Making Memories

These last few weeks have been filled with making memories with families and friends.

Memory 1:​
I consider my oldest niece my baby, my sidekick (when she was younger), that's just my girl! We share a middle name so I feel connected to her. She enrolled in a program where instead of attending a regular school for her junior and senior year of high school she instead took college courses AND high school courses concurrently. It added a year on to her high school completion date but but once she finished she would earn a High School Diploma AND an Associates Degree all for FREE! Needless to say I was super proud of her and could not stop smiling on the inside. The next day at work I bragged on her like a proud parent showing everyone her graduation pictures. She did all of that while maintaining a part time job and being on the Dean's list. I'd love to be like her when I grow up! For her graduation gift I gave her a card that contained a gift certificate for a trip to Abu Dhabi whenever she was ready. I can't wait for her to come visit me. She's grown up so much and I know my Mom would be proud of her because she was my Mom's baby!

Memory 2:

I love to dance. When I was younger I said I wanted to own my own dance company and teach others how to dance. In light of my departure I agreed to dance with my remaining class when they dance at their church on the 4th Sundays. I love Tye Tribbett so I felt inspired to do one of his latest songs "Work It Out". If you didn't know any better you'd think that song was of the secular nature. 😀  We had nice Janet Jackson inspired tops and the choreography was not that bad. I love these young ladies and their energy, love for me, and love for the Lord. I had an awesome time dancing and you couldn't tell us that we were not on stage with Tye at that moment. I have 3 more practices with them and I'll dance with them one more time in June. There will definitely be a blog post for that because I'm sure that will be an emotional day for us all!

Memory 3:

As I stated in an earlier post, (click here to see that post) my friends and I have started working out together. They are doing WAY better than me because they are sticking to the meal plan. I struggle with that part because, well, the only way to put it is, I just like to eat. I have decided when school is out I am going to regulate my eating habits because I CANNOT be in the hot sun carrying around all of this extra weight.

Anywho, for one of my friend's birthday's she decided she wanted to climb Crowder's Mountain. I am not an outdoorsy type. I did not play outside when I was little. I go outside to get in the car and then again to go INTO my desired location. I did agree to go and I have to say I arrived prepared. My little brother bought me a camel back so that was filled with water so I could hydrate and they told me to bring snacks so I did. Once we started walking I was ok with it because it seemed rather easy. At one part of the trail there is a curve and that was the turning point. At that point we had to walk over rocks and the path itself became steep, unsteady, and filled with rocks. There were a few times I thought about stopping and then meeting them on the way back down because I did not want to fall way out in the woods. I persevered and continued to the top and the feeling at that top was worth stepping outside of my comfort zone. I felt so accomplished and the view was breathtaking! All in all I had a great time because I tried something new and because I got to spend time with my friends of 15 years!