Highway Patrol: Seeing Beyond The Negative

Up until Saturday, I saw all Highway Patrol as the enemy. The ones who are out to make my life a living hell. The ones who prey on young single girls who just happen to like to drive a little faster than the law deems necessary. The people who have issued me three of the seven speeding tickets that I have received since I got my license at age 16.

Well, Saturday, I gained a new-found appreciation for our men in blue. Or black. Or whatever color they wear these days.


Why, you ask?


Because, Saturday, this happened:

On my way to Tuscaloosa, Alabama (my most favorite place in the world **ahem** **sarcasm**), for the NCAA Cross Country South Regional, I was literally five miles from where I needed to be, when this happened to my tire. I had a bad feeling that this was going to happen considering my tire/wheel woes from the past week (but that's a whole 'nother blog post).

Now, flat tires don't really bother me. I mean they are an inconvenience, to say the least, but my dad made me learn how to change a flat tire before I could drive so I know what I'm doing. I've changed a flat before; I've even changed a flat while a good guy friend stood there and watched me because he couldn't do it. (Girl power!) However, I've never had a flat tire on the interstate and well, the whole cars-and-mack-trucks-flying-by-at-exceeding-speeds thing really freaks me out, not to mention I was a little upset that I wasn't going to make it to something work-related because of a busted tire. Plus, I don't have a roadside service.

I called the parents but got no answer at home or on the cell phones so I called the next best thing - my sister and brother-in-law. My sister, being the take-charge person that she is, told me to not worry about it, to tell her where I was (which I was proud to say that I was because I could drive 20-59 South with my eyes closed and know exactly where I was considering the millions of times I've driven that stretch in the past four years), and she and Bubba (my name for the BIL) would call someone. Then, being the brilliant pair that they are, they told me to call the highway patrol.

So, I did.

Within 10 minutes of when I told the nice lady on the phone where I was, HP dude came to save the day. He even brought his own fancy-shmancy jack. In 15 minutes, the busted tire was off, the spare tire was on and I was good to go. He even followed me to a service station because my spare tire was a little low. There I got free air and began my search for a new tire (FYI, don't search for a new tire in Tuscaloosa on a Saturday. No. Help. What. So. Ever.)

Anyhoo, all this to say, my disdain for the Highway Patrol has been decreased significantly.

So the next time you are stuck on the side of the interstate in Alabama, and you don't have roadside service, *HP is the way to go.

Their motto is "Courtesy, Service and Protection since 1935".

I'd say they delivered.

Baby Baluga In The Deep Blue Sea..

Does anybody remember that episode of Full House where Michelle walks around singing "Baby Beluga" during the whole episode? I love that show but I hate that episode because I end up singing the song for the rest of the day.

And now I'll be singing it for the rest of the night. And so will you.

Anyhoo...

The whole point is that I actually saw a baby beluga whale this weekend. 

I went to visit Bethany in Athens, Ga., this weekend and we made a little trip to Atlanta Saturday to go to the Georgia Aquarium. 

And y'all, that place was well worth the 35 bones I spent on a premium plus pass.

It was amazing to spend an afternoon with so much of God's creation. There really aren't words so I'll just show you...

Very cool wall o' fish. Yeah, that's a whale shark at the top.

Cool porthole in the bottom of the big tank where all the sharks and rays and fish are.

This is the tunnel under the fish tank.

This is right when you walk in. There are cownose rays and bonnethead sharks in there that you can touch. Really neat.

And here's Niko, the baby beluga.

It really was a fun day, even if I never saw any of the Real Housewives of Atlanta.

I can't wait to go back and visit so I can see more of Athens (such a cute town) and do more tourist stuff in the ATL. Like Six Flags. Because you really can't go to ATL and not go to Six Flags. Or at least I can't.

Anyway, it's always good to see my bfry Bethany. We get each other and we fight like sisters. It's kinda funny. It's a weird kinda love we got for each other. Plus, we can whine to each other about still being single.

And we tell each other that we are hot. You know, just to boost the ego a little bit.

Bethany also gave me the grand tour of the UGA campus, including driving past the phat KD house and showing me the football weight room on the way up to her office.

It's weekends like that one and the ones that I get to spend with my family that make me so grateful for the blessings that God has given me in my family and friends. It's no mistake that God hand-picks people for your life and places them there in certain times for certain reasons.

I can't imagine my life without the greatest friends and family a girl could ask for. To those reading, when I'm with you, I never feel alone. I never feel inferior or uncool or unpopular or not wanted. Thank you for being the best part of my life. I mean, besides God, of course.

Charleston View

If you couldn't tell by my last couple of posts, I was in Charleston, S.C., this past weekend with the Samford volleyball team. I think this is the most horrible and most fun trip I've ever had with them. The eight-hour trip up took 12 hours for various reasons (see below posts) and after we had an hour added, we got to the hotel in Charleston at 2:45 a.m. on Friday and had to be up by 10 a.m. the next day.

We had breakfast at Breuger's Bagels, which is my new favorite place. They have the best cinnamon sugar bagels ever.

We completely bombed against College of Charleston (the other top team in the conference besides us), had our 12-match win streak snapped, could no longer say we were undefeated and pretty much got our hineys handed to us on a platter.

So to cheer us up, one of the girls' parents has a friend who owns three beach houses out in Mt. Pleasant, I think. We had dinner at one of them and it was great. I really wish I had gotten my camera from the hotel so I would have pictures of the beautiful view but so it goes.

Anyway, we got back to the hotel early, 9ish, and everyone crashed. Well, except me and Jen (one of the assistant coaches). We had to stay up and watch the Red Sox win.

The next day we started off with breakfast at IHOP. Yummy! Then we headed to the Citadel to play the last match of the weekend. This place is neato. It's like your driving into a medieval fort of some sorts. Very interesting. I've included some pictures of this because I remembered to get my camera out of my bag before I put it on the bus. Enjoy.

The view from across the drill field. I sort of wish we would have been there on a weekday to see all the groups drilling on the square.

A plane. This plane was actually flown by Citadel graduates. Cool, huh?

The national anthem. It kind of had a different feeling in this place. If you looked around, there were lots of people just standing at attention, looking straight ahead. Very cool. These were someo of the nicest people though.

Lineups. In blur mode. I had my camera on "action" but it still came out this way.

A lamp post.

My feeble attempt at being artistic.

And last but not least, boys in uniform on guard duty.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Too bad the Mississippi State Bulldogs couldn't pull out a "W" and the Red Sox got cheated out of trip to the World Series. Oh well, Go Rays, anyway.

The Happening

Have you seen this movie? It's full of craziness. We are watching this movie on the mammoth bus ride home from Charleston, S.C., and I'm starting to wonder why we put it in the DVD player in the first place.

We are only halfway through and it's been on crazy "happening" after the other. You should here the screams that are coming from this bus, not to mention the crazy comments.

"Don't breathe when you go outside!"

"Run from the wind!"

"Shut the window you idiot!"

"That old lady is one crazy _____!"

I don't what is causing all the "happenings". It seems to be some crazy supernatural pollen-type substance in the air, making its way through the Northeast by way of the wind. It seems to be causing some pretty intense allergy headaches because all these people start walking backwards and then killing themselves. These guys must not have heard of Zyrtec. Otherwise, we wouldn't have this problem

I'm speaking from experience that allergy headaches are nothing to mess with. I've had some doozies lately but never have I wanted to kill myself or bang my head through a glass window.

Ok, so it's just the movies and maybe it's something more than just pollen but whatev. This is a crazy movie.

I'm also pumped about my wireless internet card from AT&T. I've got internet on the go and now I'm currently keeping up with game seven of the ALCS -- GO SOX!

Ok, the movie is over and it was the worst ending ever. If you must, rent it yourself. At your own risk.

Now we are going to play Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who picks out the next movie. Good luck, Dex (our coach) is the only person who brought movies. And he was weird taste as you can tell. The Happening belongs to him.

Sittin' On The Side Of The Road...

I'm on a bus, just about two hours into an eight hour trip to Charleston. Yes, I'm with the volleyball team. There are too many other opportunities I get to be on a bus for eight hours. It delights me (Sarcastic, much?)

Anyway, we are just getting into ATL. We should've been two hours past ATL by now. What was the hold-up, you ask? I'll tell ya.

About 15 miles from the state line, our fast-paced truckin' quickly slowed down to a 10 mph creep. We'd hit some construction and figured we'd be past it in no time. Twenty minutes later, we're still going 10 mph. And soon, we can to a complete stop. Folks, this was no stop-and-go traffic. This was DEAD STAND STILL. We were parked at mile marker 177 on I-20 eastbound for 45 MINUTES! A two hour and 15 minute drive has now taken four hours. We've still got six hours to go to get to Charleston, plus a stop for dinner.

Let me tell you...there's something about a bus that brings out the best in people. We are a pretty funny group of people Each person on this team -- players, coaches, trainers and even lil' ol' me -- we keep ourselved entertained and in stitches. Hilarity ensues with this group on bus trips.

Our girls were throwing out some hum-dingers. Some I can't even repeat because I laughed so hard that I can't remember them now. We made a game out of watching the cars edge onto the median, jump it and travel back up the on ramp to get out of traffic -- going in drive and reverse. There was mud, and we were just rooting for someone to get stuck. A few people peeled out but no stickers. Darn.

We watched as a crowd of people gathered on the side of a newly paved part of the road that was blocked off by orange barrels. We tried to imagine what they were talking about. We think at one point there was talk about riding horses and waving at people, or so we gathered from the choreography from one guy. Maybe they were just playing a harmless game of Charades.

Our girls wanted to go door-to-door or "car door-to-car door" and raise money. For what? I don't know. One girl just wanted to go ask a truck driver what was going on. She said, "They always know what's going on. They know their stuff!" Whatev. Needless to say, no one exited the vehicle.

Meanwhile, we are getting various reports of what is going one up ahead. One report said traffic would be hault for 84 minutes. Sounds about right. Finally, one girl got word from her dad that there was a tractor trailer overturned at an exit about 10 miles ahead. It was blocking the westbound lane and wreckers were blocking the eastbound lane, trying to get the mess of an 18-wheeler back upright.

When we finally started going, applause erupted. You would have thought we just won the NCAA Championship. We were all glad to just finally be moving.

Now we are making our way through ATL, trying to find a restaurant at which to eat. I hope we find something soon. I'm starving.

Travelin' Man...ahem...Woman

So we are on our last leg of the volleyball trip from hell. Seven hours up to Davidson, N.C., four plus down to Stateboro, Ga., and then six more home to Birmingham, Ala. And we've spent even more hours on the bus inbetween.

I think I've calculated that we've spent more hours on the bus than sleeping and definitely more hours on the bus than off while awake.

I think the trip is starting to get to me as I woke up this morning with a migraine, having about 25% sight out of my right eye. I didn't help that I didn't realize that I hadn't put my contacts in until I got on the bus. I talked the bus driver into letting me stay on the bus and take a nap while the girls went in to practice and warm-up. I feel much better now after emptying my bottle of Excedrin Migraine. Ok, I only took two. Anyway, I'm good to go and ready for our last match of the weekend. Our girls have rocked so far. They are 12-2 and I'm so proud of them. They are so much fun to watch.

I left my book at home so I've had much time to think on the bus, since I can only listen to so much of my iPod over and over and over during study hall times before we pop a movie in. So far we've watched I Am Legend, Transformers (again), about 30 minutes of People Under The Stairs (Gadberry's pic) and most of An American Haunting (also Gadberry's pick).

You learn a lot on these trips, even some things you may not have wanted to know. Here are a few things I've learned:

- Rachel Gadberry has the weirdest taste in movies.

- Davidson basketball should have a better arena for all the success they've had over the years. Most people think that they just had a lot of success last year but it's really been an ongoing thing.

- Stealing is just not an option for me. I found a Davidson Nike basketball and so badly wanted to take it home. However, "Thou shalt not steal" came screaming through my head, so I voted no on that decision.

- The crappier the hotel is on the outside, the better it is on the inside. And vice versa.

- Although the Bulldogs made it a game with LSU last night, we still have some major offensive issues. The West Coast Offense needs to die a quick and painless death. It doesn't work for college teams. At least, we've remedied the quarterback issue for now, or at least we hope. And Derek Pegues needs to play both sides of the ball.

- I shouldn't worry about people who don't care.

I'm sure there is more but my mind is currently on dodging volleyballs. I'll add if I can think of any more.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Sunday. Pray that we will make it to the state line before we run out of gas. The whole state of Georgia is out of gas. Yes, you heard that right. OUT OF GAS. What the crap?

Oh, by the way, check out my friend Amanda's (or as I like to call her Crafty) blog, or vlog. She's currently on her second stint in Tokyo, ministering to college students there. She says she's horrible with words so she thought that she would do video blogs. I'm pumped to see what she vlogs about. She's an awesome girl and is totally obeying her call over there. Please be in prayer for her as God uses her to claim hearts for Him.

Time flies when you're...well time just flies

Wow! It's May, already? The past month has flown by. I can't believe that the school year is already almost over with. This weekend my tennis teams wrapped up their season at the NCAA Tournament and now I'm down to just one sport. Finally! Track is still going but at least it's not as high-maintenance as the other sports.

Since I've not be blogging lately, I'll update you on what has been going on.

I actually got a weekend off a few weeks ago and got to actually go out and do something with my friend Chris, who came in town from Montgomery. We went to eat and then went to the Barons game. It was so fun to actually do something, without having to worry about getting home to write a story.

Last weekend I got to go visit Bethany in Knoxville and have a lazy girls' weekend with her. I did have to work a little while I was there but it was just track so it wasn't that bad. We did some stuff to spruce up her apartment a little like painting the chair in the collage below. Other than that, we went shopping and just watched fun movies like 27 Dresses and August Rush, both of which I hadn't seen and both of which were cute, cute, cute.


This past weekend, I went to Tallahassee with my tennis teams who were playing the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Florida State. They didn't win but they played extremely well and we all had a fun little weekend away from Birmingham. I made a little slideshow of the weekend activities which includes pictures from the teams playing, the cookout at the pool at the guys' hotel and dinner with the girls on Friday night.

We got back from Tallahassee at about 5:30 Saturday afternoon and I was beat. I was so tired. I went and got some food and went home, ate, unpacked and was in bed by 9:30. However, I had no idea what the night had in store for me. An hour into my sleep (for the second night in a row), I'm awoken by a text message from Chris. He's in town (unbeknownst to me) with is friend who is a Marine for his "send off". Well of course, after a few texts I'm wide awake so I turn on the TV. Good idea. There's a tornado warning for Jefferson County. Three tornado sirens and lots of window-rattling thunder later, it's 3 a.m. and I finally fall asleep. No one has to ask what time I woke up Sunday morning because it wasn't morning when I finally did. I decided to sleep in and go to the 6 p.m. service at church. I was pooped.

And last but not least, I guess I should give a shoutout to four amazing mothers in my life on this Mother's Day. My mom is the best mom in the world. Despite her tendency to nag every once in a while, she's the most amazing woman I have ever met. I could not have asked for a better role model. She has been through an incredible amount of things in her life and has come out a much stronger woman, having an even better faith in God. She has been and continues to be the one person I look to to see what a Christian woman looks like. She loves to have fun and has a song for everything. I guess that's where I get it. Yay for mom! Here is an old school picture of mom having fun.



My sister is the second mother I want to praise. This is her first Mother's Day and it even more special because her son, my nephew, William was dedicated at church. I was so sad that I could be there but I know it was special. Anna has become one of my best friends. Although, we had our ups and downs when we were young, I couldn't have asked for a better sister. She is amazing. She's really taught me how to be a strong Godly woman and she's only three years older than me. Besides my parents, especially my dad, she is my biggest cheerleader but she is also the one that will tell me I'm in over my head and put me in my place.



My two grandmothers are last but not least. Grandma is my dad's mom and just turned 80 in January. I don't get to see her very often and I miss her so much. Up until I was a freshman in college, my family would go eat Sunday lunch at Grandma and Papaw's every Sunday. They lived just behind the church so it was a must-do on Sunday afternoons. Grandma makes the best mashed potatoes and was a birthday cake master until her arthritis forced her to quit. She was a lunch lady and was the matchmaker for my mom and dad. Oh, and she loves the Braves and puzzles. Now I know where I get it from. Here is an old-school picture of me and Grandma.



Dearmom is my mom's mom and will be 90 in June. She's still kicking though. She's got four children, 12 grandchildren plus 8 spouses, and 11 great-grandchildren and one on the way. She has been a rock for my mom's side of the family and holds a great faith in God. She's got maroon running through her veins never misses a chance to talk about the Bulldogs.



Ok...I must go to bed now so I'll wrap it up. Thank you Lord for putting such wonderful, amazing Christian women in my life. I've learned something from each and every one of them.