Sweet Southern Pearl

2013     When I think of 2013, a few big things stand out to me.     * I read my first full Nicholas Sparks book - Safe Haven . It pretty much changed my life, and I still have to write a post about why I love the book and the movie so much! (I saw the movie six times in theatres. Luckily a few of those were at the dollar theatre!)   *Some friends and I started a Bible study called GPS after a deep discussion at Carolina's Diner one night over Christmas break.  The group has been pretty awesome, and I'm looking forward to seeing it grow and do great things. We've met almost every week this year.   *Me and Ashley had a fun trip to Myrtle Beach together and stopped in Southport on the way home so I could see where Safe Haven was filmed :)   *In April, Libby Hill closed. I had worked there for four years and been eating there since I was born. It was a High Point staple for like 50 years.  Honestly, it was one of the ha...

These pictures are in no particular order, but these are some of the fun Christmas things I've been up to over the past couple of weeks!        Tonight we made stockings! The stockings are like $1.00 at Hobby Lobby and $1.00 for a pack of two at the dollar store.   Grace and I made wreaths and other Pinterest-inspired Christmas crafts a few weeks ago!   Wreath on my door ^^   Wreath on my brother's door ^^     Ornament I made :)     Close-up of our tree in the apartment. Our initials!     CHRISTMAS TREE IN OUR APARTMENT! We had so much fun decorating it. (Note the decoration on Kacie's door!)     It wouldn't be Christmas without a red glittery bow on the front of the Black Pearl!   Oh, and Honeygirl got a Christmas tutu...   and we went to the Jamestown Christmas parade. She loved it.      ...

Surreal. Because I've been in school for so long, it seemed like this day would never come. Not that I've been counting down the days or anticipating it. No, I've always enjoyed school and enjoyed learning.  I will say, though, I'm a good learner, but not the best student sometimes. This semester really showed me how much I really just need to graduate. And the importance of not procrastinating (no matter how much I love the adrenaline rush of living on the edge and barely getting my assignments done in time) The motivation just hasn't been there to write papers and give presentations. I've been in school for TWENTY years! So it's good that I'm graduating right now.  I just left my last class of my graduate career. I turned in my last paper at 8:00 this morning. It's not the best paper I've ever written. At all. But the important thing is that I'm finally done! So how do I feel now? How do I feel now, sitting in the library NOT ...

    Now that I'm starting to see the light at the end of the graduate school final exams and papers tunnel, I feel like I can write a bit.   On Monday, I subbed in a fifth-grade classroom. I don't usually like to do elementary school. This is gonna sound horrible, but it just takes so much effort! I'm trained in English first, then secondary education. So I don't know much about lunch choices and moving clothespins up and down a behavior chart and I'm especially bad at fractions ( I can't do elementary school math, don't judge me!).   So on Monday I went in, did the best I could with the fifth grade morning routine, and made it through the first few parts without having to do too much (again, I know I sound horrible, but it's finals week and I was basically half dead from Thanksgiving break too).    When we got to the Language Arts portion of the day, the lesson plans said that the kids had already read this story called "Leonard...

Sure, why not? Who cares if someone wants to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving.  That's their choice.  Chances are, it brings them happiness, so who are you to say that they shouldn't do that?   I know when I'm stressed or upset, at ANY time of the year, all I have to do is listen to some Christmas songs and I instantly feel better.   What's wrong with listening to songs that celebrate the birth of Jesus? Songs that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Songs that make you wanna be a better person? Songs that remind you of memories and Christmases past and precious time with family? SONGS THAT MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE! What's wrong with wanting the Christmas season to start sooner so you have more time to enjoy it?   I agree that Thanksgiving should not be overlooked.  I'm a huge advocate of being thankful and taking the time to celebrate freedom and what we have been blessed with.  But that has nothing to do with ...

I've been so stressed out the past few days about papers and homework and presentations. I'm graduating next month and I still have so much to do before then.  Yesterday I was trying to work on a paper and I wanted to write, just not the paper. I was listening to worship music and I just wanted to write about my thoughts, not about research.  Some people probably wonder why I blog so much around exam times and when I have big papers due. They probably wonder why I'm using my precious time blogging instead of working on my papers and studying. I wondered the same thing myself. Til I saw this in my homework assignment, which was ironically about writing :     The last line. Research apparently shows that writing is therapeutic. I'd always heard that but wasn't sure if that was opinion. So that must be why I want to write so much around exam time, when I'm stressed out! It's like an escape, and it helps relieve my stress.   Also,...

    Last night as I was driving to church, I saw, much to my delight, that the Christmas lights were up in downtown Boone!!   My mind went back to last year at about this time, when I left class one night in November (don't remember the date) and saw the lights for the very first time ever. I remember being so overcome with emotion and just pulling into a parking spot and journaling right then and there. I poured my emotions on the paper. (I want to find that journal entry when I get home.)   As I drove again, I saw people inside the restaurants downtown, eating with friends and wished I had friends here to eat with (this was when I was living in HP and commuting to Boone two days a week, only coming for work and class, and going back home at night). I looked forward to this year, knowing I'd have people to eat with on King Street. I knew I'd have at least my brother!     This evening , Kacie and I went downtown and looked around in...

These are just a FEW things I've learned in my 25 years that I thought I'd share. (This is the serious list. I'll have 25 not-so-serious ones coming soon!) 1.  You can learn a whole lot by talking to an elderly person. Never underestimate someone because they are elderly. They deserve the utmost respect. They are older and wiser than you. 2.  If you love doing it, it's not work. And sometimes it's better to take the job that doesn't pay as much if it's fun and fulfilling. Money can't buy happiness and I'd rather make less and have fun working than make a ton of money and hate my job.  3.  Don't procrastinate! I still do it, but it's not good. As much as I love the adrenaline rush of turning in an assignment two minutes before it's due, it's really not healthy to be such a procrastinator. Life is much more relaxed when you pace your time and turn things in/get them done early.  4. Be intentional. Enough said. 5. ...

There are two times in the year where I'm much more emotional and nostalgic than others. One time is around May, when school years are ending and people are graduating and moving on in life. The other is late October through Christmas, but especially November and December.       ............................................   Y'all know I love Belk's. I love their clothes and shoes and bedding and jewelry and their awesome sales. I love Belk especially at Christmas when it's all decorated and I'm buying Christmasy clothes or gifts for people.  It has occurred to me that this will be my last Christmas to enjoy the Oak Hollow Mall Belk.  :( People keep asking me if I'm excited for the new Belk store.  "It'll be so close to you!" "It's gonna be bigger and better!" "They'll have more inventory at this one!" No, I am not excited. I do not like change. I do not care as much about the invent...

I can't handle this. How am I supposed to do schoolwork when I live here?!?! It's the most gorgeous day. There's not a cloud in the sky, the leaves are changing, it's a perfect 65ish degrees, and everything just feels so right.  It's Grandma's third birthday in Heaven, and if it's this perfect here, I can't begin to imagine the beauty where she is. I can't celebrate with her anymore, but I can reflect on the fact that I'm so glad I got to know her.  On days like this, HOW can you NOT be happy?! Life is so fabulously wonderful. All of it. The struggles, the triumphs.  I'm so glad I'm here. I'm so grateful to be experiencing this. This place is the past, present, and future. God has blessed me far beyond what I deserve.  I've been blessed to attend two spectacular universities, I've been blessed with the best friends and family I could ask for, the sweetest dog I've ever met, and almost 25 years of l...

"Feeling my way through the darkness, Guided by a beating heart I can't tell where the journey will end, but I know where to start... Life will pass me by if I don't open up my eyes."         I honestly meant to go to bed early. But I'm not tired and I thought about this song and I'm in a writing mood, and I've been meaning to write this post. If I've learned one thing, it's that you should NEVER go to bed when you're in a writing mood. So here it is.     ..............................................   I started going to a group on campus called "New Life." It's a fellowship group.   Last Wednesday at New Life, I heard one of the best messages I've ever heard. I sat and listened, feverishly taking notes on my phone, my fingers flying over the screen as fast as they could.   The speaker asked this question: "Why am I in the wilderness one day and the mountaintop another day?...