M is for Mom!

Like most (if not all) mothers and daughters, our relationships has had it's ups and downs. There were occasions where she had to yank me around and put me in my place...and I probably deserved it. There were also times where I talked back and told her she wasn't the boss of me (she might have deserved it a couple of times....but not always). However, over the years, through the good and the bad, through laughter and tears, I am so happy that my mom is one of my best friends. We may not always see eye to eye but she is the first person I go to when I need to laugh, cry, share gossip, just chat, or need a pep talk.

We have a special bond that I will forever cherish in my heart. We are both compassionate worry warts who worry about things that are beyond our control, love to people watch, and enjoy trashy reality television. Our relationship is very unique and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm not sure how many mothers and daughters out there both worry about other people and share a dirty joke in the same conversation...but I'm glad we're two of them!

L is for LAUGHTER!

Who doesn't love to laugh? Actually, a lot of people don't....and those people generally get on my nerves. But I think it's safe that I'm certainly not one of them. I love to laugh...so bring on the funny.

I grew up around laughter. Everyone in my family loved to laugh. My Mamaw had a very distinct high pitched laugh and even during her final days when she was at her worst...she found something to laugh about. Albeit there were times when what she laughed about was not always appropriate...she never lost her ability to laugh.


I think it's safe to say that I got that trait from her. Even on the worst days of my laugh I have found something worth laughing about. I think laughter is the gasoline for life and helps keep you charged.  And if you don't believe me....let the anecdotal evidence speak for itself. Phyllis Dillard, Bop Hope, George Burns....they didn't exactly live the healthiest lifestyles but they sure did live for a long time. Personally, I think it's because they lived, laughed, and loved.

K is for Kentucky Basketball!

This one probably comes at no surprise to people. And I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I L-O-V-E Kentucky basketball. Unless you're a die hard like myself, you'll probably never fully understand it.

Kentucky basketball fans are a strange mix of being passionate, energetic, obsessed, crazy, and die hard. It's a fan base like no other....you have to know it to love it.

Kentucky basketball is also something that helps keep me in touch with my roots. Even though I am far away from my upbringing in the Bluegrass State and I miss it terribly, having Kentucky basketball helps to fill that space in my heart.

Sister Celebrating #8

Every now and then during basketball season, I long to be back in the Bluegrass...drinking some blue beer and watching the game with a few hundred close friends. But since I can't, I have to settling for cheering on the boys from my couch.

Who says you can't go home again? I go home every single time I catch a game!

This past April, I got to see the Cats return to Gr8tness in person as they cut down the nets right down the interstate from me in NOLA. I refuse to think it was a coincidence. Faith brought me there.

J is for Jokes!

I have not forgotten about my blogging trip through the alphabet. And today's letter is J for jokes. I love a good joke. Hell, I'll be honest, I love a good dirty joke. I grew up around people who loved a good joke...especially my grandma. Even in her old age...she still loved a good dirty joke. 


But you know what I don't love? Two things. When you tell a joke and you consider it "your" joke....and people steal it. You know, sit there and tell the joke right in front of you and take all the credit for the funny? I also don't like when I tell a joke and people don't get it or are too stiff to laugh. At that point, I just want to say, "It's a joke...get over it"

My Best Friends Wedding

My apologies for being absent from the blogging world. My personal world has been crazy busy...but I'm back and I'm ready to write!

One of the things that has been keeping my busy was one of my very best friends in the whole world, Jennifer's wedding.

Jen and I met somewhere around the turn of the century when we both pledged AOII our freshman year at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. We became instant friends. We share so many memories and so many good times....it's impossible to name them all. But one of our best memories led to her forever happiness.

AOII Stop and Go Fashion Show Party

2003

Jennifer, Katie, Andrea, Erica

I believe it was Mardi Gras 2007 and we went to a local bar where some people were ending participating in a beer run. An older man who was a participant kindly asked us for a dance. Never being ones to pass up a good time....Jennifer and I obliged. Next year, same bar, same beer run, same booth, and as faith would have it the same little man spotted us and asked us for another dance. This time he had his nephew Chad along for the ride. Long story short....they met and fell in love and this weekend they became Dr. and Mrs. Richard.

Mardi Gras 2007

Me & Uncle Don sharing a dance

The wedding was beautiful and I was honored to stand by Jennifer's side as her and Chad exchanged their wedding vows and became husband and wife. The girls spent the day looking their best, sipping on mimosas, and laughing. The reception was a blast and in typical fashion...we partied until they kick us out.  I wish Jennifer and Chad all the best in the world...but I want Chad to know...I loved her first!

And to Jennifer...thank you for being one of the greatest friends I've ever had. You've seen me at my best, held my hair back for me at my worst, helped me laugh and cry, heard my secrets....and still stay friends with me anyway. And here's a few things that are between us: pouring beer without foam, Leesville toga parties, no hotel reservations, wrong taxi cab phone numbers, pool lessons at the bulldog, late night road trips, watching the sun rise, New Years Eve in NOLA, designated driver punishment, stealing the cheese and sausage plate, the lost earring from the 80s party we found a year later, and giving strangers rides.  But most of all, this one's for you:

I is for Ink Pens!

Ink pens are very interesting. They come in packs of 10, even 20, yet no one every has one.  There's that conundrum of when someone asks that million dollar question of "Does anyone have an ink pen"? Then suddenly arms and hands start flying through the air and digging in every crevasse around and then suddenly, in almost a fist pump of victory, holds one up high in the air. Then half the time it doesn't work and you start shaking it and scribbling it in a fit of mercy in hopes that finally some ink will show up on your page. People get possessive of their pens too. Ever asked someone to use their ink pen and they say "Make sure you give it back....that's my favorite pen". As if they will somehow no longer be able to write if they do not have that pen in hand.

Although we live in a technological age and may not write with an ink pen as much as we used to, I still love a pen and paper. As much as I love blogging and social networking, I still love watching that stroke on paper when I'm putting down my thoughts. I see it as a semi-permanent way of making my mark on the world. No one can read  except me and it's my choice if I want to share it with the world. Sometimes my thoughts show up in cyberspace...and sometimes they are between me and my ink pen. 

Ink pens are a necessary evil...we always need them...but yet there is never one around when you need it. Hope this blog reminds you to have your ink pens handy and in working condition!

H is for Hometown!

The word hometown is defined as "The town (or city) where you grew up or where you have your principal residence". However, my journey has been a little different than most, so it's hard to answer people when they ask me where my hometown is. I have lived in many places and each one of them has a significance in my heart.

I was born in Paducah, KY on Thanksgiving Day 1980 and it is the place where my journey began. Even though I am very far away from that small river town in the Bluegrass State, it will always have such an important meaning in my life. It's a place where there isn't much to do, but when I go there, I have the places I love to visit. It has the best BBQ you'll ever put in your mouth, is home to the National Quilting Museum, and holds my childhood memories of hotwheel races at the summer festival, t-ball games, and riding the rides at Noble Park.

Paducah River Front 2007

Then there is Northern Kentucky where I spent my middle school years. Out of all the places that I have lived, it is by far my favorite. The three years that I spent there were some of the best years of my life. The Northern Kentucky area is very unique. You have all the comforts of small town living with the Metropolitan area of Cincinnati a stones throw away. My memories of my time there are filled with sledding down hills, family nights at the ballpark, and soft serve ice cream and Icees at the Ameristop. 

Northern Kentucky Riverfront overlooking Cincy Skyline 2008

When my years in Kentucky came to an end, my live in the dirty south began. When I was a freshman in high school we headed out to the Big Easy (the Northshore suburb of Mandeville to be exact). And let me tell you, there was nothing easy about this. Not only was I going through an early teenagers angst of bitterness over moving, I was in complete culture shock. It was like every way of live I had ever known was gone. It was hot as hell all the time, the food was different, the people were different, the complete day to day way of life was different. But as the years came and went, things grew on me and Mandeville soon became the keeper of memories for me. It is the place where I learned to drive, the place I went on many first dates, and the place where I came of age. All in all....not too rough after all. 

Katie and Jen NOLA 2007

And my final stop in my list of hometowns, is my current location of Lafayette, LA. I made my maiden voyage in Laffy when I chose to come to college here in 1999. Although I doubt I will live here for the rest of my life, like all of my hometowns, it holds many memories for me. I went to college here and met some of the best friends I could ever ask for, made memories (some of which I can never reveal), got my first teaching job, and much much more!

AOII Romp in the Swamp....sometime around 2002

I think it's easy for anyone to see why I don't just have one "hometown". Or maybe I've just reinvented the definition!

G is for Google!

Personally, I think that the Google search engine is one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century. I mean, how many times a day do you find yourself wondering about something and then you utters those two words "Google it!".

And I must be honest with myself and the rest of the world, there are times late at night when I get bored and I find myself wandering around Google looking up random information, facts, and to clarify things I have wondered about. It's safe to say that my Google knowledge has brought me luck on many bar trivia nights!

Music Mondays....Get Out Your Raincoat!

F is for Friends & Family!

I absolutely adore and cherish my friends and family. They are the links to my past and the keys to my future. The more trips around the sun that I take, I realize more and more just how meaningful these relationships are. It's important to have someone who understands us inside and out, who knows all our secrets, who knows out good points and bad, and still love us anyway. I'm very grateful for all those I keep close to my heart!

Sisters at the Final Four

Friends at the NOLA Red Dress Run 2011

Family Picnic in MaMaw's backyard...sometime in the 80s