Lilly

My sweet Lilly, 

You will be missed more than you will ever know. We had a wonderful 16 years together. I remember when I was 8 years old my mom and I went to an animal shelter in Atlanta. My mind was made up before stepping inside that I wanted a solid white, fluffy kitten that I could name snowball. There were no white kittens at this shelter but there was you. A tiny little gray and black mingled kitten with the sweetest most loving eyes. Quickly I forgot about that white kitten I had envisioned and begged to take you home with us. 

Many nights were spent with you sleeping by my side or my favorite, on my back. When I moved out you stayed with my parents. But I still loved you so much. I will always have you in my memories my sweet Lilly. 

What we have once enjoyed
we can never lose;
All that we love deeply,
becomes a part of us.
-Helen Keller

 

1996 - September 27, 2012

twenty-five

When I was 18 I had great plans that I just knew would happen by the time I reached my “mid 20s”. To be honest, most of my plans haven’t panned out in the time frame I had allotted.

It took me 5 years instead of 4 to graduate with my bachelor’s degree. I started in Elementary Education but found out through lots of experience with children of all ages that it just wasn’t what I was meant to do. So after much thought, I changed my major to Business the summer before my senior year. I knew it would be tough and set me back on graduating “on-time” but it had to be done or else I knew I would be miserable with teaching and that would not be good for me or my future students. So a year later than planned I graduated.
 

As some of you may know, I am a paralegal and really enjoy what I do and where I work. I never imagined that this would be my career. It kind of just happened out of nowhere. But I am blessed to be able to say that I actually like getting up and going to work every day.
 
I came across a post from Laura Virginia's blog, Meet Virginia, on my Google Reader yesterday. I just had to share some it.

"What I didn’t know, and I wish I had, what I know now: it doesn’t always happen that way. And if it doesn’t, there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s perfectly fine. And it’s exciting! And your life is no less legitimate or established than your friend’s who is married and working full time and sporting a cute little baby bump. You don’t need to be waiting around for your life to start. Your life is happening right now."

Like Laura, I want all of those things too, but in my time. It can be so easy to get caught up in what is going on with all of your friends' lives that you forget to live your own life. 

Although none of my plans transpired on my timeline, everything has worked out pretty awesome so far. I am embracing my “mid-twenties” with my arms wide open. I can not wait to see what life throws my way.

Here is a look back at the good times my twenty-fourth year brought me. 

I moved into my first place and lived solo for the first time.

Had a great time decorating for Christmas!

 

Threw my first Christmas Party.

Went to my first blogger conference.

 

Had lots of fun with family and friends.

Lots of fun was had with this guy too!

Vacationed at the beach.

Traveled to Washington, D.C.
 

So here’s to having the best 25^th year of my life! 

Currently - September 2012

Loving: One of my best friends just bought a house with her fiancé only 4 miles away from me! Much better than the 196 miles we used to have between us. I see baking and Stardust parties in our future.

Reading: Game of Thrones. I started this book in June but don't let that fool you on how good it is. I have not had much time to sit down and read but when I do it is a page turner. I bought the second one, A Clash of Kings, last weekend while I was in Mobile. I want to have it readily available to begin once I finish Game of Thrones.

Watching: Bones is my favorite show at the moment. I have been watching from season one on Netflix. I have made it to season five so far. This is probably the reason why I have not finished Game of Thrones yet...

Anticipating: My birthday dinner tomorrow! I can't wait for good friends and Chuck's!

Listening to: A couple weeks ago I bought all of Florence + The Machine's albums on iTunes. They have been in constant rotation in my car.

Planning: My next traveling location. Where do I not want to go is the question...

Working on: Transitioning from a PC to a Mac.

Wishing: For cooler weather, boots, scarves, tights, leggings, coats, soup, chili, etc.

What are your current loving, reading, watching, anticipating, listening to, planning, working on, wishing, etc.?

Got this fun idea from Hudson's Happenings and Eye Candy

The Hungry Owl

I got to Mobile yesterday around 4:30 p.m.. For dinner Trey and I went to The Hungry Owl. I ordered the Sautéed Gulf Shrimp with garlic parmesan sauce. For my sides I ordered the Baked Mac-N-Cheese and a side salad. It came with grilled cornbread. Everything had a great flavor. The Baked Mac-N-Cheese was amazing. Also, I had a 3 Rum Punch. I can't remember what all was in it but it was fruity with a strong vodka taste. I was not a huge fan but it wasn't terrible. 

I Jumped...

I finally took the jump and bought a Mac. Happy early birthday to me!

So far I love it. My only complaint, like almost every other person, is you can't use Windows Live Writer anymore. This is the first post I have written in over a year directly into Blogger. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. I have been reading up on html so it is easier than it was a year ago to make changes directly into html.

Any tips or suggestions to help me transition from PC to Mac are more than welcomed.

Fresh Strawberry Lime Soda

 

This is by far my favorite juice recipe I have made using my juicer. It is delicious!

 

Fresh Strawberry Lime Soda

by Brittany Ray

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Keywords: beverage grapes strawberries limes

6032802

Ingredients (1 1/2 glasses)

• 6 oz fresh strawberry juice
• 2 oz fresh lime juice
• 4 oz fresh grape juice
• 6 oz diet ginger ale or 1/2 can

Instructions

Using a juicer, juice all of the fruit ingredients.

Pour juices in a glass over ice and stir until mixed well.

Pour ginger ale into glass of juice.

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Ginger Apple Grape Juice

 

Grape Apple Ginger Juice

by Brittany Ray

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Keywords: beverage grapes apples ginger

6032639

Ingredients (1 glass)

• 6 oz fresh grape juice
• 4 oz fresh apple juice
• 1 oz fresh ginger juice

Instructions

1.     Using a juicer, juice all ingredients.

2.     Pour into a glass over ice and stir to mix all juices.

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Perry’s Bachelorette

A little over a month ago we threw Perry’s Bachelorette Party!

I can’t believe my best friend is getting married next month! I can’t wait!

ADX Bid Day 2012

When the actives asked for alumni volunteers to take pictures of Bid Day this year I jumped at the opportunity. It is always fun to get to meet some of the new girls.

 

Oh look, there’s Anna, Sarah and me. We were the alumni that volunteered to help.

 

Dear Pledges,

This semester will be one that you will never forget. It won’t be the easiest and sometimes you may not think it is all that fun but these are memories you will cherish for a lifetime. Don’t get disheartened. We have all been a pledge and know it is time consuming and frustrating at moments but it is all worth it. Get ready for some of the best days of your life!

UA vs. WKU

 

This past Saturday my parents and I went to the Alabama vs. Western Kentucky game. We were given first row Field Suite tickets. They were amazing. All of the pictures of the field above were taken with my 50mm lens. We were literally on the field. Besides the awesome seats there was an air-conditioned room with TVs and lots of food and drinks. There were Stadium Dogs, shrimp and grits, barbeque, hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, nacho/taco salad bar, cooler of ice cream treats and dessert bar. I never knew what I missing sitting in the student section all of those years…

 

Oh and we won, 35-0!

 

RTR