Let's Start at the Very Beginning

A very good place to start.

Well about two months ago I challenged myself to take a second look at my very first post, A List to Build a Dream On. Did that work out? Well, no. But I personally would still like to re-examine this list, so here we go back to the beginning.

1. Take a cross country road trip. Completed January 2011
Let me be real honest here, this absolutely would not have been completed if Auburn had not gone to the National Championship hosted in Arizona, if my mother wasn't afraid to fly, and if I had any sort of responsibility to hurry back to after the game (my brothers got flown out since they have children. Like that's a real reason!) None the less I did get to ride (since apparently 22 is too young to drive) across the country in the a Honda CR-V with my parents and my mom's best friend, Aunt Carolyn. Three days driving out in one car and thanks to a freak snow storm in Alabama we rented an extra car for the three days back to bring Andrew back with us when his flight was cancelled. During that portion Andrew ended up with strep, gave it to me, and none of us killed each other on the drive. Pretty successful if you ask me. And it was worth every second to see Auburn win that national championship, I'd do it again in a heartbeat! So, check! Cross country road trip, DONE! Oh and here's the post about it with pictures!

2. Graduate from college. Completed May 9, 2011
Did it! That day is still one of the best days of my life because I really never did think I would make it. And I completed my lifelong dream to graduate from Auburn! You can read about it here for more detail and pictures! So, check again! Don't get too excited, I wasn't as productive as it seems right now. :)

3. Become a dedicated runner. Um...no.
I have honestly started the "Couch to 5k" running plan more times than I can count on both hands. It's just ridiculous at this point, I am not a runner and apparently I never will be. But ya know, c'est la vie, I'll save myself more knee troubles. I'm not really heartbroken over not accomplishing this, I really hate running so much I can't for the life of me figure out why I thought typing it on a list would make me like it better. Eh, I'm okay with it.

4. Perform 5 random acts of kindness. Kinda done?
Not sure how to really classify this. You see kindness is kind of the mantra I hope to and try to live by. Most of my favorite quotes have to do with kindness and it's the number one take away point for me from the Bible. After much soul searching and personal growth over the last two years, being kind is what I hold onto, so I guess we can say done for the list purpose, but I wouldn't call it random, it's definitely something I strive to do and be on a daily basis. Also, over the last year or so I've realized how important it is to be kind to myself as well as others, which is a major struggle, but it's a growth point that I'm working on.

5. See Auburn football in every SEC stadium. Completed 9/8/12.
At the time this original list was made there were 12 SEC teams. I saw Auburn play in the 12th stadium, Mississippi State, last fall. The year I completed my SEC round is the same year the SEC was expanded to 14 teams. Technically I saw Auburn play in all 12 stadiums as originally planned, but I will see them play at Texas A&M in just over a month, and I plan to hit Missouri in a couple of years when we play up there. Major thanks to Dad for taking me all over the southeast for these beyond amazing trips. Note to self: write post about each trip, and look into scrapbooking it for dad.

6. Witness an undefeated season (again). Completed 11/26/10 and 1/10/11
Well, duh! Most of my posts are about football so I think we all know that I got to see this, and it was so, so incredible! To quote my dad "hell of a senior year!" He is so wise. :) See any post from the fall 2010 to hear more about that season.

7. Witness Auburn win another Iron Bowl. Completed 11/26/10
Reference #6 and this post.

8. Take the GRE. Completed 11/20/10
Did it and do not want to relive it.

9. Pass with flying colors. Completed 11/20/10
I wouldn't say it was "flying colors," and there's no "passing" to the GRE, but I did do pretty well and get into grad school with my score, so let's call that done for the sake of the list.

10. Inspire someone to better their self. Not so much.
Um, narcissistic much? This is one of those bullshit ones that I'm not sure why 2010 me put it on the list. I guess it sounded nice or looked pretty? I mean, how would I even know if I had accomplished that? What was I expecting, a medal? I'll deal with what is clearly my thoughts of grandiosity and we can pretend that wasn't on the list to begin with. Oh well.


So now we have 1-10 explained. Gotta say, this is somewhat cathartic to go back in time and try to figure out what the heck I was doing back then. I'l try to continue soon, and maybe this trip to the past of what I thought the future would be will also catch up this blog on what has been going on for the last two years, since there has clearly been a lack of posts in that time.

Til next time!
E

Today's Food for Thought

Today I randomly decided I needed a moment of zen and reached for my favorite meditation book. Here is an piece of what I found:

"Picture what it's like to be on an airplane as it climbs higher, gaining altitude to rise above a storm. Bounced by air turbulence, it cuts through the clouds, and then it emerges into the blue sky. The sun returns (it was always there- just obscured by the clouds), and the ride becomes so smooth that there is hardly any sensation of motion. 

In a similar way, we can rise above stormy events and our own inner turbulence. We can cruise at a different altitude." ⛅ ✈

I don't know about y'all, but I find that fitting and easy to grasp. I do love a good metaphor. ;) Anyway that was a piece of some peace I found today! 

P.S. I just found out blogger has an app, so maybe I'll update this thing more than 3 times a year!! (Not likely) 

Til next time,

E 

Here I Go Again...

Dear readers of my blog,
If you are in fact reading this, you are some kind of dedicated, because I am one lousy blog host! So here's my plan to remedy this situation, I tend to work better when I'm up against a deadline. In other words I am a highly skilled procrastinator. So I'm giving myself something to work toward.

My very first post on this blog was the day zero project. Basically you make a list of 101 things to do (like a bucket list) and you have 1,001 days to do them. Well I made that list on October 20, 2010 and day 1,001 is July 17, 2013. Eeeekkk!! You see my predicament is that I haven't done many of these things. Some for lack of effort and some because they are utterly ridiculous and I have no clue why they are on my list!

I have come to the conclusion that some of these things made the list because of what others were doing around me that seemed cool or were things that I just stumbled upon, therefore I had no real motivation to accomplish them since they weren't something I would want to do. So my new project is to revisit this list through a series of posts and tell you why or why not they got done, AND I'm going to try to get through this series before day 1,001. Basically in 3 weeks. Wish me luck!

P.S. This might get ridiculous! :)

An Overview to a Kill

Please, someone tell me that they get the predominately pop culture references in the titles of my posts! Anybody? No? Oh well, on to the actual post.

Well it's been about 2 months since I promised an update and here it finally is! Seeing as the last real post I created was about the start of football season and was depressing as all get out, I guess I will let you guys in on the past 10 months and try to keep it upbeat. :) I'll start by saying I will not be giving you a play by play of the last several months, but rather glimpses into the important areas. And away we go...

Last we spoke football was just beginning and so was the most trying semester of my academic career! Not only was the schoolwork super overwhelming (because I underestimated it), but I was traveling home every 2-3 weeks and some of those weekends spending only one night at home and the rest traveling to football. Which brings me to my first highlight, away games with my family. You all know what a big deal this is for us and this past season I had the luck (notice I didn't say "good") of being at the Auburn/Clemson game with my Dad and brother. And that is the last I will say about that, except everything from their traditions to their campus looked awfully familiar. I suppose they could have gotten their own, but hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...or some bull like that. Anyway, after that I did have the good luck of traveling to the Auburn/South Carolina game just 2 weeks later with both of my parents. The trip in which I researched for my genogram, not the best idea when stuck in close quarters...yikes! But the game was amazing, I'm now one stadium closer to seeing Auburn play in every SEC stadium and we visited a new Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives location. Go us!! By the way though, how sucky is it that this year I will complete my rounds of the SEC stadiums with Mississippi State and it is the same year they expand the SEC to include Texas A&M and Missouri? Talk about gettin angry over that, I'm still fuming! But, I digress.

Also during football season I realized who here in Mississippi would be my new football buddies. Thankfully there are 2 other Auburn grads in my program, and one of them has turned out to be a football fanatic. Luckily that same fanatic has become a good friend, my new bar buddy, and let's face it, the ultimate wingman. :) Speaking of bars, it took me a while to find a local haunt in this town since apparently I spent very little time here in my first semester. But I will briefly say that if you enjoy line dancing, country music, and plain entertainment in the form of people watching then you have just been cordially invited to come visit me.

In other news, I was able to finish up the semester (without dying, I know you were worried), head out for the holidays, and make a trip to visit that oldest brother of mine for a few days. That was a pretty great trip up to Huntsville back in December. Let me explain that due to our seven year age difference, William and I have never really gotten to know each other. Not as kids and never really to the opportunity to as adults until now. I've gotta say it's been pretty rewarding to get to know my brother and his family, which just recently expanded with a new member, little mister Crawford Alexander Avant. Cute kid.

Going home after that trip was nice, but really it was nothing more than seeing my old friends from home, getting some much needed relaxation, and hanging out with my man Davis. Who, by the way, is about to be four and I swear is smarter than me, I'm just always impressed by how much that kid has changed and learned since the last time I saw him. We had the best time playing and being crazy for a month and then it was back to the 'burg, but not before another visit up to William and Leslie.

Luckily the second semester was much easier than the first, but still challenging. The most straining part of the semester is what we refer to here as personal growth, which will be revisited later in this post. This semester of growing included quite a few long trips home thanks to my crafty scheduling and a spring break trip to the beach. Since I have already summed up what happens when I go home, I will sum up what happened on the all girls spring break trip. Seeing old friends, shopping, sunburn, seafood, and shopping. Yes, those all started with the letter 's', now aren't you impressed?! #sarcasm But really it was a great trip and if I ever find a time again that works for everyone to go back, it will be a miracle, but a really great miracle. :)

So after this trip the semester wrapped up pretty quickly and did I mention my internship for this fall? I didn't? Well let me tell you about it! Since I'm a mere 6 weeks from being a second year, I just recently (in the last 2 months) interviewed and landed my internship at Pine Grove Behavioral Health's Family Program here in Hattiesburg. I am so excited to begin this experience and truly believe this is going to be an incredible time for me as far as growth and learning in my field. I will keep y'all posted along the way. Now if only I could magically have a closet full of work ready clothes! More on that another time.

And to the personal growth. Now before you think we're just a bunch of hippies (which we are) talking about our feelings and crying all the time (which we do), first know that these past few months of really growing and exploring myself as a person have been some of the most difficult, heartbreaking, and rewarding months of my life. And I am whole-heartedly looking forward to the challenge of continuing on with this journey. I've been able to establish great support systems both near and far, begin setting better boundaries in every part of my life, and really start to learn who I am as an individual and in that really start to like myself. And if you really know me, you know all of those are HUGE things for me to begin to do and I can't wait to continue them.

One last thing and then I swear I'll stop writing this novel. Last summer I remember sitting in a dear friend's apartment in Auburn talking about where our futures were about to take us and God's plan for our lives. And I remember telling her that at that time the thought of moving to Mississippi was supposed to be scary but I all I felt was peace. I hadn't felt peace in my life very often up until that point, in fact I can count the times on one hand, but I felt this overwhelming sense of peace about the biggest change I had ever made in my life. I remember being stumped by this peace and thinking I must have moved past fear and into denial, but really it was just this calm that I sat in for a while. At this point I'm still not sure how I felt it back then, but now I'm sure that the peace had to do with the positive change that has come in my life since then and that I trust is still to come with some hard work. For now that's all I have to say, so until I can come back again...

Blogging vs. Grad School

Okay blog buddies, as is clearly evident, in the fight between blogging and grad school, blogging got knocked out pretty early. My bad, call me crazy for having priorities! The past 8 months have been an absolute whirlwind and I am loving it! I'm finally getting a little down time (which won't last long) and I promise to try and catch up a little bit on my blog. A lot has happened so there should be a lengthy post about it all a little later on. Yes, I'm being vague on that time table for a reason. For now, take comfort in the fact that I am still alive...currently. :)

That Time of Year Again!

While children spend all year anticipating summer and Christmas, and parents spend summer anticipating the school year, I spend my entire year anxiously awaiting, you guessed it, football season!!

I remember driving home January 11th this year (the day after the National Championship, duh!) and thinking 'only 8 1/2 more months until we get to do it again!' At that time my life was in a very different place. So different that it's hard to even think about it. I was just about to start my new internship, it was really just sinking in that I would soon be graduating from Auburn, and I had no idea what was to come of my grad school applications.

Well here I am 8 1/2 months later, a college graduate, a first year marriage and family therapy graduate student (reading so much everyday that my brain hurts!), living 5 hours from home in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and most importantly, welcoming football season back into my life! Yes, my priorities are all kinds of messed up! ha ha

I, however, am only kind of welcoming it back. Sadly (and I really mean sadly), I will not be at Auburn's first football game tomorrow. You may think this is no big thing, but let me tell you, this is the first home openner I will have missed in 21 years!! I repeat, TWENTY-ONE YEARS!!! Since moving, I've had some sad and lonely times, which were to be expected since I don't know anyone, but this is by far the saddest I have been! Right now, I'm not only missing my family of origin (that's right, I'm gonna be a therapist), I'm also really missing my Auburn family!

It will be okay though, I will be there in spirit and right now I'm just glad that my schedule worked out tomorrow so I can at least watch the game. Although, my watching the game tomorrow may be a lot like when I watch 'Titanic': there will be ice cream, there will be candy, and I'll really be rooting for everyone, but in the end I'm just gonna be sad.

Alright, I'm now done bringing down my wonderful readers, I just needed an outlet and I figured my blog is as good as any. So thanks for stickin around, if you read to this point :)

For now, WAR DAMN EAGLE!! I'll see you, Jordan-Hare, in a few months...so the countdown begins. :)

Weekend of Fun!!

Well friends, I can now make a trip home in five hours flat! I changed my route and that is what I found. Why, you may ask, did you come home so soon? Well, what had happened was I looked at my syllibi and my calendar and realized that I don't get a legit trip home again until Thanksgiving!! Yeah, let that sink in a little bit. Is it in there? Good!

I was very sad to find this out, but I've rearranged some things and will now be attempting a magic trick to create time. (que "The Final Countdown", very Gob)

Anyway, after I realized my lack of spare time, I had to take an emergency trip home to see Davis (and my family) before the semester picked up. And I had to make it a really good trip, so Davis can remember me extra fondly in my absence. So here's what we did in what will furthermore be known as 'Liz and Davis' Weekend of Fun'. (yes, I stole that from Friends)

We went to get ice cream at Chick Fil A and play on the playset. Now this may not seem like a big deal, but really who else is gonna take him to get ice cream and get in the play place with him? Only his woman-child aunt, that's who! So here he is fully enjoying his ice cream...

That night I pitched the idea of taking him to a real movie, kind of as an expiriment to see how he would do, so I showed him various movie trailers and decided by his response which one to see. And The Smurfs won. Shocked? I was. I thought for sure that Winnie the Pooh would win, but anyway we went to see The Smurfs and it was cute. Well, what I saw of it was cute. He made it for about an hour and did very well and then decided he wanted to nap in the theatre, so we had to go. But I was very proud of how well he did for that hour.

But of the Weekend of Fun I have to say that my favorite part was Saturday night. Now I love old school Winnie the Pooh, as in 'The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh', so we curled up and watched that Saturday night. And it is even cuter and sweeter than I remember. It was amazing and I loved every minute of it.

So that was the home portion of the weekend, now let me tell you about what happens on a 5 hour road trip by yourself. First you think 'this won't be so bad once I get the music going', which was a correct thought. Then you get to Mobile and I'm not sure what the name of the giant bridge is on 65 that leads directly into Mobile, and I've only traveled it once before, but both times I had the exact same thought going across: Wow. That bridge has the most amazing view way up in the air, it's like you're dancing across the tree tops. Truly breathtaking. Anyway the last thing I realized on the road (before realizing that I had gone loopy) was that my Cher singing impression only sounds like Cher during "If I Could Turn Back Time" and during "Believe" it sounds like the target lady, and sometimes Kermit the Frog. Anyway, that's enough rambling from the road...for now.

Before closing out, I'd like to shout out to Kristen "the summer intern" Katibah. She's recovering from knee surgery and is in my prayers and on my mind tonight. So please also remember her in your thoughts and prayers. :)

That's all for now. Will update you on school soon!