What It's Like to Love Kentucky Basketball.....

The month of March has come and gone, but the madness was unreal this year for the Big Blue Nation. After what many would consider to be a mediocre season, the Wildcats have made an incredible journey through the brackets, taking down K-State, Wichita State, U of L, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Only to find themselves playing in the finals for the hopes of bringing back #9 to the Bluegrass State.

Doing the John Wall on Mike the Tiger 

Loving Kentucky basketball is really something that can't be explained, only experienced. It's screaming at a TV at a bar, calling your family long distance to get through those last 2 agonizing minutes of a thriller, telling other sports fan the stats that make Kentucky the greatest, hating Duke because the 22 year old Laettner wound still feels fresh, seeing old friends and family when you have all shown up from various locals to the Final Four, and proudly wearing your boldest Kentucky shirt with pride.

My journey through the Big Blue Nation, like most Kentucky natives, began at birth. I have lived and breathed through Eddie Sutton, Pitino, Tubby, Billy G, and Coach Cal. I have been to countless games, SEC tournaments, first round action, 2 Final Fours, and even was a witness to Gr8tness in 2012.

2011 Final Four

I will never forget how my heart sank in 1995 when my family left the Bluegrass and landed in the Big Easy. However, I did get the comforts of home when my family would gather in the living room to cheer on our Cats and celebrating the Championships together in 1996 and 1998. Then my fate of leaving the place I still call home brought me to the Final Four in 2011 and 2012.

The Return to Gr8tness

Being a part of the Big Blue Nation means so much more to me than being a member of the greatest fan base in college basketball. It means never being far away from home. No matter if the soles of my feet never touch the soft Kentucky Bluegrass again, I still get the same rush of exhilaration when I watch my boys play. I get a chuckle inside of me when a passerby yells "Go Tigers" when they see my Kentucky sticker and I get a rush in my heart when a fellow Kentucky fan throws some 3 goggles my way in traffic. No matter how far away I am, watching Kentucky play gives me a feeling of joy that I can't explain. But most of all, it means never really being that far away from home.

This journey through the tournament has been an epic one to say the least. Win, lose, or draw, thank you boys for always reminding my why I'm proud to bleed blue.

Day 9....Picture from my day...

I promise I didn't give up on this story of my life in 31 easy installments! Today's challenge is a picture from my day. In my usual style throughout my life, I decided to take a twist on the theme. Rather than boring you with a picture of my coffee or a pile of papers I've been putting off going through, I decided to use a picture I came across the other day while surfing around on Facebook...

The moment I saw this, I thought to myself about how much sense it really makes. I am so guilty of wanting to hurry through life and get to where it is I think that I am going. I have a tendency to stew over the past and worry senselessly about the future. But the truth is, that is like wasting a time. Worrying is as useful as trying to ride a bike with no wheels: it's a lot of work, takes up your time, and gets you no where in the end. I have learned the hard way that life is half chance and half choice. We have to make the best out of the chances we get and try as hard as we can to make good choices. Things may not have fallen into place the way I thought they would or even as I had planned. I may not be at the exact point I thought I would be at this point in my life, but I'm ok. I will get there when I get there. And when I do, I plan to arrive in style. 

Day 8....my advice to you

Today's challenge is to dole out a piece of advice that I have for others. There is so much irony that surrounds advice. It often comes to us unsolicited, we don't take it when we really need to, and we are often too full of pride to to ask for it when we really need it. There are also the oxymorons of advice such as "Don't sweat the small stuff" and "What doesn't kill you will make you stronger". Well, we all know that sometimes that is a load of crap. There are things in our lives that while aren't huge obstacles to others, but they for the person going through it its worth sweating over. Then there are times we while we do come out alive, we come out feeling much weaker than stronger.

I found this particular challenge a bit challenging in itself. It was hard for me to think of just one piece of advice that I would give out. Then my brain took me back to 1999. I was a senior in high school and there was a popular new song on the radio, Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen. It was your typical song that came out during graduation season, geared towards bright eyed and bushy tailed kids in their late teens that were about to embark on the real world. However, I have never forgotten the teachers that played this song for us and how I like the song just as much today as I did at the turn of the century.

So, with all that being said, I think that if I were to give you all only one piece of advice, it would be to listen to this song and make of it what you will.

Day 7....The things that scare me most

My seventh challenge on this blogging journey to tell the story of me, is to let you in on what scares me the most. I've always thought of fears to be strange little things. We all have them at some level or another. But to me, the irony of that, is that what makes one person tremble inside with fear is just another detail of life for others. I am just as guilty of this as the next person, but we sometimes poke fun at other's fears and consider them irrational. However, to them, their fears are very rational and very real.

There are many things in this world that frighten me. One being rodents of any kind and frogs. I have no problem taking off my flip flop and smacking a roach, I don't scream when I see a big spider creeping my way, but a mouse or a frog...no way. I will run and jump on the highest place of safety to avoid any sort of contact.

Another, more serious fear that I have is to not accomplish everything in my life that I want to. I'm not talking about things like driving a luxury car or having a large bank account, but those real goals that I have set for myself such as the level of success that I hope to one day reach both personally and professionally.

Day 6....Job Description

The challenge for today is to pretend that I'm telling someone what I do for a living, without giving them the exact job title. If I were doing this in real life, I'd probably go off on a tangent that would last hours, and would most likely involve drawing diagrams and maybe raising my voice (just a time or two).

I am a mommy, nurse, referee, cheerleader, confidant, and conflict resolver. I train brains to look at the big picture and not to simply just memorize information. I also assist in the process of growing brains to think about the who, what, when, where, how, and why. I enforce the acquisition of using prior knowledge and applying it to new things, books, experiences, and life. I encourage responsibility, self-reflection, acceptance, and goal setting.  I am a real job creator.

Day 5: Friends Forever....

The fifth challenge on this jaunt down memory lane for me, is to thank my best friends. Although, when it comes to friendship, I think quality definitely outweighs quantity. The older I get and the more trips around the sun that I make, I realize the importance of having good friends to lean on and turn to when I need it the most. I am very fortunate to have made such good friends along my journey in life. Friends that answer the phone even when it's too late for a phone and will indeed tell me when my pants, in fact, do make me look fat. These girls are my inner circle and mean the absolute world to me.

There is my friend Jennifer who was one of the first friends that I made when my road through life lead me to Lafayette. From somewhere around 1999, we have shared secrets, laughter, heartbreaks, joy,tears, and random road trips to places both near and far. Thanks Jen for always being the best listener!

There is my friend Candice, who has made some potentially boring moments in life super exciting. We never fail to make each other laugh. If I was ever going to have to share a $15 biscuit with anyone, I'm glad that it was you.  I promise you this Candice, one day we're going to take this show on the road!

There is my friend Magen who is always up for trying something new, even though we decide that we're going to try something and then realize why we weren't doing it in the first place. Magen, you are always a phone call or text away when I need it the most!

There is my friend Doris. We have shared so many fun times together and have the same wicked (and sometimes off color) sense of humor. We share everything from secrets to random people watching episodes. Thanks for always sensing when I need a pick-me-up and sending my that funny e-card that somehow reflects an experience that we've had. 

There is also family that is like friends.  My older sister and I are just about as opposite as you can get (except for being died hard members of the Big Blue Nation, DMB wannabe groupies, and boy band fanatics). Although the road through our teenage years was a bit of a bumpy ride, we made it, and now we can't get enough of each other. You're an awesome big sister, but having you as a friend is just an added bonus!

My mom is no exception to this rule. Our paths and experiences through life are so parallel at times, that is sometimes can seem unreal. We talk almost everyday, share jokes and secrets, and catch up on the latest reality TV. It's a shame we don't have matching bracelets or something, you know like a BFFs type of thing. Regardless...you're the best and I'm glad that you're mine!

Just as there is family that are like friends, there are friends that are like family. About four and a half years ago I was a supervising teacher for an early intervention intern. I was told that we were placed together because they though we'd be a good match. This person turned out to be my friend Dana who has become one of the closest people to me. Our working relationship quickly developed into a bond that built it's foundation on advice, venting, people watching, and coffee. We're "Peas and Carrots 2.0" 

There is one more I'd like to add. My friend Erin (who I can't find any pics with. We need to change that). You are my intellectual soul sister and I am so glad I have you to have "discussions" with. And since we have no pics, I found an ecard that I find fitting.

Day 4: Quotable quotes...

Today's challenge was fun one for me. It was to talk about my favorite quotes, but it was hard to pick just one, because I love quotes. I think quotes are pretty powerful things. They start of as simple words from sometimes ordinary, to sometimes extraordinary people. Each and everyday, people ramble on about this and that, the world, themselves, their children, etc. But every once in a while, someone says something that is so powerful and so unforgettable, that those words and their message become embossed in the world for all of eternity. 

The quote that I ultimately chose after a bit of deep thought and meditation, was the above one by Anne Frank, because it has a lot of meaning for me. First of all, it takes me back to my 8th grade year at Turkey Foot Middle School in Edgewood, KY to my English-Language Arts class. My teacher, Mr. Hart, was one of those exemplary teachers that left a lasting impact on both my head and my heart. His room was painted bright blue, he shook your hand at the door everyday, he taught me that art of show not tell in writing, and if your writing wasn't up to par...he let you know and helped you fix it. He even play Whitney Houston's I Believe the Children are the Future on our last day of 8th grade because he truly believe it. I still have my journal from his class, and go back and read it from time to time to take a stroll down memory lane. During that year, like many 8th grade students, we read the Diary of Anne Frank. I learned more about Nazi Germany in his middle school English class than I ever did in a history book. We didn't just read the book, we learned it and lived it. Every thing from interview Holocaust survivors to learning about concentration camps to going to the play to see how Anne Frank's story came to life. 

I remember reading The Diary of Anne Frank and turning each page with anticipation to see just how her story unfolded. It amazed me then and still amazes me today, that although she literally went to hell and back for no reason other than someone else's bigotry and hatred, she kept her face in the sun. I've always had a feeling that with every stroke of her pen, that Anne Frank probably knew that she would never make it out alive. But what she didn't know, was that her words would leave her footprints on the history of the world. 

It takes a strong heart to go through what she went through and to at the end of the day still think that everyone has something good inside of them. Sometimes, on my hardest days, when I feel like the world is against me, I think of this quote and remind myself that if Anne Frank can still see the good in people, so can I.