I'm still alive...

Well, I have been thinking about posting for about a week...but hadn't gotten around to it yet. I have a ton of pictures that I need to post, but I haven't had a chance to sit down & actually do that. I have this Friday off, so hopefully I'll get a little time to get some up then. For now you'll have to settle for 1 picture! This is at my house the evening we had the Christmas version of our Girl's Nights. These gals are the best friends I could've asked for & I thank God every day that He has blessed me with such wonderful pals! Oleta, Letisha & Tawnya (or as I affectionately like to refer to them 'T-LO' lol), you are AWESOME -- I love & cherish the memories we get to make everytime we get together!!! Love you bunches!!!!

a new day...a new year

It's always hard for me to believe that another year has come and gone. My mom always used to say that each year seems to go faster than the last...& now I find myself saying the same thing! Yikes...lol! :-D Christmas this year was wonderful...in spite of my bout with the flu bug (or whatever that nasty thing was) that made me miss Christmas dinner! Spending time with my family is a rare occasion (since we live so far apart) so I always treasure the little bits of time we get to spend together. We had a lot of fun & I took plenty of pictures, so I will try to get them posted sometime in the near future...
I've been thinking a lot the past few days about my feelings regarding New Year's & thought I would write about it to kind of "get it off my chest"...so here it goes!
I truly have some great memories of celebrating the New Year & also a few bittersweet - even sad - memories from growing up. However, in the last few years I really haven't felt like celebrating much at all & this year was no exception. (Since I wasn't feeling well anyway, I didn't even stay awake to watch the ball drop or get a kiss!) It just seems like it takes too much effort to get all excited about a new year...one in which I'm going to turn another year older!!! In many ways, this new, negative attitude that has begun to take root, has even caught me by surprise & totally off guard. There have even been instances where I didn't really want to say "Happy New Year" back to someone that had greeted me that way! I obviously need to figure out what's going on...those of you that know me, know that normally I love life & am always looking for an excuse to have fun - celebrate something, go out or have a party! Maybe this turning 30 thing is affecting me more than I thought! ha! ;-)
Of course in line with my bad attitude towards the New Year, I must confess that I have never really liked the whole concept of New Year's Resolutions. I feel that generally they aren't taken seriously & are often broken within mere days...or hours in some cases.
Darric & I had a long, verbose conversation about this very subject (one of many) on our loooong road trip - somewhere between Kansas & Virginia - in which I tried unsuccessfully to explain why I feel the way I do.
My reasons may not be completely rational to some on the outside looking in, but for an emotional person such as myself, they make perfect sense. Of course we proceeded to discuss, reason & analize it until we were sick of the conversation...but at least it kept us "entertained" for a couple hours! :-)
Regardless of that, I've not necessarily changed how I feel about the matter, but I was challenged to make a better effort to work harder at reaching the goals I had already set (a few months ago) for myself...& to carry them out in the New Year. So, I guess whether I like it or not, another new year has come & I have goals/resolutions (or whatever you want to call them) to uphold...& so far so good...we'll just have to take it one day at a time!
Anyway...Happy New Year...I think! ;-)