You crazy artists, you!

This blog is going to be dedicated to some incredible artists I know. Their art is a wonderful expression of who they are, and should be shared with everyone. I want each of you to know that I appreciate you and your art so much, and I want to encourage you to do what you do so well. First up is Miss Kelly Fly, here is her etsy site as well, in case you are interested in buying .

She does other plush items, along with some rockin’ headbands, and paintings on canvas.

Her mom is also a local artist in Woodstock, GA, and has a website for her work. The Fly family is so talented!! Here is one of her many brilliant pieces.

The next friend I will introduce you to is Sarah. She does some incredible work with a paintbrush, here is her site and a taste of her work.

She uses watercolor and ink and paints out of her relationship with God, as you can read in her biography on her website. She paints out of what she feels God shows her out of His Word and through prayer with him. She is an incredible teacher, and I am honored to have painted with her before.

Parker is my next featured artist. I graduated with him in high school. He is involved with photography, and does an amazing job! I recently discovered his talent through good ole Facebook.

I believe this piece is called “Middle Bay Lighthouse” and Parker recently won a “Best of Show” award for it from a photography exhibition. (PS Parker, if you read this, I showed it to my parents and they said they believe they remember seeing it at Art Walk in the Hope, is that right?)

My friend Tripp also has some great photography skills. You can buy some of his photography from his etsy site as well. Actually…I believe that all of these artists have prints or originals for sale Here is one of my personal favorites.

Great huh?

These are just a few of my insanely talented friends. Some musician friends of mine have their links on the side as well, if you wanna check them out. My friend Roger Eason is coming out with some new music for sale on iTunes soon…I will keep you posted. Hope you all enjoyed and have time to check out the sites of some of these incredible artists (and friends) of mine.

My New Obsession…Among Other Things

So my new obsession is most definitely Glee. Noah is super hott. Yes, those two sentences most appropriately go together. If you don’t know who Noah is….then you should watch Glee. If you don’t like it once you watch it, it’s questionable that we are truly friends.

On another note, for those of you who don’t know, I quit my job. With joy in my heart, and rainbows shooting out of the soles of my feet with every step I took out of the door. Now, I am once again blissfully lazy, I stay up late (hence this post) and sleep til I wake up. Once I do wake up, the sun is already up to greet me, as it should be, and I don’t have to smell one poopie diaper. Or say the word poopie. It truly is a marvelous thing!

I also got an internship this week, I will start in January, and I am pretty siked about it. It’s at an agency called One Place, thus far I know I will be doing intakes/assessments with new clients, have my own case load of clients I will follow, help with after school care, and do in-home visitations with parents who have had their children put into foster care and are working to get them back. Good times! Although I am super nervous about some of this, I do feel a lot more confident than I did before working at AIDS Alabama! I am so glad we have the opportunities to do internships in social work. Go Social Work Go!!

I also have to admit that I am starting to like Tuscaloosa. Don’t get in too much of a tizzy…I’m just sayin’. The people that I have become friends with are great, but you already knew that, what is starting to change my heart is the fact that I found a park today. And by found, I mean it is most obviously there and I had a friend point out that very obvious fact to me as I pass by it almost every day. It is a park that is right on the river, so there is a riverwalk, and bridges that you pass, and benches in the trees next to the water where you can watch people kayak by. The trees have leaves that are turning different colors, and you can crunch through the fallen leaves on the bridges that allow you to walk over the water. It was so insanely beautiful today! It has been raining here non-stop for about a month, and we finally had a day of sunshine! I also saw a beaver, and that was super exciting! It reminded me of Fairhope, because you can walk by the bay there, and I also love that, because I miss Fairhope. Oh glory.

And for the grand finale…pictures from my sister’s i-wanna-get-married-and-i-wanna-get-married-NOW-wedding:

Say hello to Mrs. Janna Walther McVickers!

 

 

 

Love is Like Getting an Education…

*Disclaimer: I am thinking about this concept as I write it, I have never thought of it before, so it is as fresh an idea for you as it is for me. Also: I am single, so what I am writing is purely out of speculation, not from experience.

So this is what I’m thinking; love is like getting an education. Elementary and Middle School are just the beginning stages, it is where you are learning how to socially interact at all. You learn how to communicate and share during this time, you learn boundaries and how to be a friend or an enemy. Then you get to High School. This is the dating stage. It’s serious, but not so much. In High School you are finding your identity, you are setting yourself up for College (engagement) but you aren’t quite ready to commit, so you may play the field. College is when you get engaged, you are more serious about the relationship, so you decide to commit at a different level. Not all people choose to go to college, they may think it’s not worth it, or it’s not for them, they may just not want to go. Same with people who date. Most people will date, but not everyone is ready to commit. College requires that you spend a lot of money and time, and you have to pick a major and stick with it in order to get a degree. Same with a relationship. You may have been playing the field or dating around for a while, but you decide it’s time to get serious. It’s time to invest in one person with your time and money. You get engaged. Graduate School is getting married. School wise you have decided on something specific to major in and consider it an important enough career choice to invest another couple of years in it, and an increased amount of money and time. Same with the relationship, you have decided that that one person was worth all the time and money and effort you put into the relationship, so you believe that he/she is important enough to invest more time in, and only them. Also, there are all these tests you have to pass. You have long since learned that you have to “make the grade” through bad grades (heartbreaks), and the joys of good grades (successful relationships). The tests are hard, and they can be tedious, and you sure don’t want to do them or study for them, but if you do, then you are able to move forward. There is a sense of accomplishment and greater understanding, and then you have that knowledge to carry with you. You have learned and you can take that into the field.

But here’s the tricky part: the actual marriage, the journey, is like a career. Many people decide after a couple of years that they aren’t happy in the career they have chosen, so they look elsewhere. Some people stay in their career, but become burned out easily, and dispassionate about what they used to believe in; but some people know that the career path they have chosen is the only one that can make them feel this way. The way that there is nothing else they would rather be doing, that this is where purpose lies, destiny, and so they stick with it.

You may say that there are too many people who don’t stick with the career they got their Master’s in; but look at the divorce rate. This sounds very pessimistic, but I think it’s our sad reality.

The good news is that there are many benefits to an education, you are able to make wiser decisions, to problem solve better, to make more money typically, and you have the satisfaction of knowing that you tried and you made it. You passed all those tests and obtained all this knowledge and insight, and it wasn’t always easy to go through, but in the end you were triumphant and ultimately better for it.

This is jumbled, and raw, and perhaps a little coarse. I’m just speculating.

Confession:

Just so you know reader, I commonly refer to time as 2 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, etc. (ex. in previous post) because I still don’t quite have a grasp on when you are supposed to use AM and PM.

OCTOBER!

I just got done reading my dear friend Jena’s blog and it reminded me how much I love October. I LOVE OCTOBER! It is beautiful, it’s the first time the weather really starts to change and become cooler. The trees are supposed to change and become beautiful colors…but that sometimes takes longer in Alabama. You get to eat delicious foods all the time, like the homemade pumpkin pie in our refrigerator, and Starbucks comes out with their delicious seasonal pumpkin spice latte. Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday, and orange is EVERYWHERE! Which is pretty much insanely exciting. Pumpkins make me smile like a crazy person, and my roommate announced that she wants to create jack-o-lanterns soon…a comment which promptly initiated tears of sheer joy. Oh October. My heart is overwhelmed with bliss just thinking about you!

I would talk about October all day long, but I will spare you for now. My sister got married Sunday. That’s right, Sunday. I have a brother-in-law now, which my dear friend Benji reminded me is just one more person to buy Christmas presents for. Let me let you in on why this is crazy if you don’t already know: my sister wasn’t supposed to get married until she graduated college, in three years, instead, she decided Friday she wanted to get married this weekend, so we changed the wedding plans to three days instead. Just a little bit of a difference to keep you on your toes. I found out what time and day Saturday night, so my friend Ryan and I drove to Fairhope and got there at 2 in the morning for a 2 in the afternoon wedding. Good times. However, despite being in complete shock, it really was quite beautiful. We had it on the bay at one of my mom’s friends houses. It was outside and it was a beautiful day, plus, us girls all got to be barefoot, which is pretty much bliss. I will forgive my sister for not only stealing the wedding month I plan on having, but also taking the barefoot idea. I’m still totally planning on both…if I ever get married. Speaking of which…our family friend Rob was at the wedding, and his daughter is turning 18 next week, so I joked with him and said he had a year to prepare; whereas he promptly responded, “I don’t think so! My daughter’s are on the Allison-wedding-time!” I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be offended. I chose to laugh.

Also…work was flipping insane today. I had to be there an hour early, which required me getting up at 5:30 in the morning. It should be against the law to have people go to work before the sun comes up. I took out three trash bags, two of which were literally about to kill me with their fresh poo scent. If you have a weak stomach, I wouldn’t recommend reading this paragraph. The kids were AWFUL today. The phrase “terrible two’s” could be reinvented by the classroom I had today. The first poopie diaper I changed almost killed me, meaning I literally almost died. Literally. I was holding his legs up while I took off the diaper while I reached under the cabinet for a wipe. The boy grabbed his butt, getting poop all over both hands, proceeded to wipe it all over his shirt, then came after me like he wanted a side hug. Not only were my eyes streaming while I was holding back extreme nausea and dry heaving, but I was also frantically avoiding the outstretched hand while still holding his legs up in the air, do you have any idea how hard this is? Very. I won’t continue, because I may start crying if I even begin to think about the rest of the day, but if I do not get relocated soon, I may shoot myself in the foot.

Alright. On that note, I think I will leave you be, readers. I have three more midterms due by Sunday, and I already had one yesterday. What bliss. Study time awaits…

Life is Ridiculous: LR

Man…what a couple of weeks. I got a job, pretty sure I had the swine flu, it’s time for mid-terms, I didn’t get a scholarship, and I am now staying in Tuscaloosa instead of moving to Washington, DC. First was the joy of getting the job, then I started it and realized how exhausting it all was and how I have no idea how to now manage my time, just before mid terms start. I really want to keep up the ole grade point average, so this is threatening to stress me out. Then, I just woke up in the middle of the night one night with 102 fever, and I am pretty sure it had gone down a little bit by the time I used a thermometer, throwing up ensued. I HATE throwing up. And fevers are the worst The fever broke by the end of the day, and I was pretty sick for the next two days, but it finally went away for good three days ago, then yesterday I woke up with another sinus infection. Pretty sure someone is out to get me.

I just found out I didn’t get the scholarship today, I was a lot more disappointed I won’t be going to DC than I thought. I don’t know if it is because I am not going to DC, or because I didn’t get a scholarship in general.

Life is crazy. I hate being sick, but during that time I realized that I really wasn’t all that sure I wanted to go to DC anymore, so I made the ultimatum about the scholarship being the deciding factor, and now I am not nearly as crushed as I would have been a little over a week ago. I am glad that God prepared my heart, it’s just too bad it took the flu to do it.

As for my job, I actually like it pretty well! I am a daycare teacher for two year olds, and I go to the nursery Tuesday’s and Thursday’s for an hour. I have never liked kids, and that is a true story, but it turns out then when you actually have help with all 15 kids, they really aren’t all that bad! Or maybe it’s that they are that bad, I just have help, unlike when I babysat the yoga kids that belonged to my mom’s yoga class all by myself, resulting in my intense hatred for children. I am pretty sure I am never going to get used to the smell of two year old poop though. Ever. It is awful! I almost threw up on a girl the other day, I left her on the changing table to step out for just a second so that I could breathe clean air. Baby poop isn’t that bad though, they aren’t eating solid food yet, so there is nothing to smell, so don’t worry Megan, you have at least two years!

LG: Life is Good

Life is blissfully wonderful right now. God has been so insanely good to me lately. I have good grades, I got a job today (!), I am involved in the UA Chi Alpha, and I have met the most incredible friends here. Most of my friends and family are currently healthy and happy as well. So very blessed. The Lord really does give good gifts to those He loves. And He loves all of us.

Yet (argh that three letter word) anxiety keeps trying to rear its ugly head. Everything is going so well I sometimes feel I am just waiting for the bottom to fall out, and I really want to avoid this mentality. Good or bad, I can’t read the future, and I shouldn’t assume I can, yet, that is how my thought process has been going. Isn’t that funny? I say that I know God is good and in control, yet I expect bad things to happen because everything is so good right now, is that consistent with my previous thought? No. Is it consistent with my reality thus far? To a certain extent, but does that mean that life will continue on in a similar fashion? Who is to say? I surely am not. Only God knows.

So here is my challenge. To live in the moment. The RIGHT NOW of life.

How very easy this sounds, and how difficult I make it.

What are we so afraid of?

I don’t understand why people are so afraid of being honest. Why is it that sometimes when people ask me how I am and I answer honestly they look at me like they wish I would just take back my words and pretend everything is fine? What is the point of asking me how I am then? Adults seem to be the worst at this, you say something about the way it really is in your family or your home life and they tell you to keep it to yourself. Why? Aren’t we here for each other? And what is the point of being fake anyway? I am not saying tell your business to everybody all the time or anything like that, because there is a boundary, and trust is involved. I am saying that when you feel like you need to tell somebody something, or they ask you and you feel like it’s safe to talk to them, you should be able to without them telling you to keep your thoughts and opinions and home life and etc etc to yourself so that “you will look good to everyone else.” Keeping up with the Jones’ is overrated , who are they anyway?

That was  ranting. But it is something I have been thinking about for a while, I get so frustrated when I am told constantly to be honest and then people don’t appreciate it when I happen to tell them how it is.

Surprisingly, I am crazy happy in life right now, I know that didn’t sound like it, but I have been mulling that thought over, so I thought it was time to put it down.

Waaaar Eagle, Hey!

I went to Auburn this week to visit for the long weekend, and let me tell you, it was wonderful. Every time I visit I feel like I am at home. My friends are so insanely welcoming and loving, and every minute spent with them was precious. I really love my friends, my family in Auburn. You guys are all so beautiful, and I want all of you to know that I loved spending time with each and every one of you this week, you made my extended vacation the best it could be. PLUS, we won our football game, go Auburn!

Anyway…before I tear up because I miss everyone so much, I am going to relate to you a lovely story from the week, I know you are excited.

Two dear friends of mine went into Ross to look at clothes one night, and me and the missus went to our section while mr. man went to his. Anyway, the first thing I picked up and tried on was a cute plaid jacket that zipped up the front. Well, I put it on and zipped it up, checked myself out in the mirror, then went to take it off, which should have been relatively simple, but it is me we are dealing with. The zipper was stuck on the fabric, bad stuck, so I got the missus to try to help me get it off, and she couldn’t, so she said I should go ask mr. man because he was stronger. He made an attempt, then got a little freaked out because the zipper was stuck in an inconvenient place which could be potentially awkward for a guy, so he walked away. Well, this whole time, this man who worked there was laughing a couple rows over, and when mr. man decided to walk away, he walked up and asked what the problem was, so I told him I was stuck in the jacket. He then asked if he could have a go at it, then told me he would have to rip it off because there was no other way. I felt stupid and really bad that he had to rip the jacket, plus I was kinda scared I would have to pay for it, so I kept apologizing. He said it was okay, happened all the time (not good Ross!) and proceeded to rip the jacket off of me. Good times. How I manage to walk into a store for 2 minutes, get a jacket stuck, and end up having three people attempt to pull it off of me is a mystery, yet these things seem to happen all the time to me!

Another example would be when I got a cell phone antennae stuck in my nose ring, but that’s another story for another day, I just wanted to let you know that I am this ridiculous all the time (unintentionally of course.) I like to say that I just have a special talent. I am also very optimistic and like the glass half full, so take it how you want it.

Dad?

You know what I learned in class today? That in the state of Alabama, there are more single mother households than two-parent households. Where the frick are our father’s? Tell me that. AND, my roommate Liz and I were watching TV the other day, before I found this out in class, and I noticed that pretty much all of the commercials on TV that had children in it were with a mom, and only a mom. There was only one commercial with a son and his dad on TV the whole night, and it was the Oreo commercial where the dad is away on business and him and his son are using Skype and eating Oreos. The dad is away on business. Away. Like all the rest of the dad’s. I mean really? There are more single mom’s than two-parent households in Alabama??? That is insanity.

I know a lot of incredible guys, I really do, and for that, I am insanely blessed and I thank you for being incredible. However, I am going to tell you right now, as a friend, MAN UP when you have kids and stick around. I am going to trust that you are, and that even if, God forbid, you do get a divorce, stay involved in your child’s life! It is so heartbreaking to hear about all these absent fathers, and to even seen it in subtle ways in the media. There are two new commercials out where the mother is trying to teach her son how to play sports, why isn’t the dad teaching the son how to play sports? I know that I am ranting, but let me have my soap box moment, because I think it is needed. We need father’s to be present so bad, so very bad. Our sons need to learn how to be men by example, and our daughter’s need a man around to show her that she is loved and a princess, and so that she will have someone to model how to treat a woman the correct way for her. That way, when she is looking for a husband, or someone to be with someday, she can search for someone with character.

So come on dad’s! Come on men! Be present!