Sweet Southern Pearl

It's very very early on Thanksgiving morning - about 2am. Thanksgiving week is probably one of my favorite weeks out of the year, if not my favorite. There's an excitement and anticipation in the air. The crusty brown leaves that are left over are blowing around outside and the temperature is usually really awesome (welcome to the South) and you only have to work Monday and Tuesday and your friends are in town and you do fun things like get coffee and go to movies and laugh your head off. You spend time with your family and all seems right with the world. Thinking back on past years and reading posts from past Thanksgiving weeks, this has always been a wonderful week, no matter what. It's just always so magical. Christmas is basically here. People are decorating and shopping and Christmas music is on the radio but at the same time it's Thanksgiving. And Thanksgiving is great because you still have all of the Christmas season to look forward to. It's a time of re...

I wrote this last November after seeing a lot of Facebook statuses, complaining about people listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving. I thought I'd share it again! "CHRISTMAS MUSIC BEFORE THANKSGIVING?!?!?!?" Sure, why not? So what 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 ...

The title I gave this post hurts my heart because y'all know how much I adore that five-foot-two blonde ball of sass, stellar fashion sense, wit, humour, and sheer gorgeousness. But no one is perfect! Years ago, I read in a magazine that Jessica Simpson had said something like: If you are dating someone and thinking about getting married, you should take a break for about a month and make sure you absolutely can't live without them before you commit. Sounds logical, right? So here I am, with this advice always in the back of my mind for a few years, looking for the one I can't live without. It's almost as if God allows me to think and say certain things just so that He can prove me wrong. Because I found someone I was certain I couldn't live without. What a rude awakening when all of a sudden that person isn't there anymore... but hey, I'm still living! I'm still living and breathing, but why? This is why: There's actually no one I can...

Back in the summer, I was going through a very hard time. I would do something almost every day that I've only done a few times in my life - I would lay in bed literally all day and watch TV (mainly The Kardashians). I did that for a while. I wallowed in my misery. I indulged in my pain and suffering. I felt better when I saw the episodes where Kim and Reggie broke up and she was heartbroken and depressed and laid around the house all day like I was doing. But you can only do that for so long. At some point, you have to get up and say, "I'm not going to let this hardship define my life and who I am and where I go from here. The show must go on." And so you pick the pieces up, even when nothing makes sense. And you keep going and smiling and "faking it til you make it" because you cannot stay in one place, lethargic, wallowing in self-pity, asking God "Why?" Instead, you thank Him for what you have, because 9 times out of ten, the go...

Last weekend in Boone... Margaret, Morgan, and I got there Friday night and hung out at the apartment with Michael, his roommate, roommate's sister and cousin, and other friends. I drank out of my fabulous Christmas mug that I keep there. It was 30 degrees. All was right with the world. On Saturday morning, Margaret and I got up and went shopping. The Belk in Boone is fabulous. At least I think so. I got some good stuff for my Mama's birthday. We met friends at the brand new IHOP!! It was so yummy. Sarah arrived in Boone. Kacie met up with us. WE WENT TO THE GAME AGAINST LOUISIANA MONROE. It was Black Saturday (blackout game) but I didn't have a heavy black jacket. And it was F R I G I D. So I wore my big brown Carhartt barn jacket that I got for my 18th birthday. I was just glad to be going to a Black Saturday game because I haven't been able to go the past few years.  After th...

This is one of my favorite verses. From the ends of the earth... From the darkest places... During the most confusing times... In the midst of the most hardship... When things seem hopeless... I call to You. When I can't do it on my own... Because I need You And I'm only human And I need guidance And I need to constantly rely on You LEAD ME YOU are in control YOU know what's best for me YOUR will; not mine Show me the way To the ROCK A solid ground That's higher than I To places I never imagined going To a place of safety To a place of growth To a loving shelter To peace and comfort. T H A N K  Y O U,  L O R D! eBa