Spring Break 2010

Whew!! It was definitely no break for me!  Here’s the rundown of my week!  Note:  I didn’t take any more pictures, but I’m providing you with some older pictures for visual reference :)

I last left you with my spring break “kick-off” so I’m going from there :)

• My sweet great-grandmother, who is 98, had to have her gallbladder removed this week.  Since they weren’t sure if she’d even make it through surgery, we spent a great deal of time with her.  Thankfully, she made it through the surgery with flying colors!  What can I say…she’s a tough bird ;)

My great-grandmother, Josh, and I at Christmas this year.  Doesn’t she look great for 98 years old!

• I also had the chance to go visit the dance studio.  I spent Tuesday evening chatting and hanging out with my old tap teacher, Mrs. Emily (she’s on the right in the picture below).  She and I spent hours chatting and catching up.  I even got to help teach one of her tap classes (and surprisingly I remembered the steps, or at least my feet did ;))  She also let me know that if or when I moved home, I had a job teaching dance :)  It was great to catch up and spend some time in my “second home” :)

Mrs. Robin (left), Mrs. Emily (right) and I after my senior dance recital.  Can you tell what character I was playing (and that I was fighting back tears in this picture ;))?

• I also went by to see my ex-boyfriend’s mom.  I know…weird right? He was one of my first boyfriends and although we didn’t last too long as a couple, his mom and I have been close ever since.  She always tells me that she will always consider me her daughter and that she was afraid she wouldn’t love another one of his girlfriends the way she loved me (and so far she hasn’t)  We had a great time looking at old pictures, catching up, and reminiscing about old times :)

Ms. D and I after my senior dance recital!! Love her!

• On Friday, I went to lunch with my cousin, Julie at a Mexican restaurant called Cantina Laredo.  It was amazing!! If you have one near you, go now! :)  She and I had a great time catching up on her lunch break :)

Julie and I at the football BBQ in February

• Even though it was “Spring Break” I still had lots of stuff due once I got back so I spent a lot of time working on homework.  Thankfully, it was pretty enough a couple of the days to go sit by the pool (still too cold to get in though!!)  I am much more productive in the sunshine :)  
• I spent the remaining free time trying to knock out the items on my mile-long to do list which included getting my oil changed, helping dad with tax stuff, cleaning and vacuuming out my car, visiting the allergy doctor, etc.  Thankfully I got everything finished that I had to at home and I completed my list yesterday :)

Overall, definitely a good break!!! :)  Unfortunately we are back to cold weather, but hopefully that will change soon!! I hope you had a great week as well! :)

 

Kicking off Spring Break…

Although my spring break is just now officially starting (I cannot tell you how excited I am to not have anything to turn in this week!!), this weekend was a wonderful kick-off for my Spring Break!

On Thursday, I headed home to start my spring break!! Although the day started out rainy, by the time I left, it was gorgeous and got to enjoy the ride home with the sun roof open :)

Friday – I went and got my hair cut early Friday morning.  I have gotten so used to my long hair and wanted her just to trim it.  Well, she definitely did more than trim!! In the beginning, I hated it, but I’m getting used to it now and it is growing on me :)

Right after I got it cut (sorry for the crappy phone picture!)  I’m in my parent’s bathroom…gotta love the 90’s wallpaper and colors :)

That night, I went over to Alex’s for dinner and then he, his brother, his brother’s girlfriend and I went to go see “Alice in Wonderland” in 3D in Huntsville.  I’m a huge Johnny Depp fan and this certainly did not disappoint!!  This was my first 3d movie and I thought it was cool, but I don’t think it “made” this movie by any means :) 

 

Saturday – My old dance studio was competing in Huntsville on Saturday and I promised them I’d go since this is one of the few times they actually compete “close to home”.  It made me feel so old because the little girls I taught in pre-school classes years ago, are now old enough to compete :’(.  I LOVED being back stage and being in the midst of all the glitter, hairspray and chaos again.  I also spent the day with my 3 favorite ladies:  my former dance teachers!  They have always been and will always be some of the most influential people in my life…I love them!

First picture I’ve ever had with all three of them together!! Love them!

Afterwards, I spent the remainder of the day with Alex and his dad.  We had Chinese for lunch and then went to visit his neighbors…we had a great time!

Sunday – I spent the entire day hanging out with the family…I did absolutely nothing and it was fabulous!! :)

Anyway, I hope this weekend is a good indication of how well my spring break will go!!

I hope you all had a great weekend as well!!  I’ll be back soon with more updates :)

Much love,

Maegan

Foreshadowing: Part I

Remember when I was discussing my blogging rut earlier in the week and I was just feeling blah?  Well it was God’s way of foreshadowing and trying to hint that my week was only going to get worse.

On Monday morning, I talked to Alex before he headed into work, as normal, and then not an hour or so later, my phone rang and it was him.  He only calls at certain times of the day (before work, lunch, and after work) so I knew something was wrong.  Sure enough, he was calling to let me know that his Papa passed away.

His Papa was not his grandfather, as his “name” suggests, but very much like a grandfather, and even a father figure in Alex’s life, and he wasn’t even blood related.  Alex’s parents were both in the Air Force and obviously they had to do a great deal of traveling when Alex was younger.  The entrusted their oldest child, pretty much a newborn, in the hands of an older couple in Tennessee at the time who Alex has always lovingly referred to as Nanny Joyce and Papa.  This couple had children that were a bit older than Alex, but they took him in and loved him like their own.  They were there to witness all of his firsts ( words, crawls, steps) so they played a big part in his upbringing and molding him into the man he is today. 

I had the pleasure of meeting his Nanny Joyce and Papa a few years back.  They ended up moving to Alabama before Alex’s family did so every time Alex visited home, he would stop by and if we had gone home together, I got to stop by too.  I fell in love with them instantly because their southern way of life was almost an exact replica of the way I raised.  Nanny Joyce was talkative, super sweet, and an amazing cook (just like my grandmother) and Papa was a typical Southern farmer, very quiet and humble and always wearing his overalls. 

One Saturday, Alex and I had the opportunity to spend the entire day with them.  Nanny Joyce and I cooked a typical Southern meal while Alex and his Papa spent some time playing with Papa’s new toy, a John Deere lawn mower.  Nanny Joyce told me fun stories about “baby Alex” and I truly got to see where his bit of Southern Gentleman came from.

That day, before we left, Nanny Joyce gave me a hug and then his Papa reached over and gave me a hug too.  This was a huge thing because he’s not the kind of guy just to walk up and give anyone a hug.  According to Alex, Papa told him “You’ve got a great girl…you better hang on to her”.  This obviously meant the world to me and we’ve been close ever since.

Anyway, right after Alex’s real grandfather passed away in August, Papa found out he had cancer.  When we saw him over Christmas, he was doing very well with his treatments and we were hoping for the best, but as you know, cancer doesn’t always do what we think it will.

  Christmas 2009 

So on Monday morning, Papa lost his battle with cancer.  I’m so blessed to have gotten to meet him and spend a great deal of time with him.  One of my favorite pictures, that I of course don’t have a copy of, but Alex does, is a picture of Alex, myself, Nanny Joyce, and Papa in his old apartment in Tuscaloosa.  I love that we have that picture with them and it is something I enjoyed seeing every time I walked in Alex’s apartment and I definitely plan on getting a copy of it soon.

Anyway, please pray for Alex and his family.  I know this is a tough loss for Alex because this man was such an influential part of his life. 

As I eluded to in my last post, I was planning on heading to Arkansas today to spend some time with Alex, but since he was coming home for the funeral, I just decided to go home as well.  So that’s where I’ll be for the next week and I’ll catch you up on the rest of my horrible week (which compared to this, the other is minor) soon.

Blogging Rut

If you’ve noticed, I haven’t been posting much recently.  Honestly, I’ve tried…really.  If you could see my drafts folder right now, you’ll see at least 4 posts that I’ve written a paragraph or so and then realized it was not that interesting after all.  There is nothing so exciting in my life that even warrants an entire blog post so I don’t bother.  Yep, I’m definitely in a blogging rut!

Honestly, not only is my blogging in a rut, but I am in a rut myself.  I blame it on lots of things like the dreary weather, my almost year-long unemployment, school, and having way too much time to think and analyze my life and everything in it (it happens every time I have free time!)  Anyway, I’m just feeling very blah lately and have had a few breakdowns here and there and am perfectly content just laying on the couch and watching TV.  I’m not sure what I need to do to get out of this yuckiness, but I need to do something fast because it is so draining!

It hasn’t been all bad though.  Since none of these lend themselves to an entire post, I’ll give you a quick “Highlights” run-down :)

• My beloved red necklace, the one you saw me wearing at Alex’s dad’s birthday here, has been missing since I got home from Christmas break.  The last I remembered having it was in Pasadena for the National Championship game.  When I unpacked and still couldn’t find it, I finally decided that I more than likely left it in Pasadena and it was long gone :(.  So I scoured the internet looking for a worthy replacement (I mean, I go to Alabama…I can’t NOT have a red necklace!) and finally found one that was of course not as good, but it would do.  Well, last week, I was cleaning out my black purse, the one I carry ALL the time, and I reached in the side pocket, and there was my necklace!! I was so excited!!!  I’m not sure how I missed it, because I thought I might have put it in my purse so I thought I had looked in there before, but apparently not.  I was so excited that I took a picture with my phone and sent a picture message to Alex…yeah, I’m a dork.

• I had an interview for a GA position on campus a couple of weeks ago.  I haven’t heard anything back so nothing to report there, but before the interview, I went shopping for some new suits (since my other suits are from like Freshman year!)  Anyway, I went to Belk and thankfully they had their suits all discounted.  I ended up getting over 600 dollars worth of suits for $150!! I was so excited!  The suits were around 90 – 100 dollars a piece and they had them marked down to like 20 dollars and below!  I’ll try to take a picture of them and share with you because they are cute (Here are two I took in the dressing room – excuse the lack of hair and make-up, it was a quick shopping trip!)

A navy and taupe tweed dress suit, a Chocolate 3 piece suit with polka dot tank.  Normally 80 and 95 dollars a piece – got them for 15 and 17!!

• They recently posted the program for the conference that I’m presenting in this summer.  It was so neat to see my name there!

Link

• I met with my advisor last week and I found out that I only have 9 more classes and about 4 semesters left before I start my dissertation!!!!!  This has definitely helped motivate me to go ahead and finish this thing up :)

This is my course planning sheet I created (I know, I’m a nerd!), and it looks like if I can write my dissertation in a year, I’ll be finished in summer 2012! :)

• I went and took a painting class this weekend.  It was a lot of fun and definitely kept my mind off other things.  I am not completely in love with the end result (I made the background a little too dark :( ), but it will do.

I guess that is all I have to report!! I’ve finished all my assignments for the week and am 2 classes away from Spring Break.  I might have an exciting trip planned at the end of the week, but I’ll update you on that later :)

Anyway, have a fabulous week and hopefully I’ll have more fun stuff to share soon!

Much love,

Maegan