See You Later May

May was a wild month for me.  And for pretty much every other person I know.  May seems to be a month when a lot of things end, most notably school.  I'm finished teaching my college classes until the fall and once again I have been reminded of the blessing that is summer vacation.

I started the month by speaking to the Teen MOPs group at Parkway Baptist Church in Clinton, MS.  I know I have mentioned Mothers of Preschoolers before, but this group is unique in that it is made up of teen moms.  I could tell the girls loved the group, and I was SO impressed with this program and with the ladies who volunteer as mentors each week.  

I had the chance to write about about one of my experiences as a FUGE staffer on the FUGE blog.  If you know me then you know how special this camp is to me.  You can check it out here. 

A couple of weeks ago I did something really neat.  Back in April the Mutual of Omaha organization contacted me and asked me if I would film a video for their Aha Moment Tour.  I think one of their recruiters must have read the blog I wrote about my dad's heart attack, and they wanted me to film a short video talking about a moment in my life that impacted me in a big way.  Even though I'm really used to talking in front of people I was a tiny bit nervous, because I've never talked in front of a camera before.  The Mutual of Omaha people were so incredibly nice and they made me feel really comfortable.

Eventually Mutual of Omaha will post these videos, and the ones with the most votes will be made into commercials.  I'm not holding my breath for any such thing, but I'm really, really thankful I had this opportunity.  I am also really anxious to hear what my voice sounds like.  I'm pretty sure that there won't be any questions regarding where I'm from.  

If you're my Facebook or Instagram friend then you might have seen some pictures from my trip to New York a couple of weeks ago.  My sister graduated from Columbia with her MFA in creative nonfiction writing, so of course I had to attend the festivities.  I flew up the day after I filmed my video and met my parents, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that my family was perhaps the loudest group of people in Manhattan.  At least on the subway at 7 am.

I've been to two Ivy League graduations now, and let me tell you--these events are not for the weak or weary individual.  You have to be prepared to hustle, brave extreme temperatures, sit for an exceptionally long time with 40,000 friends, skip meals, and basically celebrate for 12 hours.  It's so fun, but it makes even the most prepared person feel a little insane.  I think due to all of the academic excellence around us Kayla and I were inspired to write some poetry throughout the day:

I had the best time visiting with Kayla's friends and participating in my favorite New York activity--eating everything I see.  It's slightly devastating that I can't eat at Absolute Bagel every morning at home like I can when I'm in New York, but those everything bagels with their lox will be forever in my heart.  Even though Absolute Bagel is my absolute favorite, the real highlight of the trip was being with these wild people.

Now summer is here, and maybe that means things will slow down a little.  And maybe that means that I will finally unpack my garage from when I moved into my house 10 months ago.  Only time will tell.

Whitney

Very Late April Wrap Up

Did you ever come home and realize that you've been so busy that every room in your house has become dirty? That’s pretty much how the whole month of April was for me. It was really busy, but it was also full of visiting with friends and other good things.

The month started with my friend Paige’s wedding. Paige and I have been besties since high school and I was so excited to be her maid of honor. Paige lives in San Francisco now, so it was great to spend time with her and other friends that I don’t get to see very often.

A couple of days after the wedding I spoke to the MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) group at North Monroe Baptist Church in Monroe, LA. Monroe is dear to me because my friends Megan and Emily both grew up there, and I can't begin to tell you the fun we've had there over the past ten years. The ladies in the group were really sweet and their meeting included the most excellent buffet of breakfast items, including a noteworthy breakfast sandwich that I have not stopped thinking about yet. They are an example to MOPs groups everywhere in the area of delicious refreshments.

I spoke using this microphone and I am pleased to report that I did not hit myself in the face.

My friend Susan made the trip with me and my friend Emily met us there. A personal low occurred when I was five minutes into driving us home and I felt my eyes start to close. We immediately stopped and switched drivers, thus poor Susan had to chauffeur me home. What would I do without friends like these?

During the month of April I was the guest blogger for Mississippi Women Bloggers. It was a challenge for me to write so much with everything else that was going on, but I think it was good for me and I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity. The month’s theme was Renew and if you didn’t read them yet I introduced myself and wrote about dealing with stress, the true meaning of home, comparison, using social media in a healthy way, and purpose.

The month of May got off to an excellent start this past weekend when I FINALLY got a new phone!

I got my old iphone 4 back in 2011 and I think it’s safe to say it was past time to upgrade. I can only equate my excitement to the time in 8th grade when I finally got satellite TV and could watch TRL in my very own living room. Do you have any suggestions for apps that I cannot live without? I haven’t been able to participate in app downloading for about a year and a half, therefore the most exciting one that I can think of is the Bank Plus app. Let me know what I've been missing.

I hope May has gotten off to a great start for you!

Whitney