21 nights of Prince

And I don't mean Prince William and that wedding coming up. 

But the read Prince in all his purple glory will be performing 21 shows here in Los Angeles.  I am thrilled Ha and I are going to the first show Thursday night at the Forum!  Yes, Friday will be a rough day but it will be throughly worth it.

These are the things that I missed living in Arkansas.  Shows like this didn't happen. ever.  So thankful to be able to do this sort of stuff!

Now I know I'm a California girl

After battling against the obvious, I know I am truly at home now and am a California girl.  It's amazing to me how quickly Ha and I pick up where we left off when we left.  It's like we never left.  After two months of being back, it hit me last night as I was heading down to Mid-LA to play softball at 9:30.  First off, where else can you play softball year round and find 20+ people to play softball that late at night?  Definitely not Arkansas.  Where else can you eat any type of food you want at any time of the day or night?  I think I have had sushi at least twice a week since we moved back.  Who doesn't enjoy a cool breeze coming through the window at night or hanging out by the pool on a hot summer day with no humidity...

Living in Arkansas was definitely an experience and we made some great friends there, but there's no place like home.

A needed reminder

This is my favorite poem.  I used part of it in my valedictorian speech on the day I graduated from high school and some days, I read it as a reminder that sometimes, everything will work out even when it feels lonely.  The holidays are always a tough time for me.  Somehow, this poem came across my computer today and I felt it was a needed reminder that we all go down our own roads  and while some of them are very quiet and not traveled much,  doing so makes all the difference in the end.

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same, 

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back. 

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

A Night with Kiss

Last Tuesday, me, Mom, Tracey and Abby hit I-85N headed to Atlanta to see this band named Kiss.  You may have heard of them.  They have been around for, oh 35+ years and are still going strong.  I remember when I was a kid and would listen to my brother Ricky's records which always included Kiss.  Some of the highlights from the concert - outside of rocking out with my family - were (in no particular order): 

1.  Best Mullet ever.  It looked like it was from the late 80s/early 90s.  Awesomeness.

2.  Paul Stanley 15 feet from us.  He came across the crowd and performed on a rotating platform.  I hope I can move around that good in 6 inch platforms when I'm in my 60s.

3.  My future daughter.  This little girl rocked.  5 years old, face paint, Kiss T-shirt, red tutu, black leggings, and red converse....do I need to say more!?

The Big "C"

I love it when I find TV shows that have more meaning that just solving "who will I go to the prom with" in the span of 24.5 minutes.  "The Big C" just premiered on Showtime and I have officially found a new show to watch weekly.  The premise of the show is about a 40 something year old woman who has just been diagnosed with melanoma and has decided to live life instead of pursuing treatment.  In the second episode, she states "I am seeing in my vibrant colors than I have ever seen in before" or something to that nature.  But it really stuck with me.  Why does it take for someone who is staring death in the face to decide to start living?  Why wait?  Why not start now?  As the old saying goes, the only things certain in this life are taxes and death.  It will all come to us one day.  In two days, it would have been my brother Ricky's 45th birthday.  While it will be a sad day as it is every year, I also always remember the good times and how he did live life to the fullest.  That's what we should all do.  Live life to the fullest. While the "C" in "The Big C" is for cancer, it can also mean choice.  We have the choice day in and day out to be happy with what we do and where we are.  If we don't like something, start making the changes for the better.

My bucket list

Today, I am exactly 2 months and 1 year from my 30 birthday (holy crap).  It's getting closer to that time to check another box!!  As the thought of my birthday approaching so quickly ran through my mind, I thought it would be time to update my bucket list.  This list is always evolving so who knows what it will look like in a year.  I'm hoping to take care of #2 for that 30th birthday...(hint hint Ha)...

1. Walk across the Darling Harbour Bridge in Sydney
2. See Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre
3. See the humpback whales in Alaska
4. Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef
5. See Saturday Night Live, live!
6. See the Mona Lisa at the Louvre
7. Take a road trip from San Diego to Seattle
8. Visit Stonehenge
9.  Have a pint of Guiness in Ireland
10. Take a wine tour through Tuscany
11.

6 years ago this week...

I graduated from college and moved to Chicago.  I had always talked about moving to Los Angeles but Chicago was never in the picture.  I am going back to Chicago this weekend and as I look back on the past 6 years of my life, I am still surprised on where it has taken me.  Did I think 6 years ago - as I was having one last hurrah in Tuscaloosa with Michael and Melissa - that I would be married, living in Rogers, AR of all places?  Yeah, that Arkansas part was never in the plan...

Ah how things change...even when it doesn't seem that way, it's always for the better.  Change is constant.  There's never a perfect time to do anything, whether that mean something big like a new job or something small like changing the color of my hair.  I've learned you just have to go and do it.  If it doesn't work out, then that's okay, just go with plan B.