Catching Up

So, I realize I didn't manage to keep up with my furious blogging pace of last fall. I can't point to one thing in particular that slowed down my writing. Maybe I was just too busy living to slow down to write about it.

Here's a brief recap...

The Nutcracker at the Orpheum.




Graceland with my family
















Anniversary dinner(s)

Cafe Society



Capriccio Grill at the Peabody





My niece's birthday party at Harris's Skating Rink (an old childhood hangout for me)












Too many Grizzlies games to count (Go Grizz!)




















Mickey Mouse pancakes at Bob's Restaurant in Booneville (my niece's meal)





Speaking of my niece, I've gotten to spend a lot of time with her so far this year




Bug restoration work












Yard work, yard work and more yard work























The beginnings of a raised garden where we plan to grow tomatoes, zucchini squash, peppers and whatever else we can think of to grow in a small space (any suggestions?)




A trip to Sun Studios (that's my brother and his girlfriend in the top picture)











Basically, we've had lots of fun, worked really hard and I've gotten to see my family quite a bit. Not a bad start to the year.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

1979 - ?: Live for the Dash

Last Sunday, a topic was presented in our class at church that really made me think. I guess that's one of the things you expect out of church, huh?

We were told to take out a piece of paper, and write down the year we were born. Now, none of us can really do anything about when or where we were born, who our parents are, what situation we were born into or really anything else about that first number.

Next, we were told to write a "-" followed by a question mark. We didn't actually do the exercise (time constraints), but mine would have looked like this:

1979 - ?

We have a little more influence over the number that will eventually replace the question mark, but it's still largely out of our hands. Sure, we can try to be as healthy as possible (and I highly recommend practicing healthy habits), but there are too many variables to accurately predict that number. Not that we'd really want to know though.

So that brings me to the "-" in between those two numbers. Regardless of the years that end up on all of our tombstones, we will all have that dash. What will yours represent? Every day we make choices that define our lives. Can we look back and say we made decisions that were in line with our beliefs, goals, wants and needs?

Every choice you make brings you closer or farther away from the person you want to be. Make them wisely. We never know how much time we have until the mystery of the second number on our stones will be revealed, so never waste a day.

The strongest message I got from this lesson was that we shouldn't worry about the numbers on our stones. We shouldn't care how old we are (our birth year) and we shouldn't fret over when we'll leave this earth. We should focus on what we can control. We should concentrate on making that "-" the most meaningful it can be.

Cherish the past, plan for the future but live for today.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Four Years and Counting

Four years ago today, our best friends and closest family gathered at the Peabody in downtown Memphis to watch me marry my best friend. I don't know how the last four years have flown by so quickly. In some ways, it seems like it was just last month. In other ways, though, it seems like we've been together my entire life. I still remember when we started dating in 2003, and how baffled I was that someone so beautiful could be so crazy about me.

I don't remember the person I was before I met Crystel. I've changed for the better in almost every way imaginable. She has taught me how to love, how to pursue my dreams, how to be myself and how to expand my horizons. She's taught me the importance of family and how to be more aware of how I treat people. Since she lived the first part of her life in London and much of her family is Italian and lives in Italy, she has been able to open my eyes to the world outside of America. She's made me happier and more confident than I ever thought I could be. She has taught me to value history, and I now have a greater appreciation of items with a history, of family history and of classic movies, among other things. She introduced me to Southern California, and it's quickly become one of my favorite places on earth. Our time spent in L.A. is special in ways no one will ever understand.

I've been welcomed into her family, and she's been welcomed into mine. She's quick to point out when I might not be appreciating my family enough, which is unfortunately something I haven't always been able to see for myself. She's also quick to grab the wheel when I start heading down the wrong path.

My journey to where I am today wouldn't have been possible without her by my side, and I know God had a plan when he placed us next door to each other that first semester at Ole Miss. I find it hard to believe that a boy from the outskirts of Booneville, MS and a girl growing up in London found their way to each other without a little help, and when I pray, I'm always thankful we did. She's with me in every major decision I make, and she understands my quirky nature and why I make the choices I do.

Together, we have something I couldn't explain if I had limitless pages and endless time. I can't describe the feeling I get when I see her smile, or the loneliness I feel when she's not around.

So, what can I say to the person who has given me so much? How do I show just how much I love her and how much she means to me? How can I make her understand how lost I'd be without her? The truth is that I can't. Words can't describe it. Why do you think people keep writing love songs? I suspect it's because no one has found the answer of how to perfectly describe this feeling. All I can do is keep searching for the right thing to say or do to show her what she means to me, I hope I can make every day better for her because I'm in her life.

That's really the essence of marriage, never stop trying. You won't always be able to say and do the perfect thing in every moment, but it's the journey that counts. I wouldn't trade my life with her for anything.

To my beautiful wife, on our fourth anniversary, I love you. Thank you for taking this journey with me, even when we had no idea where we were headed. Thanks for sticking with me since the fall of 2003. Thank you for having faith in me and giving me guidance though that tumultuous fall two years later when I finally began the process of growing up, and thank you for helping to make me the person I am today. Thank you for yesterday, today and all the tomorrows we have to look forward to.

I still feel like the luckiest man alive, and I don't see that changing as we pass our 5^th, 15^th, 20^th and 50^th anniversaries and beyond.

How could I not love this life? My days are better knowing I get to come home to this family every evening.

Thanksgiving 2011 Part 3 - The Finale (Part 2)...Really, this is the end.

The finale part 2, the real finale.

On Saturday, we headed back to Water Valley for the second time. We had a little more time on this trip to the small Mississippi town. We started off the day with a trip to the B.T.C. Grocery for lunch. We had sandwiches, and I had an excellent chicken corn chowder soup (Crystel didn't get to enjoy the soup due to her affliction, veganism). We also stopped in the local hardware store for supplies (I needed some stuff anyway, and I'd much rather support local businesses than Home Depot) and had coffee and milkshakes at Turnage Drug Store.

Turnage Drug Store has a really cool old-fashioned soda fountain where old men gather to discuss the finer things in life. It fits in with the general old timey feel of Water Valley. I've mentioned Water Valley before, but I highly recommend checking it out sometime. While it has has a strong small town feel, there is also a small community of progressive minded residents running art galleries, grocery stores, restaurants and various other businesses.

So, a Thanksgiving holiday came to an end. We touched down in the land of the Delta Blues in the middle of the pourin' rain on Saturday night, tired, but happy for the time spent with family. We have a lot of activities planned in Memphis for the month of December, so this will be the last Mississippi post until our Christmas break.

Here are a few pics from Turnage Drug Store and and one of an awesome sign in Water Valley, again at the end of the post because of my blogger app's limitation trying to put pictures with the text.

Thanksgiving 2011 Part 3: The Finale Part One

This is the 3rd and final post (well, part one of 2 anyway...more about that later) about our Thanksgiving 2011 holiday.

We left Booneville headed for Oxford on Wednesday evening. We arrived, got settled in and spent the rest of the evening hanging out with Crystel's family. Thursday was spent eating way too much excellent food, watching football, napping, reading and watching Crystel put out Christmas decorations with her mom and sister.

On Friday, Crystel and I decided to get out and spend a little time together in two of our favorite places, the Oxford Square and the Ole Miss campus. We had lunch at Two Stick, coffee at High Point Coffee, picked up some Christmas cards at Amelia (a great place to find unique Christmas gifts by the way), taking pictures, talking and wandering around campus where we spent 3 of the best years of our lives. We always preferred Oxford on holidays when the students had headed home to the hectic debacle of game-day weekends.

This was meant to be a longer post, but the blogging app I'm using will only let me put pictures at the end of my post, and not throughout the post. Since I've been given lemons, I'll make lemonade and write two posts instead, hence the 2 part finale.

Here's a few shots from the day.