Happiness Is.....

That overwhelming feeling of contentment, laughs that cause tears to flow freely down your face, a glance or even just peaceful silence..............

Ten Things:

1. Warm Saturdays gossiping on the porch with my mom, sister & aunt

2. Reading all night, just because & not because you have to

3. A thank you or a God bless you from a stranger

4. That first bite of my favorite meal

5. Inside jokes with my best friends

6. Happy hour

7. Paying off a bill and seeing a zero balance on the account

8. Visiting the ocean & watching the waves

9. Taking pictures

10. New outfits

Happiness is appreciating all the gifts that God has given you.

Being grateful & never taking anything for granted.

I tend to overlook the obvious in my never-ending quest for more...but when you break it down simplistically, happiness is all around me....

Frequent Flyer Miles.....

One of my favorite things to do is travel & vacationing has been the hot topic of conversation among my friends and I.

I usually try to take at least one nice trip a year, and various mini-vacations in between time to keep myself from going insane... but I have been slacking on my planning lately. So far in 2013, I have been to Alabama, Dallas & New Orleans....and I will visit Atlanta, Miami & West Palm Beach, Florida at the beginning of next month...but all of these (except West Palm Beach) are places I have been before.

I want to go somewhere new(or somewhere that I have not been in a long time), I just don't know where.....

Miami is one of the first trips I took all on my own with my girlfriends for Memorial Day weekend way back in 2006...Aside from travelling to Louisiana with my family, I had never been anywhere, not even on an airplane until that trip... Once I figured out that riding airplanes was a simple task,it was full speed ahead for me.

Since then I have been to Los Angeles(where I should visit more often since half my family lives there & in the surrounding area) San Antonio & Austin (my state is so big that all the various cities are like actually leaving the state) Oklahoma, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, (my home away from home) Las Vegas, North Carolina...Cozumel & Progresso, Mexico (cruise destinations) Montego Bay, Jamaica & Nassau, Bahamas... I don't really count Louisiana as a true vacation spot since I used to live there & that is where the other half of my family resides...
*In retrospect, I really haven't been that many places, but for someone who literally did not ride an airplane until I was almost 25 years old, I think I am doing alright travel wise...*

The thing is, I have no clue where I want to go next...

One of my girlfriends is currently in Brazil right now with a few other friends... my other friend is going to Dubai & Israel next month, and two others are going to Toronto in July and my nephew will be spending the summer in Hawaii interning all summer....

Let's just say...I'm a travel weirdo... The same way some friends you call for happy hour, some you call when you want to hit the club and have a good time (not that I club often these days) and others you have quiet time with conversations & cocktails...I have friends that I leave city limits with. I love all my friends dearly, but I also know them well enough to know which ones I would actually be able to experience a fulfilling trip with... and that plays a factor in determining my next destination...

If I take another trip with my girlfriends, I would love to go to an island destination.... Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Dominican Republic or possibly another Caribbean island... it would definitely have to be somewhere singles friendly & all-inclusive...

If I go on a trip with my sister, I would love to explore Chicago, San Francisco, or NYC.... We had a blast shopping and exploring Philadelphia & another city trip would be awesome...

If I go somewhere by myself, I would love to go to a spa in New Mexico or a resort in Maine where I could leisurely explore, shop & read.....

Or, I could just continue to save money & wait until next year to go somewhere more extravagant....Spain, Portugal & Italy are my dream destinations...hopefully one day I will get to see them in person....

Time is definitely not of the essence & I am probably only up thinking about trips because it is almost summer and the world is going on vacation...

But I do like to plan & have events to look forward to so it does not hurt to start planning early........

The first step is just figuring out where I would like to go...

Happy Mother's Day

I have really been digging through my photo albums from my law school graduation weekend lately. I found this picture of my mother, grandmother & I.

I love those ladies! We are like night and day & all the same at once. I am very grateful for my mother. She is the ultimate support system, friend, mentor and just an overall great person.

I wish my mother, aunts, grandmother, & friends a Happy Mother's Day!!!!



I have had the laziest weekend ever and I loved every minute of it. I have slept, rest, relaxed and all of the above since I got home from work Friday. I am not looking forward to the weekend ending, but alas there is still money to be made and life to be lived :)

~~~~~Sunday Social ~~~~~

It's Sunday Social time & I really liked this set of questions...

Although I have been trying my best to look beyond the past, it is always good to see where you once were and to be proud of all the progress you have made.

This Weeks Questions:

1. 1 year ago I was doing …I was days away from my relationship ending. I was beyond stressed out and about to embark on one of the most depressing summers in my adult life since the summer after I graduated law school & had to study for the bar. Although I was in a good place career wise, my personal life was not where it should have been and I was struggling to hold on to someone who I should have let go of.

2. 5 years ago I was doing … I had just graduated from law school! I spent the summer studying for the bar, mourning for a friend who mysteriously passed away while we were studying for the bar and dealing with a bad relationship that refused to be over.... Again career wise, I was in a good place, but relationship wise..eh, not so much.....

3. 10 years ago I was doing… I was about to be a senior in college, and had just been accepted into the Louisiana Women in Government Internship Program, where I would spend the next semester working full time with the Louisiana House of Representatives. It was there that I decided to become an attorney and started to study for the LSAT.

4. 1 year from now I'll be doing… Hopefully my practice will have expanded and I will finally have a successful relationship....

5. 5 years from now I'll be doing… Working as a successful attorney & hopefully by then author.. I also hope I will be married and having or already have had my first child...

6. 10 years from now I'll be doing….. Still practicing law, or running my own non-profit organization. Traveling with my family & prospering and being happy.... and enjoying my 40's to the fullest...

This was not a question the Social, but I wanted to add it anyway...

Right now I am--- working and looking for ways to further my career... I've healed from the break up. Not dating anyone, but finally feeling like I am worthy of deserving a good man and healthy stable relationship. I have gotten over the craziness from last summer and looking forward to this one being ten times better than last year and even better than I could even imagine.....

It's Okay... To throwback

I'm sad to see one of my favorite link-ups coming to an end, but on to bigger and better things for the link-ups creator so I can't be too sad to see it go....... Linking up with Neely and Amber on this Thursday for It's Ok....

I have been sick all week. I went to the doctor on Tuesday. I ended up having an upper respiratory & sinus infection, got a shot like a five year old (although it did make me feel better almost minutes after I had left my doctors office) & antibiotics and a steroid pill..and a nasal spray. It's hard to be busy and sick. I still had court this week, and coughed the entire time. So embarrassing.

But I guess, unfortunately when you have to work, you can't really take too much time off to get better. Especially when there is nobody else able, or willing to cover hearings for you & the emails don't stop and the voice mail don't stop & the deadlines keep coming up.... but I digress. Less than a month til vacation.



It's Okay to participate in throw-back Thursday...especially when you are celebrating the five year anniversary of your law school graduation.

It's Okay to not be friends with everyone you met in law school. Everyone was either for a season or a reason.

It's Okay to have made some of your best friends ever during those grueling three years.

It's Okay:
to still want more,
to want to go further,
achieve more & be much more accomplished.

It's Okay:
to wonder what if?
How would my life be had I not went to law school?
Would I be more or less fulfilled?
What would I be doing?
Would I be married living out my white picket fence dreams or still trying to find my way in this world?

It's Okay:
to be proud of yourself.
To still miss the weekly happy hours, late night study sessions & high school-esque law school drama....

It's okay to realize that regardless of it all...you are right where you are supposed to be in this moment. despite how it feels or what it seems. It's all okay......

Oh, and it is still okay that I have yet to watch an episode of Scandal...but all of the female lawyers in my life are forcing me to watch, or at least read the commentary. We shall see...

The Social

I'm linking up with the Sunday Social today.......

This Weeks Questions:

1. 4 favorite things to do on a weekend: REST~ BRUNCH ~ CHURCH~ TRAVEL

I find that lately I haven't really been enjoying my weekends unless I have been out of town. I love to travel, and being here every weekend is slightly boring these days....

I slept a lot this weekend. I have not been feeling well, & the weekends are the perfect time to get things back on track...

& brunch is always my favorite meal of the day, I love trying new places and going to eat after church service....

2. 4 favorite things about your best friend: I have more than one best friend, so I shall share 4 about each

Jess: she's sincere, she keeps it real, she's giving (although sometimes too much)& I love her spirit

Jameika: she keeps me rolling, she is always down for whatever, she's fashionable, and she never judges

Danielle: she is like my big little sister, she gives great advice, she a straight-up wordsmith & comedian, she's my soul sister


3. 4 things you would do with $100,000: If I pay off my law school loans, I would only be left with a fraction of the money... so with the remainder I would probably pay off my car, buy something nice I have been coveting and save the rest......


4. 4 favorite books you’ve ever read: The Shack, The Coldest Winter Ever, The Lovely Bones & Gone Girl

5. 4 favorite snack foods: chips (hot fries, Cheetos puffs- all bad) pepper jack cheese sticks, sliced apples & cereal

6. 4 things that you must do daily: Check my email, check Facebook, wrap my hair before I go to bed & take a Zyrtec so I can not be a mouth breather...

Unfortunately my Zyrtec a day plan didn't work this weekend and I have been battling allergies all day. On Friday night, I started to feel bad after I left my CLE so I stayed in bed all day--well into Saturday. I had to get up eventually for a birthday party Saturday night at a karaoke bar, so I tried to cure myself with hot tea from Starbucks and then frozen yogurt (for soothing purposes) but nothing worked. I stayed at the party for a couple of hours & had to leave without singing anything... My Sunday has been spent coughing, sneezing and medicating. No bueno & no Cinco de Mayo celebrating for me.... I am hoping I start to feel better by morning.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!!!!

May......

In the midst of my woe is me moments last week, I failed to realize that it was time to change my calendar over to May. How is it already May? A cold front came in today, and I am currently wrapped in a blanket. May? A cold front? In Texas? Something is not right. Makes me fearful of what hurricane season will be like. But I digress....

This year is going by so fast. I swear life did not move this swiftly when I was younger. Now I feel like I am running out of time to do all the things I dreamed of doing. But again, I probably should go ahead and digress........ It is almost summer, and I am focused on getting in shape and enjoying life to the fullest. I go to Miami in exactly one month and five days (yet another 30th birthday party) and I am so excited! I don't have anything planned for this month really, other than saving money, eating healthier and working out.

I did start the month out on a good note though... I took off today and tomorrow for "mental health" days. Time to regroup and refocus. Work has been hectic. I needed to relax.

This morning, I woke up and went to my old intermediate school (not quite elementary and not quite middle school, just 5th and 6th graders) for career day. I went to this school the first year it opened.. Literally TWENTY YEARS AGO... Literally. It was bittersweet. I remember being so nervous riding the bus here on that first day of fifth grade. I was so tiny & nerdy. Powerless. Voiceless. Everything seemed so big and overwhelming, but I made it.

Sometimes I lose sight of what I am doing and what I am here for, but speaking to those kids who sat in the same seat I sat in twenty years ago really meant something to me. I had to choke back tears during parts of my speech because I kept getting overwhelmed with emotions. I don't know if they understood the significance of it, but goodness gracious.....

God definitely has a way of reminding you of your purpose. I want to help people. In whatever way I can. If even only one child was inspired by anything I said today, then I will feel like my visit was worthwhile. I never would have imagined walking those halls again, and actually feeling like I was somebody.

I used to be so scared to use these restrooms. The stalls look so small now, but oh so intimidating back then.