that I am going to enjoy each day with the people I am with. I am going to spend more time with the people that are important to me, the people who have helped make me the grown woman I am, and those who encourage me to walk in the ways of the Lord.

After all, we all know we need to exercise more, eat less, turn off the trashy TV and stretch our mind with a book, go to church more. . . but what about the time we set aside to spend with those that matter most? What we are doing for others?

I think we (I, specifically) need to focus on things that are more important in life. . . not those that are tangible… but the relationships, the families, the friends, the memories that we make every single day . . . that will be with us for the rest of our lives.

So I’m thankful for the picturebook and the tears. Because as I turned each page, it made me realize, how quickly time flies by. After all, things will come and go in our life. But what is going to be that we remember? What is it going to be that is filling our life’s picture books or even our children’s picture books? What kind of legacy are we leaving?

Hope from Haiti!!

24

No, this post is not about Jack Bauer, but a tribute to Lash's 24th birthday!!  Happy Birthday Lash!  I'm so glad after 4 1/2 years to still be celebrating birthdays with you... and hope we get to share many, many more together!  You are the best!

Last night, we had a date night to celebrate his big day and had the best dinner at High Cotton.  We started off with some great wine and steamed mussels that were delicious (served with grilled sourdough-- yum!!) I had filet with a cabernet reduction sauce and seriously the best brussel sprouts I had ever had. I love love love brussel sprouts and the chef prepared them mustard braised.  I have been googling mustard braised brussel sprouts all day to see if I can recreate these, they were so good!  Lash tried lamb for the first time and his was super delicious as well.  I can't for my birthday in February so we have an excuse to go back!

Rockband!!

Hello everyone! Hope you had a fabulous three day weekend, and got to enjoy the extra day of R&R.  I had the BEST time in Charlotte.  It was so great to be with old friends and catch up.  Liz and Nat, mark your calendars for a weekend here so I can return the favor!  It was SO wonderful being with y'all again! :)

I know I'm a little late, but I finally jumped on the Ebay train two weeks ago.  And after rocking out NYE to Rockband, I just knew I had to buy it. . . but didn't want to pay full price for a new one.  So low and behold, after some late night Ebay bidding (and nail biting anticipation), I am now the proud new owner of:

Rockband!!

It is a blast!  And yes, I have logged some serious hours on the Wii since getting home.  Lash and I went to a dinner party last night, and after a fabulous shrimp 'n grits dinner with some of our best friends, we moved the party back to my house so we could rock all night. :)  So, if I'm not blogging this week, it's because I'm perfecting my drum and guitar skills!  hahaha

Happy Friday!

Sound the hallelujah chorus everyone, it is Friday!!  There is something so sweet about making it to the most anticipated day of the week... and following it with two full days of playtime! And, thanks to Mr. King, this weekend gets an extra day!  (I think this is the first time in my life I have gotten to thank Mr. King with a vacation day.  Wofford and the other schools I attended chose to honor him by making us go to class!)

Anyways, I'm off to Charlotte to visit these two:

Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe weekend!

20SB

I have recently joined this site called 20 Something Bloggers or 20SB, and I have loved "meeting" new friends through the site! I didn't join it necessarily to have my blog "discovered" but more really to discover other bloggers my age (it is kind of a social networking site for bloggers).  I've found the neatest blogs on fashion, sports, life, family, friends, everything... and continued to discover new ones daily! So, if you have recently found my blog through 20sb, thanks for stopping by! I hope you keep continuing to visit!

Jeopardy

I guess one of the main things that I did not mention in the token "about me" profile section to the right is that I am a huge gamer.  I know it sounds dorky, but I love playing games.  Lucky for me, my college friends were all "gamers" too!  A few nights a week (well, every night senior year), we loved getting together with a glass of vino in hand for a lively round of cranium, chicken foot, skipbo, mexican train, mario cart, cards, anything. . .

But our most favorite game to play together was Jeopardy.

Every night, at 7:30, my friends and I would get together at someone's apartment to watch Jeopardy together.  It was like our sacred promise to each other-- that no matter what you had going on that day or even the next, even if you had a huge test or a paper due, you put off everything else going on and raced back to be together from 7:30 to 8:00.

Being the gaming bunch that we are, of course, we kept score.  One question answered correctly= 1 point.  Only one person could score per question, unless the unaffected parties unanimously deemed it a tie.  The person with the most points at the end of the night won.  Yes, at times it got to be really intense and competitive over who actually said the answer first, or we would all gang up on the person with the most points, but y'all, I wish I could tell you how much fun this was.

It was our bonding time of the day.  For thirty minutes, every day, we got to catch up on each other's crazy lives, and enjoy each other's company.  Senior year, this time really became more and more special each night to us, with our graduation date slowing creeping nearer and nearer upon the calendar.

Looking back, this 30 minutes a day is one of the biggest things that I miss about college.  Obviously, I knew that being without my best friends in the same apartment or next door would be difficult, but no one warmed me how much I would miss the daily encounters with everyone... that in the present, I had no idea how much I took forgranted!  I really have not been able to watch Jeopardy since.  I've tried, but it just isn't the same.  I guess I'll have to plan a reunion weekend or something!

What are the small, silly things that make you miss your friends the most?