A Happy Heart of Thanksgiving

Well I've successfully eaten myself stuffed. Which if you ask me, is the tell-tell sign of a successful Thanksgiving. As sit on the couch unwinding from the day, I can't help but have one thought--'Who would have thought that so much would change in one year?' The girl who sat in there very spot exactly a year ago had so much to learn about herself. The girl who sits here today is stronger, more poised, and resting in the peace that God holds her future (even though from where she sits currently there is no evidence that it's all going to work out). So to say I have a lot to be grateful for would be a very small statement attempting to sum up an overflow of blessings.

I am thankful for my family-- the one I was born with and the one that over time and challenges turned into one.
I am thankful for my trials.
I am thankful for the sovereign God who held me through everything.
I am thankful for the strength the Lord has blessed me with.
I am thankful for the victories-- how ever small they might be.
I am thankful for the peace.
I am thankful for the laughter that creeps into your soul.
I am thankful for small moments that make life worth living.
I am thankful for the joy that God brings even on the darkest days.
I am thankful for the hope of tomorrow.
I am thankful because no matter the day, the circumstances or the struggle, even still, God. Is. STILL. Good.
I am thankful because God is faithful and life is good.
I am thankful because I am abundantly blessed.

#WifeMe

Diary of a Cold Weather Wimp,

So let's talk about this whole cold thing.

Yeah, not a fan. Mind you, I live in the South. I grew up half-necked, barefoot and comfortable in 95 degrees with 97% humidity. So when November comes, and it is basically FREEZING, I begin to wonder why I was not born a bear.

{Let's be honest they basically live the dream. They are life long chunky-dunkers and are never forced to put on a swimsuit. They are allowed, even encouraged, to plump up during winter. (Hello...Who can really make it through the holidays without putting on a little stuffing around the waistline?!?) Then they get to sleep through all the cold weather. Stoooooppppppppp. Jealous.}

But back to my point... The cold seems like a fun idea. You won't be hot. You'll stop sweating off your make-up. You get to wear all these cute sweaters and scarves. Boots are your best friend. And umm we all know that one insta you post playing in the snow every year gets the most likes.

BUT ITS A SCAM.

I'm calling it. It is a lie. We forget about the not being able to feel your face. Your ears. Your toes. Your fingers. Ok every body part. Snow is fun until it soaks through your mittens and gives you frost bite. Plus, who really enjoys becoming a marshmallow before they are allowed to step out of their house?

You have to defrost your car before you can even touch the steering wheel otherwise your hands will practically freeze to the gosh-darn steering wheel. Then there is the whole defrost-the-windows thing. Like hello, the defroster doesn't even work until you drive the car, but you can't drive the car until you can see out of the windows, but you can't see out of the windows until they defrost. WHAT'SUPWITHTHAT?!?!

The hot water in your crappy apartment takes approximately 30 mins to heat up for your shower, but only lasts a solid 10 mins before it goes cold again. You sleep under 40 blankets only to have your feet freeze off when you get out of bed. It isn't fun. It's a scam.

The saddest part about all this is that in order to work in the fashion industry, I am going to have to move somewhere 40 times colder than my beloved South. How do people even survive long winters? I would prefer to not have to find out. Yet the Lord has a sick sense of humor, so I know I'm going to figure it out myself.

#WifeMe

You Know It's Real When...

This past week my sorority hosted a philanthropy event called Milk and Cookies. All the money raised goes to benefit Service for Sight (Delta Gamma Philanthropy). Basically you come to our house and eat as many cookies and drink as much milk out of a carton as humanly possible. Well my friends came. We ate. We laughed. We chatted. I left. They stayed, finished, then left.

[Fast forward to later that night... 10:30ish]

*Phone Rings*
Me: Hey girl what's up?
Lane: I lost my phone. I left it at y'alls house during Milk and Cookies tonight.
Me: Ok... well I was just leaving the Deeg... where did you leave it?
Lane: That's the thing...
Me: Oh no...
Lane: ...Yeah...
Me: Don't even say it.
Lane: I think I threw it in the garbage when I threw my trash away
Me: *DeepBreath* ...I'll call you if I find it....

You see a lot of things were running through my mind. Lane and I became best friends freshman year and have survived pretty much everything together since. Freshman whale stage. Lost keys. Lost phones. Lost ACT Cards. Lost shoes. (OKOKOK, so we pretty much lose everything!) Death of family dogs. Failed tests. You name it. We've done it. And most likely together. So when she called, I pretty much knew I'm going to have to find this phone because she'd do the same for me.

Next thought that went through my mind, ....all those garbage bags are full of spilt milk, ANNNNDDDD now yours truly gets the extreme pleasure of digging through them. (Why me?!) So, the search begins. I send up a prayer pleading with the Lord to let that dang phone be on loud, vibrate, and in the garbage cans still in the house. I pull out my phone, I hug each can, and I call Lane's phone while holding my breath desperately hoping to hear that sweet sound of a ring tone..... nothing. I hear absolutely nothing. I feel absolutely nothing. Shoulda figured... right?

Because my life is a sick joke and the Lord loves keeping me on my toes, I now have to move on to the dreaded, awful, smelly, wasteland (pun completely intended). I took a deep breath (probably my last one for a while). Put on my big girl panties. And moved outside to the *DUN*DUN*DUN* Delta Gamma Dumpster.

I fling open the big metal gate. Walk into the middle of the brick walls that house the dumpster and look into the wide opening. I just stare at the number of garbage bags in there. Really Lane?!?! Really? [InsertMentalPepTalkHere] I take a mental deep breath ('cause to take an actual one would mean searing all my nose hairs with the pungent dumpster smells thus causing me to smell that and only that for probably a week. Absolutely NOT!)

One by one I begin to remove each garbage bag. I untie it. Shake the bag to try and make the crud move around on its own in hopes of seeing the lost iPhone. I then hug the bag and call the phone. Each time with less and less hope that that DANG PHONE would ring...Because if that phone didn't ring, then I had to dig...with. my. own. glove. free. hands....into the bag.

Six bags in, the sun has set. It is just me, this nast trash and MY iPhone light. Mind you, I look like a homeless twenty year old digging though milk-soaked garbage in hopes of finding the needle in the haystack... except this needle comes in the form of a cracked iPhone 4 and the haystack is milk-soaked cookies, cartons, napkins, and whatever-else-one-thought-necesary-to-throw-in-the-garbage. As I am elbow deep in my seventh bag, Frank (our security guard) rounds the corner.

Frank: Honey, are you ok?
Me: [Takes head out of current garbage bag] ....Uhhhh.... yes? [Explains situation]
Frank: Well let me help
Me: OH MY GOSH THANK YOU YOU'RE MY HERO

1- Frank had an actual flashlight, and my phone was about to die.
2- Frank can reach into the dumpster WAYYYY easier than I could (Yes, I had to stand on a plastic crate. Yes, I fell off the crate while reaching in the dumpster. No, I don't want to talk about it.)
3- With Frank helping, I looked like I was on a mission instead of looking like a homeless 21 year old.

Just keep digging. Just keep digging. Just keep digging. That is until you run out of bags. Which we did. Here I am, covered in milk up to my elbows, stinkin' to high-heaven, and I HAVE NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT.

Defeated, I call Lane and break the bad news. Next morning find out a maintenance man found it in a parking lot on a different part of campus. My life is a sick joke y'all.

ONE. BIG. SICK. JOKE.

#WifeMe