So Incredibly Blessed

In a matter of 3 days, life for my family has been turned upside down; yet throughout it all, I continue to realize how incredibly blessed we are. As I look back at the past few days, I have been reminded of how incredibly blessed my family is. As I sat and thought about why things happen, how they happen or why they happen to me/my family, I was quickly reminded that none of that matters. The things that matter in life are not those that can be measured, evaluated, are even described sometimes. The things that matter in this life are the people, the relationships, the FAITH that we have, the interactions and kindness of others, the smile on a face, a hug from a friend, a phone call, a card, and even a text message or facebook message these days. In being reminded of the things that really matter in this life, I continue to think and say to myself that I/my family are so INCREDIBLY blessed.

We have been INCREDIBLY blessed by...

* Ninety Six, SC - I know I'm biased, but my hometown is nothing short of incredible and amazing. As our family has been hurting, our entire town has helped to share this pain and are all hurting right along beside us. I do believe that every single person in our town has been impacted by such a tragic loss. All of the people and even businesses in town have been more than gracious with whatever they have to offer to help our family in such a difficult time.

* Ninety Six School District - I don't know what more they could do for us. People from every school have visited, brought food, called, offered everything they have in order to help us be comforted. They have even offered the stadium for our funeral service and are doing everything to make it happen so our family won't have to worry about a thing. The sign at the high school even has a tribute to Big Rog.

* Self Memorial Hospital - Amazing staff! The team of people that cared for Roger and our family were nothing short of INCREDIBLE. They were so caring and hard working and went above and beyond what they had to do to support our family.

*FAMILY & FRIENDS - Our lives would not be complete without you all. Every time I would look up at the hospital or at the house, a new face would light up the room. Our phones have continuously lit up with calls and messages of people to just say that they care and they loved us. I am not a hugger by any stretch, but have hugged so many amazing people over the last few days who do nothing but care for our family. I know that we could not have gotten this far and will not be able to go any further without our family and friends. You will never know what you all have meant to our entire family. Words can really not express how we feel about our family and friends, but we do constantly thank God for you all. I also thank GOD for my amazing husband who has been my rock and strength for the past 5 years. Our road hasn't been easy but it has been blessed and full, thank you for being my everything.

* Last...our FAITH - As things unfolded, I never asked God, "Why us?" because that is not important, but instead I asked, "What God, what do you have in store for us with this one?" Our family has been tested beyond belief, but each and every blow we pull closer to each other and closer to God. As I was sitting in the hospital or trying to talk with other family members to make decisions or even facing people in the hospital who stopped by to visit that nearly brought us all to tears, I continued to sing Chris Tomlin's song in my head..."Your Grace is enough, your Grace is enough, your Grace is enough for me." Thank GOD for his peace, thank GOD for his Grace, thank GOD for the people he sends to us, thank GOD for his timing and most of all thank GOD for his ultimate plan that is out of my hands.

As I reflect, I know that these words do not do justice to what an INCREDIBLY BLESSED experience my family has been through over the past few days, but it is at least my attempt to say thank you to those who have done so much and mean so much to me and my family. Our efforts to say thank you are simply not enough. In the days ahead, I will never forget the faces, the comments, the calls, the discussions and the relationships that have been restored due to this tragic time in our lives. God has a way of reminding us to SLOW down...life is quick and the people that matter to us should know it, all the time. Don't let the sun go down on something that has upset you and don't sweat the small things. Remember to let those who matter take a priority in life and remember that life is not a sprint, it's a marathon and all those who matter should be there all along the way.

Thanks to all of you amazing people who have made my life INCREDIBLY blessed and thank God for putting you all in our lives at such a time as this. Love you all.

In closing, I refer to our family's go to verse - Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." We aren't sure why we have been through what we've been through but we do know WHO has the plan! Thank you God! :)

Seriously People....We are on Defense...There is no need for the "What Do We Want....TD Cheer"

Each and every week I happily trek to one football field and then another to support various teams, friends, and/or family. I also watch numerous games per week on the television and some may say, "Why?" or "You must be crazy" but I actually enjoy the sport, but better than that I UNDERSTAND it. So why then am I writing about people who don't understand football and any other sport for that matter...it's merely because of the obnoxious displays that others portray as they pretend to really "get into" the sport.

You know, I often look at myself and wonder if I am indeed one of the only females who enjoy watching a team go into the Wildcat at a critical time in a game or even run a flea flicker to change a game's momentum...and I have realized that I am one of the few and I'm okay with that. What bothers me is the women who are always creating a scene or putting in their 2 cents and do not know what is going on in order to gain male attention or just keep their current male's attention.

Just for a moment, let's place ourselves at a game on a random Friday night or under the lights at Williams Brice on Saturday and explore some of what we may see and/or hear.

* The infamous...."Come on everybody...let's do the 'Whatda We Want...TD...What's that...TOUCHDOWN!' cheer or any other offensive cheer when our team is in a 4-3 defense and the other team is driving down the field at will.

* When leaving the stadium you oversee/overhear 2 girls walking together in front of their prospective dates asking each other, "What was the score? Like 1 to 11 or something?"

* When women/girls wear the team "colors" to the game since they clearly have no team apparel. Often times this attempt is an epic fail due to the fact they roll up to Carolina-Georgia game wearing red and black cheering for the Gamecocks (completely not understanding the difference between garnet and red) or when going to a Clemson-Miami game in just a random orange shirt that clearly leans towards the Hurricanes. Come on people, if you are going to be a fan get it RIGHT.

* Women who are yelling things like "Get the ball" or "Get Him, Tackle Him" when our team is the one who fumbled our our guy is the one running the ball. I just can't handle it. Do you even know who you came to watch?

* Dancing fans who try to sing along with the fight song and don't know the words or are merely clap the rhythm to the touchdown music and are completely off beat.

* Bringing children to the game who are unwatched. Now, I know you may be here at the game to get you a man or because your husband said so, but some of us are actually watching and I can't see the field when your child goes for the 5th snow cone after dropping the first 4. Please, I beg of you, make your children behave at the game so some of us can actually enjoy what we are there to watch.

* Every time the ball goes through the uprights does not constitute a field goal, there are actually these things called PAT's - or point after touchdowns where our team only gets 1 point for the ball going through. Please don't turn around and share that we just got another "goal."

* Random high fives are often times unnecessary. If you can't explain why you are high fiving me, please just continue to eat the boiled peanuts and gossip about what the women down to your left are wearing.

* Wearing a dress or skirt to a football game - this is ONLY acceptable if you came directly from work. If you actually take time to put this on and get ready, please also bring your very own business cards with your phone number on it to give out as you are consistently trying to get a date. Thanks.

* The band, cheerleaders, dance team or anyone other than the actual team on the field is really irrelevant. I am not discrediting what your child is doing, I am just not there to watch them; neither is the majority of the crowd. I am very proud of them and will support them all the same but during half time, I will discuss the plays of the first half while the band is playing their show and I will NOT participate in cheers lead by the cheerleaders at times during the game while I am clearly trying to watch the game. I am not being ill, hard to deal with or hateful, I'm being a football fan...a fan of the game that is actually going on.

I hate to bring this to a close, but I do feel that this is a pretty good starter list. Now, how does this relate to those women looking for men or those who are their to keep their men or out of sheer obligation - you are typically the ones who are committing the aforementioned crimes. Hey, it's who you are and we respect that, I just wanted to bring to the forefront what bothers those of us who are there to really watch the game.

I mean really...I'm Just Sayin'

Back By Popular Demand

Okay, Okay, I must admit that I have been rather slack at this attempt at blogging on a regular basis. Lately however, many people have been requesting a new blog post from yours truly. Of course, so many people literally begging for me to let my opinions fly posed great thought on my behalf as to what I could possibly post about on my second attempt at being a great, consistent blogger.

As I began to contemplate my "Great return to blogging," many topics came to mind, and I am listing my TOP 10 below.

1. Top 10-20 things that I STRONGLY dislike
2. Why I am not personally having children but will discipline yours
3. Winter is fashion heaven for pretty plus women
4. Women who fake their love for football just to get a man or keep one
5. Why lots of people ask me to blog yet I only have 4 followers
6. Online shopping...what people buy when nobody is looking
7. My daily commute...am I the ONLY person who knows how to drive?
8. What is your current addiction? I think I'm addicted to new addictions.
9. Do I look like I work at Wal-Mart, Target or anywhere else for that matter? No, then I surely don't know what is on Aisle 5.
10. Please, please don't ask my opinion if you do not want it.

Okay little blogees...let me know which post I shall go for first. I think I will try to tackle one each week, or 2 on weeks where I feel extremely froggy or opinionated.

A Little Fun In The Sun....still out of REACH!

Let's go ahead and call Spring Break a tease in every sense of the word. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but it gave me such a small taste of summer that I am lefting not only wanting more but demanding it. The beach was amazing, what's not to like about the smell of the ocean, sand between my toes and sun beating down on my pretty plus bod? I mean it's an amazing experience in and of itself. I could live at the beach and never do anything but go on the beach, but alas I must teach children on the daily.

As I entered back into school last Monday dreading it at all costs just because I would have rather still been at the beach, I had convinced myself that the beach desires would be fleeting and I would be back focused on school in no time. Well, as we all know I'm a jokester and apparently was joking to myself. Since then, all that I can think about is summer time rolling in so I can throw caution to the wind.

Summer is more than just the beach, but summer is no alarm clocks, no school work to bring home and do all night, no children calling your name 30,000 times a day...but it is a break for me to rejuvinate in order to give it all back to my children when I get there in August. I firmly believe that each minute that I am at school my thoughts are drifting away to SSB and the salt, sand, sun, water...it's just an amazing vision. Hopefully the summer won't come too slowly, but it is still out of REACH!

I'm a Copy Cat

So, this is my first official blog and I'm pretty excited about it. I must confess that I am indeed a copycat. I saw my pal Kristi A blogging, read her logic and realized this might just be therapeutic for myself as well. As you all know, I do enjoy clearing my mind regardless of who is listening or if you like it or not...this may be safer. Let's see where this leads...