A Hint of a Smile.....

These last two weeks were an absolute nightmare..... My daddy was hospitalized for over a week, and in all honesty I really didn't know what was going to happen. I probably cried a gallon of tears, but by the grace of God and numerous prayers......he was finally released & is at home recovering. Although he isn't back to 100% just yet, I'm still thankful that the Lord blessed us and allowed him to come home. I worry so much about him. He's 81. I need to seize every opportunity to let him know just how much he means to me. Shoot, after this ordeal I feel compelled to let everyone in my life know just how much they mean to me. Life man. Reality is a mofo........ 

You can't take anyone, any moment nor anything for granted. Nothing. At all......

I've been so drained. Mentally. Spiritually. Emotionally. Physically. All that crying and worrying takes a lot out of you.... But it has shown me that I have a lot of work to do in the faith department. I lacked strength. I forgot to turn to Him....

I still have a lot of growing to do... 

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.."

Some people know all the right things to say to comfort you. There are people around me with an abundance of strength. 

I'm grateful to be surrounded by prayer warriors. 

This past Sunday the bestie & I got a chance to go see Corey Holcomb at the Improv. He was hilarious and it felt good to laugh. It felt good to smile. 

I've been told that it's best to smile through it all. The good times & bad. Regardless, always. Peace. Joy. I'm still working on being able to see the bright side in every situation. But I want to......

My work week has been busy.

Attorney-ing doesn't stop just because you are having a bad day (or week for that matter) so it's been business as usual. 

I'm trying to get back an inkling of normalcy and routine. I'm slowly but surely coming back to the real world. 

Last night, I went to the House of Blues where Neyo was performing. I bought the tickets way back in August like the same day I heard on the radio he was coming to town. I absolutely love him and have been a fan for over a decade now. He was amazing. My voice is still sore from singing every song lyric from the top of my lungs.... I feel as if I'm rambling. I don't care. 

But Neyo... He was great. 

Today is only Wednesday. Hump day. Two more days to make it to the weekend. 

Scorpio season starts tomorrow. A new moon. That means November is almost here. Birthday time. That excites me...

I'm prayerful. My list of needs & desires. Strength.  The ability to smile through it all. A hint of a smile... Right now that's all I can manage. 

Prayers.

One harsh reality about getting older is having to witness our parents and grandparents get older as well. 

I don't have much to say, but maybe someone out in the blogosphere has some positive words to share because I am all out at the moment. 

Things could always be worse, but Lord knows I need for them to be better.......

What helps keep you positive? Prayer? Talks with friends? Reading the bible? 

Feel free to share some motivation on this Monday.... Prayers are also always welcomed...

Adventures in Homecoming......

About 14 years ago, I embarked on a journey that would change the course of my life forever. The year was 2000, and I was an incoming freshman at THE Southern University and A&M College, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. When my family dropped me off, I must admit I was scared out of my mind. The accents, the clothing, the swagger...although Houston is a mere 4 hours away, it was as if I had been transported to another country. Everything was so different, yet exciting.

During the course of my 4.5 odd years in college (I took a semester off to intern full-time at the Louisiana State Capitol) I learned so much about myself. I made friends, and enemies. I fell in love, and got my heartbroken. I had adventures. I made memories.

My time in college, was EVERYTHING.

Aside from frequenting the club, EVERY SINGLE NIGHT... No, literally every single night. Like...seriously... I was out there. Digressing.....Now. I managed to remain active on-campus, write for our college newspaper, test my luck at becoming a campus queen & still managed to graduate with the highest GPA in my department that Fall 2004.

Fall 2004....as in exactly a decade ago.

Fast forward 10 years: Not only was this past weekend my alma mater's centennial Homecoming, this year marked a decade of my being an alumnus of Southern!

I wasn't certain I was going to be able to make it, but at the last minute one of my besties said she would ask her cousin if we could stay with her (since it was too late to get a hotel in town) and we were on our way. From the time we started our journey, we could already tell that this trip was going to be one for the record books & we were so so right!

Before I left town, I did a little DIY project so I would have an outfit to wear on "The Yard" for game day! I think it turned out cute & I am Sooooo "Seaux" Southern....

But now I'm getting ahead of myself, so moving along......

So after hours of non-stop laughter & nostalgia... We finally got ready to head out for the night...

And oh, what a night we had. It was great seeing old faces & feeling old feelings....

I missed being around my Southernites.... We literally shut the club down just like old times... It felt good to be home.

And then...... my phone drowned in a glass of Ciroc. No joke, although in retrospect it definitely makes for a hilarious story. So at about 3 am, we were scrambling trying to find rice to soak my phone in.
Pure comedy... I wanted to cry, but I kept myself together.

The comedy continued well into the morning, and to make a long story short..... I was phoneless the remainder of the weekend.

Looking back, I am almost kind of happy I was able to fully experience Homecoming without the distractions. I was able to take it all in, and really reflect on the moment and all the memories..

We spent the day being random. I got my boudin ball fix at Tony's seafood, and tailgated on-campus.... We stayed on the Yard for a very long time, just people watching & catching up with old friends..

That night continued with more laughter, more inside jokes, more adventures and definitely more memories......

I really could not have wished for a better time.

I even got to meet one of my blog friends in real life! I ran into the oh so fabulous Carla out one night! And she was dressed to kill! :)

Although my trip was short, it was truly action packed. I'm happy that I got to make even more memories of my beloved alma mater...

Homecoming was definitely an adventure.....