Give Thanks & Count Your Blessings

We all know it's Thanksgiving this week... but as you're celebrating over food and delicious desserts and laughing and thinking about Christmas a few weeks from now...just remember that this isnt a joyous time for everyone. Life doesnt stop it's circle just because a holiday arrives. The most glorious day of the year for you, could be the most devastating for someone else. This week's going to be a little rough for my family. Both sides of it.

We just finished celebrating my great grandma's 90th's birthday. That was a great time, and ill feature her on a blog post all of her own. But just a couple days after, my wonderful Aunt Jan (great grandma's 2nd daughter) went into surgery to have a cyst on her ovaries removed. It turned out to be a cancerous tumor. I haven't been updated to the status of tests run on it yet, but she was in bad shape, having to eat and use the restroom through tubes. On top of that, her husband (Uncle Charlie, who walked me down the aisle at my wedding), isnt having the grandest time with his body either.

Thanksgiving day is my cousin Jeremy's birthday (great grandma's only son's youngest son). He was killed in Iraq in December of 2007. I'd like to write him his own blog post too. He was a handsome young man, and I am so very proud to be related to him. He always made a point to talk to me at family functions too. It was so much fun to catch up. And when i got older, we could talk about cars, and music, and school, and the future. He left for Iraq on his dad's birthday. His casket returned home on his mom's birthday. He was only gone for a month. I dont think this time of year has gotten much easier yet, as this will be year 2 without him. But i was at Aunt Debbie's house a few weeks ago and saw her hallway devoted to Jeremy. It was beautiful. It was overwelming. And while i was there celebrating a joyous occasion (a bridal shower for my cousin's soon to be wife), I wanted to cry. I have no bad memories of Jeremy. My husband never got to meet him tho. He went to his funeral just the same. I know they'd have gotten along so well. We are blessed to have Jeremy in our family. Anyone that knew him would say the same.

Those folks are on my mom's mom's side of the family, but let me tell you about her dad's side.

My pappaw passed away this past Saturday. I think the funeral is today. I wouldnt really know for sure, as i havent seen him since '95. My grandma says she and mom and aunt laura are having a private graveside ceremony tomorrow. They want me and my sister to go. My pappaw left mammaw in '95 for my youth choir director from church. Classy huh? I think the lady is nuts. Like psycho ward nuts. Pappaw's had a few strokes and had a limb amputated and got 2 forms of cancer I believe - and i'm pretty sure she brainwashed him. After he passed away, she wouldn't even give the pastor the names of his children (mom and aunt laura) or grandchildren (me and my sisters and aunt lauras daughter) to be read at the funeral. The pastor got them anyway. I imagine from Pappaw's sister - his own family wasnt even that close to him in recent years because of his wife. But i guess the hurt is all the same after his passing. Everyone says to remember the good times. I was young when he left, but i was raised by him and my mammaw. I dont even remember that much. I remember being mad and sad, because mammaw was mad and sad. And I remember being scared when his wife tried to throw my mom in jail on fake assault charges, and mom was out on the town and mammaw was at the house, and the cops showed up to take her in (the same cops that used to work with and for him - he was chief of police of our little town!), and we called mom and said dont come home! -and pappaw did nothing to stop it. Like he'd lost all sense of being a man, and let her run his life. I kinda feel sorry for him. Kinda. But he did it to himself. The whole town saw him change and pretty much ran him out and laughed at him. He showed up to the city pool one day while my sister and i were swimming - and we wouldnt even get out and hug him. That's what i remember. He was dead to me a long time ago. I forgive him for leaving - my life wouldnt be what it is now if he hadnt left - but I grieved THEN. I got over it THEN. I moved on THEN. I'm not sure mammaw ever did.

And id like to shoutout to my friends Amy and Brandy - they both lost their mom's this year. Brandy's from cancer - and Amy's from a horrible car accident. I didnt get to talk to Amy about it much, and facebook was being funny, so im not sure if i caught everything or not, but it was a reckless careless idiot driver, and he didnt get anywhere near the punishment he deserved. This is their first holiday season without their parents, and it's going to be a tough one. I think they're spending Thanksgiving together so they can lean on each other, and be there for each other, like only they can do, because they are feeling the same things.

Most of you reading this, probably arent going through this right now. You might know someone who is. You might know someone who's got it even worse, as im sure many people do. I dont ever forget that. It can always be worse. Please keep them and us in your prayers this week. Please count your blessings and be thankful for what you've been given. It can be taken away any second. Tell your friends and family you love them. Don't sweat the small stuff. You've heard it all before - but life is truly wonderful - and precious. If it wasnt, we wouldnt grieve so much when life was taken away from us. Smile y'all!

I'm 24 and my eyes suck.

For the last few months my eyes have been really red. like worse than drunk bloodshot red. all the time. morning to night. Everyone noticed. Weird thing was - my eyes werent bothering me. I wouldn't even know they were red unless i looked in the mirror. Occasionally when the pollen in the air was really bad, i might have some problems...I would blink and then my contact would move and my vision would go blurry for a view seconds. Repeat. Every time i blinked. for a good hour. I just thought i had bad allergies... I was wrong.

But my eyes being red were only partially the reason for my eye dr. visit yesterday... I also needed a new pair of glasses. Badly. Note to self - don't lose glasses case. If you do, go buy a new one. Do not put glasses in makeup bag with tweezers in your suitcase. They get scratched, bad. Plus, i wanted a new style anyway... I got a new pair. Will post when they come in. Back to my eyes looking creepy..

I'll warn you now - don't google what im about to tell you. It's gross. Unless you like gross things...but i did...and i just lost my appetite for lunch... the link below isnt horrible...but the google images are sick.

Dr. didnt find anything wrong with eyes...at first. So that's when she suspected what IS wrong with them... She lifted up my eyelids and BAM! I've got giant papillary conjunctivitis aka GPC. I've been wearing contact lenses since 7th grade y'all... (glasses since 3rd grade - im seriously almost blind, it's awful). I'm sure this was just boooooooound to happen. Add to it that I sit in front of the computer from sun up to sun down daily, and im plain screwed. But what threw my dr off is that other than that blinking tidbit i mentioned earlier (which reading that article again - i see it mentioned...cool..) - my eyes didnt really bother me. All those symptoms... i aint got. just red eyes. which isnt even listed. and it should be. or perhaps it should just be added on to irritation, cause that's gotta be what cause it. so i guess i do have one symptom... So - the dr. gave me some eye drops and ive got a follow-up appt in a month to check progress, tho she said it could take 3-4 months to completely go away. She didnt tell me i had to stop wearing my contacts tho. But she gave me a thinner one and im wearing them today. I think it does in fact help. But with my new glasses, i do plan on wearing them more, so hopefully it'll help the healing process for my eyes. And then im switching contacts again. I cant imagine my contact lens solution being the problem as ive been using it for yeeeeeeeears, so im going to blame it on the lenses i was wearing and the horrible pollen in the air this year. But here's to my eyes not being red too much longer! whew!

Wanna know where the age thing comes into my blog title? ha...

I was sitting in front of the lady ordering my glasses and she flipped the monitor around to have me review my personal information. My street was spelled wrong, so i fixed that, and also changed Ms. to Mrs. (she even complimented me in that i even noticed that! lol!)...and then i saw my age, and i actually started to argue that the computer was wrong. that ya, my birthday is 8/13/85 just like it says but i was not 24! The screen said 24 (3) so i thought oh im 23, hence the parenthesis and it just round it up! um...computers arent wrong. I'm 24. I guess i forgot my little sister turned 22. Cause i thought she was 21...and im always like, well im 2 yrs older than her... my bad. This also means that Justin is not 27 (as i always think he is 4 yrs older than me) - he's 28. Which also means my whole having a kid timeline just got completely rethought. Dang.

6 Months of Wedded Bliss

Just like the title says - Justin and I have been married for 6 months today! I'm nowhere near the mushy type - so im just going to leave you with some photos from the wedding. Pics by the awesomely talented Leslie Spurlock.

Scatterbrained. And Persuasive.

That should be my middle name.

I mean really - look how much the topics of my blog posts jump around? haha

And i tell you what - i can lose a pen like no one else. I have like 12 on my desk, and ill pick one up, write, set it down, and go to grab it, and it's nowhere to be found...so i grab another one, and end up with a bunch of open pens before the days over...

I had to take this time management video class at work...and i know how to manage my time, i get all my work done, but it touched on the subject of finishing something before you start something else. i should really listen to that part. If im working on one email, and another one pops up, i just minimize what im doing to the first one, and start the other one too. and while i think im a good multi-tasker too, i think sometimes it's a problem.

I can walk to one room in my house to do something and the once i get there, i forget what i was going to do. Or I'll think about something to tell my bestie, and when i open the compose mail button, i completely forget what im going to say. I forget little things like that alot. Sometimes i wonder if my short term memory is just bad. Like one morning, Justin kissed me goodbye, and as he was walking out the door, I go: what? No goodbye kiss? Ya...

But I tell you one thing - when i DO remember something, there ain't noooo winning that argument. It could be something you said or did a month ago. or 5 years ago. And if you're not sure, i guarantee you I'm correct. It's the strangest thing. And im not lying when trying to convince you i remember...i really remember some stuff that well. But i either remember really well or not at all. It's annoying really. But on the convincing note - Justin thinks i should've been a lawyer. He says that if we walked outside and he told me the sky was blue but i said it was green, that by the end of the argument, he'd think it was green too. hahaha. I dunno, i think that might be a useful trait to have in some cases.

And because im completely random (it's friday - 3 people are gone, im covering for them, im pooped and going crazy, just let me ramble...):

What the heck is the difference between acrylic and gel nails?! The salon did gel this time...it seems shinier, even without buffing. I got them done again on Friday when Brandy was here (and now i remember why i dont paint them hardly ever - hello paint chips cause i cant keep them out of my mouth). She was here for like 4 1/2 days..see the More Photos link up there? Go click on it. Or dont...if you dont like bugs. Maybe when i get home ill blog about her whole trip here. I've actually got alot to blog about (another zoo trip, racing, new website, tshirt designs, etc.), im just waaaay to uncoordinated today (obviously) to try. Forgive me.

Ran-Dumbs

1 - You know how i know it's cold outside? Justin turns my blow dryer on when he's in the shower so that it's warm when he turns the water off.

2 - FB status says picking up Brandy from the airport. 4 day weekend ahead. Mom thinks i went out of town. Even has sister text me and ask where i am because she doesnt know. I'm pretty sure i dont have to mention when i leave the city limits, but im also pretty sure if id gone to new york city or something, id have opened my mouth.

3 - Even 3 & 4 day weekends are never long enough.

4 - The giraffes at the zoo never fail to entertain.

5 - When you switch to a thicker toilet paper, you cannot use the same amount as before, as it will clog your toilet. Thanks honey.

6 - Camera equipment is like crack. Got to play with Brandy's 50D this weekend. awesome. She also bought a super wide angle and a macro lens and a new bag.

7 - I discovered that shoe carnival sells shoes by Joey-O. My favorite pair I own is Joey-O. I bought a new pair Saturday. Pics later.

8 - Still love my new Clinique mineral powder, Revlon mascara, and Paul Mitchell skinny serum.

Halloween 2009

For halloween, we go to Justin's parents house. They live in the same neighborhood, in the very front, and it's just busier there, as we live in the back. We're always told we have one of the best, if not THE best, house in the neighborhood, and definitely the best street. Sadly, alot of people said not very many folks were participating this year :-/ oh well. we did. and it was fun. We scared alot of folks. Adults too. Kids were crying. Parents were laughing at their crying children. It was a grand ol' time. Justin's costume was just plain creepy, and i think he mightve actually scared more people than the decorations themself. Sometimes we pretended he was fake, and some people believed us. Here's a few of the photos - the rest can be seen on facebook!