June 3, 2018. 6:25pm. I have not blogged in a few days, so it is time to catch-up!
Wednesday, May 30 was our students’ last day of school. Our quad had awards starting at 8:30am. Fortunately, they went by fast because it was only our quad, instead of the entire 6th Grade. Each quad went at a different time. After awards were over, many students were checked out by their parents. We kept the remaining ones occupied with computer use, movies, and time outside. I was able to get a lot of work done in my room so that was great.
After school, Lori (my co-worker / friend) drove into Cedar Park to meet up with other teachers at a place called Red Horn Coffee House & Brewing Company. Interesting combination, huh? Ha ha. Neither Lori or I had ever been there before. We shared a bottle of wine. 🙂 After being there for awhile, some of us went to another place called The League Kitchen & Tavern. Another new place for Lori and I. I told her we were getting cultured by going to all these new places. Ha ha. We both had a Sangria and I had a delicious sandwich called “The Bees Knees Ham & Cheese.” It came with fries, and I had them “Truffled Up,” which means they were tossed with minced garlic and parsley. Oh my goodness they were so good!
When we left there I took Lori back to her car, then came home and crashed!
On Thursday, May 31, we had a work day at school. I had most of my room packed already, so it was a pretty low-key day for me. Lori and I had lunch at Dairy Queen, which just opened on May 23. I am most excited about being able to get Dairy Queen tacos! They are SO good, and their hot sauce is equivalent to Whataburger ketsup, which I believe cannot be beat. Ha ha. Adam also loved Dairy Queen tacos and their hot sauce. He actually kept a Ziploc bag of taco sauce in his little cabin. One time when he got tacos in Cameron (our hometown), he got the girl at the window to give him A LOT of extra packets and he brought them to me! 🙂
We had a faculty meeting at 3:00, then we were allowed to leave. Our principal told us that if we had everything completed and had everyone’s signatures on our check-out list, that we did not have to return on Friday morning after convocation. Fortunately, I had everything completed and signed off on!
When I left I went to ULTA to get my eyebrows tinted and waxed. Girl stuff! After that, I went to Kohl’s to shop a little because I had Kohl’s Cash to use AND if I made a purchase on May 31 I could also get 20% off in addition to using the Kohl’s Cash. I ended up getting two dressy tank tops and paid a little under $9! Each shirt was originally $30. I LOVE deals like that! When I left Kohl’s I went to Pluckers and met with Brittany and Erica, two co-workers / friends. This was a another new place for me! We had drinks and ate, then headed to the Alamo Drafthouse, a movie theater. We met up with several other teachers to see “The Book Club.” It was another night of getting home late and I crashed right away!
Friday, June 1…..We had our end-of-year convocation at the high school, starting at 8:30. I received my 5-year service award (for teaching in Liberty Hill for five years)! I cannot believe five years have gone by already. This was my first “milestone” in my teaching career. 🙂
After convocation I came home, gave Patches (my miniature Dachshund) a bath, did a few things around the house, and headed to the venue for my youngest brother’s wedding on Saturday, to help set things up and decorate. It was a place called Bentwood, Texas, about 22 miles from my home. Once we got done, Mom, Memaw (Mom’s mom), and I drove into Georgetown and had lunch at Blue Corn Harvest. I LOVE Blue Corn!!!!! I had never been to the Georgetown location; it just opened not too long ago. The one I normally go to is in Cedar Park. When we got done with a super delicious lunch we went to H-E-B for a few things, and then back to the venue.
Around 6pm, we left to head to the church (a Catholic church in Granger, about fifteen minutes away from the venue) for rehearsal. Memaw rode with me. Mom stayed behind because she catered the rehearsal dinner and she worked on setting up the food before everyone showed up after rehearsal. I was not in the wedding, but Mitchell and Andrea asked me to read during the ceremony, so I had to attend the rehearsal. Once done, everyone went to Bentwood for dinner and drinks. I was doing okay until the song “Then” by Brad Paisley started playing. The chorus is:
“And now you’re my whole life
Now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you, girl
Like a river meets the sea,
Stronger than it’s ever been.
We’ve come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then”
I could not help but think of Adam, and I immediately started crying. I slipped away, and went to our room (they have rooms for nightly rental at Bentwood). I cried for a bit, then dried my tears and returned to the pavilion but I continued to be emotional. I totally did not feel comfortable being there. I think it was shortly after 9pm. I found Mom, and asked her if it would be okay if I went ahead and left. She asked me what was wrong and I burst into tears. She took me by the hand and led me out away from the pavilion, and told me to tell her what I was thinking. I told her that it all started with a song playing. I talked about how I wanted Adam to be there with me…..about how my youngest sibling was about to get married, which meant that all four of my siblings would be married and here’s me, the oldest, single. Two divorces. The death of a boyfriend. It’s extremely hard. I talked about how I still don’t understand WHY Adam had to die. 38 years old. Never married. No children. He had so much life ahead of him. Mom understood, and talked about how she felt – and still feels – about Daddy. He was 41 when he was killed. He wasn’t here for any of our graduations (high school and college). He wasn’t here for any of our marriages. He missed out on so much. Mom reminded me that we’ll never be able to answer the question “WHY?” but we must trust that God is in control and He has a plan…..a great plan for my life. I know that, but it is still hard. She mentioned how I had two husbands who didn’t respect me enough, and then I found someone who did (Adam), and he died…..it’s just not fair. She told me that Adam was not a “Lone Ranger”…..there are other good men out there. I am aware of that, but I also believe that the next man in my life will have some big shoes to fill after Adam! At the same time, I also believe that God has a perfect man for me! I must be patient and trust God to lead me.
I told Mom that I was trying very hard to be strong, because it was Mitchell and Andrea’s weekend and I didn’t want anyone worried about me. She understood; she said she knew it was going to be hard for me, especially Saturday. She did not mind me leaving, but she didn’t want me crying and driving. I was able to compose myself before I left. I went to tell Mitchell and a few others goodbye, and Mom asked Memaw if she wanted to go home with me (she was going to stay with Mom and Crawford, my step-dad). She decided to go home with me, so that was good that I was not alone. We got to my house a little before 10:30. Memaw has to sleep with a TV on, for the noise, so she slept on my couch. We both slept very well!!
7:31pm. I think I am going to go and get some of those wonderful Dairy Queen tacos that I mentioned earlier! I have not eaten anything since breakfast this morning. I will return to this soon and finish telling about the weekend! 🙂
8:21pm. I’m back! I was surprised to find a rather long line at the Dairy Queen drive-through, and I did not feel like waiting, so I decided to go to Sonic. I finished eating and here I am again.
Saturday, June 2…..the day of the wedding. I woke up a little before 8:00 and took a shower. A little before 9:00 I went to get a White Chocolate Raspberry Mocha (YUM!) from Major’s, a local eatery. After that I took Patches to a co-worker / friend’s house, where he stayed while I was gone for the wedding. I came back home for a short while and then left again for a hair appointment at 10:00. I needed a bit more cut off after my recent haircut, and Saturday morning was the earliest she could fit me in. I figured that was perfect since it was the day of the wedding. I originally asked her to straighten my hair after cutting more (I have naturally curly hair); however, I changed my mind and asked her to do an updo. It’s so hot outside and I knew if I had it straightened I would just end up putting it up! She did an amazing job.
I returned home, finished my makeup, finished packing my vehicle, and then Memaw and I headed out. I went by Sonic for a drink, then once we left there and started to head to the venue, I pointed out Major’s to Memaw and told her that’s where I got my White Chocolate Raspberry Mocha. I passed by, and then decided to turn around and go back…..it was lunch time. I asked Memaw if she likes onion rings, because Major’s onion rings are out of this world. We went through the drive-through; I also talked her into getting their sweet tea, which is also out of this world. They put mint and orange in it. Yummy!!!!! I wish I would have gotten a video of Memaw when she opened the container of onion rings. Her reaction was priceless! I just love sharing new things, especially food, with people I love. I got the “Major’s Sauce,” a unique tasting sauce, to go with the onion rings. We ate them on the way to the venue. Memaw really enjoyed them, as well as the sweet tea. 🙂
We arrived at the venue around 1:00 I believe. We got dressed there and hung around until it was time to leave for the wedding, which started at 3:30. Here is a picture of me, and a picture with my beautiful mom and beautiful Memaw.
I was doing okay emotionally (at the wedding) until everyone started walking in. I started crying when I saw my middle brother, Marcus, escorting Mamaw (my dad’s mom), then my oldest brother, Matthew, escorting Memaw. More tears came when Andrea walked down the aisle and Mitchell had tears in his eyes. I was a mess for a bit, but knew I had to compose myself because I had to go up and read!
The service was wonderful, and afterwards we left quickly to return to the venue for pictures. Taking pictures was an event to remember! The guys had already had quite a bit to drink, and my brothers Matthew and Marcus were cutting up big time! The laughs were non-stop.
Once pictures were over, we all went to the pavilion for the reception. There is a bar in the pavilion, and Mitchell and Andrea had bartenders to serve everyone. In addition to beer, they had a “Groom’s Drink” which was Makers Mark whiskey and Gingerale; that is what I drank all evening. The “Bride’s Drink” was Ruby Red Vodka and Topo Chico. The reception was amazing; we all had a blast…..and all drank a bit too much! Ha ha. We danced the night away, and had many more laughs. I only got emotional one time, and that is when Mom and Mitchell had the Mother-Son dance. They danced to Tim McGraw’s “Humble And Kind.” I lost it. I took a few pictures, got a short video, and then headed to the room to cry it out. I composed myself, returned to the pavilion, and was fine after that.
Mitchell and Andrea left around 10:30, I believe. We cleaned up, then I went to the kitchen to look for food – I was SO hungry! Ha ha. Crawford, my step-dad, was in there so I sat with him for a few minutes and had some left-over pulled pork from the rehearsal dinner, and some Cheetos! It sure was good! And then I topped it off with a kolache – either apricot or peach – I’m not sure! I went down to the room, where Memaw was already laying down. She and I shared a pull-out couch. I believe it was midnight or a little after when I came in. What a night!!!!! I did not remember this until Memaw mentioned it this morning, but when I came in and first sat down on the bed, I sunk down and almost fell on top of Memaw. Ha ha ha! Such wonderful memories. 🙂
I think it was 8 something when I got up this morning. It was me, Memaw, Mom, Crawford, my brother Marcus and his wife Caroline, and their two children. We got everything cleaned up, our vehicles loaded, and headed to Taylor (about nine miles away) for breakfast. I found a Mexican food restaurant on my GPS and that’s where we headed. We got there and it was packed. We were told the wait would be 20 minutes. Marcus and Caroline ended up leaving to head home, but the rest of us stayed and ate there. It was worth the wait.
I forgot to mention earlier that on Friday when Mom, Memaw, and I returned to the venue after going into Georgetown, as we drove up we saw a red bird flying by the rooms. It stopped right in front of our room (Room 6). I slowly drove down in front of the room to try and see it and possibly take a picture, but of course it was gone! If you are reading this and don’t know the significance of red birds in my life, please visit the page titled “Childhood and Daddy’s Death.” At that bottom of that page I explain the significance of red birds. I also saw a red bird at some point on Saturday, but don’t recall when. This morning after we woke up, Mom asked Memaw and I if we had heard the bird outside the window. I had no idea what she was talking about. She said it was a red bird! During breakfast, she explained that both mornings (Saturday and today), she and Crawford heard a bird hitting their window. She said it would fly and hit the window over and over. On Saturday morning when she opened the blinds to see what it was, Crawford mentioned that it was a red bird, and after that, it quit flying into the window. I truly believe that Daddy was visiting and trying to make it very known that he was there. 🙂
After breakfast we said our goodbyes and I headed home to Liberty Hill. I listed to the radio for a little while, to my usual Christian radio station, and the song that stood out to me was “Fear Is A Liar” by Zach Williams. I may have mentioned this song in a previous post; I don’t recall for sure. I know I have not shared the video; I had not seen it myself, until just now. WOW. This speaks to me because I have a lot of fear about my future, but, going back to what I have already said, God is in control and He has a great plan for me.
When I got back into town, I went to pick up Patches, then I came home and took a nap. After I woke up, I thought about going to the closest Starbucks, which is about nine miles away (we do not have one in Liberty Hill). I was going to get an iced coffee and sit out on the patio and work on blogging. As I was driving, I remembered that Dairy Queen has Moolatte’s so I decided to go there instead since it is closer! I got a Caramel Moolatte and then went to the park by my school to sit under the pavilion and blog. The pavilion is right net to the Public Library, which has free Wifi. For some reason, the Wifi would not connect – ugh – so I just came back home. I sat on the porch and read for a short while but it was sooooo hot so I ended up coming back inside. Other than reading, I washed a few clothes and then finally sat down to blog.
I am on summer vacation! I normally do math tutoring during the summer but I decided not to this year. I MAY tutor one girl, but I am not 100% sure yet. While the extra money would be nice, I feel like I just need to relax and re-charge my mind. I plan to work on this blog, do a lot of reading, be productive around my house, and hopefully take some day trips! I tend to get easily bored and depressed during the summer, not having the daily routine of the school year. I am going to try my best to stay occupied this summer so that I DON’T get bored and depressed!
Note: My blog posts are shown with the most recent posts at the top. If you’d like to read about how this journey began, scroll to my first post, titled “The Journey Begins.” 🙂
My Strength 